Bengalis are a diverse group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. Approximately 70% are adherents ofIslam with a largeHindu minority and sizeable communities of Christians and Buddhists.Bengali Muslims, who live mainly in Bangladesh, primarily belong to theSunni denomination.Bengali Hindus, who live primarily in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam's Barak Valley, Jharkhand and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, generally followShaktism orVaishnavism, in addition to worshipping regional deities.[63][64][65] There exist small numbers ofBengali Christians, a large number of whom are descendants ofPortuguese voyagers, as well asBengali Buddhists, the bulk of whom belong to the Bengali-speakingBarua group inChittagong andRakhine.
Bengalis have influenced and contributed to diverse fields, notably thearts and architecture,language,folklore, literature, politics, military, business, science and technology.
The ancient political divisions of the Ganges delta.
The term Bengali is generally used to refer to someone whose linguistic, cultural or ancestral origins are fromBengal. TheIndo-Aryan Bengalis are ethnically differentiated from the non-Indo-Aryan tribes inhabiting Bengal. Theirethnonym,Bangali, along with the native name of theBengali language andBengal region,Bangla, are both derived fromBangālah, thePersian word for the region. Prior toMuslim expansion, there was no unitary territory by this name as the region was instead divided into numerous geopolitical divisions. The most prominent of these wereVaṅga (from whichBangālah is thought to ultimately derive from) in the south,Rāṛha in the west,Puṇḍravardhana andVarendra in the north, andSamataṭa andHarikela in the east.[citation needed]
The historic land of Vaṅga (bôngô in Bengali), situated in present-dayBarisal,[66] is considered by early historians of theAbrahamic andDharmic traditions to have originated from a man who had settled in the area though it is often dismissed aslegend. Early Abrahamic genealogists had suggested that this man was Bang, a son of Hind who was the son ofHam (son of Noah).[67][68][69] In contrast, theMahabharata,Puranas and theHarivamsha state that Vaṅga was the founder of theVaṅga kingdom and one of the adopted sons of King Vali. The land of Vaṅga later came to be known as Vaṅgāla (Bôngal) and its earliest reference is in the Nesari plates (805 CE) ofGovinda III which speak ofDharmapāla as its king. The records ofRajendra Chola I of theChola dynasty, who invaded Bengal in the 11th century, speak ofGovindachandra as the ruler ofVaṅgāladeśa (a Sanskrit cognate to the wordBangladesh, which was historically a synonymous endonym of Bengal).[70][71] 16th-century historianAbu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak mentions in hisʿAin-i-Akbarī that the addition of the suffix"al" came from the fact that the ancient rajahs of the land raised mounds of earth 10 feet high and 20 in breadth in lowlands at the foot of the hills which were called "al".[72] This is also mentioned inGhulam Husain Salim'sRiyāz us-Salāṭīn.[67]
In 1352, Muslim noblemanShamsuddin Ilyas Shah united the region into a single political entity known as theBengal Sultanate. Proclaiming himself asShāh-i-Bangālīyān,[73] it was in this period that theBengali language gained state patronage and corroborated literary development.[74][75] Ilyas Shah had effectively unified the region into one country.[76]
Parts of theCharyapada, a collection of ancient Buddhist hymns which mention the Bengalis, in display at theRajshahi College Library.
Archaeologists have discovered remnants of a 4,700-year-oldNeolithic andChalcolithic civilisation such asDihar[77] andPandu Rajar Dhibi[78] in the greaterBengal region, and believe the finds are one of the earliest signs of settlement in the region.[79] However, evidence of much olderPalaeolithic human habitations were found in the form of a stone implement and ahand axe in the upper Gandeshwari, Middle Dwarakeswar, Upper Kangsabati, Upper Tarafeni and Middle Subarnarekha valleys of the Indian stateWest Bengal,[80] andRangamati andFeni districts of Bangladesh.[81] Evidence of 42,000 years old human habitation has been found at the foothills of theAjodhya Hills in West Bengal.[82][83][84] Hatpara on the west bank ofBhagirathi River has evidence of human settlements dating back to around 15,000-20,000 years.[85]
Artefacts suggest that theChandraketugarh, which flourished in present-dayNorth 24 Parganas, date as far back as 600 BC to 300 BC,[86] andWari-Bateshwar civilisation, which flourished in present-dayNarsingdi, date as far back as 400 BC to 100 BC.[87][88] Not far from the rivers, the port city of Wari-Bateshwar, and the riverside port city of the Chandraketugarh,[89] are believed to have been engaged in foreign trade withAncient Rome, Southeast Asia and other regions.[89] The people of this civilisation live in bricked homes, walked on wide roads, usedsilver coins[90] and iron weaponry among many other things. The two cities are considered to be the oldest cities inBengal.[91]
It is thought that a man named Vanga settled in the area around 1000 BCE founding theVanga kingdom in southern Bengal. TheAtharvaveda and the Hindu epicMahabharata mentions this kingdom, along with thePundra kingdom in northern Bengal. The spread ofMauryan territory and promotion ofBuddhism by its emperorAshoka cultivated a growing Buddhist society among the people of present-day Bengal from the 2nd century BCE. Mauryan monuments as far as theGreat Stupa of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh mentioned the people of this region as adherents of Buddhism. The Buddhists of the Bengal region built and used dozens of monasteries, and were recognised for their religious commitments as far asNagarjunakonda inSouth India.[92]
One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land ruled by the king Xandrammes namedGangaridai by theGreeks around 100 BCE. The word is speculated to have come fromGangahrd ('Land with theGanges in its heart') in reference to an area in Bengal.[93] Later from the 3rd to the 6th centuriesCE, the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of theGupta Empire.
