Description of the country

(Bangladesh) and its people.

1. Geographical features and their influence.

2. Ethnic composition.

3. Language.

4. Cultural syncretism and religious

tolerance.

5.Distinctive identity of Bangladesh in the

context of undivided Bengal.
1.Geographical features and
their influence
Geographical features of
Bengal: Some geographers
found this fundamental and
obvious constituent of a region
in Bengal and declared Bengal
as a definite ‘geographical
region’ in the South Asian
subcontinent, consisting of
Ganga-Brahmaputra delta with
the very specific and in some
cases ‘distinct’ geographical
contours and features.
• The flatness of the region,
bounded by the Rajmahal hills
on the north-west and the
Lalmai-Chittagong ranges on
the south-east, creates a low-
lying land, gradually sloping
from the high plateau of the
north towards the Bay of
Bengal. Bengalis located on
the eastern frontier of the
Indian subcontinent and a
‘transition zone’ with a
comparatively narrow land-
bridge between South Asia and
mainland South-east Asia. The
many rivers, their tributaries,
distinctive water bodies and
climatic condition add new
dimensions to the geographical
features of the land of Bengal.
To simplify the matter, the
entire discussion of the
geographical specificities
and features of 'Bengal'
could be arranged as
following:
i) structural evolution/
outlines
ii) geological settings;
iii) Geographical location;
iv) the rivers of Bengal;
v) climatic conditions/
monsoon wind System
i) structural evolution/
outlines: Bengal' has had a long
submerged existence under the
ocean for millions of years. As
the course of this immense
water began to shift gradually
southwards, there emerged the
extensive fertile alluvial land
tract. Varendra, Madhupur,
Lalmai-Mainamati, Burdwan,
Bankura, Murshidabad and the
other laterite lands of 'Bengal'
have also emerged through this
process.
ii) geological settings:
Most of the tracts of 'Bengal'
are comparatively of recent
origin and new lands, there
is a large area of old alluvial
land in the middle, eastern,
northern and western parts
of 'Bengal'. is the combined
creation of the sediment,
sand, alluvial soil and mud
of the river flows over a
prolonged period of time.
iii) Geographical
location : The geographical
location of 'Bengal' is
determined by the structural
history / evolution of the
region. It is a fact that
'Bengal' curved out a distinct
geographical location for
itself in the eastern frontier
of the Indian subcontinent as
early as in the Pleistocene
age. Deep forests, highlands
and mountains of east, west
and north, and the Bay of
Bengal of south - 'Bengal' is
being surrounded by this
natural girdle.
iv) the rivers of Bengal:
Bangladesh is renowned for
its beautiful geomorphic
features, including the
massive rivers flowing
throughout the country.
About 700 rivers including
tributaries flow through the
country constituting a
waterway of total length
around 24,140 kilometres
(15,000 mi). Ganges,
Padma, Jamuna, Meghna,
Brahmaputra, Hooghly,
Karnaphuli,Teesta etc. are
the main revers of Bengal.
v) climatic conditions/
'Bengal' is predominantly a
monsoon wind System :
land of tropical monsoon
The geographical location climate which may be broadly
of 'Bengal' dictates its described as moderately warm,
distinct climatic equable, and humid. The
idiosyncrasies. This has monsoonal wind causes heavy
influenced and continues rainfall; the atmosphere is
to influence, to no highly humid with water vapor.
inconsiderable extent, the The natural calamities in the
evolution of the region are frequently caused by
demographic history and the cyclones, flood, high tide,
behavioural pattern of the kalbaishakhi, and windstorm.
people of this deltaic land.
In this context, it will also be
elaborated as to what extent
these distinct geographical
features of regional Bengal
exerted their influence on
the entire socio-economic,
religious, cultural,
architectural scenario of
