101-580: Lores Genres Institutions Awards Folk genres Devotional Classical genres Modern genres People Instruments Dance Theater Organizations People Pohela Boishakh ( Bengali : পহেলা বৈশাখ ) is the Bengali New Year celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in the Indian states of West Bengal , Tripura , Jharkhand and Assam ( Goalpara and Barak Valley ). It
202-500: A bid to lessen this burden on young learners, efforts have been made by educational institutions in the two main Bengali-speaking regions (West Bengal and Bangladesh) to address the opaque nature of many consonant clusters, and as a result, modern Bengali textbooks are beginning to contain more and more "transparent" graphical forms of consonant clusters, in which the constituent consonants of a cluster are readily apparent from
303-555: A colourful manner along with other organisations. Bengali people in Calgary celebrate the day with traditional food, dress, and with Bengali culture. The Bangabandhu Council of Australia also hosts a Pohela Boishakh event at the Sydney Olympic Park . Bengali language Bengali , also known by its endonym Bangla ( বাংলা , Bāṅlā , [ˈbaŋla] ), is a classical Indo-Aryan language from
404-596: A different word from a speaker of Standard Bengali in Bangladesh, even though both words are of native Bengali descent. For example, the word salt is লবণ lôbôṇ in the east which corresponds to নুন nun in the west. Bengali exhibits diglossia , though some scholars have proposed triglossia or even n-glossia or heteroglossia between the written and spoken forms of the language. Two styles of writing have emerged, involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax : Linguist Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar categorises
505-480: A diphthong. The total number of diphthongs is not established, with bounds at 17 and 31. An incomplete chart is given by Sarkar (1985) of the following: In standard Bengali, stress is predominantly initial. Bengali words are virtually all trochaic ; the primary stress falls on the initial syllable of the word, while secondary stress often falls on all odd-numbered syllables thereafter, giving strings such as in সহযোগিতা shô -hô- jo -gi- ta "cooperation", where
606-574: A guide, Abdallah ibn Arqat, who was a pagan. Beginning in January 623, Muhammad led several raids against Meccan caravans travelling along the eastern coast of the Red Sea . Members of different tribes were thus unified by the urgency of the moment. This unity was primarily based on the bonds of kinship. The second Rashidun Caliph , Umar ibn Al-Khattab , designated the Muslim year during which
707-692: A large scale and were communally limited. Owing to Bengal's geographic location, Bengali areas bordering non-Bengali regions have been influenced by each other. Small numbers of people in Midnapore , which borders Odisha , have used the Odia script to write in Bengali. In the border areas between West Bengal and Bihar , some Bengali communities historically wrote Bengali in Devanagari , Kaithi and Tirhuta . In Sylhet and Bankura , modified versions of
808-682: A majority in Bangladesh speaks dialects notably different from SCB. Some dialects, particularly those of the Chittagong region, bear only a superficial resemblance to SCB. The dialect in the Chittagong region is least widely understood by the general body of Bengalis. The majority of Bengalis are able to communicate in more than one variety – often, speakers are fluent in Cholitobhasha (SCB) and one or more regional dialects. Even in SCB,
909-494: A new calendar by combining the lunar Islamic calendar and solar Hindu calendar already in use, and this was known as Fasholi shan (harvest calendar). According to some historians, this started the Bengali calendar . According to Shamsuzzaman Khan , it could be Nawab Murshid Quli Khan , a Mughal governor, who first used the tradition of Punyaho as "a day for ceremonial land tax collection", and used Akbar's fiscal policy to start
1010-599: A part in the adoption of the English alphabet to write Bengali, with certain social media influencers publishing entire novels in Roman Bengali. Hijrah The Hijrah ( Arabic : الهجرة hijra , originally 'a severing of ties of kinship or association' ), also Hegira (from Medieval Latin ), was the journey the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina . The year in which
1111-478: A part of the attraction for the younglings back in the days. The Bengali New Year is observed as a public holiday in Bangladesh. It is celebrated across religious boundaries by its Muslim majority and Hindu minority. According to Willem van Schendel and Henk Schulte Nordholt , the festival became a popular means of expressing cultural pride and heritage among the Bangladeshi as they resisted Pakistani rule in
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#17327868901001212-523: A rounded total of 280 million) worldwide. The Bengali language is native to the region of Bengal , which comprises the present-day nation of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal . Besides the native region it is also spoken by the Bengalis living in Tripura , southern Assam and the Bengali population in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Bengali is also spoken in
1313-408: A special diacritic, called the hôsôntô (্) , may be added below the basic consonant grapheme (as in ম্ [m] ). This diacritic, however, is not common and is chiefly employed as a guide to pronunciation. The abugida nature of Bengali consonant graphemes is not consistent, however. Often, syllable-final consonant graphemes, though not marked by a hôsôntô , may carry no inherent vowel sound (as in