Middle Ages
Atiśa is recognised as one of the greatest figures of classical Buddhism, having inspired Buddhist thought fromTibet toSumatra.
One of the first recorded independent kings of Bengal wasShashanka,[94] reigning around the early 7th century, who is generally thought to have originated fromMagadha, Bihar, just west of Bengal.[95] After a period of anarchy, a native ruler calledGopala came into power in 750 CE. He originated fromVarendra in northern Bengal,[96] and founded the BuddhistPala Empire.[97]Atiśa, a renowned Buddhist teacher from eastern Bengal, was instrumental in the revival of Buddhism inTibet and also held the position ofAbbot at theVikramashila monastery inBihar.
The Pala Empire enjoyed relations with theSrivijaya Empire, theTibetan Empire, and theArabAbbasid Caliphate.Islam first appeared in Bengal during Pala rule, as a result of increased trade between Bengal and the Middle East.[98] The people ofSamatata, in southeastern Bengal, during the 10th century were of various religious backgrounds.Tilopa was a prominent Buddhist from modern-dayChittagong, though Samatata was ruled by the BuddhistChandra dynasty. During this time, theArab geographerAl-Masudi and author ofThe Meadows of Gold, travelled to the region where he noticed a Muslim community of inhabitants residing in the region.[99] In addition to trade, Islam was also being introduced to the people of Bengal through the migration of Sufi missionaries prior to conquest. The earliest known Sufi missionaries were Syed Shah Surkhul Antia and his students, most notablyShah Sultan Rumi, in the 11th century. Rumi settled in present-dayNetrokona, Mymensingh where he influenced the local ruler and population to embrace Islam.
Ghazi Pir is thought to have lived in theSundarbans some time between the 12th to 13th century.
The Pala dynasty was followed by a shorter reign of theHinduSena Empire. Subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region.[100]Bakhtiyar Khalji, aTurkic general, defeatedLakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal. Consequently, the region was ruled by dynasties ofsultans and feudal lords under theBengal Sultanate for the next few hundred years. Many of the people of Bengal began accepting Islam through the influx of missionaries[citation needed] following the initial conquest.Sultan Balkhi andShah Makhdum Rupos settled in the present-dayRajshahi Division in northern Bengal, preaching to the communities there. A community of 13 Muslim families headed byBurhanuddin also existed in the northeastern Hindu city ofSrihatta (Sylhet), claiming their descendants to have arrived fromChittagong.[101] By 1303, hundreds of Sufi preachers led byShah Jalal, who some biographers claim was a Turkistan-born Bengali,[102] aided the Muslim rulers in Bengal toconquer Sylhet, turning the town into Jalal's headquarters for religious activities. Following the conquest, Jalal disseminated his followers across different parts of Bengal to spread Islam, and became a household name amongBengali Muslims.
16th-century Portuguese painting of "Bengalis".
The establishment of a single unitedBengal Sultanate in 1352 byShamsuddin Ilyas Shah finally gave rise to the nameBangala for the region, and the development ofBengali language.[73] TheIlyas Shahi dynasty acknowledgedMuslim scholarship, and this transcended ethnic background.Usman Serajuddin, also known asAkhi Siraj Bengali, was a native ofGaur in western Bengal and became the Sultanate's court scholar during Ilyas Shah's reign.[103][104][105] Alongside Persian and Arabic, the sovereign Sunni Muslim nation-state also enabled thelanguage of the Bengali people to gain patronage and support, contrary to previous states which exclusively favouredSanskrit,Pali andPersian.[74][75] The born-Hindu SultanJalaluddin Muhammad Shah funded the construction of Islamic institutions as far asMecca andMadina in the Middle East. The people ofArabia came to know these institutions asal-Madaris al-Bangaliyyah (Bengali madrasas).
TheMughal Empire conquered Bengal in the 16th century, ending the independentSultanate of Bengal and defeating Bengal's rebellionBaro-Bhuiyan chieftains. Mughal generalMan Singh conquered parts of Bengal includingDhaka during the time of EmperorAkbar and a fewRajput tribes from his army permanently settled around Dhaka and surrounding lands, integrating into Bengali society.[106] Akbar's preaching of the syncreticDin-i Ilahi, was described as ablasphemy by theQadi of Bengal, which caused huge controversies in South Asia. In the 16th century, manyUlama of the Bengali Muslim intelligentsia migrated to other parts of the subcontinent as teachers and instructors ofIslamic knowledge such as Ali Sher Bengali toAhmedabad,Shah Manjhan toSarangpur, Usman Bengali toSambhal and Yusuf Bengali toBurhanpur.[107]
By the early 17th century,Islam Khan I had conquered all of Bengal and was integrated into a province known as theBengal Subah. It was the largestsubdivision of theMughal Empire, as it also encompassed parts ofBihar andOdisha, between the 16th and 18th centuries.[citation needed] Described by some as the "Paradise of Nations"[108] and the "Golden Age of Bengal",[109] Bengalis enjoyed some of the highestliving standards andreal wages in the world at the time.[110] Singlehandedly accounting for 40% ofDutch imports from Asia,[111] eastern Bengal was globally prominent in industries such astextile manufacturing andshipbuilding,[112] and was a major exporter of silk and cotton textiles, steel,saltpetre, and agricultural and industrial produce in the world.
