Republic of Bangladesh (গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh), is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 161 million people. In terms of land mass, Bangladesh ranks 92nd, spanning 147,570 square kilometres (56,980 sq mi), making it one of the most densely-populated countries in the world. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, Myanmar to the southeast, and the Bay of Bengal to the south. It is narrowly separated from Nepal and Bhutan by India’s Siliguri Corridor, and from China by the Indian state of Sikkim, in the north, respectively. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation’s economic, political and cultural hub. Chittagong, the largest sea port, is the second largest city. With numerous criss-crossing rivers and inland waterways, the dominant geographic feature of Bangladesh is the Ganges delta, which empties into the Bay of Bengal with the combined waters of several river systems, including the Brahmaputra river and the Ganges river. Highlands, with evergreen forests, cover the northeastern and southeastern regions, while the country’s biodiversity comprises a vast array of plants and wildlife, including the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, which is the national animal. The seacoast features the world’s longest natural sandy beach in Cox’s Bazar as well as the Sundarbans, which is the world’s largest mangrove forest. Bangladesh forms the larger and eastern part of the Bengal region. According to the ancient sacred Indian texts, Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Vanga Kingdom, one of the namesakes of the Bengal region, was a strong naval ally of the legendary Ayodhya. In the ancient and classical period of the Indian subcontinent, the territory was home to many principalities, including the Pundra, Gangaridai, Gauda, Samatata and Harikela. It was also a Mauryan province under the reign of Ashoka. The principalities were notable for their overseas trade, contacts with the Roman world, export of fine muslin and silk to the Middle East, and spreading of philosophy and art to Southeast Asia. The Pala Empire, the Chandra dynasty, and the Sena dynasty were the last pre-Islamic Bengali middle kingdoms. Islam was introduced during the Pala Empire, through trade with the Abbasid Caliphate, but following the early conquest of Bakhtiyar Khalji and the subsequent establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and preaching of Shah Jalal in East Bengal, the faith fully spread across the region. In 1576, the wealthy Bengal Sultanate was absorbed into the Mughal Empire, but its rule was briefly interrupted by the Suri Empire. Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in the early 1700s, the proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal. The region was later conquered by the British East India Company at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the separation of Bengal and India in August 1947, when the region became East Pakistan as a part of the newly formed State of Pakistan, demarcated by the Boundary of the Partition of India. Later the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement led to the Liberation War and eventually resulted in the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign and independent nation in 1971. Speakers of the official Bengali language, who form the Bengali ethnic group, make up 98% of the population. Bangladesh is created on the basis of language and ethnicity. Its large Muslim population makes Bangladesh the fourth-largest Muslim-majority country in the world. The constitution declares Bangladesh a secular, Muslim-majority country. A middle power, Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional republic following the Westminster system of governance. The country is divided into eight administrative divisions and sixty-four districts. Although the country continues to face the challenges of the Rohingya refugee crisis, corruption and the adverse effects of climate change. It is one of the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world. Bangladesh is also one of the Next Eleven countries, with one of the fastest real GDP growth rates in the world. Its gross domestic product is the 39th largest in terms of market exchange rates, and 29th in purchasing power parity. Bangladesh’s per capita income ranks 143th nominally and 136th by purchasing power parity. In recent years Bangladesh has registered notable success in reducing child mortality; population control; combating natural disasters; women’s empowerment; using microcredit to alleviate poverty; and boosting income through the export of textiles, garments, pharmaceuticals, manpower, agricultural produce, shrimps, jute, leather goods, seafood, tea, etc. Bangladesh is one of the few countries that achieved most of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals set by the UN ahead of time. As a result of this and many other factors the World Bank upgraded the status of Bangladesh to a middle-income country.
Modern Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation in 1971 after breaking away and achieving independence from Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War. The country’s borders corresponded with the major portion of the ancient and historic region of Bengal in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, where civilization dates back over four millennia, to the Chalcolithic. The history of the region is closely intertwined with the history of Bengal and the broader history of the Indian subcontinent.
Bangladesh’s early documented history featured successions of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms and empires, vying for regional dominance.
Islam arrived during the 6th-7th century AD and became dominant gradually since the early 13th century with the advent of Muslim rules as well as Sunni missionaries such as Shah Jalal in the region. Later, Muslim rulers initiated the preaching of Islam by building mosques. From the 14th century onward, it was ruled by the Bengal Sultanate, founded by king Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, beginning a period of the country’s economic prosperity and military dominance over the regional empires, which was referred by the Europeans to as the richest country to trade with. Afterwards, the region came under the Mughal Empire, as its wealthiest province. Bengal Subah generated almost half of the empire’s GDP and 12% of the world’s GDP, larger than the entirety of western Europe, ushering in the period of proto-industrialization.The population of the capital city, Dhaka, exceeded a million people.
Following the decline of the Mughal Empire in the early 1700s, Bengal became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal, ultimately led by Siraj ud-Daulah. It was later conquered by the British East India Company at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Bengal directly contributed to the Industrial Revolution in Britain but led to its deindustrialization.[6][7][8][9]
The borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the separation of Bengal and India in August 1947, when the region became East Pakistan as a part of the newly formed State of Pakistan following the Boundary of the Partition of India. However, it was separated from West Pakistan by 1,600 km (994 mi) of Indian territory. The Bangladesh Liberation War (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ Muktijuddho), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in what was then East Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. It resulted in the independence of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. After independence, the new state endured famine, natural disasters, and widespread poverty, as well as political turmoil and military coups. The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by relative calm and rapid economic progress. Bangladesh is today a major manufacturer in the global textile industry.
On 16 December 1971, Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi, CO of Pakistan Army forces located in East Pakistan, signed the Instrument of Surrender and the nation of Bangla Desh (“Country of Bengal”) was finally established the following day. At the time of surrender only a few countries had provided diplomatic recognition to the new nation. Over 90,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces making it the largest surrender since World War II.The new country changed its name to Bangladesh on 11 January 1972 and became a parliamentary democracy under a constitution. Shortly thereafter on 19 March Bangladesh signed a friendship treaty with India. Bangladesh sought admission in the UN with most voting in its favour, but China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally. The United States, also a key ally of Pakistan, was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition. To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972 the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan. The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognised the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs. India treated all the PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925. It released more than 93,000 Pakistani PoWs in five months.
Furthermore, as a gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crimes by Bengalis were also pardoned by India. The accord also gave back more than 13,000 km2 (5,019 sq mi) of land that Indian troops had seized in West Pakistan during the war, though India retained a few strategic areas, most notably Kargil (which would in turn again be the focal point for a war between the two nations in 1999).
The real number of victims during the war is still not certain.And estimates of those killed range from Bangladeshi estimates of 3 million to Pakistani estimates of 26,000. According to one source 1.7 million died. A large number of women had been raped by Pakistani, Bengali and Biharis. The government conferred upon them an honorary title of birangina (“brave heroines”) but they suffered discrimination afterwards.
Besides the Pakistani prisoner of wars there were still collaborators in Bangladesh. In 1973 the Bangladeshi government announced an amnesty for them in exchange for Pakistani recognition. Demands that these be collaborators be tried resurfaced in the 1990s. There was also a large population of non-Bengali Muslims who mostly supported Pakistan. Bengali mobs, who identified them as “Bihari”, had killed them before the war and the Biharis had aided the Pakistani army during it. Thousands suffered a counter genocide and at least a million were made homeless.
Collected from WIKIPEDIA
Beauty Of Bangladesh 