History of Bangladesh

             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 coincide with the major portion of the ancient and historic region of Bengal in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, where civilisation dates back over four millennia, to the Chalcolithic. The history of the region is closely intertwined with the history of Bengal and the history of India.

The area's early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Islam became dominant gradually since the 13th century when Sunni missionaries such as Shah Jalal arrived. Later, Muslim rulers reinforced the process of conversion by building masjid (mosques) and madrassas. From the 13th century onward, the region was controlled by the Bengal Sultanate. Afterwards, the region came under the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire, as its wealthiest province. Bengal Subah generated 50% of the empire's GDP and 12% of the world's GDP,[1] globally dominant in industries such as textile manufacturing and shipbuilding,[2][3][4] with the capital city Dhaka having a population exceeding 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, before it was conquered by the British East India Company at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, directly contributing to the Industrial Revolution in Britain[2][3][4][5] (such as textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution), and to deindustrialization and famines in Bengal.[2][3][4] The Bengali city of Calcutta served as the capital city of British India up until the early 20th century. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the region experienced the Bengal Renaissance.

The borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the partition 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 Radcliffe Line.[6] However, it was separated from West Pakistan by 1,600 km (994 mi) of Indian territory. Due to political exclusion, ethnic and linguistic discrimination, as well as economic neglect by the politically dominant western-wing, popular agitation and civil disobedience led to the war of independence in 1971. 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.

The country is named after the historical region of Bengal, of which it constitutes the largest and eastern segment. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the permanent residents of the former East Pakistan were transformed into citizens of a new republic.[25] Bangladesh is the world's eighth most populous nation.

Bangladeshi identity is closely linked with language and geography. The country's lingua franca is Bengali, an eastern Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-European language family. The population of Bangladesh is concentrated in the fertile Bengal delta, which has been the center of urban and agrarian civilizations for millennia. The country's highlands, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Sylhet Division, are home to various tribal minorities.

Bengali Muslims are the predominant ethnoreligious group of Bangladesh, with a population of 146 million which makes up 89% of the country's population and majority adhering to Sunni Islam, alongside a Shia minority and the prevalence of Sufism. The Bengali Hindu population in Bangladesh is 15,726,800 which makes up 9.6% of the total country population. Non-Bengali Muslims make up the largest immigrant community; while the Tibeto-Burman Chakmas, who speak the Indo-Aryan Chakma language, are the second largest indigenous ethnic group after Bengalis.[26] The Austroasiatic Santhals are the largest aboriginal community.

The Bangladeshi diaspora is concentrated in the Middle East, North America and the United Kingdom. Several hundred thousand Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) have dual citizenship in Commonwealth countries like the UK and Canada.