Under British rule, Bengal experienced deindustrialisation.[115] Discontent with the situation, numerous rebellions and revolts were attempted by the Bengali people. TheIndian Rebellion of 1857 was initiated on the outskirts of Calcutta, and spread to Dhaka, Jalpaiguri and Agartala, in solidarity with revolts inNorth India. HavildarRajab Ali commanded the rebels inChittagong as far asSylhet andManipur. The failure of the rebellion led to the abolishment of the Mughal court completely and direct rule by theBritish Raj.
Many Bengali labourers were taken as coolies to the British colonies in the Caribbean during the 1830s. Workers from Bengal were chosen because they could easily assimilate to the climate ofBritish Guyana, which was similar to that of Bengal.
Swami Vivekananda is considered a key figure in the introduction ofVedanta andYoga in Europe and America,[120] and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringingHinduism to the status of a world religion during the 1800s.[121] On the other hand,Ram Mohan Roy led a socio-Hindu reformist movement known asBrahmoism which called for the abolishment ofsati (widow sacrifice),child marriage,polytheism andidol worship.[122][123] In 1804, he wrote the Persian bookTuḥfat al-Muwaḥḥidīn (A Gift to the Monotheists) and spent the next two decades attacking theKulin Brahmin bastions of Bengal.[124]
Leaders such asSubhas Chandra Bose did not subscribe to the view that non-violent civil disobedience was the best way to achieve independence, and were instrumental in armed resistance against the British. Bose was the co-founder and leader of the Japanese-alignedIndian National Army (distinct from theBritish Indian Army) which fought against Allied forces in theBurma campaign. He was also the head of state of a parallel regime, theAzad Hind. A number of Bengalis died during the independence movement and many were imprisoned in the notoriousCellular Jail in theAndaman Islands.
The breakdown of Hindu-Muslim unity in India drove the Muslim League to adopt theLahore Resolution in 1943, calling the creation of "independent states" in eastern and northwestern British India. The resolution paved the way for thePartition of British India based on theRadcliffe Line in 1947, despite attempts to form aUnited Bengal state that was opposed by many people.
The rise ofself-determination andBengali nationalism movements inEast Bengal, led bySheikh Mujibur Rahman. This eventually culminated in the 1971Bangladesh Liberation War against the Pakistani military junta. The war caused millions of East Bengali refugees to take shelter in neighbouring India, especially the Indian state ofWest Bengal, with Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal, becoming the capital-in-exile of theProvisional Government of Bangladesh. TheMukti Bahini guerrilla forces waged a nine-month war against the Pakistani military. The conflict ended after the Indian Armed Forces intervened on the side of Bangladeshi forces in the final two weeks of the war, which ended with thesurrender of East Pakistan and the liberation of Dhaka on 16 December 1971. Thus, the newly independentPeople's Republic of Bangladesh was born from what was previously the East Pakistan province of Pakistan.
I'tisam-ud-Din was the first educated Bengali and South Asian to have travelled to Europe.
Bengalis constitute the largest ethnic group in Bangladesh, at approximately 98% of the nation's inhabitants.[125] TheCensus of India does not recogniseracial or ethnic groups within India,[126] theCIA Factbook estimated that there are 100 million Bengalis in India constituting 7% of the country's total population. In addition toWest Bengal, Bengalis form the demographic majority inAssam'sBarak Valley andLower region as well as parts ofManipur.[58] The state ofTripura as well as theAndaman and Nicobar Islandsunion territory, which lies in theBay of Bengal, are also home to a Bengali-majority population, most of whom are descendants of Hindus from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) that migrated there following the 1947Partition of India.[127]: 3–4 [128][129] Bengali migration to the latter archipelago was also boosted by subsequent state-fundedColonisation Schemes by theGovernment of India.[130][131]
Large numbers of Bengalis have settled and established themselves inBanglatown.
Bengali ethnic descent and emigrant communities are found primarily in other parts ofthe subcontinent, the Middle East and the Western World. Substantial populations descended from Bengali immigrants exist inSaudi Arabia,Pakistan and the United Kingdom where they form established communities of over 1 million people. The majority of the overseas Bengali diaspora are Muslims as the act of seafaring was traditionally prohibited in Hinduism; a taboo known askala pani (black/dirty water).[132]
Earliest records of Bengalis in the European continent date back to the reign of KingGeorge III of England during the 16th century. One such example isI'tisam-ud-Din, a Bengali Muslim cleric fromNadia in western Bengal, who arrived to Europe in 1765 with his servant Muhammad Muqim as a diplomat for theMughal Empire.[137] Another example during this period is ofJames Achilles Kirkpatrick'shookah-bardar (hookah servant/preparer) who was said to have robbed and cheated Kirkpatrick, making his way to England and stylising himself as thePrince of Sylhet. The man, presumably fromSylhet in eastern Bengal, was waited upon by thePrime Minister of Great BritainWilliam Pitt the Younger, and then dined with theDuke of York before presenting himself in front of the King.[138] Today, theBritish Bangladeshis are a naturalised community in the United Kingdom, running 90% of allSouth Asian cuisine restaurants and having established numerousethnic enclaves across the country – most prominent of which isBanglatown inEast London.[139]
An important and unifying characteristic of Bengalis is that most of them use Bengali as their native tongue, which belongs to theIndo-Aryan language family.[140] With about 226 million native and about 300 million total speakers worldwide, Bengali is one of themost spoken languages, ranked sixth in the world,[141][142] and is also used alingua franca among other ethnic groups and tribes living within and around the Bengal region. Bengali is generally written using theBengali script and evolved circa 1000–1200 CE fromMagadhi Prakrit, thus bearing similarities to ancient languages such asPali. Its closest modern relatives are otherEastern Indo-Aryan languages such asAssamese,Odia and theBihari languages.[143] Though Bengali may have a historic legacy of borrowing vocabulary from languages such asPersian andSanskrit,[144] modern borrowings primarily come from the English language.
