Myth of name

Even though Bangladesh is a modern state, her history can be traced back to about 1000 BC. There are many theories about the origin of the name B(v)anga or B(v)angla. Some linguists believe that the name originates from the Tibetan word, "Bans" which means wet or moist and Banga (Bengal) is a wet country crisscrossed by a thousand rivers and washed by monsoons and floods from the Himalayas. Some others believe that the name originated from the Bodo (original Asamese in North Eastern India) "Bang La" which means wide plains. This theory is extremely plausible.

Another school suggests the name comes from the name of Prince Vanga. According to legend, Prince Vanga, the son of King Bali and Queen Sudeshna of the Lunar dynasty was the first to colonise Bengal.

What is probably the real root is from the name of the original people of Bengal. This also is taken from legend. One of the tribes who according to a claim emerged from the Indus Civilization after its demise had entered the plains of Bengal while others went elsewhere. They were called the Bong tribe and spoke Dravidian. We know from many ancient Aryan texts of a tribe called B(v)anga that existed in that region.

Archeology

Geology and archaeology tell us that Bangla was formed 1 to 6.5 million years ago and the first known human habitation goes back to 100, 000 years in the past. Paleolithic tools and implements from a hundred thousand years ago have been found in Deolpota in West Bengal and 15, 000 year old implements have been found in South East Bangladesh. New Stone Age civilisation, showing connection with that of Bihar, Orissa and Assam existed in Bangla (Bengal) around 3000 to 1500 BC.

Then suddenly a metal processing civilization appears. Archaeology has not been able to find the missing link from stone tools to metal tools use. This might suggest the influx of a new people into the region and maybe this goes hand in hand with the legends. The Indus civilization ended around 1800 BCE and there is a marked change in Bangla around this time... this ties in with the story of the Bong and Al peoples.

Recently an ancient city has been discovered in West Bengal at Chandraketugarh near Berachampa, in North 24 Pargana. The city is presumed to be of King Chandraketu from the Gupta era (4th to 6th century AD) but will await carbon 14 tests. Statues of Goddess Yakshi have been discovered here. At Berachampa is another location of interest. Here the 'khana-mihir's dhibi was found, a site with Gupta temples. In Jessore, Bangladesh (East Bangla), the Bharat Bhanya site has been tentatively assigned to the Gupta period as well. (Md. Shafiqul Alam, Deccan College, Pune 411 006)

In East Bengal or Bangladesh, ancient ruins at MahastanGarh in Bogra district; Sompur Vihar at Paharpur in Naogaon district (the single largest monument in the sub-continent); Moynamoti (Buddhist sites) in Comilla district, in Dinajpur, Dhaka, Chittagong and many other sites have been excavated. They are mostly Buddhist sites, some with huge structures, from the first millennium AD. Some from the Pal (Pala) era of Bengal which was probably the second revival of Bengal. It is suggested by some that MahastanGarh might have been in existence in the BC.

A Lost History

Many assume that South India and Bengal were backwaters because of the lack of interest of the Aryan scriptures in them. They were not backwaters but simply they were non-Aryans. Since Bangla and South India were not Aryan, they are not highlighted in the history of the Aryans or North India.

However, since there were powerful kingdoms and cities in Bengal that were in close proximity to the Aryans, Bangla is mentioned somewhat. Also because of Buddha's travellings, there are some more references. (Note: the earliest references are mostly disdainful. If anyone travelled to the Dravir land, then their would be pennances and ritual sacrifices.)

Even the ancient texts, however, whether intentionally or not, reveal the greatness of Bangla. In Bhishma-parvan, the Bengali kings heroically face attacks from the Pandus or conquerors of Upper India. There is a description of the encounters between the Pandus and the mighty ruler of the Vangas. While some of the Bengal kings fought on elephants, others rode on ocean-bred steeds of the hue of the moon.

