Department of history and Philosophy North South university. Introduction There is very little recorded history of the land, language, and its people of Bengal. The history of Bengal is one of the most complex in the world, because it was flooded by many historical ups and downs over the years. The Key Geographical/ Physical Features that Bangladesh has are: 1. Active Delta 2. Extended River System 3. Floodplain and Fertile landscape 4. Mountainous North-East 5. Mighty Mangrove Forest 6. Resourceful of Bay of Bengal 1. The Bengal delta The formation of Bengal Delta began some 125 million years ago after the fragmentation of the Gondwanaland.
The Gondwanaland break-up, Indian plate
movement, collision of the Indian plate with the Burmese and Eurasian plate, development of the huge mountain range of the himalayas, development of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system and sea level changes in several historical periods and tectonic activities over millions of years completed the formation process of Bengal Delta. It is said that without the Himalays, Bangladesh would not exist. Every year the melted snow, the icy water and the monsoon rains sweeps along particles of soil, forming into rivers that rush to the sea. This million years process has created the territory that we now live and called Bangladesh. 2. Extended River System Bangladesh is a land of rivers. There are almost 300 active rivers along with 400 tributary rivers currently flowing over Bangladesh. The most important feature of the Bengali landscape is its vast river system which characterizes the Bengali people and their literature. Among the main rivers the Ganges/Padma and the Brahmaputra are the two most important and these are referred to many literary compositions, including the Carya poems. Three Major River Systems are: a. Yamuna-Brahmaputra River System b. Ganges-Padma river System c. Surma-Meghna River System River System of Bengal a. The Jamuna-Brahmaputra River System The Jamuna Brahmaputra River system is one of the largest river systems in South Asia.
Brahmaputra-Jamuna and Old Brahmaputra, with
their main tributary Tista, and a good number of small tributaries and distributaries constitute the largest floodplain of Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of Asia possessing mythological importance. The term " Brahmaputra" means "son of Brahma" in Sanskrit. It originates from Mount Kailash in the Himalayan Mountains in western Tibet According to Hindu Mythology, mount Kailash, the origin of Brahmaputra River is the abode of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati. The lands and towns along the Brahmaputra River thus attain mythological importance in Hinduism along with the rivers.
In earlier times there were only relatively small rivers
between the ancient urban centres of Mahasthan and Savar, whereas the Brahmaputra formed a significant barrier between Samatata and the western urban centers. Therefore, large kingdoms of the western part often had little impact on the eastern small kingdoms.
The Brahmaputra-Jamuna drains the northern and eastern
slopes of the himalayas, and has a catchment area of 5,83,000 sq km. The rivers combined suspended sediment load of about 1.84 billion tons per year is the worlds highest. The Main Channel of the Brahmaputra used to flow past Mymensing and Sonargaon towns and has shifted her course after 1787. a. Ganges-Padma river System The Ganges and the Padma are the main channels of this river system. The Bhagirathi- Hugli, Gorai-Madhumati and Arial Khan are three second-order rivers of the system.
The River originates at the GangotriGlacier in
the Indian state of Uttarakhand, in the central Himalayas The Ganges has a total length of about 2,600 km and a catchment area of approximately 907,000 sq km. The total drainage area of the Ganges is about 1,087,400 sq km, of which about 46,300 sq km lies within Bangladesh. The present course of Ganges is very different from what it was before in the 16th century. It flowed further north and east and the ancient city of Gauda was probably on its right bank. About 25 miles to the south of ancient Gauda the Ganges divides itself into two branches, the Bhagirathi in the West Bengal and the Padma flowing in the south-eastern direction. The river has long been considered a holy river by Hindus and worshiped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. It has also been important historically, many earlier regional and imperial capitals like Patliputra, Allahabad, Kannauj, Kara, Calcutta and Murshidabad, have been located on its banks. The ancient great empire of Gangaridai had also emerged on the bank of Ganges river. c. Surma-Meghna River System The Surma-Meghna, at 669 kilometres by itself the longest river in Bangladesh. It enters Bangladesh from the east and with over fifty other rivers flow from India across the border of Bangladesh. Together these many rivers have deposited very thick layers of fertile silt that now form one of the largest river deltas on the earth. The ancient Janapads Samatata and Harikela were also developed on the bank of Meghna river.
3. Floodplain and Fertile Landscape
The main surface feature of Bangladesh is the
floodplains of the Ganges-Brahmaputra and Meghna. Floodplain dominates the life of Bangladesh. Key Contributions of Floodplain: 1. 80% of countrys surface is considered as floodplain and it played an important role in the development of agriculture of this region. 2. Due to the richness of soil, floodplains became the main physical resource for its population to produce grains and to develop the agrarian societies. 3. Depending on the richness on the soil, cultivation of plants and domestication of animals occurred well before 1500 BCE. 4. Rice cultivation was also developed overs the years and become the main occupation of its population and became the staple food. 4. Mountainous North-East The Eastern and Northern Frontier Hilly Region represents the hill areas of Bangladesh and comprises two main sub-regions - Chittagong Hill Tracts and Foot Hills of the Shillong massif.