Various forms of the language are in use today and provide an important force for Bengali cohesion. These distinct forms can be sorted into three categories. The first isClassical Bengali (সাধু ভাষাŚadhu Bhaśa), which was a historical form restricted to literary usage up until the late British period. The second isStandard Bengali (চলিত ভাষাČôlitô Bhaśa orশুদ্ধ ভাষাŚuddho Bhaśa), which is the modern literary form, and is based upon the dialects of the divided Nadia region (partitioned betweenNadia andKushtia). It is used today in writing and in formal speaking, for example, prepared speeches, some radio broadcasts, and non-entertainment content. The third and largest category by speakers would beColloquial Bengali (আঞ্চলিক ভাষাAñčôlik Bhaśa orকথ্য ভাষাKôththô Bhaśa). These refer to informal spoken language that varies by dialect from region to region.
Social stratification
Bengali people may be broadly classified into sub-groups predominantly based on dialect but also other aspects of culture:
Bangals: This is a term used predominantly in IndianWest Bengal to refer to East Bengalis – i.e.Bangladeshis as well as those whose ancestors originate from Eastern Bengal. The East Bengali dialects are known asBangali. This group constitutes the majority of ethnic Bengalis. They originate from the mainland Bangladeshi regions ofDhaka,Mymensingh,Comilla,Sylhet,Barisal andChittagong.
Ghotis: This is the term favoured by the natives ofWest Bengal to distinguish themselves from other Bengalis.
The people ofPurulia, and greaterManbhum, reside in far-western Bengal and have some regional differences with the mainland Ghotis via dialect and culture. Other Ghoti communities include theGhosis andLodhas.[147]
The region ofNorth Bengal, which hostsVarendri andRangpuri speakers, is divided between both West Bengal and Bangladesh, and they are normally categorised into the former two main groups depending on which side of the border they reside in even though they are culturally similar to each other regardless of international borders. The categorisation of North Bengalis into Ghoti or Bangal is contested. Rangpuri speakers can also be found in parts ofLower Assam, while theShershahabadia community extend into Bihar. Other northern Bengali communities include theKhotta andNashya Shaikh.
Bengalis Hindus are socially stratified into four castes, calledchôturbôrṇô. The caste system derived from Hindu system ofbôrṇô (type, order, colour or class) andjāti (clan, tribe, community or sub-community), which divides people into four colours: White, Red, Yellow and Black. White people areBrahmôṇ, who are destined to be priests, teachers and preachers; Red people areKkhôtriyô, who are destined to be kings, governors, warriors and soldiers; Yellow people areBôiśśô, who are born to be cattle herders, ploughmen, artisans and merchants; and Black people areShūdrô, who are born to be labourers and servants to the people oftwice-born caste.[148][149] People from all caste denominations exist among Bengali Hindus.Ram Mohan Roy, who was born Hindu, founded theBrahmo Samaj which attempted to abolish the practices of casteism,sati andchild marriage among Hindus.[122]
The largest religions practised inBengal areIslam and Hinduism.[153] Among all Bengalis, more than two-thirds are Muslims. The vast majority follow theSunni denomination though there are also a small minority ofShias. The Bengali Muslims form a 90.4% majority in Bangladesh,[154] and a 30% minority among the ethnic Bengalis in the entirety of India.[155][156][157][158][159] In West Bengal, Bengali Muslims form a 66.88% majority inMurshidabad district, the former seat of the ShiaNawabs of Bengal, a 51.27% majority inMalda, which contains the erstwhile capitals of the SunniBengal Sultanate, and they also number over 5,487,759 in the24 Parganas.[160]
Just less than a third of all Bengalis are Hindus (predominantly, theShaktas andVaishnavists),[63] and as per as 2011 census report, they form a 70.54% majority inWest Bengal, 50% plurality in Southern Assam'sBarak Valley region,[161] 60% majority in the India's North Eastern state ofTripura,[162] 28% plurality inAndaman and Nicobar Islands, 9% significance population in India's Eastern state ofJharkhand[163] and 7.95% minority inBangladesh.[164][158] In Bangladesh, Hindus are mostly concentrated inSylhet Division where they constitute 13.51% of the population, and are mostly populated inDhaka Division where they number over 2.7 million. Hindus form a 54.46% majority inDacope Upazila. In terms of population, Bangladesh is the third largest Hindu populated country of the world, just after India andNepal. The total Hindu population in Bangladesh exceeds the population of many Muslim majority countries likeYemen,Jordan,Tajikistan,Syria,Tunisia,Oman, and others.[165] Also the total Hindu population in Bangladesh is roughly equal to the total population of Greece and Belgium.[166] Bengali Hindus also worship regional deities.[63][64][65]
Bengalis have a rich cultural diversity in celebrating festivals throughout the year, suggesting the phrase -''Baro Mashe Tero Parbon''. Along with major festivals, every month in theBengali calendar has rituals for the well-being and prosperity for the family members, often called asbrotos (vow).[167]
Pohela Boishakh is a celebration of the new year and arrival of summer in theBengali calendar and is celebrated in April. Most of households and business establishments worshipLakshmi-Ganesh in this particular day for their success and prosperity.[175] It features a funfair, music and dance displays on stages, with people dressed in colourful traditional clothes, parading through the streets.[176] Festivals likePahela Falgun (spring) are also celebrated regardless of their faith. The Bengalis ofDhaka celebrateShakrain, an annual kite festival. TheNabanna is a Bengali celebration akin to theharvest festivals in the Western world.Language Movement Day is observed in Bangladesh and India. In 1999,UNESCO declared 21 February asInternational Mother Language Day, in tribute to the Language Movement and the ethnolinguistic rights of people around the world.[177]Kolkata Book Fair is the world's largest non-trade and the most attended book fair, where people from different countries gather together.[178]
The recorded history of art in Bengal can be traced to the 3rd century BCE, whenterracotta sculptures were made in the region. The architecture of theBengal Sultanate saw a distinct style of domed mosques with complex niche pillars that had no minarets.Ivory,pottery andbrass were also widely used in Bengali art.
