Bengal is a historical region in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent, near the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. The Indian states of Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Tripura as well as the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a sizeable population. However, a large Bengali diaspora exists across the world. The Bengali language is the sixth-most spoken language in the world.
Dhaka Division is an administrative division within Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of the Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains a population magnet, covers an area of 20,508.8 km2 with a population in excess of 44 million, It is the most populous country second level division of the world, growing at 1.94% rate since prior count, compared with national average of 1.22%. However, national figures may include data skewing expatriation of male labor force as gender ratio is skewed towards females.
Rajshahi is a metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous division and district. Located on the north bank of the Padma River, near the Bangladesh–India border, the city is surrounded by the satellite towns of Nowhata and Katakhali, which together build an urban agglomeration of about 1 million population. Modern Rajshahi lies in the ancient region of Pundravardhana. The foundation of the city dates to 1634, according to epigraphic records at the mausoleum of Sufi saint Shah Makhdum. The area hosted a Dutch settlement in the 18th century. The Rajshahi municipality was constituted during the British Raj in 1876. It was a divisional capital of the greater Rajshahi division which was the largest division in Bengal Province.
Rajshahi District is a district in mid-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division. The metropolitan city of Rajshahi is in Rajshahi District.
Chapainawabganj is located in the north-western part of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division, and was formerly a sub-division of Malda district of Bengal Province. The north and west part of Chapai Nawabganj is bounded by Malda and Murshidabad districts of India, the east by Naogaon District, and south-east by Rajshahi District.
The history of Bengal is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Karimganj district, located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, at the apex of the Bay of Bengal and dominated by the fertile Ganges delta. The region was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Gangaridai, a powerful kingdom whose war elephant forces led the withdrawal of Alexander the Great from India. Some historians have identified Gangaridai with other parts of India. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers act as a geographic marker of the region, but also connects the region to the broader Indian subcontinent. Bengal, at times, has played an important role in the history of the Indian subcontinent.
The Nawab of Bengal was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the de facto independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which constitute the modern-day sovereign country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. They are often referred to as the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Nawabs were based in Murshidabad which was centrally located within Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. Their chief, a former prime minister, became the first Nawab. The Nawabs continued to issue coins in the name of the Mughal Emperor, but for all practical purposes, the Nawabs governed as independent monarchs. Bengal continued to contribute the largest share of funds to the imperial treasury in Delhi. The Nawabs, backed by bankers such as the Jagat Seth, became the financial backbone of the Mughal court. During the 18th century, the Nawabs of Bengal were among the wealthiest rulers in the world.
Cossimbazar is a sub-urban area of Berhampore city in the Berhampore CD block in the Berhampore subdivision of Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Bengal was a directorate of the Dutch East India Company in Mughal Bengal between 1610 until the company's liquidation in 1800. It then became a colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1825, when it was relinquished to the British according to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Dutch presence in the region started by the establishment of a trading post at Pipili in the mouth of Subarnarekha River in Odisha. The former colony is part of what is today called Dutch India. Bengal was the source of 50% of the textiles and 80% of the raw silk imported from Asia by the Dutch.
Dutch India consisted of the settlements and trading posts of the Dutch East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. It is only used as a geographical definition, as there was never a political authority ruling all Dutch India. Instead, Dutch India was divided into the governorates Dutch Ceylon and Dutch Coromandel, the commandment Dutch Malabar, and the directorates Dutch Bengal and Dutch Suratte.
Rajshahi silk is the name given to the silk products produced in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is famous because it is a high quality fabric used for clothing, especially for saris. In 2021, it was given Geographical indication status as a product of Bangladesh.
Lalgola is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The Bengal Subah, also referred to as Mughal Bengal, was the largest subdivision of Mughal India encompassing much of the Bengal region, which includes modern-day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and some parts of the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha between the 16th and 18th centuries. The state was established following the dissolution of the Bengal Sultanate, a major trading nation in the world, when the region was absorbed into the Mughal Empire. Bengal was the wealthiest region in the Indian subcontinent.
Chittagong, the second largest city and main port of Bangladesh, was home to a thriving trading post of the Portuguese Empire in the East in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Portuguese first arrived in Chittagong around 1528 and left in 1666 after the Mughal conquest. It was the first European colonial enclave in the historic region of Bengal.
Motihar Kuthi is a colonial building situated at Rajshahi, within the Rajshahi University campus and close to its main gate. It is now used as the office BNCC of the university. In general appearance it is similar to the kuthis of Sardah so it was built in 1781 by Dutch East India Company.
Sardah Chhota Kuthi is one of two historic "kuthis" (houses) on the campus of the Bangladesh Police Academy in Sardah, Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. The officer's mess is housed in the second kuthi, Baro-Kuthi. The principal's residence is located in Chhota-Kuthi.
Muslin, a cotton fabric of plain weave, was historically hand woven in the areas of Dhaka and Sonargaon in Bangladesh and exported for many centuries. The region forms the eastern part of the historic region of Bengal.
The Naib Nazim of Dhaka, officially the Naib Nazim of Jahangir Nagar, was the chief Mughal political officer in the city of Dhaka, the present-day capital of Bangladesh, between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries. It was the second highest office in the political hierarchy of Subah of Bengal, including a nominal position during the East India Company's occupation of Bengal.
Boro Kuthi is a historic building in Rajshahi, Bangladesh built by Dutch traders in eighteenth century. The building was also used as the first administrative center for Rajshahi University. The building is now under the Ministry of Cultural affairs to preserve as a cultural heritage, and planned to turn as a museum.
Murshidabad silk is produced in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. This silk is produced from mulberry silkworms reared on mulberry trees. Murshidabad silk is known for its premium quality. This silk is very fine, light weight and easy to drape. Two famous saris produced from Murshidabad silk are Baluchari and Gorood.
