| Part of a series on |
| Bengalis |
|---|
 |
Bengal is a region in South Asia, politically split between Bangladesh and India. Due to its long history and complicated political divisions, various names have been used to refer to the region and its subsections. The name Bangla is used by both Bangladesh and West Bengal in international contexts. In the Bengali language, the two Bengals each use a different term to refer to the nominally identified nation: Bānglā ( বাংলা ) and Baṅga ( বঙ্গ ).
Bangadesh (Bengali: বঙ্গদেশ; lit. Bengali Country) [1] Bangabhumi or Banglabhumi (Bengali: বঙ্গভূমি/ বাংলাভূমি; lit. Bengali Land) [1] Bangarajya or Banglarajya (Bengali: বঙ্গরাজ্য/ বাংলারাজ্য; lit. Bengali Realm) [1] Bangarashtra or Banglarashtra (Bengali: বঙ্গরাষ্ট্র/ বাংলারাষ্ট্র; lit. Bengali State)
East Bengal (Bengali : পূর্ববঙ্গPurbô Bangla) was the name used during two different periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal which made one half East Bengal or Bangladesh.
Historically, it referred to the fertile Bhati region of the Bengal delta, which corresponds to the modern-day Dhaka Division.
North Bengal (Bengali : উত্তরবঙ্গ) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part includes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Generally, it is the area lying west of Jamuna River and north of Padma River and includes the Barind Tract. The West Bengal part denotes the Jalpaiguri Division (Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda). The Bihar parts include the Kishanganj district. It also includes parts of Darjeeling Hills. Traditionally, the Hooghly River divides West Bengal into South and North Bengal, divided again into Terai and Dooars regions.
South Bengal (Bengali : দক্ষিণবঙ্গ) is a term used for the southwestern part of Bangladesh and the southern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part includes the Khulna, Faridpur, and Barisal Divisions. The Bay of Bengal is located at the end of the southern part of Bangladesh. The West Bengal part includes 12 districts in the southern part of West Bengal; Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Burdwan, East Midnapur, West Midnapur, Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas.[ citation needed ]
West Bengal (Bengali : পশ্চিমবঙ্গ) comprises roughly one-third of the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. When India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The western part went to the Dominion of India (and was named West Bengal).[ further explanation needed ]
Hilly Bengal (Bengali: পার্বত্যবঙ্গ) is a term used for the southeastern parts of Bangladesh and parts of northern Myanmar. The Bangladesh part consists of Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban which is also known as the Chittagong hill tracts, while the Myanmar part consists of 14 districts in the Northern part of Rakhine (Arakan/Rohang): Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Kyaukpyu, Ponnagyan, Rathedaung, Sittwe, Pauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myabon, Ann, Kyaukpyu, Rambree and Munaung.[ citation needed ]
Historical names for Bengal include (in chronological order):
In traditional Bengali culture, as well as in the Bengali Media, the land of Bengal has assumed a number of sobriquets over the centuries, including:
Bengal is a historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between the modern-day sovereign nation of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, and some parts of Assam.
West Bengal is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi) as of 2011. The population estimate as of 2023 is 102,552,787. West Bengal is the fourth-most populous and thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.
"Amar Sonar Bangla" is the national anthem of Bangladesh. An ode to Mother Bengal, the lyrics were written by Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, while the melody is derived from Baul singer Gagan Harkara's "Ami Kothay Pabo Tare", set to Dadra tala. The modern instrumental rendition was arranged by Bangladeshi musician Samar Das.
Bangal is a term used to refer to the Bengali people of Eastern Bengal now in Bangladesh, especially from the regions of Mymensingh, Dhaka, Barisal, Faridpur and Comilla. The term is used to describe Bengalis from the east, as opposed to the Ghotis of Rarh region in Western Bengal and Jharkhand of modern India. It is usually assumed that the Bramhaputra-Padma river system is the demarcation line between the Western and Eastern wings of the Bengal region. The areas to the East of the Bramhaputra-Padma river system are traditionally held to be the homeland of the Bangal people.
Ghoti is a term used to refer the Bengali people native to the Indian states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. The term is used to describe Bengalis from the west, as opposed to the Bengalis from the east, which means Bangals of East Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
Bangabhumi is a separatist movement to create a Bengali Hindu country for Bangladeshi Hindus in southwestern Bangladesh by partitioning, envisioned by Banga Sena. Banga Sena is a separatist Hindu organization which advocates formation of Bangabhumi for Bengali Hindus in Bangladesh. The group is led by Kalidas Baidya.
