3. History Of Bangladesh
History. The area which is now Bangladesh has a rich historical and cultural past, combining Dravidian, IndoAryan, Mongol/Mughul, Arab, Persian, Turkic,
http://www.muchofun.com/history/bangladesh_history.html |
Bangladesh
History The area which is now Bangladesh has a rich historical and cultural past, combining Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Mongol/Mughul, Arab, Persian, Turkic, and West European cultures. Residents of Bangladesh, about 98% of whom are ethnic Bengali and speak Bangla, are called Bangladeshis. Urdu-speaking, non-Bengali Muslims of Indian origin, and various tribal groups, mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprise the remainder. Most Bangladeshis (about 83%) are Muslims, but Hindus constitute a sizable (16%) minority. There are also a small number of Buddhists, Christians, and animists. English is spoken in urban areas, and among the educated. About 1200 AD, Muslim invaders, under Sufi influence, supplanted existing Hindu and Buddhist dynasties in Bengal. This incursion led to the conversion to Islam of most of the population in the eastern areas of Bengal, and created a sizable Muslim minority in the western areas of Bengal. Since then, Islam has played a crucial role in the region's history and politics. Bengal was absorbed into the Mughul Empire in the 16th century, and Dhaka, the seat of a nawab (the representative of the emperor), gained some importance as a provincial center. But, it remained remote and thus a difficult-to-govern regionespecially the section east of the Brahmaputra Riveroutside the mainstream of Mughul politics. | |
|