Attire and clothing
A Bengali Muslim man sporting a simple blacksherwani.
Bengali attire is shares similarities with North Indian attire. In rural areas, older women wear theshari while the younger generation wear theselwar kamiz, both with simple designs. In urban areas, theselwar kamiz is more popular, and has distinct fashionable designs. Traditionally Bengali men wore thejama, though the costumes such as thepanjabi withselwar orpyjama have become more popular within the past three centuries. The popularity of thefotua, a shorter upper garment, is undeniable among Bengalis in casual environments. Thelungi andgamcha are a common combination for rural Bengali men.Islamic clothing is also very common in the region. During special occasions, Bengali women commonly wear eithersharis,selwar kamizes orabayas, covering their hair withhijab ororna; and men wear apanjabi, also covering their hair with atupi,toqi,pagri orrumal.
Mughal Bengal's most celebrated artistic tradition was the weaving ofJamdanimotifs on fine muslin, which is now classified by UNESCO as anintangible cultural heritage. Jamdani motifs were similar to Iranian textile art (buta motifs) and Western textile art (paisley). The Jamdani weavers in Dhaka received imperial patronage.[179]
The traditional attire of Bengali Hindus isdhoti andkurta for men, andsaree for women.
Bengali cuisine is the culinary style of the Bengali people. It has the only traditionally developed multi-course tradition from South Asia that is analogous in structure to the modern service à la russe style ofFrench cuisine, with food served course-wise rather than all at once. The dishes of Bengal are often centuries old and reflect the rich history of trade in Bengal through spices, herbs, and foods. With an emphasis on fish and vegetables served with rice as a staple diet, Bengali cuisine is known for its subtle flavours, and its huge spread of confectioneries and milk-based desserts. One will find the following items in most dishes;mustard oil,fish,panch phoron,lamb, onion, rice,cardamom,yogurt andspices. The food is often served in plates which have a distinct flowery pattern often in blue or pink. Common beverages includeshorbot,borhani,ghol,matha,lachhi,falooda,Rooh Afza, natural juices likeAkher rosh,Khejur rosh,Aamrosh,Dudh cha,Taler rosh,Masala cha, as well asbasil seed ortukma-based drinks.
Bangladeshi and West Bengali cuisines have many similarities, but also many unique traditions at the same time. These kitchens have been influenced by the history of the respective regions. The kitchens can be further divided into the urban and rural kitchens. Urban kitchens in Bangladesh consist of native dishes with foreign Mughal influence, for example theHaji biryani and Chevron Biryani ofOld Dhaka.
Bengali literature denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language, which has developed over the course of roughly 13 centuries. The earliest extant work in Bengali literature can be found within theCharyapada, a collection of Buddhist mystic hymns dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries. They were discovered in the Royal Court Library ofNepal byHara Prasad Shastri in 1907. The timeline of Bengali literature is divided into three periods − ancient (650–1200), medieval (1200–1800) and modern (after 1800). Medieval Bengali literature consists of various poetic genres, including Islamic epics by the likes ofAbdul Hakim andSyed Sultan, secular texts by Muslim poets likeAlaol and Vaishnava texts by the followers ofKrishna Chaitanya. Bengali writers began exploring different themes through narratives and epics such as religion, culture, cosmology, love and history. Royal courts such as that of theBengal Sultanate and thekingdom of Mrauk U gave patronage to numerous Bengali writers such asShah Muhammad Saghir,Daulat Qazi andDawlat Wazir Bahram Khan.
