74-542: Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇ ,; also called Śrīrām Pãcālī , composed by the fifteenth-century Bengali poet Krittibas Ojha , from whom it takes its name, is a rendition of the Rāmāyaṇa into Bengali . Written in the traditional Rāmāyaṇa Pā̃cālī form of Middle Bengali literature , the Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇ is not just a rewording of the original Indian epic , but also a vivid reflection of the society and culture of Bengal across
148-657: A hand axe in the upper Gandeshwari, Middle Dwarakeswar, Upper Kangsabati, Upper Tarafeni and Middle Subarnarekha valleys of the Indian state West Bengal , and Rangamati and Feni districts of Bangladesh. Evidence of 42,000 years old human habitation has been found at the foothills of the Ajodhya Hills in West Bengal. Hatpara on the west bank of Bhagirathi River has evidence of human settlements dating back to around 15,000-20,000 years. Artefacts suggest that
222-670: A diverse group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. Approximately 70% are adherents of Islam with a large Hindu minority and sizeable communities of Christians and Buddhists. Bengali Muslims , who live mainly in Bangladesh, primarily belong to the Sunni denomination. Bengali Hindus , who live primarily in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam's Barak Valley, Jharkhand and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, generally follow Shaktism or Vaishnavism , in addition to worshipping regional deities. There exist small numbers of Bengali Christians ,
296-593: A historic legacy of borrowing vocabulary from languages such as Persian and Sanskrit , modern borrowings primarily come from the English language. Ruth Vanita Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author who specialises in British and Indian literary history with a focus on gender and sexuality studies . She also teaches and writes on Hindu philosophy . Vanita earned her BA, MA and PhD in English at Delhi University . From 1994 to 1997 Vanita
370-696: A large number of whom are descendants of Portuguese voyagers , as well as Bengali Buddhists , the bulk of whom belong to the Bengali-speaking Barua group in Chittagong and Rakhine . Bengalis have influenced and contributed to diverse fields, notably the arts and architecture, language , folklore , literature, politics, military, business, science and technology. The term Bengali is generally used to refer to someone whose linguistic, cultural or ancestral origins are from Bengal . The Indo-Aryan Bengalis are ethnically differentiated from
444-543: A major role in the Indian independence movement , in which revolutionary groups such as Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar were dominant. Many of the early proponents of the independence struggle, and subsequent leaders in the movement were Bengalis such as Shamsher Gazi , Chowdhury Abu Torab Khan , Hada Miah and Mada Miah , the Pagal Panthis led by Karim Shah and Tipu Shah , Haji Shariatullah and Dudu Miyan of
518-729: A nation and as Bangladeshis as citizens." Bengalis are the third-largest ethnic group in the world, after the Han Chinese and Arabs . They are the largest ethnic group within the Indo–European linguistic family and the largest ethnic group in South Asia. Apart from Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Manipur, and Assam's Barak Valley, Bengali-majority populations also reside in India's union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands , with significant populations in
592-466: A rounded total of 280 million) worldwide. Bengalis constitute the largest ethnic group in Bangladesh, at approximately 98% of the nation's inhabitants. The Census of India does not recognise racial or ethnic groups within India, the CIA Factbook estimated that there are 100 million Bengalis in India constituting 7% of the country's total population. In addition to West Bengal , Bengalis form
666-594: Is also used a lingua franca among other ethnic groups and tribes living within and around the Bengal region. Bengali is generally written using the Bengali script and evolved circa 1000–1200 CE from Magadhi Prakrit , thus bearing similarities to ancient languages such as Pali . Its closest modern relatives are other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages such as Assamese , Odia and the Bihari languages . Though Bengali may have
740-563: Is especially through a vigorous reorientation of style of the narrative that Krittibâs distinguishes himself from the Valmikian model. Very elaborate in the details and descriptions, his narrative is animated by much faster and breath taking rhythm, by a systematic familiarization to the detriment of hieratic epic, all elements which transform the solemn Sanskrit epic into a narrative that is sung, lively and familiar. The changes of values and motivations that it shows are in particular harmony with
