Description
Bangladesh (/ˌbæŋləˈdɛʃ/,[16] Bengali: বাংলাদেশ, pronounced [ˈbaŋlaˌdeʃ] (About this soundlisten)), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 163 million people, in an area of 147,570 square kilometres (56,980 sq mi), making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, Myanmar to the southeast, and the Bay of Bengal to the south. It is narrowly separated from Nepal and Bhutan by the Siliguri Corridor, and from China by Sikkim, in the north, respectively. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's economic, political, and cultural hub. Chittagong, the largest seaport, is the second-largest city.
Bangladesh forms the larger and eastern part of the Bengal region.[17] According to the ancient Indian texts, Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata, the Vanga Kingdom, one of the namesakes of the Bengal region, was a strong naval power. In the ancient and classical periods of the Indian subcontinent, the territory was home to many principalities, including the Pundra, Gangaridai, Gauda, Samatata, and Harikela. It was also a Mauryan province under the reign of Ashoka. The principalities were notable for their overseas trade, contacts with the Roman world, the export of fine muslin and silk to the Middle East, and spreading of philosophy and art to Southeast Asia. The Gupta Empire, Pala Empire, the Chandra dynasty, and the Sena dynasty were the last pre-Islamic Bengali middle kingdoms. Islam was introduced during the Pala Empire, through trade with the Abbāsid Caliphate,[18] but following the Ghurid conquests led by Bakhtiyār Khaljī, the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and preaching of Shah Jalāl in the north-east, it spread across the entire region. In 1576, the wealthy Bengal Sultanate was absorbed into the Mughal Empire, but its rule was briefly interrupted by the Sūr Empire. Mughal Bengal, worth 12% of world GDP (late 17th century), waved the Proto-industrialization, showed signs of a possible Industrial revolution,[19][20] established relations with the Dutch and English East India Company, and became also the basis of the Anglo-Mughal War. Following the death of Emperor Aurangzēb Ālamgir and Governor Shāista Khān in the early 1700s, the region became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal. Sirāj ud-Daulah, the last Nawab of Bengal, was defeated by the British East India Company at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the whole region fell under Company rule by 1793.[21]
After the decline of the British Bengal Presidency, the borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal in August 1947 at the time of partition of India, when the region became East Pakistan as a part of the newly formed Dominion of Pakistan.[22] Later the rise of a pro-democracy movement thrived on Bengali nationalism and self-determination, leading to the Liberation War and eventually resulted in the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign and independent nation in 1971.
The Bengalis make up 98% of the total population of Bangladesh.[4][5] The large Muslim population of Bangladesh makes it the third-largest Muslim-majority country.[23] The constitution declares Bangladesh a secular state, while establishing Islam as a state religion.[24] As a middle power in world politics,[25] Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional republic following the Westminster system of governance. The country is divided into eight administrative divisions and 64 districts. Although the country continues to face the challenges of the Rohingya refugee crisis,[26] corruption,[27] and the adverse effects of climate change,[28] Bangladesh is one of the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is also one of the Next Eleven countries, having Asia's fastest real GDP growth rate.[29] The Bangladeshi economy is the 39th-largest in the world by nominal GDP, and the 29th-largest by PPP.