TheBengali Renaissance refers to a socio-religious reform movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, centered around the city ofCalcutta and predominantly led by upper-casteBengali Hindus under the patronage of theBritish Raj who had created a reformed religion known as theBrahmo Samaj. HistorianNitish Sengupta describes the Bengal renaissance as having begun withRaja Ram Mohan Roy (1775–1833) and ended with Asia's first Nobel laureateRabindranath Tagore (1861–1941).[116]
Though the Bengal Renaissance was predominantly representative to the Hindu community due to their relationship with British colonisers,[192] there were, nevertheless, examples of modern Muslim littérateurs in this period.Mir Mosharraf Hossain (1847–1911) was the first major writer in the modern era to emerge from the Bengali Muslim society, and one of the finest prose writers in the Bengali language. Hismagnum opusBishad Shindhu is a popular classic among Bengali readership.Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976), notable for his activism and anti-British literature, was described as the Rebel Poet and is now recognised as the National poet of Bangladesh.Begum Rokeya (1880–1932) was the leading female Bengali author of this period, best known for writingSultana's Dream which was subsequently translated into numerous languages.
Marriage
The application ofmehndi onto one's hand hosts a ceremony of itself during Bengali wedding seasons.A Bengali groomsupplicating during his wedding.
A marriage among Bengalis often consists of multiple events rather than just one wedding.Arranged marriages are arguably the most common form of marriage among Bengalis and are considered traditional in society.[193] Marriage is seen as a union between two families rather than just two people,[194][195] and they play a large part in developing and maintainingsocial ties between families and villages. The two families are facilitated byGhotoks (mutual matchmakers), and the first event is known as thePaka Dekha/Dekhadekhi where all those involved are familiarised with each other over a meal at the bride's home. The first main event is thePaan-Chini/Chini-Paan, hosted by the bride's family. Gifts are received from the groom's family and the marriage date is fixed in this event.[196] Anadda takes place between the families as they consume a traditional Bengali banquet of food,paan, tea andmishti. The next event is themehndi (henna) evening also known as thegaye holud (turmeric on the body). In Bengali Muslim weddings, this is normally followed by the main event, thewalima, hosting thousands of guests. Anaqd (vow) takes place, where a contract of marriage (Kabin nama) and is signed. Aqazi orimam is usually present here and would also recite theQur'an and makedua for the couple. The groom is required to paymohor (dowry) to the bride. For Bengali Hindu weddings, a Hindu priest is present, and the groom and bride follow Hindu customs culminating in the groom putting sindoor (vermillion) on the head of the bride to indicate that she is now a married woman. ThePhirajatra/Phirakhaowa consists of the return of the bride with her husband to her home, which then becomes referred to asNaiyor, andpayesh and milk are served. Other post-marriage ceremonies include theBou Bhat which takes place in the groom's home.
BengaliAiburo Bhaat Thali in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Arranged marriages are arguably the most common form of marriage among Bengalis and are considered traditional in society.[193] Though polygamy is rarity among Bengalis today, it was historically prevalent among both Muslims and Hindus prior toBritish colonisation and was a sign of prosperity.[197]
The contribution of Bengalis to modern science is pathbreaking in the world's context.Qazi Azizul Haque was an inventor who is credited for devising the mathematical basis behind afingerprint classification system that continued to be used up until the 1990s for criminal investigations.Abdus Suttar Khan invented more than forty different alloys for commercial application in space shuttles, jet engines, train engines and industrial gas turbines. In 2006,Abul Hussam invented theSono arsenic filter and subsequently became the recipient of the 2007Grainger challenge Prize forSustainability.[198] Another biomedical scientist,Parvez Haris, was listed among the top 1% of 100,000 scientists in the world byStanford University.[199]Rafiqul Islam was the first to discover food saline (Orsaline) for the treatment ofdiarrhoea.The Lancet considered this discovery to be "the most important medical discovery of the 20th century".[200]
Fazlur Rahman Khan was a structural engineer responsible for making many important advancements in high rise designs.[201] He was the designer ofWillis Tower, the tallest building in the world until 1998. Khan's seminal work of developing tall building structural systems are still used today as the starting point when considering design options for tall buildings.[202] In 2023, the billion-dollarStable Diffusiondeep learningtext-to-image model was developed byStability AI founded byEmad Mostaque.[203][204][205]
Traditional Bengali sports consisted of various martial arts and variousracing sports, though the British-introduced sports ofcricket andfootball are now most popular among Bengalis.
Lathi khela (stick-fighting) was historically a method of duelling as a way to protect or take land and others' possessions. TheZamindars of Bengal would hirelathials (trained stick-fighters) as a form of security and a means to forcefully collect tax from tenants.[215] Nationwidelathi khela competitions used to take place annually inKushtia up until 1989, though its practice is now diminishing and being restricted to certain festivals and celebrations.[216]Chamdi is a variant oflathi khela popular inNorth Bengal.Kushti (wrestling) is also another popular fighting sport and it has developed regional forms such asboli khela, which was introduced in 1889 by Zamindar Qadir Bakhsh ofChittagong. A merchant known as Abdul Jabbar Saodagar adapted the sport in 1907 with the intention of cultivating a sport that would prepare Bengalis in fighting against British colonials.[217][218] In 1972, a popularcontactteam sport calledKabadi was made thenational sport ofBangladesh. It is a regulated version of the ruralHadudu sport which had no fixed rules. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of Bangladesh was formed in 1973.[219]Butthan, a 20th-century Bengali martial arts invented by GrandmasterMak Yuree, is now practised in different parts of the world under the International Butthan Federation.[220]
Mohammed Salim, the first South Asian footballer to play for a foreign club. Due to playing in bare feet, he is having them bandaged byJimmy McMenemy in 1936.