814-415: Is naturally as it appears, may you, by my blessing, become like Madanmohan, the god of erotic love." Ashtavakra was as powerful as Vishnu, so neither his curses nor his blessings failed to bear fruit. He was a sage endowed with great and miraculous powers. The prince stood up. Through his powers of meditation, the sage came to know that this son of Dilipa was an auspicious one, a great man. The sage called
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#1732772134234888-600: Is noted for its exploration of the concept of Bhakti , which would later contribute to the emergence of Vaishnavism in Gangetic Bengal and the surrounding regions. The editio princeps of the poem is Valmiki, [The Ramayana in Bengali], trans. by Krttibas, 5 vols (Serampore: Printed at the Mission Press, 1803). The version of the epic generally in circulation today was revised by Jaygopal Tarkalankar and
962-563: Is the mention of a land ruled by the king Xandrammes named Gangaridai by the Greeks around 100 BCE. The word is speculated to have come from Gangahrd ('Land with the Ganges in its heart') in reference to an area in Bengal. Later from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE , the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the Gupta Empire . One of the first recorded independent kings of Bengal
1036-595: Is thought to ultimately derive from) in the south, Rāṛha in the west, Puṇḍravardhana and Varendra in the north, and Samataṭa and Harikela in the east. The historic land of Vaṅga ( bôngô in Bengali), situated in present-day Barisal , is considered by early historians of the Abrahamic and Dharmic traditions to have originated from a man who had settled in the area though it is often dismissed as legend . Early Abrahamic genealogists had suggested that this man
1110-568: The Adi Kanda , the first section of the poem, which recounts the ancestry of Rāmā: Dilipa ruled like Indra, the king of the gods, but was sad as he did not have a son. Leaving behind his two wives in the city of Ayodhya, Dilipa went in search of the Ganga. He performed a severe penance for countless years, living on water and fasting, but he neither found the Ganga nor became free of his sorrow. King Dilipa died and went to Brahma's world. On his death
1184-635: The Bengal region of South Asia. The population is divided between the sovereign country Bangladesh and the Indian regions of West Bengal , Tripura , Barak Valley , Goalpara , Andaman and Nicobar Islands , and parts of Meghalaya , Manipur and Jharkhand . Most speak Bengali , a language from the Indo-Aryan language family. Sub-section 2 of Article 6 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states, "The people of Bangladesh shall be known as Bengalis as
1258-610: The Bengal Army , and had the world's sixth earliest railway network. Great Bengal famines struck several times during colonial rule, notably the Great Bengal famine of 1770 and Bengal famine of 1943 , each killing millions of Bengalis. Under British rule, Bengal experienced deindustrialisation. Discontent with the situation, numerous rebellions and revolts were attempted by the Bengali people. The Indian Rebellion of 1857
1332-758: The Chandraketugarh , which flourished in present-day North 24 Parganas , date as far back as 600 BC to 300 BC, and Wari-Bateshwar civilisation , which flourished in present-day Narsingdi , date as far back as 400 BC to 100 BC. Not far from the rivers, the port city of Wari-Bateshwar, and the riverside port city of the Chandraketugarh, are believed to have been engaged in foreign trade with Ancient Rome , Southeast Asia and other regions. The people of this civilisation live in bricked homes, walked on wide roads, used silver coins and iron weaponry among many other things. The two cities are considered to be
1406-516: The Chola dynasty , who invaded Bengal in the 11th century, speak of Govindachandra as the ruler of Vaṅgāladeśa (a Sanskrit cognate to the word Bangladesh , which was historically a synonymous endonym of Bengal). 16th-century historian Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak mentions in his ʿAin-i-Akbarī that the addition of the suffix "al" came from the fact that the ancient rajahs of the land raised mounds of earth 10 feet high and 20 in breadth in lowlands at
1480-574: The Faraizi movement , Titumir , Ali Muhammad Shibli, Alimuddin Ahmad , Prafulla Chaki , Surendranath Banerjee , Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani , Bagha Jatin , Khudiram Bose , Sarojini Naidu , Aurobindo Ghosh , Rashbehari Bose , and Sachindranath Sanyal . Leaders such as Subhas Chandra Bose did not subscribe to the view that non-violent civil disobedience was the best way to achieve independence, and were instrumental in armed resistance against