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Early and medieval periods
2.2 Colonial period
2.3 Partition of Bengal (1947)
2.4 Union with Pakistan
2.5 War of Independence
2.6 People's Republic of Bangladesh
2.6.1 First parliamentary era
2.6.2 Presidential era and coups (1975–1991)
2.6.3 Current parliamentary era (1991–present)
3 Geography
3.1 Administrative geography
3.2 Climate
3.3 Biodiversity
4 Politics and government
4.1 Executive branch
4.2 Legislative branch
4.3 Legal system
4.4 Military
4.5 Foreign relations
4.6 Human rights
4.7 Corruption
5 Economy
5.1 Agriculture
5.2 Transport
5.3 Energy and infrastructure
5.4 Science and technology
5.5 Tourism
6 Demographics
6.1 Urban centres
6.2 Language
6.3 Religion
7 Education
8 Health
9 Culture
9.1 Visual arts
9.2 Literature
9.3 Women in Bangladesh
9.4 Architecture
9.5 Performing arts
9.6 Textiles
9.7 Cuisine
9.8 Festivals
9.9 Sports
9.10 Media and cinema
9.11 Museums and libraries
10 See also
11 References
12 Cited sources
13 Further reading
14 External links
Etymology
Main article: Names of Bengal
The exact origin of the word Bangla is unknown, though it is believed to come from "Vanga", an ancient kingdom and geopolitical division on the Ganges delta in the Indian subcontinent. It was located in southern Bengal, with the core region including present-day southwestern Bangladesh and southern West Bengal (India). In Abrahamic tradition, it is said to have come from "Bung/Bang", a son of Hind (the son of Hām, who was a son of Noah) who colonised the area for the first time.[30] The suffix "al" came to be added to it from the fact that the ancient rajas of this land raised mounds of earth 10 feet high and 20 in breadth in lowlands at the foot of the hills which were called "al". From this suffix added to the Bung, the name Bengal arose and gained currency".[31][32] Support for this view is found in Ghulam Husain Salim's Riyaz-us-Salatin.[30]
Other theories point to a Bronze Age proto-Dravidian tribe,[33] the Austric word "Bonga" (Sun god),[34][self-published source?] and the Iron Age Vanga Kingdom.[34] The Indo-Aryan suffix Desh is derived from the Sanskrit word deśha, which means "land" or "country". Hence, the name Bangladesh means "Land of Bengal" or "Country of Bengal".[35]
The term Bangla denotes both the Bengal region and the Bengali language. The earliest known usage of the term is the Nesari plate in 805 AD. The term Vangaladesa is found in 11th-century South Indian records.[35][36] The term gained official status during the Sultanate of Bengal in the 14th century.[37][38] Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah proclaimed himself as the first "Shah of Bangala" in 1342.[37] The word Bangla became the most common name for the region during the Islamic period. The Portuguese referred to the region as Bengala in the 16th century.[39] The term Bangladesh was often written as two words, Bangla Desh, in the past. Starting in the 1950s, Bengali nationalists used the term in political rallies in East Pakistan.
History
Main articles: History of Bengal and History of Bangladesh
Early and medieval periods
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Vanga Kingdom and erstwhile neighbors in ancient South Asia
Gauda Kingdom, the first independent unified polity in the Bengal region
Stone Age tools found in Bangladesh indicate human habitation for over 20,000 years,[40] and remnants of Copper Age settlements date back 4,000 years.[40] Ancient Bengal was settled by Austroasiatics, Tibeto-Burmans, Dravidians and Indo-Aryans in consecutive waves of migration.[40][41] Archaeological evidence confirms that by the second millennium BCE, rice-cultivating communities inhabited the region. By the 11th century people lived in systemically-aligned housing, buried their dead, and manufactured copper ornaments and black and red pottery.[42] The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers were natural arteries for communication and transportation,[42] and estuaries on the Bay of Bengal permitted maritime trade. The early Iron Age saw the development of metal weaponry, coinage, agriculture and irrigation.[42] Major urban settlements formed during the late Iron Age, in the mid-first millennium BCE,[43] when the Northern Black Polished Ware culture developed.[44] In 1879, Alexander Cunningham identified Mahasthangarh as the capital of the Pundra Kingdom mentioned in the Rigveda.[45][46] The oldest inscription in Bangladesh was found in Mahasthangarh and dates from the 3rd century BCE. It is written in the Brahmi script.[47]
Greek and Roman records of the ancient Gangaridai Kingdom, which (according to legend) deterred the invasion of Alexander the Great, are linked to the fort city in Wari-Bateshwar.[48][49] The site is also identified with the prosperous trading center of Souanagoura listed on Ptolemy's world map.[50] Roman geographers noted a large seaport in southeastern Bengal, corresponding to the present-day Chittagong region.[51]
The Pala Empire was an imperial power during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal
The 9th-century ruins of Somapura Mahavihara. The ruins hosted the largest monastery in pre-Islamic Bangladesh and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Ancient Buddhist and Hindu states which ruled Bangladesh included the Vanga, Samatata and Pundra kingdoms, the Mauryan and Gupta Empires, the Varman dynasty, Shashanka's kingdom, the Khadga and Candra dynasties, the Pala Empire, the Sena dynasty, the Harikela kingdom and the Deva dynasty. These states had well-developed currencies, banking, shipping, architecture, and art, and the ancient universities of Bikrampur and Mainamati hosted scholars and students from other parts of Asia. Xuanzang of China was a noted scholar who resided at the Somapura Mahavihara (the largest monastery in ancient India), and Atisa travelled from Bengal to Tibet to preach Buddhism. The earliest form of the Bengali language began to emerge during the eighth century. Early Muslim explorers and missionaries arrived in Bengal late in the first millennium CE. The Islamic conquest of Bengal began with the 1204 Ghurid expeditions led by Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji.[42] Bengal was then ruled by the Delhi Sultanate for a century by governors from the Mamluk, Balban, and Tughluq dynasties.
