# The Home and the World — Character guide

> Key figures in The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore.

- [Bimala](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/bimala.md): Bimala has spent nine years as Nikhil's devoted wife, her world bounded by the zenana until Sandip's arrival draws her into the Swadeshi movement and into a heady sense of her own power. She discovers a cruelty and hunge
- [Nikhil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/nikhil.md): Nikhil governs his estate with a conscience rare among landlords, refusing to coerce tenants into Swadeshi and questioning the righteousness of patriotic fervor. He loves Bimala with a self-effacing devotion that leaves 
- [Sandip Babu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/sandip_babu.md): Sandip arrives at Nikhil's estate and swiftly makes himself indispensable, treating Bimala as the living emblem of the Motherland he claims to serve. He confesses to worshipping Kali, the shameless goddess of destruction
- [Amulya](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/amulya.md): Amulya is Sandip's shadow and echo, a boy so devoted that he counts death a privilege if his leader deigns to notice him. Yet when Bimala shields him and trusts him with what she will not give Sandip, he becomes the one 
- [Bara Rani](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/bara_rani.md): The Bara Rani has watched Bimala displace her in Nikhil's affections and feels the loss keenly, though she has no right to complain. She clings to custom, to small domestic tyrannies, and to the weight of family obligati
- [Chota Rani](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/chota_rani.md): Nikhil's younger stepmother, more playful and less serious than the Bara Rani.
- [Panchu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/panchu.md): Panchu ekes out a living hawking trinkets through the marshes and making shell bangles by lamplight, yet he comes to Nikhil to repay coconuts he once stole in desperation. His grinding poverty exposes the limits of chari
- [Chandranath Babu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/chandranath_babu.md): As the seasoned friend and teacher to whom Nikhil turns when the household and the country both begin to fracture, Chandranath Babu embodies the patient, reasoning conscience the novel keeps testing against passion. His 
- [Miss Gilby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/miss_gilby.md): Bimala's English governess, who teaches her and later leaves due to political tensions.
- [Kasim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/kasim.md): A servant in Nikhil's household who carries messages and observes events.
- [Harish Kundu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/harish_kundu.md): A local merchant or moneylender involved in the Swadeshi movement's economic pressures.
- [Mirjan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/mirjan.md): A servant or attendant in the household, mentioned in passing.
- [Thako](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/thako.md): A minor household figure, possibly a maid or nurse.
- [Nanku](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/nanku.md): A minor character, possibly a servant or village resident.
- [Dewan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/dewan.md): The estate manager or minister of Nikhil's household, involved in administrative matters.
- [Senior Rani](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/senior_rani.md): Another name for the Bara Rani, Nikhil's elder stepmother.
- [Sister Rani](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/sister_rani.md): A term used for Bimala by others, possibly a respectful address.
- [Poor Noren](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_home_and_the_world_se/characters/poor_noren.md): A young man mentioned as a victim of the political turmoil, possibly a follower of Sandip.

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