early Bengal in its entirety.
'Bengal' is a definite 'region'
naturally bounded by deep
forests and hills from three
sides and sea from another
side.
 Geographical influence on
Bengal
• The most significant
feature of the
Bangladesh landscape is
provided by the rivers,
which have molded not
only its physiography
but also the way of life
of the people.
• Bangladesh has a
typical monsoon climate
characterized by rain-
bearing winds, moderately
warm temperatures, and
high humidity.
Bangladesh receives
heavy rainfall; except for
some parts in the west, it
generally exceeds 60
inches annually.
• as a 'region' Bengal has
its own contacts and
communication system
particularly for its
location and
geographical situation
• seasonal pattern and the natural setting, such as ‘the
cuckoo singing, the blossoming of the mango, the buzzi
-ng of the bees and the lily buds in the tanks and ponds
in springtime’, or in the monsoon rains ‘the village
children, smeared with mud and with sticks in their
hands, running after the rising fish in the flooded paddy
field which is full of crocking frogs’ or ‘the happy
village young man in the nights of monsoon lies with
his wife in his thatched pavilion over the roof on which
grows pumpkin vines and he listens in her embrace to
the constant downpour of rains’ or
‘the peasant houses are happy in the harvest of the
winter rice and sweet with perfume from jars of new-
stored grain.
• As in socio-cultural spheres, in art, music and
literature also the rivers and other water-bodies
left their perpetual influences. AH Dani puts it
poetically, “It is the constant flow of river
current that has bestowed soft and durable tone
to the music of Bengal. And probably the same
sweet melody underlines the softness in the
Bengali language ... Boats, boatmen, fishermen
in rivers and ponds are common scenes in
the countryside.
2. Ethnic composition.
• Bengalis are the third largest
ethnic group in the world
after Han Chinese and
Arabs. Apart
from Bangladesh and West
Bengal, Bengali-majority
populations also reside in
India’s Tripura state,
the Barak
Valley in Assam state, and
the union territory of
the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands.
Archaeologists have
discovered remnants of a
4,000-year old Chalcolithic
civilization in the
greater Bengal region, and
believe the finds are one of
the earliest signs of
settlement in the region.
However, evidence of much
older Palaeolithic human
habitations were found in the
form of a stone implement
and a hand
axe in Rangamati and Feni
districts of Bangladesh.
• Ancient :
1.Proto-Australoid: The
Proto-Australoids were an
ancient hunter gatherer people
descended from the first major
wave of anatomically modern
humans to leave Africa around
50,000 years ago.
Characterised by gracile body
types, they are thought to have
had dark skin colour,
approaching black, and wavy
or curly black hair. In Bengal
they were divided in some sub
groups Nishad, Sabor, kol,
Munda, Santal are the main.
2. Dravidian: The origins
of the Dravidians are a
"very complex subject of
research and debate." They
may have been indigenous
to the Indian subcontinent,
but origins in, or influence
from, West-Asia have also
been proposed.
3. Aryan: It is estimated
that the Aryan penetration
began from time of
the Brahmanas, Epics and
Aryan culture became
predominant by the 3rd
century; its cultural
influence reached eastern
Bengal by the 5th century.
• middle age: Islam was
introduced to Bengal in
the twelfth century
by Sufi missionaries.
Subsequent Muslim
conquests helped spread
Islam and Turkic,
Afghani, Iranian,
Arabian ethnic groups
throughout the region.
• Modern Age:
 The first Portuguese
expedition in Bengal
landed in Chittagong on 9
May 1518
 In 1690, Job Charnok, an
agent of the East India
Company chose this place
for a British trade
settlement.
 Chandannagar was
established as
a French colony in 1673
Because of ethnic diversity
Bengal region known as