TheNouka Baich is a Bengali boat racing competition which takes place during and after the rainy season when much of the land goes under water. The long canoes were referred to askhel nao (meaning playing boats) and the use ofcymbals to accompany the singing was common. Different types of boats are used in different parts of Bengal.[221]Horse racing was patronised most notably by theDighapatia Rajas inNatore, and theirChalanbeel Horse Races have continued to take place annually for centuries.
Football is the most popular sports among Bengalis.[228] Bengal is the home to Asia's oldest football league,Calcutta Football League and the fourth oldest cup tournament in the world,Durand Cup.East Bengal andMohun Bagan are the biggest clubs in the region and subsequently India, and among the biggest in Asia. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan participate inKolkata Derby, which is the biggest sports derby in Asia. Mohun Bagan, founded in 1889, is the oldest native football club of Bengal. The club is primarily supported by theGhotis, who are the native inhabitants ofWest Bengal. East Bengal, on the contrary, was founded on 1 August 1920 and is a club Primarily supported by the ethnic eastern Bengalis. Mohun Bagan's first major victory was in 1911, when the team defeated an English club known as the Yorkshire Regiment to win theIFA Shield. In 2003, East Bengal became the first Indian club to win a major international trophy in the form ofASEAN Club Championship. While Mohun Bagan currently holds the most amount of national titles (6 in total), East Bengal is the stronger side in the Kolkata derby, having won 138 out of a total of 391 matches in which these two teams participited. East Bengal also takes the crown for having won themost major trophies in India (109 compared to the 105 of Mohun Bagan).Mohammed Salim ofCalcutta became the firstSouth Asian to play for a European football club in 1936.[229] In his two appearances forCeltic F.C., he played the entire matches barefoot and scored several goals.[230] In 2015,Hamza Choudhury became the first Bengali to play in thePremier League and is predicted to be the firstBritish Asian to play for theEngland national football team.[231]
Bengalis are very competitive when it comes to board and home games such asPachisi and its modern counterpartLudo, as well asLatim,Carrom Board, Chor-Pulish,Kanamachi andChess.Rani Hamid is one of the most successful chess players in the world, winning championships in Asia and Europe multiple times.Ramnath Biswas was a revolutionary soldier who embarked on three world tours on a bicycle in the 19th century.
^Figure includes combined responses of people who selected "Bangladeshi" as their ethnicity in all UK countries, and Indian or other ethnic group (England & Wales only) who selected "Bengali" as their main language[13] in the 2021 UK census
^"Saudi Arabia 2022 Census"(PDF).General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 28 April 2024. Retrieved14 October 2024.
^Shamsi, Tasdidaa; Al-Din, Zaheed (December 2015).Lifestyle of Bangladeshi Workers in Maldives. 13th Asian Business Research Conference. Bangladesh.Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved1 January 2020.
^Datta, Romita (13 November 2020)."The great Hindu vote trick".India Today.Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved4 October 2022.Hindus add up to about 70 million in Bengal's 100 million population, of which around 55 million are Bengalis.
^abKhan, Mojlum (2013).The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal. Kube Publishing Ltd. p. 2.ISBN978-1-84774-052-6.Bengali-speaking Muslims as a group consists of around 200 million people.
^abcMcDermott, Rachel Fell (2005). "Bengali religions". In Lindsay Jones (ed.).Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA. p. 826.ISBN0-02-865735-7.
^Keay, John (2000).India: A History. Atlantic Monthly Press. p. 220.ISBN978-0-87113-800-2.In C1020 ... launched Rajendra's great northern escapade ... peoples he defeated have been tentatively identified ... 'Vangala-desa where the rain water never stopped' sounds like a fair description of Bengal in the monsoon.
^Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999) [First published 1988].Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. p. 281.ISBN978-81-224-1198-0.
^ab"What is more significant, a contemporary Chinese traveler reported that although Persian was understood by some in the court, the language in universal use there was Bengali. This points to the waning, although certainly not yet the disappearance, of the sort of foreign mentality that the Muslim ruling class in Bengal had exhibited since its arrival over two centuries earlier. It also points to the survival, and now the triumph, of local Bengali culture at the highest level of official society." (Eaton 1993:60)
^Gautam Basumallik (30 March 2015).৪২০০০ বছর আগে অযোধ্যা পাহাড় অঞ্চলে জনবসবাসের নিদর্শন মিলেছে [42,000 years ago, evidence of human habitation has been found in the Ayodhya Hills region].Ei Samay (Editorial) (in Bengali). Retrieved26 March 2024.
^Bishnupriya Basak; Pradeep Srivastava; Sujit Dasgupta; Anil Kumar; S. N. Rajaguru (10 October 2014). "Earliest dates and implications of Microlithic industries of Late Pleistocene from Mahadebbera and Kana, Purulia district, West Bengal".Current Science.107:1167–1171.
^বেলাব উপজেলার পটভূমি [Belabo Upazila's Background].Belabo Upazila (in Bengali). Archived fromthe original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved24 February 2022.
^Sinha, Bindeshwari Prasad (1977).Dynastic History of Magadha. India: Abhinav Publications. pp. 131–133.Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved16 September 2019.
^Insight, Apa Productions (November 1988).South Asia. APA Publications. p. 317.
^Al-Masudi, trans. Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille (1962). "1:155". In Pellat, Charles (ed.).Les Prairies d'or [Murūj al-dhahab] (in French). Paris: Société asiatique.