1414-581: A state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan . On 21 February 1952, five students and political activists were killed during protests near the campus of the University of Dhaka ; they were the first ever martyrs to die for their right to speak their mother tongue. In 1956, Bengali was made a state language of Pakistan. 21 February has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh and has also been commemorated as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO every year since 2000. In 2010,
1515-652: A traditional colourful procession organised by the students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka (Charukala). According to the history, the rudimentary step of Mangal Shobhjatra was started in Jessore by Charupith, a community organisation, in 1985. Later in 1989 the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka arranged this Mangal Shobhajatra with different motifs and themes. Now, the Mangal Shobhajatra
1616-539: A trend. To stop overfishing and to repopulate the dwindling Hilsa population, around this time, fishing is banned. Mangal Shobhajatra or Mongol Shovajatra (Bengali: মঙ্গল শোভাযাত্রা) is a mass procession that takes place at dawn on the first day of the Bengali New Year in Bangladesh. The procession is organised by the teachers and students of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Dhaka. The festival
1717-607: A variety of traditional festive foods on Pohela Boishakh. These include panta bhat (watered rice), ilish bhaji (fried hilsa fish) and many special bhartas (pastes). The celebrations start in Dhaka at dawn with a rendition of Rabindranath Tagore 's song " Esho he Boishakh " by Chhayanaut under the banyan tree at Ramna (the Ramna Batamul). An integral part of the festivities is the Mangal Shobhajatra ,
1818-463: A vowel in isolation from any preceding or following consonant, the independent form of the vowel is used. For example, in মই [moj] "ladder" and in ইলিশ [iliʃ] "Hilsa fish", the independent form of the vowel ই is used (cf. the dependent form ি) . A vowel at the beginning of a word is always realised using its independent form. In addition to the inherent-vowel-suppressing hôsôntô , three more diacritics are commonly used in Bengali. These are
1919-500: Is Bangladesh's national march, written by The National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in Bengali in 1928. It was adopted as the national marching song by the Bangladeshi government in 1972. Additionally, the first two verses of Vande Mataram , a patriotic song written in Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee , was adopted as the "national song" of India in both the colonial period and later in 1950 in independent India. Furthermore, it
2020-468: Is a cursive script with eleven graphemes or signs denoting nine vowels and two diphthongs , and thirty-nine graphemes representing consonants and other modifiers. There are no distinct upper and lower case letter forms. The letters run from left to right and spaces are used to separate orthographic words . Bengali script has a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the graphemes that links them together called মাত্রা matra . Since
2121-615: Is a festival based on the spring harvest —which marks the first day of the new year in the official calendar of Bangladesh . The Pohela Boishakh has its origins in the Mughal Empire , representing the proclamation of tax collection reforms under Akbar . Its celebration is rooted in the traditions of the Mahifarash community of Old Dhaka . Presently, it is largely a secular holiday for most celebrants and enjoyed by people of several different faiths and backgrounds. The festival
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#17327868901002222-754: Is a festival celebrated on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh in order to complete all the account reckonings of the last year and open a new ledger . It is observed by the Bengali businessmen, shopkeepers and traders. It signifies that every year starts with a new beginning. It ignores all the due debts of customers and shopkeepers alike, and instead opens a new page for a new year of shopkeeping. On this occasion, males are seen wearing red or white Kurta with traditional designs on them, imprinted or embroidered. Women and young ladies wear red and white saree with blouses and put on flower crowns on their heads. Girls also dress in salwar kameez . They are seen wearing traditional ornaments and accessories along with their dresses. It
2323-632: Is a state holiday in Tripura. People wear new clothes and start the day by praying at the temples for a prosperous year. The day marks the traditional accounting new year for merchants. Festive foods such as confectionery and sweets are purchased and distributed as gifts to friends and family members. The festival is also observed by the Bengali communities in other eastern states such as Assam . Bangladesh Heritage and Ethnic Society of Alberta in Canada celebrates its Heritage Festival (Bengali New Year) in
2424-616: Is a verdant oasis. According to Muslim sources, the city was founded by Jews who had survived the revolt against the Romans. While agriculture was far from the domain of the Arab tribes, the Jews were excellent farmers who cultivated the land in the oases. In addition to several smaller Jewish clans, there were three major Jewish tribes in the city: Banu Qaynuqa , Banu Nadir and Banu Qurayza . Over time, Arab tribes from southern Arabia migrated to
2525-471: Is also known for uniting friends and family after a long time. It is a time for unity and reuniting, and spending enjoyable time with friends and family, while putting the past behind. The celebration of Bengali new year Pahela Baishakh begins at dawn arranges by the cultural organisation Chhayanaut welcoming the year at Ramna Batamul under the banyan tree in the Ramna Park in Bangladesh. Haal Khata