The Sultanate of Bengal was the sovereign power of Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries
The 15th-century Sixty Dome Mosque is the largest mosque in Bangladesh that was built during the period of the Bengal Sultanate
Subsequently, the independent Bengal Sultanate was established by the rebel governors in 1352. During their rule Bengal was transformed into a cosmopolitan Islamic superpower and became a major trading nation in the world, often referred by the Europeans as the richest country to trade with.[52] The sultanate's ruling houses included the Ilyas Shahi, Ganesha, Hussain Shahi, Suri and Karrani dynasties, and the era saw the introduction of a distinct mosque architecture[53] and the tangka currency.[citation needed] The Arakan region was brought under Bengali hegemony. The Bengal Sultanate was visited by explorers Ibn Battuta, Admiral Zheng He, and Niccolo De Conti. The Khorasanis referred to the land as an "inferno full of gifts", due to its unbearable climate but abundance of wealth.[54][full citation needed] During the late 16th century, the Baro-Bhuyan (a confederation of Muslim and Hindu aristocrats) ruled eastern Bengal; its leader was the Mansad-e-Ala,[55] a title held by Isa Khan and his son Musa Khan. The Khan dynasty is considered local heroes for resisting North Indian invasions with their river navies.
The Bengal Subah was a subdivision of the Mughal Empire encompassing much of the Bengal, Bihar and Orissa region
Lalbagh Fort (also Fort Aurangabad) is an incomplete 17th-century Mughal fort complex that stands before the Buriganga River in the southwestern part of Dhaka
The Mughal Empire controlled Bengal by the 17th century. During the reign of Emperor Akbar, the Bengali agrarian calendar was reformed to facilitate tax collection. The Mughals established Dhaka as a fort city and commercial metropolis, and it was the capital of Bengal Subah for 75 years.[56] In 1666, the Mughals expelled the Arakanese from Chittagong. Mughal Bengal attracted foreign traders for its muslin and silk goods, and the Armenians were a notable merchant community. A Portuguese settlement in Chittagong flourished in the southeast, and a Dutch settlement in Rajshahi existed in the north. Bengal accounted for 40% of overall Dutch imports from Asia; including more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks.[57] The Bengal Subah, described as the Paradise of the Nations,[58] was the empire's wealthiest province, and a major global exporter,[57][59][60] a notable center of worldwide industries such as muslin, cotton textiles, silk,[42] and shipbuilding.[61] Its citizens also enjoyed one of the world's most superior living standards.[62][63]
During the 18th century, the Nawabs of Bengal became the region's de facto rulers. The title of the ruler is popularly known as the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, given that the Bengali Nawab's realm encompassed much of the eastern subcontinent. The Nawabs forged alliances with European colonial companies, which made the region relatively prosperous early in the century. Bengal accounted for 50% of the gross domestic product of the empire. The Bengali economy relied on textile manufacturing, shipbuilding, saltpetre production, craftsmanship, and agricultural produce. Bengal was a major hub for international trade – silk and cotton textiles from Bengal were worn in Europe, Japan, Indonesia, and Central Asia.[64][42] Annual Bengali shipbuilding output was 223,250 tons, compared to an output of 23,061 tons in the nineteen colonies of North America. Bengali shipbuilding proved to be more advanced than European shipbuilding prior to the Industrial Revolution. The flush deck of Bengali rice ships was later replicated in European shipbuilding to replace the stepped deck design for ship hulls.[65][66][67][68][69][70]
The Bengali Muslim population was a product of conversion and religious evolution,[42] and their pre-Islamic beliefs included elements of Buddhism and Hinduism. The construction of mosques, Islamic academies (madrasas) and Sufi monasteries (khanqahs) facilitated conversion, and Islamic cosmology played a significant role in developing Bengali Muslim society. Scholars have theorised that Bengalis were attracted to Islam by its egalitarian social order, which contrasted with the Hindu caste system.[71] One of the notable Muslim preachers was Shah Jalal who arrived in the region of Sylhet in 1303 with many other disciples to preach the religion to the people.[citation needed] By the 15th century, Muslim poets were writing in the Bengali language. Notable medieval Bengali Muslim poets included Daulat Qazi, Abdul Hakim and Alaol. Syncretic cults, such as the Baul movement, emerged on the fringes of Bengali Muslim society. The Persianate culture was significant in Bengal, where cities like Sonargaon became the easternmost centers of Persian influence.[72][73]