In the very ancient times, Pundra, Gaur (Gaud or Garh), Rarh (Radha, Ladha), Sumha, Vajra (Brahma), Tamralipti, Samatata, Banga and Anga comprised Bangla (Bengal). At one time Gaur was the name used for the Bengal region but the name Banga later became popular. This might reflect the prominence of the regions in a period whose history is lost.

Bangla is also mentioned in the Mahabharat one of the four great epics. In the great war of Kurukshetra described in the Mahabharat, a Bangla king fought for the Kaurovas (Kaurovas are supposed to be the villains. They are most probably Aryans and so this might show the beginings of Aryan-Dravir alliance makings.). Another time, King Basudeva, of Gaur (old name for Bangla) fought with Krishna in Dwarka, a port city in Gujarat on the western part of India. The Mahabharat also mentions three Bengali (Bangalee or Bangla) princes who try for the hand of princess Draupadi. In this epic, some Bengals are mentioned as untouchables. These were the coastal tribes of Bengal who were called Mlechchha.

All the tribes in Bengal (and Kalinga, a South East Indian empire and even Magadha and Anga (Bengal)) were considered non-Aryan. Banga and Kalinga were Dravir even in Mahavira's time and Aryanization only began with Ashok when part of it was under the Mauryan empire. As Aryanization penetrated into Manu classified Bengal (Pundra), Shaka and Dravida as fallen Kshatryias (Kshatriyas were the warior or ruling caste). This was an attempt to incorporate them into the Aryan caste system. Towards Arjun's time, Mahabharat and the Vayu and Matsyapuranas also calls Bengal (Pundra and Banga, Sumhas) Kshatriyas. And later the Jaina Pragyapana calls Bengal (Banga and Rarh) Aryans signifying the begining of absorption. It was probably then that the caste system became rigid and oppressive to maintain segregation.

Age of Glory

Bengal's history in the 1st millennium BC was that of glory and expansion. This period is connected not to North India but to South India and the eastern Asia. Its expansion was a maritime expansion. Bengal was an ancient seafaring nation, possibly a continuation of the seafaring of the Indus days. As early as 544 BC, Bengali prince, Vijay(a) Singha of Bangla established the first kingdom in Sri Lanka. The ancient name of Sri Lanka, Simhala (Singhala) comes from the name of Vijay Singha. The Sri Vijaya empire of Indonesia that dominated East Asia for over a millennium bears Sri Vijaya's name, possibly meaning that it was founded by him. This empire is known to have been a strong indian centre as early as 135 AD by the Chinese, which means that Indians (Bengals) were there earlier in history, possibly the 6th/5th century BC, if Sri Vijaya founded the empire. From here the region of cambodia to Vietnam was dominated by the ancient Bengals.

Madras was another kingdom established by the Bengals. These show that Bengal was a well organised land even in ancient times. This period of expansion is unmatched in later history. An intersting point to note: the Madras people are Tamil (Dramila) were the original Bengals same as Tamils?

Proto-history and Pre-history

Geological evidence indicates that much of Bangladesh was formed I to 6.5 million years ago during the tertiary era. Human habitation in this region is, therefore, likely to be very old. The implements discovered in Deolpota village in the neighboring Indian state of West Bengal suggest that Paleolithic civilization in the region existed about 100,000 years ago. The evidence on Paleolithic civilization in Bangladesh region is limited to a stone implement in Rangamati and a hand axe in the hilly tip of Fini district. They are likely to be 10,000 to 15,000 years old. New stone age in the region lasted from 3,000 B.C. Neolithic tools comparable to Assam group were found at Sitakunda in Chittagong. Hand axes and chisels showing close affinity to neolithic industries in West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa have been discovered at Mainamati near Comilla. The thinly forested hills dotted with fertile valleys provided a congenial environment for Neolithic settlements.

Ancient Bengal (326 B.C. to 1204 A.D.)