1554-680: The Hejaz , which popularly became known by the Arabs as Bengali madrasas . As a result of the British conquest of Bengal, some Bengalis decided to emigrate to Arabia. Notable examples include Mawlana Murad, an instructor of Islamic sciences based in Mecca in the early 1800s, and Najib Ali Choudhury , a participant of the Battle of Shamli . Notable people of Bengali-origin in the Middle East include
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#17327721342341628-561: The Krittivas Ramayan with Krittibas Ojha and the available biographical information about him is correct, the Krittibas Ramayan was composed in the fifteenth century CE. But it is far from clear how similar any version of the text known today is to what this figure might have composed in the fifteenth century; the text underwent various changes at the hands of various puthi scribes, who tended to add more material to
1702-705: The Nawabs of Bengal in 1717. Already observing the proto-industrialization, it made direct significant contribution to the first Industrial Revolution (substantially textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution ). Bengal became the basis of the Anglo-Mughal War . After the weakening of the Mughal Empire with the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707, Bengal was ruled independently by three dynasties of Nawabs until 1757, when
1776-909: The Prince of Sylhet . The man, presumably from Sylhet in eastern Bengal, was waited upon by the Prime Minister of Great Britain William Pitt the Younger , and then dined with the Duke of York before presenting himself in front of the King. Today, the British Bangladeshis are a naturalised community in the United Kingdom, running 90% of all South Asian cuisine restaurants and having established numerous ethnic enclaves across
1850-560: The United Kingdom ; and the Bibliothèque nationale de France . Like its model, Valmiki's Ramayana , the work is divided into seven books, in this case Adikando , Ajodhyakando , Aranya Kando , Kishkindha Kando , Sundor Kando , Lankhakando , and Uttorkando . It does not greatly alter the structure or overall plot of its source, though it does make localised alterations. However, in the assessment of Philippe Benoît, It
1924-658: The University of Calcutta , Visva-Bharati University , Rabindra Bharati University , Jadavpur University , University of Burdwan , and the University of North Bengal . There are also puntis preserved in the Silchar Normal School Library, Assam ; Jahangirnagar University and the University of Dhaka , Bangladesh ; the British Library and the School of Oriental and African Studies in
1998-519: The language of the Bengali people to gain patronage and support, contrary to previous states which exclusively favoured Sanskrit , Pali and Persian . The born-Hindu Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah funded the construction of Islamic institutions as far as Mecca and Madina in the Middle East. The people of Arabia came to know these institutions as al-Madaris al-Bangaliyyah ( Bengali madrasas ). The Mughal Empire conquered Bengal in
2072-543: The 10th century were of various religious backgrounds. Tilopa was a prominent Buddhist from modern-day Chittagong , though Samatata was ruled by the Buddhist Chandra dynasty . During this time, the Arab geographer Al-Masudi and author of The Meadows of Gold , travelled to the region where he noticed a Muslim community of inhabitants residing in the region. In addition to trade, Islam was also being introduced to
2146-409: The 16th century, ending the independent Sultanate of Bengal and defeating Bengal's rebellion Baro-Bhuiyan chieftains. Mughal general Man Singh conquered parts of Bengal including Dhaka during the time of Emperor Akbar and a few Rajput tribes from his army permanently settled around Dhaka and surrounding lands, integrating into Bengali society. Akbar's preaching of the syncretic Din-i Ilahi ,
2220-495: The 16th century. One such example is I'tisam-ud-Din , a Bengali Muslim cleric from Nadia in western Bengal, who arrived to Europe in 1765 with his servant Muhammad Muqim as a diplomat for the Mughal Empire . Another example during this period is of James Achilles Kirkpatrick 's hookah-bardar ( hookah servant/preparer) who was said to have robbed and cheated Kirkpatrick, making his way to England and stylising himself as
2294-580: The 1800s. On the other hand, Ram Mohan Roy led a socio-Hindu reformist movement known as Brahmoism which called for the abolishment of sati (widow sacrifice), child marriage , polytheism and idol worship . In 1804, he wrote the Persian book Tuḥfat al-Muwaḥḥidīn (A Gift to the Monotheists) and spent the next two decades attacking the Kulin Brahmin bastions of Bengal. Bengal played
