The civilization of Greater Bengal dates back to four thousand years ago, when the region was inhabited by Dravidians, Tibetans, Burmese and Austro-Asiatics. The exact origin of the word 'Bangla' or 'Banga' is unknown, although it is thought to have originated from the Dravidian-speaking tribe of Bengal, who settled in the region around 1000 BC.
The Gangaridai kingdom was established in the early seventh century BC, which later merged with Bihar under the Magadha, Nanda, Maurya and Sunga kingdoms. Bengal later became part of the Gupta Empire and the Harsha Empire from the 3rd to the 6th century AD.
Later, a Bengali named Shashanka established a short-lived kingdom. Shashanka is considered to be the first independent king in the history of Bangladesh.
After some time of anarchy, the Buddhist Pala dynasty ruled the region for four hundred years, commonly known as the "Golden Age of Bengal". This was followed by a brief reign of the Hindu Sen dynasty.
In the twelfth century, Arab Muslim merchants and Sufi missionaries introduced Bengal to Islam extensively, and later Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region. There is a mosque in Bangladesh established in 690 at Lalmonirhat.
The Turkish general Bakhtiyar Khilji defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sen dynasty and conquered large areas of Bengal in 1204.
The region was ruled by the Sultan and Bhuiyan dynasties for the next few hundred years. In the sixteenth century, the Mughal Empire took control of Bengal and Dhaka became an important provincial center of Mughal administration.
European traders arrived in the late fifteenth century and after the battle of Palashi in 1757, the British East India Company took control of Bengal. As a result of the bloody revolt of 1857, known as the Sepoy Mutiny, the British took over Bengal.
Between 1905 and 1911, an attempt was made to divide the province of Bengal into two zones.
When India was divided in 1947, the western part of Bengal was annexed to India and the eastern part to Pakistan as East Pakistan. In the religious order, the partition of Bengal took place again.
Under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Awami League emerged as the political voice of the Bengalis.
Although believing in the same religion, Islam, being neglected and oppressed due to being Bengali, East Pakistan became independent from West Pakistan (now Pakistan). Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh from March 26, 1971 when the Pakistan Army carried out genocide all over Bangladesh.
The war ended on 16 December 1971 when the Pakistan army surrendered to the joint command of the Bangladesh and India armies.
Thanks for taking so long to read this article.
If you like it Upvote Can give.