“Great ethnic melting

pot”
3. Language.
Bengali o is an Indo-Aryan language of the
eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from
the Magadhi Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit languages
(1000–1200 AD).
Bengali is native to the region of eastern South Asia
known as Bengal, which comprises present
day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.
With nearly 230 million total speakers, Bengali is
one of the most spoken languages (ranking 5th or
6th in the world). Bengali is the primary language
spoken in Bangladesh and is the second most
spoken language in India. Along with Assamese, it
is geographically the most eastern of the Indo-
Iranian languages.
• Writing System : The Bengali writing
system is not purely alphabet-based such as
the Latin script. Rather, it is written in the
Bengali abugida, a variant of the Eastern
Nagari script used throughout Bangladesh and
eastern India. It is believed to have evolved
from a modified Brahmic script around 1000
CE, and is similar to the Devanagari abugida
used for Sanskrit and many modern Indic
languages such as Hindi. It has particularly
close historical relationships with the
Assamese script and the Oriya script.
• Geographical
distribution: Bengali is
native to the region of
eastern South Asia known
as Bengal, which
comprises Bangladesh and
the Indian state of West
Bengal. Around 98% of the
total population of
Bangladesh speak Bengali as
a native language. There are
also significant Bengali-
speaking communities in
immigrant populations in
the Middle East, West
and Malaysia.
Vocabulary: Bengali has as many as 100,000 separate
words, of which 50,000 (67%) are considered tôtshômo (direct
reborrowings from Sanskrit), 21,100 (28%)
are tôdbhôbo (derived from Sanskrit words), and the rest
being bideshi (foreign) and deshi (native)words.
Due to centuries of contact
with Europeans, Mughals, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans,
and East Asians, Bengali has incorporated many words from
foreign languages. The most common borrowings from foreign
languages come from three different kinds of contact. Close
contact with neighboring peoples facilitated the borrowing of
words from Hindi, Assamese and several
indigenous Austroasiatic languages (like Santali). of Bengal.
After centuries of invasions from Persia and the Middle East,
numerous Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Pashtun words were
absorbed into
Bengali. Portuguese, French, Dutch and English words were
later additions during the colonial period.
4. Cultural syncretism and
religious tolerance.
• Syncretism is a union or
attempted fusion of different
religions, cultures, or
philosophies, example: salsa
dance , a merging combination
of African, Latin American,
and European cultures
• Bangladeshi daily life is
replete with traditions and
festivals that reflect the unique
culture and tradition of
Bangladeshis. Some of the
tradition and customs are as
ancient as prehistoric days,
while others are relatively
recent.
• Pahela Baishakh as
part of the largely
secular and syncretic
nature of not only
Bangladesh but also
New Year celebrations
across the world.
• Pahela Falgun first
day of Spring of
Bengali month Falgun,
of the Bengali calendar,
celebrated
in Bangladesh it was
started in 1991 by
students of Dhaka
University's Faculty of
Fine Arts.
• Nabanna Festival:
National Nabanna
Festival, the Bengali
harvest celebrations, has
been observed on the
first morning of Bangla
calendar month
Agrahayan at the
Bakultola of the Dhaka
University's Faculty of
Fine Arts.
• International Language
Movement day: Since
1952, 21 February has been
observed every year to
commemorate the martyrs
of the Language Movement.
With UNESCO adopting a
resolution on 17 November
1999 proclaiming 21
February as International
Language Movement day. It
is an honour bestowed by
the international community
on the Language Movement
of Bangladesh.
religious tolerance
• Religious Tolerance
means the condition of
permitting people
to worship according to
the practices of
any religion they choose
Religious tolerance in
Bengal:
• The conventional
theories regarding
Islamization in India in
general – that Islam was
a ‘Religion of the
Sword’, but in Bengal it
is different because
Sufis, Pirs, Gazis
brought here Islam.
• It so happened in
Bengal that the
Islamic tenets were
not fully absorbed by
the new converts as
they were still
immersed in their old
habits, beliefs,
practices and
ceremonies.
• The Bauls and Sahajias
are the off-shoots of
Sufism in Bengal, and
they played an important
role in Hindu-Muslim
harmony. The Bauls and
Sahajias were a kind of
religious sects which
combined the principles
of Hinduism and Islam.
One of the famous Bauls
in Bengal was Lalon Fakir
who used to say that he
was neither a Hindu nor a
Muslim, and the only
religion he believed in
was humanism.
Distinctive identity of Bangladesh
in the context of undivided Bengal
• Bangladeshis are a nation
and the citizens of
Bangladesh.
• Approximately 98% of
the Bangladeshi
population are Bengalis.
Most are native to East
Bengal.
• Today, Bangladeshis
enjoy strong cultural
homogeneity with a
common standardized
language and a variety
of dialects.
• 90% of the population
are Bengali Muslims.
This makes Bangladesh
the World’s third largest
Muslim majority
country after Indonesia
and Pakistan.
• Bangladesh has the third
largest Hindu
population in the world
after India and Nepal.
• In southeastern Bangladesh
It is home to several
indigenous ethnic groups in
the three hill districts
of Rangamati, Bandarbn and
Khagrachari.
• Bangladesh is noted
for cultural pluralism within
a Bengali Muslim majority.
Traditional Bengali
secularism has been an
important contributor to the
nation's society and ethos.
• The Bengali language is a
fundamental element of
Bangladeshi identity. It is
a secular language which
evolved between the 7th
and 10th centuries.
• Bangladeshi culture is a
mainly a synthesis of
indigenous Bengali and
Islamic cultures. Festivals
on the both the secular
Bengali calendar and the
Islamic calendar are
widely celebrated.
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