History of Bangla, then Bangladesh

[Arnab]

bangla = banga = bengal (bengal is the british bastardization of bangla)

[Zephaniah]

Originally posted by Arnab
bangla = banga = bengal (bengal is the british bastardization of bangla)

I've a distant memory of reading something in line of....

Bangal (Bongal) = Bangaw (the whole delta was known as) + Al ( separation line used to divide adjacent rice fields)

They just adopted the word.

Bongal = Bengal.

[Arnab]

Yeah the consonants are pretty much the same and follows the same order in all versions: b, n, g, l.

[say]

Originally posted by Arnab
Of course, Banglapedia is not the be-all, end-all authority on Bangla's history. Post the Prothom Alo links when they come up.

I had the following links copied in an e-mail. I was trying to get back to them, but Prothom-Alo seems to have messed up their archive files. anyway here are the links to the first four installments of Prof. Ghulam Murshid's write-up . I'll keep an eye on PA to see when they fix their archive links.

http://www.prothom-alo.net/newhtmlne...ate=2004-04-16
http://www.prothom-alo.net/newhtmlne...ate=2004-05-14
http://www.prothom-alo.net/newhtmlne...ate=2004-05-28
http://www.prothom-alo.net/newhtmlne...ate=2004-06-11

Edited on, February 24, 2005, 3:27 AM GMT, by say.

[Zunaid]

Wikipedia has a bangla version

http://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/

[fab]

For more than a century, roughly from 650 to 750 AD, the history of Gauda is obscure in the extreme. The period was marked by political chaos and confusion caused by the death of Harsavardhana (646 or 647 AD),

Nice to know that things haven't changed much since then

By the way, are there any pictures of these early people? Their artefacts? How they looked? Clothes they wore? If I remember correctly, the museum in Dhaka has stuff from the Mughals, but nothing further back than that. History without visual material to support it is really really dry (for non-historians).

[shujan]

Weakend material. Thanks Arnab.

[Arnab]

Originally posted by Zunaid
Wikipedia has a bangla version

http://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Funny, and I have added around 200 stubs for the last two days, before you made that post.

[al]

Arnab wrote,
bangla = banga = bengal (bengal is the british bastardization of bangla)

Ok. So, west bengal still has the name that needs to be changed

[Arnab]

Originally posted by al
Arnab wrote,
bangla = banga = bengal (bengal is the british bastardization of bangla)

Ok. So, west bengal still has the name that needs to be changed

What do you mean?

[Tintin]

The classified Indian official history of the 1971 war indicates that there was no specific plan for Dhaka and the "drive to Dhaka" was a decision taken on the fly by the field commanders. This is a matter of some debate in India at the moment.

"MY DEAR Abdullah," wrote Major-General Gandharv Nagra in a simple message delivered to the Pakistan's Eastern Command chief in Dhaka on the morning of December 16, 1971, "I am here. The game is up." When Lieutenant-General Abdullah Niazi saw General Nagra walk through his office door three hours later, he delivered an equally succinct analysis of the causes of Pakistan's defeat: "Pindi mein baithe hue ... [expletive deleted] ne marwa diya [the ... sitting in Rawalpindi got us into this mess]."


An energetic debate has now broken out on just who in India conceived of the military plans that led General Nagra to his adversary's doorstep. The debate has polarised supporters of India's then Army Chief Sam `Bahadur' Manekshaw, who went on to become its first Field Marshal, and the then Chief of Staff of the Eastern Command, Major-General J.F.R. Jacob.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/22/stor...2200670800.htm

[billah]

Originally Posted by Tintin
There are mentions of two referendums in 1977 and 1985. What were they about ?

I wanted to address both of Tintin's questions, aside from the response from Arnab.

77 referendum - was staged by Zia, by means of a "Yes" or "No" vote of confidence. All voters could participate.

85 one was the replica of the 77 one, staged by Ershad, the Junta that took control of the country after Zia's assassination.

Your second question, : What is the general opinion about Mujib's rule in his last two years ?

Regardless of present day Awami propaganda, there is no debate about the general opinion. "Quagmire". The change in power was taken as a special blessing directly from the lord almighty. Grassroot awami supporters, many of them personally known to me, celebrated the death of Mujib's regime wildly. Although, some of the bad wrap received by Mujib were carefully orchastrated by JSD.

[Tigers_eye]

Tintin,
This is the truth.

"Lt. Gen. Sagat Singh and Major Gen. Nagra had used their own initiative, drive and professional acumen to achieve a dazzling victory."

However, this was possible because all sector commanders (4 of them, Zia (Z force), Khaled Musharraf (K force), Safiullah (S force), forgot the other) were in sync and advancing towards dhaka in the same time form different direction (November of 71). It was Khaled Musharraf's troops (sector 2 - camp at Agartala) who were incharge of doing strike and hide in Dhaka the entire time of the war, came first. Dhaka's fall was initated from the east, not north. The Indian generals came only after KM took control of Dhaka cantonment. But in all front, it was the Mukit bahini who fought against the Pakistani soldiers on ground. Indian troops were engaged from the back. Counter shelling the Pakistani strong holds and cockfighting in the air.

The Indian higher ups (Field marshall Manekshaw and Co.) had no clue how fast the Pakistanis were retrieving and how fast their posts in different cities were falling. They had no idea how long the war would last. They were anticipating for the war to last at least 2 years before America and China got involved. All blessing to the Almighty that didn't happen.

Hope this helps.

[TripleR]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye

The Indian higher ups (Field marshall Manekshaw and Co.) had no clue how fast the Pakistanis were retrieving and how fast their posts in different cities were falling. They had no idea how long the war would last. They were anticipating for the war to last at least 2 years before America and China got involved. All blessing to the Almighty that didn't happen.

Why'd the Indians wanted that? It wouldn't have helped them take over/rule over both Bangladesh & Pakistan ....at least USA wouldn't let them right?

Plz someone clarify me that.

[One World]

this is amazing, spellbounding stuff here - best post in forget cricket

[shaad]

Originally Posted by Tintin
Another question : What is the general opinion about Mujib's rule in his last two years ?

One link in the VirtualBangladesh site was very critical of him, and talked as if he had lost all popular support by 1975. This one seems to be more sympathetic to him and his reforms.

My impression is that he had indeed lost popular support by 1975.

I remember the Friday after the assassination. I was a child then. People thronged the mosques. And they were happy. There were even sweets being distributed.

I also remember the famine of 1974. I remember being able to buy tins of chicken salad from the Gulshan D.I.T. Market -- I remember it because it was the first time I tasted it. It was only later that I realized that these tins were Relief Aid for the famine which, instead of being distibuted to the starving masses, was being sold to the elite. Corruption is one thing, but corruption in the face of a natural disaster like that...

[Electrequiem]

Wow these are great infos!

The reconstruction of the history of Bengal in the pre-Muslim period is difficult due to paucity of sources.

Apparently, not that difficult.