Bengali cuisine is the culinary style of Bengal, that comprises Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. The cuisine has been shaped by the region's diverse history and climate. It is known for its varied use of flavours including mustard oil, as well as the spread of its confectioneries and desserts. There is a strong emphasis on rice as a staple, with fish traditionally the most common protein. Freshwater fish are preferred to seafish, although barramundi, known as bhetki, is also common. Meat is also a common protein among Bengalis with chicken and mutton meat being the most popular. Beef is popular within the muslim community. In more recent times, lentils have begun to form a significant part of the diet. Many Bengali food traditions draw from social activities, such as adda, Mezban, Eid feast.
South Asian cuisine, includes the traditional cuisines from the modern-day South Asian republics of Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, also sometimes including the kingdom of Bhutan and the emirate of Afghanistan. Also sometimes known as Desi cuisine, it has been influenced by and also has influenced other Asian cuisines beyond the Indian subcontinent.
Bangladeshi cuisine has been shaped by the region's history and river-line geography. Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate. The staple of Bangladesh is rice and fish. The majority of Bangladeshi people are ethnic Bengali, accustomed to Bengali cuisine, with a minority of non-Bengalis, many used to cuisines from different traditions and regions. Bangladeshi cooking features more meat dishes than the cuisine of neighbouring West Bengal, India.
Indian breads are a wide variety of flatbreads and crêpes which are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Their variation reflects the diversity of Indian culture and food habits.
Gournadi is an administrative unit of Barishal District in the Division of Barishal, Bangladesh.
Sheermal, also spelled shirmal, is a saffron-flavored traditional flatbread eaten in Iran and the Indian subcontinent. The word sheermal is derived from the Persian words شیر meaning milk, and مالیدن meaning to rub. In a literal translation, sheermal means milk-rubbed. Found by Persians in Old Dhaka, it was introduced to North India by the Mughal emperors during the medieval period. It became a delicacy of Lucknow, Hyderabad and Aurangabad. It is also part of the Awadhi cuisine and is enjoyed in Old Bhopal and Pakistan.
Paratha is a flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent, with earliest reference mentioned in early medieval Sanskrit, India; prevalent throughout the modern-day nations of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago where wheat is the traditional staple. It is one of the most popular flatbreads in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta, which literally means layers of cooked dough. Alternative spellings and names include parantha, parauntha, prontha, parontay, paronthi (Punjabi), porota, paratha, palata, porotha, forota, farata, prata, paratha, buss-up shut, oil roti and roti canai in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Rost is a Bengali dish, possibly originating in Old Dhaka, Bangladesh. The dish is influenced by the Mughlai cuisine of the Mughal Empire. The dish is known for including a large array of spices and ingredients and being a little sweet and very rich. The dish has developed several regional variants.
Qasba Mosque is an early 16th-century nine-domed mosque and archaeological site located in Barisal District of Bangladesh. It is located in the Qasba village under Gournadi Upazila. It is named after the village. The mosque, which has a total of nine domes, is very similar to the Nine Dome Mosque in Bagerhat.
The Old Dhakaites are an Indo-Aryan cultural group viewed as the original inhabitants of Dhaka. They are sometimes referred to as simply Dhakaites or Dhakaiya. Their history dates back to the Mughal period with the migration of Bengali cultivators and merchants to the city. The cultivators came to be known as Kutti and they speak Dhakaiya Kutti, a dialect of Bengali and the merchants came to be known as Khoshbas and speak Dhakaiya Urdu. There are sizeable populations in other parts of Bangladesh. The Old Dhakaiyas maintain a distinct regional identity in addition to their ethnic Bengali identity, due to cultural, geographical and historical reasons. They have been described as a wealthy but very closed-off community; evidently being a minority in their own hometown. It is said that some people living in Greater Dhaka are even unaware of the existence of an Urdu-speaking non-Bihari minority community although their presence dates back centuries.
Mīrzā Lutfullāh Khān Tabrīzī, also known as Murshid Qulī Khān II, was an 18th-century administrator who served under the Nawabs of Bengal as the Naib Nazim of Jahangirnagar (Dhaka) and Orissa respectively. Lutfullah was also a calligrapher, as well as an author in the Persian language under the pen name Sarshār.
Mirza Agha Muhammad Baqer was an aristocrat of the Mughal Empire and the Zamindar of Buzurg-Umedpur and Salimabad. In the Mughal period, these two parganas were spread over a large part of the greater Barisal region. Baker was the son-in-law of Murshid Quli Khan II, the Naib Nazim of Orissa under Nawab Sarfaraz Khan. Baqer had an important role in the conflict between Tabrizi and Alivardi Khan regarding the inheritance of Orissa's Naib Nazimate. He also founded the port marketplace of Bakerganj, which later became the headquarters of the Backergunge District. The legendary origin of the Bakarkhani bread is also attributed to him.
Shāh Nūrī Bengālī was an 18th-century Bengali Islamic scholar and author from Dhaka. He is best known for his magnum opus, Kibrīt-e-Aḥmar, which was written in the Persian language.
Hayat Mahmud was a late 18th-century Bengali Muslim commander who later became the feudal lord of Buzurg-Umedpur in Barisal. He is best known as a freedom fighter against the British East India Company, and for the construction of the Miah Bari Mosque, which continues to be a popular tourist attraction in southern Bangladesh.
Majidbaria Shahi Mosque is a 15th-century one-domed mosque and archaeological site located in the village of Majidbaria in Mirzaganj Upazila, part of the Patuakhali District of southern Bangladesh. It is the oldest mosque and first brick building in the Greater Barisal region having been built during the reign of Sultan Ruknuddin Barbak Shah.
Kirtinarayan Basu, also spelt Kirti Narayan Basu, was the fifth raja of medieval Chandradwip, a zamindari which covered much of the Barisal Division of present-day Bangladesh.
Ṣabīḥ Khān, popularly known as Sabi Khan, was a Mughal statesman best known for serving as the Kotwal and Faujdar of Bakla (Barisal) during the reign of Mughal emperor Jahangir. He was renowned for the construction of numerous roads, bridges, reservoirs and places of worship in the Barisal region. Henry Beveridge credits him as the first road-builder of the region. The Kotalipara Upazila is named after him.
Uzair Khan, popularly known as Wazil Khan, was an officer of the Bengal Sultanate during the reign of Sultan Ruknuddin Barbak Shah. He was the appointed Khan-i-Azam of Bakla.
The Conquest of Bakla refers to the Mughal conquest of the Chandradwip Kingdom, which covered much of the present-day Barisal Division of Bangladesh. The campaign was led by Syed Hakim, under the orders of Islam Khan I, against Raja Ramchandra Basu.
Syed Ḥakīm was a military general of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Jahangir. He commanded the conquest of Bakla and subsequently served as the region's first Mughal faujdar.