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2368-575: The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War against the Pakistani military junta. The war caused millions of East Bengali refugees to take shelter in neighbouring India, especially the Indian state of West Bengal , with Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal, becoming the capital-in-exile of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh . The Mukti Bahini guerrilla forces waged a nine-month war against the Pakistani military. The conflict ended after
2442-777: The Bengal region in British India into two provinces for administrative and development purposes. However, the partition stoked Hindu nationalism . This in turn led to the formation of the All India Muslim League in Dhaka in 1906 to represent the growing aspirations of the Muslim population. The partition was annulled in 1912 after protests by the Indian National Congress and Hindu Mahasabha . The breakdown of Hindu-Muslim unity in India drove
2516-784: The British. Bose was the co-founder and leader of the Japanese-aligned Indian National Army (distinct from the British Indian Army ) which fought against Allied forces in the Burma campaign . He was also the head of state of a parallel regime, the Azad Hind . A number of Bengalis died during the independence movement and many were imprisoned in the notorious Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands . The first partition in 1905 divided
2590-516: The Caribbean during the 1830s. Workers from Bengal were chosen because they could easily assimilate to the climate of British Guyana , which was similar to that of Bengal. Swami Vivekananda is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America, and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during
2664-536: The Indian Armed Forces intervened on the side of Bangladeshi forces in the final two weeks of the war, which ended with the surrender of East Pakistan and the liberation of Dhaka on 16 December 1971. Thus, the newly independent People's Republic of Bangladesh was born from what was previously the East Pakistan province of Pakistan. Approximate distribution of native Bengali speakers (assuming
2738-552: The Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh , Delhi , Odisha , Chhattisgarh , Jharkhand , Mizoram , Nagaland and Uttarakhand as well as Nepal 's Province No. 1 . The global Bengali diaspora have well-established communities in the Middle East , Pakistan , Myanmar , the United Kingdom , the United States , Malaysia , Italy , Singapore, Maldives , Canada , Australia , Japan and South Korea . Bengalis are
2812-793: The Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution in 1943, calling the creation of "independent states" in eastern and northwestern British India. The resolution paved the way for the Partition of British India based on the Radcliffe Line in 1947, despite attempts to form a United Bengal state that was opposed by many people. The rise of self-determination and Bengali nationalism movements in East Bengal , led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . This eventually culminated in
2886-526: The Muslim rulers in Bengal to conquer Sylhet , turning the town into Jalal's headquarters for religious activities. Following the conquest, Jalal disseminated his followers across different parts of Bengal to spread Islam, and became a household name among Bengali Muslims . The establishment of a single united Bengal Sultanate in 1352 by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah finally gave rise to the name Bangala for
2960-411: The Valmikian narration and its themes. By over-dramatizing a lot, sometimes simplifying, by using a composite language, sometimes literary, sometimes popular, looking to satisfy the expectations of the public, to instruct through a relaxed and often amusing tone, Krittibâs has achieved an equilibrium: while avoiding vulgarity, he entertains and instructs, moves and amuses, in a manner that is accessible to
3034-404: The average Bengali. His Ramayana is not the sum total of strictly Brahminical culture, written for a literate public; it is no doubt still a medium of Brahminical culture, but Brahminism devoid of its solemnity, meant to inform with affability the perception of this culture by a public of simple people. Ruth Vanita has called attention to the account in multiple versions of Krittivasi Ramayan of
