Gopal Bhar

Court jester in 18th century Bengal

Gopal Bhar or Gopal Bhand ( ) was a court jester in medieval Bengal. He was in the court of Raja Krishnachandra (1710–1783), the then king of Nadia in the 18th century. Gopal used to give joy to others by laughter and ridicule. The king considered Gopal as a Navaratna of his court. His statue can still be seen in the palace of Krishnachandra and in Ghurni, Krishnagar town. Gopal is believed to have possessed a keen intelligence.

Tales of his exploits are narrated in West Bengal and Bangladesh to this day in numerous short stories. Their origin may be traced to local oral cultures of humour. The stories are popular and humorous, often ridiculing figures of authority, including the king, Krishnachandra, himself. Many of his stories depict him coming up with inventive and clever answers to satisfy the whimsical requests of royal personages, such as the Maharaja and the Rani. In some stories, Raja Krishnachandra asks him to complete certain tasks specifically to test his intelligence, or to embarrass him in public. Gopal Bhar always rebuffs the attempt successfully. The application of humour never crosses over to the realm of direct disrespect, but manages to point out the weakness in the opponent's argument or conviction. As such, his stories are comparable with those of Birbal, Tenali Raman, Gonu Jha and Nasreddin.

In early nineteenth century, Gopal Bhar's name was first mentioned in Bengali literature. It is often said that Gopal Bhar is a legendary personality. But a reference has found that there was a respectful and old bodyguard of the king of Nadia, Raja Krishnachandra and Protection incharge of the city named Shankar Taranga who was given special status by the king for his courage and knowledge and probably gave rise to the legend of Gopal Bhar. There are many contradictory views regarding Gopal Bhar, whether he existed or not. Acharya Sukumar Sen opined that the character Gopal is purely fictitious. But some sources claim that Gopal was a true character.

Gopal Bhar (film), a Bengali comedy film directed by Amal Sur was released in 1980. In that film, Santosh Dutta portrayed the character of Gopal Bhar. Gopal Bhar (TV series), a Bengali television series was made where Raktim Samanta played the role of Gopal Bhar as a young child. The series aired on Star Jalsha from 2017 to 2018. Gopal Bhar (Animated TV series), an animation series also popular in Sony Aath YouTube channel. On YouTube, more than 1000 episodes are made and still counting.