The Mughals had aided France during the Seven Years' War to avoid losing the Bengal region to the British. However, in the Battle of Plassey the British East India Company registered a decisive victory over the Nawab of Bengal and his French[74] allies on 22 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The battle followed the order of Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, to the English to stop the extension of their fortification. Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the commander-in-chief of the Nawab's army, and also promised him to make him Nawab of Bengal which helped him to defeat Siraj-ud-Daulah and capture Calcutta.[75] The battle consolidated the company's presence in Bengal, which later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years. Although they had lost control of Bengal Subah, Shah Alam II was involved in the Bengal War which ended once more in their defeat at the Battle of Buxar.[76]
Colonial period
Main articles: Bengal Presidency and Eastern Bengal and Assam
Portuguese (top left) at the Royal Court of emperor Akbar.
Two decades after Vasco Da Gama's landing in Calicut, the Bengal Sultanate gave permission for the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong to be established in 1528. It became the first European colonial enclave in Bengal. The Bengal Sultanate lost control of Chittagong in 1531 after Arakan declared independence and the established Kingdom of Mrauk U.
Portuguese ships from Goa and Malacca began frequenting the port city in the 16th century. The cartaz system was introduced and required all ships in the area to purchase naval trading licenses from the Portuguese settlement. Slave trade and piracy flourished. The nearby island of Sandwip was conquered in 1602. In 1615, the Portuguese Navy defeated a joint Dutch East India Company and Arakanese fleet near the coast of Chittagong.
The Bengal Sultan after 1534 allowed the Portuguese to create several settlements at Chitagoong, Satgaon,[77] Hughli, Bandel, and Dhaka. In 1535 the Portuguese allied with the Bengal sultan and held the Teliagarhi pass 280 km from Patna helping to avoid the invasion by the Mughals. By then several of the products came from Patna and the Portuguese send in traders, establishing a factory there since 1580.[78]
By the time the Portuguese assured military help against Sher Shah, the Mughals already had started to conquer the Sultanate of Ghiyasuddin Mahmud.[79]
Bengal was the wealthiest region in the Indian subcontinent, and its proto-industrial economy showed signs of driving an Industrial revolution.[80]
The region has been described as the "Paradise of Nations",[81] and its inhabitants's living standards and real wages were among the highest in the world.[82] It alone accounted for 40% of Dutch imports outside the European continent.[57][66] The eastern part of Bengal was globally prominent in industries such as textile manufacturing and shipbuilding,[19] and it was a major exporter of silk and cotton textiles, steel, saltpeter, and agricultural and industrial produce in the world.[66] In 1666, the Mughal government of Bengal led by viceroy Shaista Khan moved to retake Chittagong from Portuguese and Arakanese control. The Anglo-Mughal War was witnessed in 1686.[83][84]
Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey
After the 1757 Battle of Plassey, Bengal was the first region of the Indian subcontinent conquered by the British East India Company. The company formed the Presidency of Fort William, which administered the region until 1858. A notable aspect of company rule was the Permanent Settlement, which established the feudal zamindari system.[85] The plunder of Bengal directly contributed to the Industrial Revolution in Britain, with the capital amassed from Bengal used to invest in British industries such as textile and greatly increase British wealth, while at the same time leading to deindustrialisation of Bengal's traditional textile industry.[86][20] The economic mismanagement directly led to the Great Bengal famine of 1770, which is estimated to have caused the deaths of about 10 million people,[87] as a third of the population in the affected region starved to death.[88] Several rebellions broke out during the early 19th century (including one led by Titumir), but British rule displaced the Muslim ruling class. A conservative Islamic cleric, Haji Shariatullah, sought to overthrow the British by propagating Islamic revivalism