2626-572: Is also spoken by the Bengali diasporas ( Bangladeshi diaspora and Indian Bengalis) across Europe, North America, the Middle East and other regions. Bengali was accorded the status of a classical language by the government of India on 3 October 2024. It is the second most spoken and fourth fastest growing language in India , following Hindi in the first place, Kashmiri in the second place, and Meitei ( Manipuri ), along with Gujarati , in
2727-400: Is an abugida , a script with letters for consonants, with diacritics for vowels, and in which an inherent vowel (অ ô ) is assumed for consonants if no vowel is marked. The Bengali alphabet is used throughout Bangladesh and eastern India (Assam, West Bengal, Tripura). The Bengali alphabet is believed to have evolved from a modified Brahmic script around 1000 CE (or 10th–11th century). It
2828-707: Is believed by many that the national anthem of Sri Lanka ( Sri Lanka Matha ) was inspired by a Bengali poem written by Rabindranath Tagore , while some even believe the anthem was originally written in Bengali and then translated into Sinhala . After the contribution made by the Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force in the Sierra Leone Civil War under the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone ,
2929-519: Is celebrated by different organisation in all over the country. The Dhaka University Mangal Shobhajatra tradition started in 1989 when students used the procession to overcome their frustration with the military rule. They organised the festival to create masks and floats with at least three theme, one highlighting evil, another courage, and a third about peace. It also highlighted the pride of Bangladeshi people for their folk heritage irrespective of religion, creed, caste, gender or age. In recent years,
3030-458: Is celebrated with processions, fairs and family time. The traditional greeting for Bengalis in the new year is শুভ নববর্ষ " Shubho Noboborsho " which is literally "Happy New Year". The festive Mangal Shobhajatra is organised in Bangladesh. In 2016, the UNESCO declared this festivity organised by the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka as a cultural heritage of humanity. In Bengali ,
3131-721: Is considered a separate language, although it shares similarities to Northern Bengali dialects. During the standardisation of Bengali in the 19th century and early 20th century, the cultural centre of Bengal was in Kolkata , a city founded by the British. What is accepted as the standard form today in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect of Nadia and Kushtia District . There are cases where speakers of Standard Bengali in West Bengal will use
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3232-450: Is considered an expression of the secular identity of the Bangladeshi people and as a way to promote unity. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2016, categorised on the representative list as a heritage of humanity. It is a fair held by the locals of that area where many different things ranging from books to special dishes are sold. Traditionally, the fair was held under huge Banyan trees and traders from far across
3333-404: Is known as Apabhraṃśa , by the end of the first millennium. The Bengali language evolved as a distinct language over the course of time. Though some archaeologists claim that some 10th-century texts were in Bengali, it is not certain whether they represent a differentiated language or whether they represent a stage when Eastern Indo-Aryan languages were differentiating. The local Apabhraṃśa of
3434-490: Is set out below in the International Phonetic Alphabet (upper grapheme in each box) and romanisation (lower grapheme). Bengali is known for its wide variety of diphthongs , combinations of vowels occurring within the same syllable . Two of these, /oi̯/ and /ou̯/ , are the only ones with representation in script, as ঐ and ঔ respectively. /e̯ i̯ o̯ u̯/ may all form the glide part of
3535-743: Is the second-most widely spoken language in India . It is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura and the Barak Valley region of the state of Assam . It is also the second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. It is the most widely spoken language in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal , and is spoken by significant populations in other states including Bihar , Arunachal Pradesh , Delhi , Chhattisgarh , Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland , Odisha and Uttarakhand . Bengali
3636-472: Is thought that it is because the traditional ledgers used in Haal Khata had a red cover with white pages. In recent times, claiming it to be traditional, Bengalis eat Panta Bhat or poitabhat , which is a rice-based dish prepared by soaking rice, generally leftovers, in water overnight. It is popularly eaten with Hilsa Fish and other curries. But many argue that it is not an age-old tradition and merely
3737-509: The Aesop's Fables in Bengali was printed using Roman letters based on English phonology by the Scottish linguist John Gilchrist . Consecutive attempts to establish a Roman Bengali have continued across every century since these times, and have been supported by the likes of Suniti Kumar Chatterji , Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda , and Muhammad Enamul Haq . The Digital Revolution has also played
3838-615: The Arabic , Persian , and Turkic languages . The arrival of merchants and traders from the Middle East and Turkestan into the Buddhist -ruling Pala Empire , from as early as the 7th century, gave birth to Islamic influence in the region. In the 13th century, subsequent Arab Muslim and Turco-Persian expeditions to Bengal heavily influenced the local vernacular by settling among the native population. Bengali absorbed Arabic and Persian influences in its vocabulary and dialect, including