^Qurashi, Ishfaq (December 2012). "বুরহান উদ্দিন ও নূরউদ্দিন প্রসঙ্গ" [Burhan Uddin and Nooruddin].শাহজালাল(রঃ) এবং শাহদাউদ কুরায়শী(রঃ) [Shah Jalal and Shah Dawud Qurayshi] (in Bengali).
^Misra, Neeru (2004).Sufis and Sufism: Some Reflections. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 103.ISBN978-81-7304-564-6.
^Esposito, John L., ed. (2004)."Great Britain".The Islamic World: Past and Present. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 174.ISBN978-0-19-516520-3.Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved16 May 2021.The sale of exports from these regions helped to support the Industrial Revolution in Britain
^abNitish Sengupta (2001).History of the Bengali-speaking People. UBS Publishers' Distributors. p. 211.ISBN978-81-7476-355-6.The Bengal Renaissance can be said to have started with Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775-1833) and ended with Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941).
^Hasan, Farhat (1991). "Conflict and Cooperation in Anglo-Mughal Trade Relations during the Reign of Aurangzeb".Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient.34 (4):351–360.doi:10.1163/156852091X00058.JSTOR3632456.
^Vaugn, James (September 2017). "John Company Armed: The English East India Company, the Anglo-Mughal War and Absolutist Imperialism, c. 1675–1690".Britain and the World.11 (1).
^Baten, Jörg (2016).A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present. Cambridge University Press. p. 251.ISBN978-1-107-50718-0.
^Source: The Gazetteer of India, Volume 1: Country and people. Delhi, Publications Division, Government of India, 1965. CHAPTER VIII – Religion. HINDUISMby C.P.Ramaswami Aiyar, Nalinaksha Dutt, A.R.Wadia, M.Mujeeb, Dharm Pal and Fr. Jerome D'Souza, S.J.
^Syed, M. H."Raja Rammohan Roy"(PDF). Himalaya Publishing House.Archived(PDF) from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved29 November 2015.
^"Bānlādēśakē jānuna"জানুন [Discover Bangladesh] (in Bengali). National Web Portal of Bangladesh.Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved13 February 2015.
^Khaleeli, Homa (8 January 2012)."The curry crisis".The Guardian.Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved16 May 2021.
^"...Comparing seven Indo-Aryan languages – Hindi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Gujarati, Marathi, Oriya and Bengali – are also significant contributions to New Indo-Aryan (NIA) studies.(Cardona 2007:627)
^"Within the Eastern Indic language family the history of the separation of Bangla from Odia, Assamese, and the languages of Bihar remains to be worked out carefully. Scholars do not yet agree on criteria for deciding if certain tenth century AD texts were in a Bangla already distinguishable from the other languages, or marked a stage at which Eastern Indic had not finished differentiating." (Cardona 2007:352)
^Tanweer Fazal (2012).Minority Nationalisms in South Asia: 'We are with culture but without geography': locating Sylheti identity in contemporary India, Nabanipa Bhattacharjee. pp.59–67.
^Hiltebeitel, Alf (2011).Dharma : its early history in law, religion, and narrative. Oxford University Press. pp. 529–531.ISBN978-0-19-539423-8
^Datta, Romita (13 November 2020)."The great Hindu vote trick".India Today.Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved4 October 2022.Hindus add up to about 70 million in Bengal's 100 million population, of which around 55 million are Bengalis.
^abMcDermott, Rachel Fell (2005). "Bengali religions". In Lindsay Jones (ed.).Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA. p. 824.ISBN0-02-865735-7.
^Andre, Aletta; Kumar, Abhimanyu (23 December 2016)."Protest poetry: Assam's Bengali Muslims take a stand".Aljazeera.Aljazeera.Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved26 January 2017.Total Muslim population in Assam is 34.22% of which 90% are Bengali Muslims according to this source which puts the Bengali Muslim percentage in Assam as 29.08%
^Bose, Girish Chandra (1958). Roy, Alok (ed.).Sekaler Darogar Kahini (in Bengali) (2nd ed.). Kolkata: Pustak Bipani. pp. 34–35.
^Eade, John; Fremeaux, Isabelle; Garbin, David (2002). "The Political Construction of Diasporic Communities in the Global City". In Gilbert, Pamela K. (ed.).Imagined Londons. State University of New York. p. 170.ISBN0-7914-5501-7.
^Glassie, Henry and Mahmud, Feroz.2008.Living Traditions. Cultural Survey of Bangladesh Series-II. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Dhaka. International Mother Language Day
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^Sen, A. K. (1997). "Sir J.C. Bose and radio science".Microwave Symposium Digest. IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium. Vol. 2. Denver, CO: IEEE. pp. 557–560.doi:10.1109/MWSYM.1997.602854.ISBN0-7803-3814-6.
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^"Bangladeshi Player Shakib Al Hasan named best all-rounder in all formats by ICC: Some interesting facts about the cricketer".India Today. New Delhi, India. 27 June 2015.
^Breck, A.Alan Breck's Book of Scottish Football. Scottish Daily Express, 1937, cited in"Salim, Mohammed".All time A to Z of Celtic players. thecelticwiki.org. 29 May 2006.Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved15 April 2013. See also,"Barefooted Indian who left Calcutta to join Celtic".The Scotsman. 12 December 2008.Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved15 April 2013.
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