The earliest historical reference to organized political life in the Bangladesh region is usually traced to the writings on Alexander’s invasion of India in 326 B.C. The Greek and Latin historians suggested that Alexander the Great, withdrew from India anticipating the valiant counter attack of the mighty Gangaridai and Prasioi empires which were located in the Bengal region. It is not, however, clearly known who built these empires. Literary and epigraphic evidence refer to the rise and fall of a large number of principalities in the region which were variously known as Pundra Vardhana (northern Bangladesh), Gauda (parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh). Dandabhukti (southern West Bengal), Karna Subarna (part of West Bengal), Varendra (northern Bangladesh), Rarh (sourthern areas of West Bengal), Summha Desa (south-western West Bengal), Vanga (central Bangladesh), Vangala (southern Bangladesh), Harikela (north-east Bangladesh), Chandradwipa (southern Bangladesh), Subarnabithi (central Bangladesh), Navyabakashika (central and southern Bangladesh), Lukhnauti (North Bengal and Bihar) and Samatata (eastern Bangladesh).

There are two schools of opinion regarding the political evolution of ancient Bengal. According to one school, the Bangladesh region in the ancient period was an integral part of mighty empires in north India. These historians maintain that Gangaridai and Prasioi empires were succeeded by the Mauryas (4th to 2nd century B.C.), the Guptas (4th-Sth century A.D.), the empire of Sasanka (7th century A.D.), the Pala empire (750-1162 A.D.) and the Senas (1162-1223 A.D.). Specially, the Pala empire which lasted for more than four hundred years and reached its zenith in eighth and ninth centuries under the leadership of Dharmapala and Devapala is cited as an example of Bengal’s political genius. The revisionist historians are of the opinion that the traditional interpretation overstates the role of all-India empires in the political life of the Bangladesh region. They maintain that epigraphic evidence suggests that only some of the areas which now constitute Bangladesh were occasionally incorporated in the larger empires of South Asia. In their view, political fragmentation and not empire was the historical destiny of Bangladesh region in the ancient times. Inscriptions attest to the existence of a succession of independent kingdoms in southern and eastern Bengal. These local kingdoms included the realms of Vainyagupta (6th century), the Faridpur kings (6th century), the Bhadra dynasty (circa 600-650 A.D.), Khadaga dynasty (circa 650-700 A.D.), Natha and Rata dynasty (750-800 A.D.), Varman dynasty (circa 1080-1150 A.D.), and Pattikera dynasty (circa 1000-1 100 AD.).

Opinions differ on the reasons for political fragmentation in Bengal. Some scholars attribute it to Bangladesh’s topography specially to difficulties in negotiating its swamps and marshes, its unending maze of rivers and creeks and dislocations caused by the Bangladesh’s rainy season. Others emphasize the frontier character of the region which attracted from north India a continuous stream of rebels, heretics, and malcontents who destabilized the political life. Some scholars maintain that political fragmentation was fostered by lack of corporate life at the village level. Specially, the village organizations were the weakest in the eastern and southern areas; the corporations of villages gradually increased in the western areas. Political fragmentation was, therefore, endemic in eastern and southern areas which now constitute Bangladesh.

The primacy of the individual in social life and the concomitant institutional vacuum in Bangladesh region was not, however, an unmitigated shortcoming. The weakness of social, political and economic institutions provided a congenial environment for freedom of religion. The Buddhist rulers continued to rule Bengal long after the resurgence of Brahmanism in north India. No where in south Asia were the deviations from the Brahmanical orthodoxy so glaring as in the Bengal zone. The esoteric cults like Vajrayana, Shajayana, Kalachakrayana, Nathism, the Bauls and the folk cults flourished in pre-Muslim Bengal. Throughout history, small kingdoms blossomed and withered like wild flowers in this region. In an environment characterized by weak political institutions,heterodoxy and alien faiths thrived in defiance of the Brahmanical orthodoxy.

Bangladesh’s Contribution to Ancient Civilization

Bangladesh is the frontier of South Asian civilization. It is the natural bridge between south and south east Asia. Because of its location, Bangladesh was the intermediary in trade and commerce between the south Asian sub-continent and the Far East. This region, as a distinguished historian observed, “played an important part in the great cultural association between the diverse civilizations of eastern and south eastern Asia which forms such a distinguished feature in the history of this great continent for nearly one thousand and five hundred years.”