3939-506: The Aws , who had been at odds for so long—accept Islam and adopt Muhammad as their leader, unity could be achieved between them. In February 621, five earlier converts met with Muhammad again. They were accompanied by seven new converts, including two people from the Banu Aws tribe. This gathering took place at the al-'Aqaba mountain pass, located just north of Mecca near the trade route. At
4040-468: The Bangla calendar . According to Shamsuzzaman Khan, and Nitish Sengupta , the origin of the Bengali calendar is unclear. According to Shamsuzzaman, it is called Bangla shon or shaal, which are Arabic (سن) and Persian (سال) words respectively, suggests that it was introduced by a Muslim king or sultan." In contrast, according to Sengupta, its traditional name is Bangabda . It is also unclear, whether it
4141-697: The Banu Khazraj tribe who were visiting Mecca , on a pilgrimage to the holy sites around the city. These six individuals had a history of raiding Jews in their locality, who in turn had warned them that a prophet would come, and with his help, the Jews would obliterate them. Upon hearing Muhammad's religious message, the six individuals said to each other, "This is the very prophet of whom the Jews warned us; don't let them get to him before us!" After embracing Islam, they returned to Medina and shared their encounter, hoping that by having their people—the Khazraj and
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4242-474: The Constitution of Bangladesh states Bengali to be the sole official language of Bangladesh. The Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 , made it mandatory to use Bengali in all records and correspondences, laws, proceedings of court and other legal actions in all courts, government or semi-government offices, and autonomous institutions in Bangladesh. It is also the de facto national language of
4343-657: The Indo-European language family native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With over 237 million native speakers and another 41 million as second language speakers as of 2024, Bengali is the fifth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. It is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language . Bengali is the official , national , and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh , with 98% of Bangladeshis using Bengali as their first language. It
4444-579: The Kaithi script had some historical prominence, mainly among Muslim communities. The variant in Sylhet was identical to the Baitali Kaithi script of Hindustani with the exception of Sylhet Nagri possessing matra . Sylhet Nagri was standardised for printing in c. 1869 . Up until the 19th century, numerous variations of the Arabic script had been used across Bengal from Chittagong in
4545-723: The Middle Indo-Aryan dialects were influential in the first millennium when Bengal was a part of the Greater Magadhan realm. The local varieties had no official status during the Gupta Empire , and with Bengal increasingly becoming a hub of Sanskrit literature for Hindu priests, the vernacular of Bengal gained a lot of influence from Sanskrit. Magadhi Prakrit was also spoken in modern-day Bihar and Assam , and this vernacular eventually evolved into Ardha Magadhi . Ardha Magadhi began to give way to what
4646-524: The Nadia region . Bengali shows a high degree of diglossia , with the literary and standard form differing greatly from the colloquial speech of the regions that identify with the language. Modern Bengali vocabulary is based on words inherited from Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, along with tatsamas and reborrowings from Sanskrit and borrowings from Persian , Arabic , Austroasiatic languages and other languages with which it has historically been in contact. In
4747-615: The Quraysh tried to dissuade their family members from leaving, but in the end, there were no Muslims left in Mecca. Muhammad regarded this migration as an expulsion by the Quraysh. Islamic tradition relates that, in light of the unfolding events, one of the Quraysh chiefs, Abu Jahl , Muhammad's childhood friend-turned-enemy, proposed a joint assassination of Muhammad by representatives of each Quraysh clan. Having been informed of this by
4848-607: The University of Karachi (established by East Pakistani politicians before Independence of Bangladesh ) also offers regular programs of studies at the Bachelors and at the Masters levels for Bengali Literature. The national anthems of both Bangladesh ( Amar Sonar Bangla ) and India ( Jana Gana Mana ) were written in Bengali by the Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore . Notuner Gaan known as " Chol Chol Chol"
4949-499: The boldface represents primary and secondary stress. Native Bengali words do not allow initial consonant clusters ; the maximum syllabic structure is CVC (i.e., one vowel flanked by a consonant on each side). Many speakers of Bengali restrict their phonology to this pattern, even when using Sanskrit or English borrowings, such as গেরাম geram (CV.CVC) for গ্রাম gram (CCVC) "village" or ইস্কুল iskul (VC.CVC) for স্কুল skul (CCVC) "school". The Bengali-Assamese script
5050-557: The phonology of Eastern Bengali is seen through the lack of nasalised vowels and an alveolar articulation of what are categorised as the "cerebral" consonants (as opposed to the postalveolar articulation of western Bengal). Some varieties of Bengali, particularly Sylheti , Chittagonian and Chakma , have contrastive tone ; differences in the pitch of the speaker's voice can distinguish words. Kharia Thar and Mal Paharia are closely related to Western Bengali dialects, but are typically classified as separate languages. Similarly, Hajong
5151-616: The 13th-century, used the Vikrami calendar. Buddhist texts and inscriptions created in the Pala Empire era mention "Vikrama" and the months such as Ashvin , a system found in Sanskrit texts elsewhere in ancient and medieval Indian subcontinent. In rural Bengali communities of India, the Bengali calendar is credited to "Bikromaditto", like many other parts of India and Nepal . However, unlike these regions where it starts in 57 BCE,