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3108-454: The birth of Bhagiratha to two women (widows of King Dilīpa , who dies before he can himself beget the heir which has been divinely ordained to his line): a rare ancient portrayal of human lesbian reproduction. Notwithstanding the extensive variation in the different manuscripts and printed editions of the text, this representation of Bhagiratha's birth seems to be present in most of the Krittivasi Ramayan textual tradition. The story appears in
3182-427: The child on the road. Someone will have compassion on him, seeing him helpless." The two of them left their son on the road and went home. Just then the sage Ashtavakra came along for his bath. Bent at eight places, the sage walked with great difficulty. Seeing the child from a distance, Ashtavakra thought: "If you are mimicking me in order to make fun of me, may your body be destroyed by my curse. If, however, your body
3256-429: The city of Ayodhya was kingless. In heaven, Brahma and Indra were worried: "We have heard that Vishnu will be born in the family of the sun. How will this be possible if the line comes to an end?" All the gods consulted together and decided to send the three-eyed god, Shiva, to Ayodhya. Riding his bull, Shiva went to Dilipa's two queens and said to them: "By my blessings, one of you will have a son." Hearing Shiva's words,
3330-399: The country – most prominent of which is Banglatown in East London . An important and unifying characteristic of Bengalis is that most of them use Bengali as their native tongue, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family. With about 226 million native and about 300 million total speakers worldwide, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages , ranked sixth in the world, and
3404-432: The demographic majority in Assam 's Barak Valley and Lower region as well as parts of Manipur . The state of Tripura as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory , which lies in the Bay of Bengal , are also home to a Bengali-majority population, most of whom are descendants of Hindus from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) that migrated there following the 1947 Partition of India . Bengali migration to
3478-436: The early 17th century, Islam Khan I had conquered all of Bengal and was integrated into a province known as the Bengal Subah . It was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire , as it also encompassed parts of Bihar and Odisha , between the 16th and 18th centuries. Described by some as the "Paradise of Nations" and the "Golden Age of Bengal", Bengalis enjoyed some of the highest living standards and real wages in
3552-446: The foot of the hills which were called "al". This is also mentioned in Ghulam Husain Salim 's Riyāz us-Salāṭīn . In 1352, Muslim nobleman Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah united the region into a single political entity known as the Bengal Sultanate . Proclaiming himself as Shāh -i-Bangālīyān , it was in this period that the Bengali language gained state patronage and corroborated literary development. Ilyas Shah had effectively unified
3626-467: The latter archipelago was also boosted by subsequent state-funded Colonisation Schemes by the Government of India . Bengali ethnic descent and emigrant communities are found primarily in other parts of the subcontinent , the Middle East and the Western World. Substantial populations descended from Bengali immigrants exist in Saudi Arabia , Pakistan and the United Kingdom where they form established communities of over 1 million people. The majority of
3700-434: The non-Indo-Aryan tribes inhabiting Bengal. Their ethnonym , Bangali , along with the native name of the Bengali language and Bengal region, Bangla , are both derived from Bangālah , the Persian word for the region. Prior to Muslim expansion , there was no unitary territory by this name as the region was instead divided into numerous geopolitical divisions. The most prominent of these were Vaṅga (from which Bangālah
3774-413: The oldest cities in Bengal . It is thought that a man named Vanga settled in the area around 1000 BCE founding the Vanga kingdom in southern Bengal. The Atharvaveda and the Hindu epic Mahabharata mentions this kingdom, along with the Pundra kingdom in northern Bengal. The spread of Mauryan territory and promotion of Buddhism by its emperor Ashoka cultivated a growing Buddhist society among
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#17327721342343848-420: The overseas Bengali diaspora are Muslims as the act of seafaring was traditionally prohibited in Hinduism; a taboo known as kala pani (black/dirty water). The introduction of Islam to the Bengali people has generated a connection to the Arabian Peninsula , as Muslims are required to visit the land once in their lifetime to complete the Hajj pilgrimage. Several Bengali sultans funded Islamic institutions in