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.
Vaṅga was an ancient kingdom and geopolitical division within the Ganges delta in the Indian subcontinent. The kingdom is one of the namesakes of the Bengal region. It was located in eastern and southern Bengal. Vanga features prominently in the epics and tales of ancient India as well as in the history of Sri Lanka.
Bengal is a region in South Asia.
Bengali nationalism is a form of ethnic nationalism that focuses on Bengalis as a single ethnicity by rejecting imposition of other languages and cultures while promoting its own in Bengal. Bengalis speak the Bengali language and mostly live across Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. Bengali nationalism is one of the four fundamental principles according to the Constitution of Bangladesh and was the main driving force behind the creation of the independent nation state of Bangladesh through the 1971 liberation war. Bengali Muslims make up the majority (90%) of Bangladesh's citizens (Bangladeshis), and are the largest minority in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal, whereas Bengali Hindus make up the majority of India's citizens (Indians) in Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura, and are the largest minority in the Indian states of Assam and Jharkhand and the independent state of Bangladesh (8%).
Gauda, was a territory located in Bengal in ancient and medieval times, as part of the Gauda Kingdom.
Bengali Hindus are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, and Assam's Barak Valley region. In Bangladesh, they form the largest minority. They are adherents of Hinduism and are native to the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Comprising about one-third of the global Bengali population, they are the largest ethnic group among Hindus. Bengali Hindus speak Bengali, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and adhere to Shaktism or Vaishnavism of their native religion Hinduism with some regional deities. There are significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus in different Indian states.
Greater Bangladesh, or Greater Bengal is an irredentist ideology that wishes for Bangladesh to expand its territory to include the Indian states that currently has, or historically had, large populations of ethnic Bengali people. These include West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand to the west, Sikkim to the north, and the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland to the east.
The Bengali Calendar, is a solar calendar used in the Bengal region of the South Asia. A revised version of the calendar is the national and official calendar in Bangladesh and an earlier version of the calendar is followed in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. Unlike the traditional Indian Hindu calendar which starts with the month of Choitro, the Bengali calendar starts with Boishakh because of the reforms made during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar in Mughal Bengal. The first day of the Bengali year is known as Pohela Boishakh which is a public holiday in Bangladesh.
The Gauḍa kingdom was a kingdom during the Classical era in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the Gauda region of Bengal in 4th century CE or possibly earlier.
Baṅgamātā, Bangla Maa, Mother Bengal or simply বাংলা/ Bangla, is a personification of Bengal created during the Bengali Renaissance and later adopted by the Bengali nationalists. In Bangladeshi Bengali and Indian Bengali poetry, literature, cultural and patriotic song, she has become a symbol of Bengalis and their culture, Bangladesh and India's West Bengal & Tripura. She is considered as the personification of the Bengali Language & Culture, The State of West Bengal and People's Republic of Bangladesh. The Mother Bengal represents not only biological motherhood but its attributed characteristics as well – divineness, protection, never ending love, consolation, care, the beginning and the end of life.
Bangla may refer to:
Eastern Bengali, Baṅgālī or Vaṅga is a nonstandard dialect cluster of Bengali spoken in most of Bangladesh and Tripura, thus covering majority of the land of Bengal and surrounding areas.
North Central Bengali or Varendrī Bengali is a dialect of the Bengali language, spoken in the Varendra region. Varendri dialect was classified by many renowned Indian linguists like Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Sukumar Sen and others. It is also spoken in adjoining villages in neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand. Varendri dialect has some influences of neighbouring dialects of Maithili and other Bihari languages.
Gaudi Prakrit is the Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrit language used in Gauda or ancient Bengal. The language originates from the Old Eastern Indo-Aryan and is the historical ancestor of Bengali. It was originally considered as Prakrit till 400 AD, later its Apabhraṃśa appeared which is known as Gaudi Apabhransha. Although not sufficiently proven, the existence of the language that predated the Vanga-Kamarupi and Bengali is believed to be descended from it.
Historians believe that Bengal, the area comprising present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, was settled in about 1000 B.C. by Dravidian-speaking peoples who were later known as the Bang. Their homeland bore various titles that reflected earlier tribal names, such as Vanga, Banga, Bangala, Bangal, and Bengal.
In C1020 ... launched Rajendra's great northern escapade ... peoples he defeated have been tentatively identified ... 'Vangala-desa where the rain water never stopped' sounds like a fair description of Bengal in the monsoon.
But the most important development of this period was that the country for the first time received a name, ie Bangalah.