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#17327868901005252-623: The 16th century, Portuguese missionaries began a tradition of using the Roman alphabet to transcribe the Bengali language. Though the Portuguese standard did not receive much growth, a few Roman Bengali works relating to Christianity and Bengali grammar were printed as far as Lisbon in 1743. The Portuguese were followed by the English and French respectively, whose works were mostly related to Bengali grammar and transliteration. The first version of
5353-530: The 1950s and 1960s. The day is marked with singing, processions, and fairs. Traditionally, businesses start this day with a new ledger, clearing out the old which often involves inviting loyal customers and offering sweetmeats to them. This festival is called Haal Khata . Singers perform traditional songs welcoming the new year. People enjoy classical Jatra plays . People wear festive dress with women desking their hair with flowers. White-red color combinations are particularly popular. Bangladeshis prepare and enjoy
5454-598: The 19th and 20th centuries, there were two standard forms of written Bengali: In 1948, the government of Pakistan tried to impose Urdu as the sole state language in Pakistan, giving rise to the Bengali language movement . This was a popular ethnolinguistic movement in the former East Bengal (today Bangladesh ), which arose as a result of the strong linguistic consciousness of the Bengalis and their desire to promote and protect spoken and written Bengali's recognition as
5555-534: The 6th century, which competed with the ancestor of Bengali for some time. The ancestor of Bengali was the language of the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty . During the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterised by the elision of the word-final অ ô and the spread of compound verbs, which originated from the Sanskrit Schwa . Slowly, the word-final ô disappeared from many words influenced by
5656-421: The Bengali calendar starts from 593 CE suggesting that the starting reference year was adjusted at some point. In Bangladesh however, the old Bengali calendar was modified in 1966 by a committee headed by Muhammad Shahidullah , making the first five months 31 days long, rest 30 days each, with the month of Falgun adjusted to 31 days in every leap year. This was officially adopted by Bangladesh in 1987. Since then,
5757-456: The Bengali equivalent of a full stop – have been adopted from Western scripts and their usage is similar. Unlike in Western scripts (Latin, Cyrillic, etc.) where the letter forms stand on an invisible baseline, the Bengali letter-forms instead hang from a visible horizontal left-to-right headstroke called মাত্রা matra . The presence and absence of this matra can be important. For example,
5858-426: The Bengali script is an abugida, its consonant graphemes usually do not represent phonetic segments , but carry an "inherent" vowel and thus are syllabic in nature. The inherent vowel is usually a back vowel , either [ɔ] as in মত [m ɔ t] "opinion" or [o] , as in মন [m o n] "mind", with variants like the more open [ɒ] . To emphatically represent a consonant sound without any inherent vowel attached to it,
5959-549: The Hegira occurred the first year of the Islamic calendar in 638 or the 17th year of the Hegira. This was later Latinized to Anno hegirae , the abbreviation of which is still used to denote Hijri dates today. Burnaby states that: "Historians in general assert that Muhammad fled from Mecca at the commencement of the third month of the Arabian year, Rabi 'u-l-awwal. They do not agree as to the precise day. According to Ibn-Ishak, it
6060-735: The Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date equates to 16 July 622 in the Julian calendar . Early in Muhammad's preaching of Islam , his followers only included his close friends and relatives. Most of his tribesmen, the Quraysh , however, were indifferent to his activities, as they did not appear to be particularly interested in devotional meetings, and accordingly, Muhammad did not encounter any serious opposition from them; that
6161-599: The Hindu calendar system and is used to set the various Bengali Hindu festivals. For Bengalis of West Bengal and other Indian states, the festival falls either on 14 or 15 April every year. The current Bengali calendar in use in the Indian states is based on the Sanskrit text Surya Siddhanta . It retains the historic Sanskrit names of the months, with the first month as Baishakh . During Pohela Boishakh, people wear traditional attire, namely women clad in saris and salwar kameez and men dressed in kurta , visit their families and friends and spend time together. Pohela Boishakh
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#17327868901006262-415: The Islamic Hijri calendar. This calendar was a lunar calendar , and its new year did not coincide with the solar agricultural cycles . According to some sources, the festival was a tradition introduced in Bengal during the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar to time the tax year to the harvest, and the Bangla year was therewith called Bangabda . Akbar asked the royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to create
6363-478: The Medinan converts; this time, there were 75 of them, including 2 women. Muhammad's uncle al-Abbas , who accompanied him, made a speech at the beginning, declaring that Muhammad was "the most respected person among his kinsmen." This is quite in contrast with the fact that Muhammad had received strong opposition from his other uncle, Abu Lahab , as well as Abu Jahl and other Quraysh leaders. Al-Abbas also falsely stated that Muhammad had rejected offers from all but