In the cultural history of Bangladesh this hilly
areas are important because it links ancient Bengal to ancient Myanmar through the Arakan kingdoms. Beside this mountainous feature, the uplands between the Ganges and Brahmaputra-Jamuna is historically known as Barind tract and the upland between the Jamuna-Meghna is known as the Madhupur Tract.
The important difference between the two upland
tracts is that parts of the Barind were settled and urbanised long time ago while Madhupur remained largely a forested area. 5. Mangrove and Rainforest For hundreds of thousand of years, the Bengal delta was covered by dense rainforests. Much of it survived well into historical times but due to the development of human habitation and cultivation, considerable declined of rainforest happened during last few centuries. Sundarbans, The largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world, located in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. The tract of the Sundarbans is of recent origin, raised by the deposition of sediments formed due to soil erosion in the Himalayas. 6. Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal occupies an area of about 2.2 million sq km and the average depth is 2,600m. Bangladesh is situated at the head of the Bay of Bengal.
Since the ancient period, bay of Bengal plays a very
influential role in the development of trade and commerce of this region. The historical sea ports of Tamralipti, Saptagram, Xatigan all were located on the coastline of bay of Bengal. The growth of trade based on these ports can be traced back to the 8th century AD. The importance of Chittagong port was enhanced through the Arab merchants mainly with the textile products during this century. Ethnical Origin of Bengali People Bangladesh is a melting pot of ancient peoples. They came by land routes, across mountains, down the river valleys and also possibly by boats.
There are many accounts and references which point
out that the ancient people of Bengal were different in race, culture and language from the Aryans who compiled the Vedic literature. The original inhabitants of Bengal were non-Aryan. Probably, the oldest inhabitants of the land were a group of Austric people. Many linguists and anthropologists believe that the early tribes of Bengal were Dravidian, but belonged to a separate family. It is said that even within historic times many people in Bangladesh spoke a language related to Telegu, which is a Dravidian language.
The later arrival race is well known as Aryans.
They spoke a language of the Indo-European family. Over the centuries they mixed with tWith the adoption and spread of rice cultivation this mixed population of Ayro- Dravedians moved in to the Bengal basin around 600 BC. Through the rise of trade and commerce, imperialism and natural immigration Bangladesh became a place where racial mixing became very common. Therefore, the Bengali ancestry includes the Austria speakers, the Mongoloids, the Dravidians, the Aryans, the Turk, the Pathan, the Europeans and so on. The Janapadas The historic term Janapad means human settlement. The sources of ancient Bengal suggest that, in the earliest period Bengal was divided among various tribes or kingdoms which are known as the Janapadas. The ancient Janapadas are as follows: Banga Pundra Gaura Radha Samatate Horikel The name of these Janapads ware purely descriptive and had no ethnic connection. These Janapads are inhabited by non-Aryan people. The Hindu sources like : the Mohabharat and other Vedic literatures are the primary sources about these human settlements. The Banga: The Banga is an ancient human settlement situated in Eastern Bengal. But its geographical connotation varied in different periods of history. The Hindu literatures indicate that the Banga is sea-faring nation and its realm extended up to the sea. They also mentioned that this is an area where finest quality white & soft cotton fabrics were produced. There was a coastal area approachable from the sea in the territory of Banga. From the above mentioned references, Banga appears to be an area of south and southeastern part of present Bangladesh. The Pundra: The Pundra or Pundranagara is the earliest urban centre in Bangladesh, which goes back to the 4th century BC. The ruins of this have been identified at Mahasthan in Bogra district. It continued to be the headquarters of the administration of Maurya, Gupta and Pals. It was the capital of Pundrabardhan Bhukti under the Gupta rule. The famous China visitor Hiuen-tsang visited this place in the 7th century AD. Pundra was situated on the western bank of the Karatoya. It was well connected with other parts of Bengal through land and river routes. For this connection it was an important centre of trade and commerce throughout the ancient period. Radha: Radha is the ancient human settlement of Bengal. It is difficult to locate exactly its geographical position. But historical sources suggest that Radha is the west-southern part of ancient Bengal. Howrah, Hughli and Burdwan in West Bengal are some areas of ancient Radha. Samatate: Samatate is an ancient territorial unit in ancient Bengal. Chinese traveler Hiuen-tsang visited Samatat at 7th century AD. As per his account, it was the South-eastern part of Bengal and was a Buddhist cultural centre. The archaeological discoveries in the Lalmai- Mainamati area, it can now be stated with certainty that Samatata was formed at Comilla-Noakhali areas and the adjacent parts of hilly Tripura. Harikel: Harikel is another geographical entity in ancient Bengal. But it is so difficult to locate it. Most of the evidence support that Harikel is the similar with our present Sylhet region. Another archeological evidence suggests its location at present Chittagong district. Harikel was situated by the side of Samatat.