Tradition has it that Sri Lanka was colonized by a Bengalee Prince Vijayasingha who established the first political organization in that island. Gadadhara, another Bengalee, founded a kingdom in the Madras state in south India.

Bangladesh region also played a seminal role in disseminating its beliefs, art and architecture in the wider world of Asia. The Bengalee missionaries preached Mahayana Buddhism in the Indonesian archipelago. Kumaraghosha, the royal preceptor of the Sailendra emperors of Java, Sumatra and Malaya peninsula, was born in Gauda. The Bengalee scholar Santirakshit was one of the founders of the Buddhist monastic order in Tibet. The great Buddhist sage Dipankara Srijnana, also known as Atish (lOth-llth century) reformed the monastic order in Tibet. The Bengalee scholars Shilabhadra, Chandragomin, Abhayakaragupta, Jetari and Jhanasrimitra were venerated as great theologians in the Buddhist world.

Ancient Bangladesh also witnessed the flowering of temple, stupa and monastic architecture as well as Buddhist art and sculpture. There was discernible influence of the Pala art of Bengal on Javanese art. There was a close affinity between the scripts used on certain Javanese sculptures and proto-Bengali alphabet. A group of temples in Burma were built on the model of Bangladesh temples. The architecture and iconographic ideas of Bengal inspired architects, sculptors and artists in Cambodia and the Indonesian archipelago. The influence of Pala art in Bengal could be easily traced in Nepalese and Tibetan paintings, as well as in Tang Art of China.

Muslim Rule (1204 - 1757)

The Middle age in Bengal coincided with the Muslim rule. Out of about 550 years of Muslim rule, Bengal was effectively ruled by Delhi-based all India empires for only about 200 years. For about 350 years Bengal remained virtually independent. The Muslim rule in Bengal is usually divided into three phases. The first phase which lasted from 1204 to 1342 witnessed the consolidation of Muslim rule in Bengal. It was characterized by extreme political instability. The second phase which spanned the period 1342 to 1575 saw the emergence of independent local dynasties such as the Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1342—1414), the dynasty of King Ganesha (1414—1442) and Husain Shahi dynasty (1493—1539). The third phase which lasted from 1575 to 1757 witnessed the emergence of a centralized administration in Bengal within the framework of the Mughal empire. The Mughal viceroys in Bengal curbed the independence of powerful landlords who were known as Bara Bhuiyans and suppressed the Portuguese pirates who frequently interfered with the flow of foreign trade.

There were two major achievements of Muslim rule in the region. First—prior to Muslim rule in this area, Bengal was an ever-shifting mosaic of principalities. The natural limits of Bengal were not clearly perceived till its political unification by the Ilyas Shahi rulers in the fourteenth century. The political unification of Bengal was thus a gift of the Muslim rulers. Secondly, the political unity fashioned by the Muslim rulers also promoted linguistic homogeneity. Unlike their predecessors, the Muslim rulers were ardent patrons of Bangla language and literature. Prior to Muslim rule, the Bengali vernacular was despised for its impurities and vulgarities by Hindu elites who were the beneficiaries and champions of Sanskrit education. The spread of Islam challenged the spiritual leadership of upper caste Hindus. The intense competition between Islam and resurgent Hinduism in the form of Vaisnavism for capturing the imagination of unlettered masses resulted in an outpouring of their stirring messages in the vernacular.

The Muslim rule in Bengal also witnessed the gradual expansion of Islam in this region. Contrary to popular beliefs, the Muslim rulers in Bengal were not in the least idealists and proselytizers: they were primarily adventurers whose sole aim was to perpetuate their rule. The preponderance of the Muslims in Bangladesh region stands out in striking contrast to signal failure of the Muslims in converting local people in other parts of north and south India. The distribution of Muslims in different regions of south Asia clearly contradicts the hypothesis that the patronage of the temporal authority was the most crucial variable in the spread of Islam. If this hypothesis was correct there would have been Muslim preponderance in areas around the seats of Muslim rule in north India. The fact that the Muslims remained an insignificant minority in the Delhi region where they ruled for more than 600 years clearly suggests that Islam in south Asia was not imposed from above. In Bengal also, the share of Muslims in the total population was higher in areas remote from the seats of Muslim rule.