6464-472: The angel Gabriel, Muhammad asked his cousin Ali to lie on his bed covered with his green hadrami cloak, assuring him that it would keep him safe. Muhammad then went with Abu Bakr to a cave in Mount Thawr , about an hour's walk south of Mecca, and hid there. Abu Bakr's children and servants, who were still in Mecca, regularly brought them food. After three days in hiding, they set out for Medina on camels that Abu Bakr had bought in advance, and accompanied by
6565-405: The areas would gather with their goods and toys in the fair. Some rides such as Nagordola (wooden Ferris wheel ), are set for kids. Different types of traditional foods are sold out in the stalls such as Jilipi , Sandesh , Soan papdi , Batasha (a candy made of sugar or jaggery), Khoi (popped rice), Kadma (a candy made of sugar), and so forth. 'Bioscope', a form of the old movie projector, was also
6666-536: The basis of modern standard colloquial Bengali. In the dialects prevalent in much of eastern and south-eastern Bangladesh ( Barisal , Chittagong , Dhaka and Sylhet Divisions of Bangladesh), many of the stops and affricates heard in West Bengal and western Bangladesh are pronounced as fricatives . Western alveolo-palatal affricates চ [ tɕɔ ] , ছ [ tɕʰɔ ] , জ [ dʑɔ ] correspond to eastern চ [tsɔ] , ছ [tsʰɔ~sɔ] , জ [dzɔ~zɔ] . The influence of Tibeto-Burman languages on
6767-571: The city and settled alongside the Jewish community. The Arab tribes comprised Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj , both known collectively as Banu Qayla. Prior to 620, these two Arab tribes had been fighting for nearly a hundred years. Each of them had tried to court the support of the Jewish tribes, which occasionally led to infighting among the latter. In 620, having lost all hope of winning converts among his fellow townspeople, Muhammad limited his efforts to non-Meccans who attended fairs or made pilgrimages. During these efforts, Muhammad met six members of
6868-469: The consonant which comes first is put on top of or to the left of the one that immediately follows. In these ligatures, the shapes of the constituent consonant signs are often contracted and sometimes even distorted beyond recognition. In the Bengali writing system, there are nearly 285 such ligatures denoting consonant clusters. Although there exist a few visual formulas to construct some of these ligatures, many of them have to be learned by rote. Recently, in
6969-455: The country. In India, Bengali is one of the 23 official languages . It is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal , Tripura and in Barak Valley of Assam . Bengali has been a second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. In Pakistan , Bengali is a recognised secondary language in the city of Karachi mainly spoken by stranded Bengalis of Pakistan . The Department of Bengali in
7070-493: The current Bengali Calendar begins from the year of Hijrah , i.e., migration of Prophet Muhammad , the last messenger in Islam , from Makkah to Madinah . Some historians attribute the Bengali calendar to the 7th-century Indian king Shashanka . The term Bangabda (Bangla year) is found too in two Shiva temples many centuries older than Akbar era, suggesting that Bengali calendar existed before Akbar's time. Various dynasties whose territories extended into Bengal , prior to
7171-430: The development of Dobhashi . Bengali acquired prominence, over Persian, in the court of the Sultans of Bengal with the ascent of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah . Subsequent Muslim rulers actively promoted the literary development of Bengali, allowing it to become the most spoken vernacular language in the Sultanate. Bengali adopted many words from Arabic and Persian , which was a manifestation of Islamic culture on
7272-700: The east to Meherpur in the west. The 14th-century court scholar of Bengal, Nur Qutb Alam , composed Bengali poetry using the Persian alphabet . After the Partition of India in the 20th century, the Pakistani government attempted to institute the Perso-Arabic script as the standard for Bengali in East Pakistan ; this was met with resistance and contributed to the Bengali language movement. In
7373-553: The eastern subcontinent, Purbi Apabhraṃśa or Abahatta (lit. 'meaningless sounds'), eventually evolved into regional dialects, which in turn formed three groups, the Bengali–Assamese languages , the Bihari languages , and the Odia language . The language was not static: different varieties coexisted and authors often wrote in multiple dialects in this period. For example, Ardhamagadhi is believed to have evolved into Abahatta around
7474-505: The emergence of Bangladesh in 1971. In 1999, UNESCO recognised 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the language movement. Although Sanskrit has been spoken by Hindu Brahmins in Bengal since the 3rd century BC, the local Buddhist population spoke varieties of the Prakrit . These varieties are generally referred to as "eastern Magadhi Prakrit ", as coined by linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji , as
7575-466: The final ন in মন [m o n] or the medial ম in গামলা [ɡamla] ). A consonant sound followed by some vowel sound other than the inherent [ɔ] is orthographically realised by using a variety of vowel allographs above, below, before, after, or around the consonant sign, thus forming the ubiquitous consonant-vowel typographic ligatures . These allographs, called কার kar , are diacritical vowel forms and cannot stand on their own. For example,
7676-445: The fine arts institute of Chittagong University brings the Mangal Shobhajatra procession in the city, followed by daylong cultural activities. At DC hill & CRB, a range of cultural programmes are held by different socio-cultural and educational organisations of the city. The Shammilito Pohela Boishakh Udjapon Parishad holds a two-day function at the hill premises to observe the festival, starting with Rabindra Sangeet recitations in
