Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akademi, India's highest literary body, also has 24 recognised literary languages.
Meitei, also known as Manipuri, is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and one of the official languages of Assam. It is one of the constitutionally scheduled official languages of the Indian Republic. Meitei is the most widely-spoken Tibeto-Burman language of India and third most widely spoken language of northeast India after Assamese and Bengali. There are 1.76 million Meitei native speakers in India according to the 2011 census. Most of these, or 1.52 million, are found in the state of Manipur, where they represent majority of its population. There are smaller communities in neighbouring Indian states, such as Assam (168,000), Tripura (24,000), Nagaland (9,500), and elsewhere in the country (37,500). The language is also spoken by smaller groups in neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Sylhet Division is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions of Chittagong to the southwest and Dhaka and Mymensingh to the west.
The Meitei people, Meetei, Manipuri people is an ethnic group native to Manipur. They form the largest and dominant ethnic group of Manipur in Northeast India. They speak the Meitei language, one of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic and the sole official language of Government of Manipur. The Meiteis primarily settled in the Imphal Valley region in modern-day Manipur, though a sizeable population has settled in the other Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Mizoram. There is also a notable presence of Meitei people in the neighbouring countries of Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Meitei ethnic group represents about 53% of Manipur's population.
Sukumar Sen was an Indian linguist and historian of the Bengali literature, who was also well versed in Pāli, Prakrit and Sanskrit.
The indigenous people of Bangladesh are ethnic minorities in Chittagong Hill Tracts (southeastern), Sylhet Division (northeastern), Rajshahi Division (west), and Mymensingh Division (north-central) areas of the country. They are indigenous and the tribal races, total population of ethnic minorities in Bangladesh was estimated to be over 2 million in 2010. They are diverse ethnic communities including Tibeto-Burman, Austric and Dravidian people.
The national language and official language of Bangladesh is Bangla according to the third article of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Almost 99% of Bangladeshis speak Bengali as their first language. Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 made it mandatory to use Bengali in all government affairs except in the cases of foreign relations. According to a 2022 census, Bengali is predominantly spoken by 99% of the country's population and it also serves as the national language of the nation. The indigenous people of northern and southeastern Bangladesh speak a variety of native languages. According to the Ethnologue, there are 36 indigenous living languages, which include 17 Tibeto-Burman, 10 Indo-Aryan, 7 Austroasiatic and 2 Dravidian languages in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has 44 indigenous languages according to Professor Shameem Reza.
Aminul Islam is a poet and essayist from Bangladesh. He has written 28 books including 23 books of poetry. He has been involved in creative writing for some 25 years.
Ruposhi Bangla is the most popular collection of poems by Jibanananda Das, the great modern Bengali poet. Written in 1934, the sixty-two sonnets - discovered in an exercise-book twenty years after Das wrote them - achieved instant popularity on their posthumous publication in 1957, becoming a totemic symbol of freedom in Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence. In Ruposhi Bangla, Das seamlessly blends in both real and mythical historical figures, as well as mythical creatures such as the shuk bird, weaving a tapestry of a beautiful, dreamlike Bengal The poems celebrate the beauty of Barishal. In these poems infused with a scent of unrequited love, Jibanananda Das captured his country's soul through evocations of village life and natural beauty. Satyajit Ray designed the cover of 1957 edition.
Go where you will – I shall remain on Bengal’s shore
Shall see jackfruit leaves dropping in the dawn’s breeze;
Shall see the brown wings of shalik chill in the evening,
Its yellow leg under the white down goes on dancing
In the grass, darkness – once, twice – and then suddenly
The forest’s oak beckons it to its heart’s side,
Shall see sad feminine hands – white conch-bangles
Crying like conch shells in the ash-grey wind:
She stands on the pond’s side in the evening,
As if she will take the parched rice hued duck
To some land of legends –
As if the fragrance of the quiltcover clings to her body,
As if she is born out of watercress in the pond’s nest –
Washes her feet silently – then goes faraway, traceless
In the fog – yet I know I shall not lose her
In the crowd of the earth –
She is there on my Bengal’s shore.
Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq is a Bangladeshi writer, essayist, translator, critic, columnist and activist. He is a former professor of Bengali language and literature at the University of Dhaka. He is the convener of Rashtrabhasha Bangla Rokkha Komiti. He received Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1981.
The World Sylhet Convention is an annual cultural convection by the Sylhetis residing in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, India, Bangladesh and other places. The conference is a symposium of the culture of Sylhet, focusing on the region's food, traditions, language, dance, music, talent and success stories. The contribution of Sylhet to the development of Bangladesh is also presented. The main theme of this convention is to unite Sylhetis from all over the world and connecting them generation to generation. The main program is classified into many events such as traditional Dhamail dance, Manipuri dance, drama, semenner on different topics and so on. Besides cultural events and semenner, the cuisine of Sylhet and various items of clothing including traditional Manipuri weaving in Sylhet is also featured.
The Been people, also known as Bind, are a Hindi-speaking community that live in Srimangal, Bangladesh. They were transported to the Sylhet region in the nineteenth century by the British in order to work as tea garden labourers - an occupation which they continue to live by today. They are originally from the border region between West Bengal and Bihar. They are Hindus and maintain a distinct identity in addition to their Bangladeshi national identity, due to cultural, linguistic, geographical and historical reasons. Many have adopted the Bengali language; although only 10% of the community are actually literate in the language.
Sylhet Gitika is the folklore of Sylhet region including the oral narrative poetry, stories, fables, etc. The source of Sylhet Gitika is considered to be the daily lifestyle of the ancient people of Sylhet region, the livelihood of the indigenous people, feudal system of governance, rural folklore, emotional feelings, love-separation, war and humanity. According to the list given by Professor Asaddor Ali, 120 folk tales have been included in the Sylhet Gitika. The lyric poems collected by Chandra Kumar De from East Mymensingh and Sylhet region with the efforts of Dr. Dinesh Chandra Sen were published gradually from Calcutta University as Purbanga Gitika and Maimansingha Gitika. Besides, Chowdhury Gulam Akbar selected 10 lyric poems from Bangla Academy in 1986 and published them together as Sylhet Gitika.
Zobeda Khanom Chowdhury, also known as Zobeda Rahim Chowdhury, was one among the leading woman who partook in the Bengali language movement from Sylhet and a pioneering women in Bangladeshi politics.
Brojendragee Luhongba is a 1973 black and white Indian Meitei language film produced and directed by S.N. Chand, the first filmmaker of Manipur. It stars S.N. Chand and Y. Ramola Devi in lead roles. It is based on Lamabam Kamal's short story of the same title. S.N. Chand underwent cosmetic surgery for the film. Principal photography began in 1971 and the film got CBFC certification on 30 December 1972. The movie was released at Usha Cinema, Paona Bazar on 26 January 1973. The digitalised version (4K) of the film was screened at MSFDS, Imphal on 29 April 2022 as a part of the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Manipuri Cinema.
Miss Meetei Chanu or Miss Meitei Chanu is an international annual beauty pageant that is run by the Manipur based Lainingthou Sanamahi Sana Pung (LSSP). The event aims to make Meitei women understand the culture and tradition of Sanamahism. It is one of the most watched beauty pageants in North East India. It co-exists with Miss Manipur, Femina Miss India Manipur and Miss Kangleipak.
The Bangladesh Manipuri Sahitya Sangsad is a literary society that works for the development of Meitei language and culture in the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Its name is usually shortened as BAMSAS. However, instead of BAMSAS, it is also shortened as BMSS in many cases.
The Meitei language, or Manipuri language, is a minority language in Bangladesh. It is spoken by around 15,000 ethnic Manipuris, mainly concentrated in the Sylhet Division. The Meitei language is also a second language for Bishnupriyas in Bangladesh.
The cultural heritages of Meitei civilization has classicism in diverse traditions of cinemas, dances, language, literature, music, theatre, etc.
