History of Bangladesh

Bangladesh has been aptly described as a new state in an ancient land. Much has been written about the past glory of Bangladesh, notably in old records like the evidence of Pliny and Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (first century AD). It was drawn in Ptolemy's map. These indicate that from the earliest times Bangladesh was known to the West, particularly for its Muslin, the finest fabric the world has ever produced. Travelers and scholars who were attracted by the charms and fame of Bangladesh since time immortal had showered effusive epithets on its bounties and wealth, affluence and prosperity, craftsmanship and cultural advancement.

Etymologically, the word Bangladesh is derived from the cognate Vanga which was first mentioned in Aitarey Aranyaka, a Hindu scripture composed between 500 BC and 500 AD. Literally it means a wetland. Muslim merchants of Arab origin used to refer it as Bangalah from which its present nomenclature is believed to have gradually evolved.

From the 13th century AD the Buddhists and Hindus were swamped by the flood of Muslim conquerors and the tide of Islam upto 18th century. Muslims came first as religious preachers and traders. But subsequently they became the rulers of this land holding sway from the 13th to the 18th century. Sometimes there were independent rulers like the Hussein Shahi and Ilyas Shahi dynasties, while at other times they ruled on behalf of the Imperial seat of Delhi.

From the 15th century, the Europeans, namely: Portuguese, Dutch, French and British traders exerted an economic influence over the region. British political rule over the region began in 1757 AD, when the last Muslim ruler of Bengal Nawab Siraj-ud-doula was defeated at the battlefield of Palassey. British colonial rule lasted for 190 years. In 1947 the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Present Bangladesh became the eastern wing of the then Pakistan. But the movement for autonomy of East Pakistan started within a couple of years because of language and cultural differences and economic disparity between the two wings.

Ever since the birth of Pakistan in August 1947, the Bengalis first felt ignored in the scheme of the country's governance and gradually found deprived and exploited by the power elite dominated by the West Pakistan bureaucrats, the military, and the big businesses. Although they constituted the majority of the country's population, the Bengalis of the eastern wing had a very poor representation in the civil services and the armed forces and had almost no place in commerce and industry. At the political level, their voice was stifled in the name of security of the realm and the bogey of mighty Hindu India's constant threat to the existence of Islamic Pakistan which had its two wings separated by nearly 1200 miles of Indian territory.