7777-726: The government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared Bengali as an honorary official language in December 2002. In 2009, elected representatives in both Bangladesh and West Bengal called for Bengali to be made an official language of the United Nations . Regional varieties in spoken Bengali constitute a dialect continuum . Linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji grouped the dialects of Bengali language into four large clusters: Rarhi , Vangiya , Kamrupi and Varendri ; but many alternative grouping schemes have also been proposed. The south-western dialects ( Rarhi or Nadia dialect) form
7878-499: The graph মি [mi] represents the consonant [m] followed by the vowel [i] , where [i] is represented as the diacritical allograph ি (called ই-কার i-kar ) and is placed before the default consonant sign. Similarly, the graphs মা [ma] , মী [mi] , মু [mu] , মূ [mu] , মৃ [mri] , মে [me~mɛ] , মৈ [moj] , মো [mo] and মৌ [mow] represent the same consonant ম combined with seven other vowels and two diphthongs. In these consonant-vowel ligatures,
7979-412: The graphical form. However, since this change is not as widespread and is not being followed as uniformly in the rest of the Bengali printed literature, today's Bengali-learning children will possibly have to learn to recognise both the new "transparent" and the old "opaque" forms, which ultimately amounts to an increase in learning burden. Bengali punctuation marks, apart from the downstroke । daṛi –
8080-612: The implementation of this pact. When the group inquired about the reward for their loyalty, Muhammad simply replied, "Paradise." They then took the oath, also known as the pledge of war. Not long after receiving the pledges, Muhammad instructed his Meccan followers to relocate to Medina . The whole departure spanned about three months. To ensure that he did not arrive in Medina alone while his followers remained in Mecca, Muhammad chose not to go ahead and instead stayed behind to watch over them and persuade those who were reluctant. Some of
8181-494: The language as: While most writing is in Standard Colloquial Bengali (SCB), spoken dialects exhibit a greater variety. People in southeastern West Bengal, including Kolkata, speak in SCB. Other dialects, with minor variations from Standard Colloquial, are used in other parts of West Bengal and western Bangladesh, such as the Midnapore dialect, characterised by some unique words and constructions. However,
8282-485: The language. Major texts of Middle Bengali (1400–1800) include Yusuf-Zulekha by Shah Muhammad Sagir and Srikrishna Kirtana by the Chandidas poets. Court support for Bengali culture and language waned when the Mughal Empire conquered Bengal in the late 16th and early 17th century. The modern literary form of Bengali was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries based on the west-central dialect spoken in
8383-428: The letter ত tô and the numeral ৩ "3" are distinguishable only by the presence or absence of the matra , as is the case between the consonant cluster ত্র trô and the independent vowel এ e , also the letter হ hô and Bengali Ôbogroho ঽ (~ô) and letter ও o and consonant cluster ত্ত ttô . The letter-forms also employ the concepts of letter-width and letter-height (the vertical space between
8484-514: The meeting, they took a pledge to Muhammad, known as the "pledge of women." It was so called because it contained no obligation to fight for Islam. One of the main tenets of this pledge was to renounce idols and affirm Allah as the only deity, with Muhammad as their leader. Muhammad then entrusted Mus'ab ibn Umayr to accompany them on their return to Medina to promote Islam. In the pilgrimage season of 622, Muhammad had another meeting in Aqaba with
8585-425: The men of Medina in an apparent attempt to create a sense of exclusivity and importance among them. Historical records, however, show that they were among the last groups Muhammad had tried to approach and that he had no other offers available. Muhammad himself then spoke and invited their allegiance, asking them to protect him as they would their women and children. One of them, al-Bara, readily agreed, emphasizing
8686-464: The military prowess of his people. The other however, Abu al-Haytham, expressed concern that if they took the pledge and severed their ties with the Jews, Muhammad would return to his people after they gave him victories. Muhammad assured them that he was now one with them and would share their fate in war and peace. Twelve delegates, three from the Aws and nine from the Khazraj, were then selected to oversee
8787-528: The morning. In the late afternoon, through evening, Chaitra Sangkranti programme is held to bid farewell to the previous year. At the Chittagong Shilpakala Academy, different folk cultures, music, dances, puppet shows are displayed. Bengalis of India have historically celebrated Pohela Boishakh, and it is an official regional holiday in its states of West Bengal and Tripura. The day is also called Nabo Barsho. Pohela Boisakh has been
8888-459: The national calendar starts with and the new year festival always falls on 14 April in Bangladesh. In 2018–19, the calendar was amended again, with Falgun now lasting 29 days in regular years and to 30 days in leap ones, in an effort to more align with Western use of the Gregorian calendar. However, the date of the celebration, 14 April, was retained. The Bengali calendar in India remains tied to
8989-605: The neighbouring states of Odisha , Bihar , and Jharkhand , and sizeable minorities of Bengali speakers reside in Indian cities outside Bengal, including Delhi , Mumbai , Thane , Varanasi , and Vrindavan . There are also significant Bengali-speaking communities in the Middle East , the United States , Singapore , Malaysia , Australia , Canada , the United Kingdom , and Italy . The 3rd article of
