Modern Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation
in 1971 after achieving independence from Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation
War. The country constitutes with the major portion of the ancient and historic
region of Bengal in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, where
civilization dates back over four millennia, to the Copper Age. The history of
the region is closely intertwined with the history of Bengal and the history of
India.
The area's early history featured a succession of
Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism
for dominance. Islam made its appearance during the 8th century when Sufi
missionaries arrived. Later, Muslim rulers reinforced the process of conversion
by building mosques, madrassas and Sufi Khanqah.
The borders of modern Bangladesh were established
with the partition of Bengal and India in August 1947, when the region became
East Pakistan as a part of the newly formed State of Pakistan following the
Radcliffe Line.However, it was separated from West Pakistan by 1,600 km (994
mi) of Indian territory. Due to political exclusion, ethnic and linguistic
discrimination, as well as economic neglect by the politically dominant
westerin-wing, popular agitation and civil disobedience led to the war of
independence in 1971. After independence, the new state endured famine, natural
disasters and widespread poverty, as well as political turmoil and military
coups. The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by relative calm
and economic progress.
Etymology of Bengal
The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is
unknown. According to Mahabharata, Purana, Harivamsha Vanga was one of the
adopted sons of King Vali who founded the Vanga Kingdom.The earliest reference
to "Vangala" (Bôngal) has been traced in the Nesari plates (805 AD)
of Rashtrakuta Govinda III which speak of Dharmapala as the king of Vangala.
Shams-ud-din Ilyas Shah took the title "Shah-e-Bangalah" and united
the whole region under one government for the first time. The Vanga Kingdom
(also known as Banga) was located in the eastern part of the Indian
Subcontinent, comprising part of West Bengal, India and present-day modern
Bangladesh. Vanga and Pundra were two dominant tribes in Bangladesh in ancient
time.
Ancient period
The ruins of Wari-Bateshwar in Narsingdi is believed
to be from the copper age. Many of archeological excavations in Bangladesh
revealed evidences of the Northern Black Polished Ware culture (abbreviated
NBPW or NBP) of the Indian Subcontinent (c. 700–200 BC) which was an Iron Age
culture developed beginning around 700 BC and peaked from c. 500–300 BC,
coinciding with the emergence of 16 great states or mahajanapadas in Northern
India, and the subsequent rise of the Mauryan Empire. The eastern part of
ancient India, covering much of current days Bangladesh was part of one of such
mahajanapadas, the ancient kingdom of Anga, which flourished in the 6th century
BCE. Mahasthangarh, the oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh dating back to
600.
A broken statue of Buddha discovered in
Mahasthangarh
Linguistically, the oldest population of this land
may have been speakers of Dravidian languages, such as the Kurux, or perhaps of
Austroasiatic languages such as the Santals. Subsequently, people speaking
languages from other language families, such as Tibeto-Burman, settled in
Bengal. Indic Bengali represents the latest settlement.
While western Bangladesh, as part of Magadha, became
part of the Indo-Aryan civilization by the 7th century BCE, the Nanda Dynasty
was the first historical state to unify all of Bangladesh under Indo-Aryan
rule. Later after the rise of Buddhism many missionaries settled in the land to
spread the religion and established many monuments such as Mahasthangarh