Correspondence of Tagore and Rolland

Romain Rolland wrote his first letter to Tagore on 10 April 1919 from Villeneuve, Switzerland, requesting him to sign the historical Declaration of the Independence of the Spirit. Tagore responded immediately. From a formal beginning, they quickly became close friends and exchanged 56 letters and telegrams till 1940. This correspondence also includes Tagore’s crucial letter to Manchester Guardian on 5 August 1926 after the Tagore–Mussolini controversy. Additionally, it includes letters by Rathindranath Tagore, Anil Chanda, and others. Tagore’s last letter was written from ‘Uttarayan’, Santiniketan to Rolland in Vézelay, France on 10 April 1940. The correspondence also has the English translation of Tagore’s poem, ‘Praved’, sent to Rolland expressing the similarities and differences between the two.