9090-517: The parliament of Bangladesh and the legislative assembly of West Bengal proposed that Bengali be made an official UN language. As of January 2023, no further action has been yet taken on this matter. However, in 2022, the UN did adopt Bangla as an unofficial language, after a resolution tabled by India. In 2024, the government of India conferred Bengali with the status of classical language . Approximate distribution of native Bengali speakers (assuming
9191-602: The procession has a different theme relevant to the country's culture and politics every year. Different cultural organisations and bands also perform on this occasion and fairs celebrating Bengali culture are organised throughout the country. Other traditional events held to celebrate Pohela Boishakh include bull racing in Munshiganj, Boli Khela (wrestling) in Chittagong, Nouka Baich (boat racing), cockfights, pigeon racing. Pohela Boishakh celebrations in Chittagong involves similar traditions of that in Dhaka. The students of
9292-427: The so-called "inherent" vowel [ɔ] is first expunged from the consonant before adding the vowel, but this intermediate expulsion of the inherent vowel is not indicated in any visual manner on the basic consonant sign ম [mɔ] . The vowel graphemes in Bengali can take two forms: the independent form found in the basic inventory of the script and the dependent, abridged, allograph form (as discussed above). To represent
9393-536: The superposed chôndrôbindu (ঁ) , denoting a suprasegmental for nasalisation of vowels (as in চাঁদ [tʃãd] "moon"), the postposed ônusbar (ং) indicating the velar nasal [ŋ] (as in বাংলা [baŋla] "Bengali") and the postposed bisôrgô (ঃ) indicating the voiceless glottal fricative [h] (as in উঃ! [uh] "ouch!") or the gemination of the following consonant (as in দুঃখ [dukʰːɔ] "sorrow"). The Bengali consonant clusters ( যুক্তব্যঞ্জন juktôbênjôn ) are usually realised as ligatures, where
9494-654: The third place, according to the 2011 census of India . Bengali has developed over more than 1,400 years. Bengali literature , with its millennium-old literary history, was extensively developed during the Bengali Renaissance and is one of the most prolific and diverse literary traditions in Asia. The Bengali language movement from 1948 to 1956 demanding that Bengali be an official language of Pakistan fostered Bengali nationalism in East Bengal leading to
9595-626: The traditional New Year festival in the state, with the new year referred to as the Noboborsho . The festival falls on 14 or 15 April, as West Bengal follows its traditional Bengali calendar, which adjusts for solar cycle differently than the one used in Bangladesh where the festival falls on 14 April. Notable events of West Bengal include the early morning cultural processions called Prabhat Pheri . These processions see dance troupes and children dressed up with floats, displaying their performance arts to songs of Rabindranath Tagore . Pohela Boishakh
9696-473: The verbal root H-J-R , hajara , means 'to cut off someone from friendly association; to avoid association with'; the third stem, hājara , means 'a mutual termination of friendly relations by leaving or departing'. The word has been mistranslated, without proper context, as 'a severing of ties of kinship or association'. Since 1753, the word has also been used to refer to an exodus in English . Located more than 260 miles (420 km) north of Mecca , Medina
9797-484: The visible matra and an invisible baseline). There is yet to be a uniform standard collating sequence (sorting order of graphemes to be used in dictionaries, indices, computer sorting programs, etc.) of Bengali graphemes. Experts in both Bangladesh and India are currently working towards a common solution for this problem. Throughout history, there have been instances of the Bengali language being written in different scripts, though these employments were never popular on
9898-435: The vocabulary may differ according to the speaker's religion: Muslims are more likely to use words of Persian and Arabic origin, along with more words naturally derived from Sanskrit ( tadbhava ), whereas Hindus are more likely to use tatsama (words directly borrowed from Sanskrit). For example: The phonemic inventory of standard Bengali consists of 29 consonants and 7 vowels, as well as 7 nasalised vowels . The inventory
9999-545: The word Pohela (or Pahela Bengali : পহেলা ), alternatively Poila ( Bengali : পয়লা ), means 'first' and Boishakh (or Baishak Bengali : বৈশাখ ) is the first month of the Bengali calendar ( Bengali : পহেলা বৈশাখ Pohela Boishakh , Pahela Boishakh , Pahale Baishak or Bengali : পয়লা বৈশাখ Poila Boishakh ). Bengali New Year is referred to in Bengali as Nobo Borsho ( Bengali : নববর্ষ ), where 'Nobo' means new and 'Borsho' means year. During Mughal rule, land taxes were collected from Bengali people according to
10100-606: Was adopted by Alauddin Husain Shah or Akbar. The tradition to use the Bengali calendar may have been started by Husain Shah before Akbar. Regardless of who adopted the Bengali calendar and the new year, states Sengupta, it helped collect land taxes after the spring harvest based on traditional Bengali calendar, because the Islamic Hijri calendar created administrative difficulties in setting the collection date. Some say that
10201-540: Was the case until he began to challenge their beliefs, which caused tensions to arise. In May 622, after having convened twice with members of the Medinan tribes of Aws and Khazraj at al-'Aqabah near Mina , Muhammad secretly left his home in Mecca to emigrate to their city, along with his friend, father-in-law and companion Abu Bakr . Hijrah is a romanization of the Arabic word هجرة 'to depart to', 'to migrate to' or 'to move away from'. The first stem of
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