3922-481: The people of Bengal through the migration of Sufi missionaries prior to conquest. The earliest known Sufi missionaries were Syed Shah Surkhul Antia and his students, most notably Shah Sultan Rumi , in the 11th century. Rumi settled in present-day Netrokona, Mymensingh where he influenced the local ruler and population to embrace Islam. The Pala dynasty was followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena Empire . Subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout
3996-416: The people of present-day Bengal from the 2nd century BCE. Mauryan monuments as far as the Great Stupa of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh mentioned the people of this region as adherents of Buddhism. The Buddhists of the Bengal region built and used dozens of monasteries, and were recognised for their religious commitments as far as Nagarjunakonda in South India . One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal
4070-409: The period of its circulation, from the Middle Ages into the modern period. It was characterised by Dinesh Chandra Sen in 1911 as 'by far the most popular book in Bengal' and 'the Bible of the people of the Gangetic Valley'. The Krittivas Ramayan appears to be a translation into Bengali from one or another recension of the Sanskrit text known as Valmiki's Ramayana . If the popular association of
4144-401: The present-day Rajshahi Division in northern Bengal, preaching to the communities there. A community of 13 Muslim families headed by Burhanuddin also existed in the northeastern Hindu city of Srihatta (Sylhet) , claiming their descendants to have arrived from Chittagong . By 1303, hundreds of Sufi preachers led by Shah Jalal , who some biographers claim was a Turkistan-born Bengali, aided
4218-464: The putative author's estimated period. Some attempts have been made to produce scholarly editions, but, in the view of Philippe Benoît, 'sans résultat probant' ('without convincing results'); in these circumstances, he concludes 'il est impossible de se faire une idée du texte original de Krittibâs' ('it is impossible to formulate an impression of the original text of Krittibas'). Extant manuscripts are presently stored in West Bengal universities such as
4292-404: The region into one country. Archaeologists have discovered remnants of a 4,700-year-old Neolithic and Chalcolithic civilisation such as Dihar and Pandu Rajar Dhibi 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
4366-418: The region was annexed by the East India Company after the Battle of Plassey . In Bengal, effective political and military power was transferred from the Afshar regime to the British East India Company around 1757–65. Company rule in India began under the Bengal Presidency . Calcutta was named the capital of British India in 1772. The presidency was run by a military-civil administration, including
4440-407: The region, and the development of Bengali language . The Ilyas Shahi dynasty acknowledged Muslim scholarship , and this transcended ethnic background. Usman Serajuddin , also known as Akhi Siraj Bengali , was a native of Gaur in western Bengal and became the Sultanate's court scholar during Ilyas Shah's reign. Alongside Persian and Arabic, the sovereign Sunni Muslim nation-state also enabled
4514-443: The region. Bakhtiyar Khalji , a Turkic general, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal. Consequently, the region was ruled by dynasties of sultans and feudal lords under the Bengal Sultanate for the next few hundred years. Many of the people of Bengal began accepting Islam through the influx of missionaries following the initial conquest. Sultan Balkhi and Shah Makhdum Rupos settled in
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#17327721342344588-401: The renowned author and journalist Ahmad Abd al-Ghafur Attar of Saudi Arabia and Qur'an translator Zohurul Hoque from Oman . The family of Princess Sarvath al-Hassan , wife of Jordanian prince Hassan bin Talal , are descended from the Suhrawardy family of Midnapore . Earliest records of Bengalis in the European continent date back to the reign of King George III of England during
4662-415: The revival of Buddhism in Tibet and also held the position of Abbot at the Vikramashila monastery in Bihar . The Pala Empire enjoyed relations with the Srivijaya Empire , the Tibetan Empire , and the Arab Abbasid Caliphate . Islam first appeared in Bengal during Pala rule, as a result of increased trade between Bengal and the Middle East. The people of Samatata , in southeastern Bengal, during
4736-432: The text, and nineteenth-century pandits were also influential in determining the content of the printed editions that predominate today. Over 1500 manuscripts of the poem are extant, but most date to the last quarter of the eighteenth century or later, and they are enormously varied (with some variations reflecting regional transmission within Bengal); even the earliest manuscript fragments are at least two centuries later than