Islam was propagated in the Bangladesh region by a large number of Muslim saints who were mostly active from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. Among these missionaries Hazart Shah Jalal, Rasti Shah, Khan Jahan Au, Shaikh Sharafuddin Abu Tawamah, Shah Makhdoom Ruposh, Shaikh Baba Adam Shahid, Shah Sultan Mahisawar, Shaikh Alauddin Alaul Huq, Shah Au Bagdadi, etc. deserve special mention. While similar Muslim missionary activities failed in other regions of south Asia, Islam ultimately succeeded in penetrating deeply into Bengal because the social environment of this region was congenial to the diffusion of a new religion. In much of south Asia, strong village communities were impenetrable barriers to the spread of alien faiths.

In Bengal, the corporateness of village institutions was weak in eastern areas; it gradually increased towards the western areas. The distribution of Muslim population also followed similar pattern in this region. The Muslims in Bengal were concentrated in the eastern areas and the share of Hindu population was much higher in western areas.

The gradual process of conversion to Islam in Bengal resulted in an intense interaction between Islam and Hinduism. At the folk level, however, there was less confrontation and more interaction between Hinduism and Islam. A syncretic tradition developed around the cult and pantheons of Pirs. The actual practices of local Muslim converts were an anathema to both Hindu and Muslith religious leaders.

The orthodox Hindus, despite their political reconciliation with Muslim rulers, despised the local Muslims as untouchables (Mlechhas). The Muslim religious leaders were equally scornful of the customs and practices of local converts. Hated by immigrant religious leaders for their ways of life and by the local aristrocracy for their adherence to an alien faith, local converts faced a dichotomy of faith and habitat which found expression in an emotional conflict between religion and language. This dichotomy can be traced in Bengali literature as early as the fourteenth century. “Those who are born in Bengal but hate Bengali language”, asserted the seventeenth century poet Abdul Hakim “had doubtful parentage. Those who are not satisfied with their mother tongue should migrate to other lands

The Glory that was Mediaeval Bangladesh

The Bangladesh region reached the zenith of economic affluence during the mediaeval period. It was known as one of the most prosperous lands in the world. The Moorish traveler Ibn Batuta who visited Bengal in the fourteenth century described Bengal as the wealthiest and cheapest land of the world and states that it was known as “a hell full of bounties”. In the same vein, the seventeenth century French traveler Francois Bernier observed : “Egypt has been represented in every age as the finest and most fruitful country in the world, and even our modern writers deny that there is any other land so peculiarly favored by nature; but the knowledge I have acquired of Bengal, during two visits paid to that Kingdom inclines me to believe that pre-eminence ascribed to Egypt is rather due to Bengal.”

Because of its fertile land and abundance of seasonal rainfall, Bengal was a cornucopia of agricultural products. Famines and scarcity were virtually unknown as compared to other areas of Asia. Bengal was the focal point of free trade in the Indian Ocean since the fourteenth century. It was the virtual store-house of silk and cotton not only of India and neighboring countries but also of Europe. The Dhaka region used to produce the finest cotton in the world. A very large quantity of cotton cloth was produced in different areas of Bengal. The best and well-known variety of textile was Muslin produced in Dhaka. Some of the Muslins were so fine that, as the seventeenth century traveler Tavernier notes, “even if a 60 feet long turban were held you would scarcely know what it was that you had in your hand”. Some of the Muslins were so fine that a full size Muslin could be passed through a small ring. Bangladesh also had extensive export of silk clothes. According to Tavernier, Bengal silks were exported to other parts of India, central Asia, Japan and Holland. The Bangladesh region was also one of the largest producers of sugar. The sugar from this region used to be exported to other parts of south Asia and the Middle East.

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