4810-603: The twenty-first century. The eighteenth-century Bengali raja Krishnachandra Roy attempted to ban people from reading it in an attempt to promote the Sanskritisation of Bengali religion. The epic of Krittivas has had a profound impact on the literature of Bengal and the North India,Bihar,Jharkhand And Odisha regions. Tulsidas —the sixteenth-century Awadhi Ramayana also called Ramacharitmanas deeply inspired from Krittivasi Ramayan . The story of Rama as depicted by Krittivas Ojha inspired many later-day poets, including Michael Madhusudan Dutt and Rabindranath Tagore . The text
4884-458: The two queens, who took their son and returned home, delighted. The sage came too and performed all the sacred rituals. Because he was born of two vulvas ( bhagas ) he was named Bhagiratha. The great poet Krittivasa is a recognized scholar. In this Adi Kanda he sings of the birth of Bhagiratha. The Krittivasi Ramayan is thought to have been the single most popular single book in the whole of pre-modern Bengal, and remains in widespread circulation in
4958-491: The two women said: "We are widows, how can we have a child?" Shankara replied: "You two have intercourse with one another. By my blessings one of you will have a lovely child." Having bestowed this boon, the god who destroys the three worlds went his way. The two wives of Dilipa took a bath. They lived together in extreme love. After some days, one of them menstruated. Both of them knew one another's intentions and enjoyed love play, and one of them conceived. Ten months passed, it
5032-399: The world at the time. Singlehandedly accounting for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia, eastern Bengal was globally prominent in industries such as textile manufacturing and shipbuilding , and was a major exporter of silk and cotton textiles, steel, saltpetre , and agricultural and industrial produce in the world. Mughal Bengal eventually became a quasi-independent monarchy state ruled by
5106-400: Was Shashanka , reigning around the early 7th century, who is generally thought to have originated from Magadha , Bihar, just west of Bengal. After a period of anarchy, a native ruler called Gopala came into power in 750 CE. He originated from Varendra in northern Bengal, and founded the Buddhist Pala Empire . Atiśa , a renowned Buddhist teacher from eastern Bengal, was instrumental in
5180-445: Was Bang, a son of Hind who was the son of Ham (son of Noah) . In contrast, the Mahabharata , Puranas and the Harivamsha state that Vaṅga was the founder of the Vaṅga kingdom and one of the adopted sons of King Vali. The land of Vaṅga later came to be known as Vaṅgāla ( Bôngal ) and its earliest reference is in the Nesari plates (805 CE) of Govinda III which speak of Dharmapāla as its king. The records of Rajendra Chola I of
5254-409: Was described as a blasphemy by the Qadi of Bengal, which caused huge controversies in South Asia. In the 16th century, many Ulama of the Bengali Muslim intelligentsia migrated to other parts of the subcontinent as teachers and instructors of Islamic knowledge such as Ali Sher Bengali to Ahmedabad , Shah Manjhan to Sarangpur , Usman Bengali to Sambhal and Yusuf Bengali to Burhanpur . By
5328-592: Was initiated on the outskirts of Calcutta, and spread to Dhaka, Jalpaiguri and Agartala, in solidarity with revolts in North India . Havildar Rajab Ali commanded the rebels in Chittagong as far as Sylhet and Manipur . The failure of the rebellion led to the abolishment of the Mughal court completely and direct rule by the British Raj . Many Bengali labourers were taken as coolies to the British colonies in
5402-618: Was published in 1834. Later in the twentieth century, various editions were published based on the Jaygopal Tarkalankar version. Bengali people Lores Genres Institutions Awards Folk genres Devotional Classical genres Modern genres People Instruments Dance Theater Organizations People Bengalis ( Bengali : বাঙ্গালী, বাঙালি [baŋgali, baŋali] ), also rendered as endonym Bangalee , are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with
5476-480: Was time for the birth. The child emerged as a lump of flesh. Both of them cried with the son in their lap: "Why did the three-eyed one bless us with such a son? He has no bones, he is a lump of flesh, he cannot move about. Seeing him, the whole world will laugh at us." Weeping, they put him in a basket and went to the bank of the river Sarayu to throw him into the water. The sage Vashistha saw them and understood everything through his powers of meditation. He said: "Leave
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