The case raises important ethical issues related to
environmental sustainability, corporate responsibility, and
global justice. To analyze this case from an ethical perspective,
we can consider different ethical theories and concepts.
Egoism: This theory suggests that individuals and corporations
should act in their own self-interest. In the case, multinational
firms are motivated to shift polluting activities to countries
with weaker regulations to minimize costs and maximize
profits, which aligns with the egoistic perspective.
Utilitarianism: This theory emphasizes maximizing overall
happiness or well-being. From a utilitarian perspective, the
pollution and emissions caused by the firms can harm the
environment and human health, reducing overall well-being.
The negative effects of pollution may outweigh the benefits of
lower production costs for the firms, suggesting that the firms
should be held accountable for their actions.
Ethics: Ethics provides a framework for evaluating the moral
dimensions of human behavior. The case raises questions
about the ethical responsibilities of corporations in relation to
environmental sustainability and social justice.
Natural Justice: This concept relates to the idea that individuals
have inherent rights and freedoms that should be respected. In
the case, the right to a clean and healthy environment could be
seen as a natural justice issue that is being undermined by the
firms' actions.
Morality: This concept refers to the principles and values that
guide human behavior. From a moral perspective, the firms
have a responsibility to minimize their negative impact on the
environment and to contribute to sustainable development.
Duty: Duty-based ethics hold that individuals and corporations
have a duty to act in accordance with certain moral principles
and obligations. The firms have a duty to minimize their
negative impact on the environment and to respect the
regulations in the countries where they operate.
Accountability/transparency: These concepts relate to the
need for individuals and organizations to take responsibility for
their actions and to be transparent in their decision-making
processes. The firms should be held accountable for their
impact on the environment and should be transparent about
their practices.
Post-moral ethics: This theory suggests that traditional moral
frameworks may no longer be sufficient to address complex
ethical issues. The case raises questions about the role of
global governance and collective action in addressing
environmental sustainability and social justice.
Discourse ethics: This theory emphasizes the importance of
communication and dialogue in resolving ethical dilemmas.
The case highlights the need for open and inclusive dialogue
among stakeholders to find solutions that are equitable and
sustainable.
Sustainability: This concept refers to the ability to meet the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs. The firms' actions
may have negative impacts on the environment and on future
generations, making sustainability a key ethical issue in the
case.
In conclusion, the case illustrates the complex ethical dilemmas
associated with environmental sustainability and global justice.
The firms' actions raise questions about their responsibilities to
minimize their negative impact on the environment and to
contribute to sustainable development. The case highlights the
need for collective action and global governance to address
these challenges and to promote a more sustainable and just
future.
The case raises important ethical issues related to
environmental sustainability, corporate responsibility, and
global justice. To analyze this case from an ethical perspective,
we can consider different ethical theories and concepts.
Egoism: This theory suggests that individuals and corporations
should act in their own self-interest. In the case, multinational
firms are motivated to shift polluting activities to countries
with weaker regulations to minimize costs and maximize
profits, which aligns with the egoistic perspective.
Utilitarianism: This theory emphasizes maximizing overall
happiness or well-being. From a utilitarian perspective, the
pollution and emissions caused by the firms can harm the
environment and human health, reducing overall well-being.
The negative effects of pollution may outweigh the benefits of
lower production costs for the firms, suggesting that the firms
should be held accountable for their actions.
Ethics: Ethics provides a framework for evaluating the moral
dimensions of human behavior. The case raises questions
about the ethical responsibilities of corporations in relation to
environmental sustainability and social justice.
Natural Justice: This concept relates to the idea that individuals
have inherent rights and freedoms that should be respected. In
the case, the right to a clean and healthy environment could be
seen as a natural justice issue that is being undermined by the
firms' actions.
Morality: This concept refers to the principles and values that
guide human behavior. From a moral perspective, the firms
have a responsibility to minimize their negative impact on the
environment and to contribute to sustainable development.
Duty: Duty-based ethics hold that individuals and corporations
have a duty to act in accordance with certain moral principles
and obligations. The firms have a duty to minimize their
negative impact on the environment and to respect the
regulations in the countries where they operate.
Accountability/transparency: These concepts relate to the
need for individuals and organizations to take responsibility for
their actions and to be transparent in their decision-making
processes. The firms should be held accountable for their
impact on the environment and should be transparent about
their practices.
Post-moral ethics: This theory suggests that traditional moral
frameworks may no longer be sufficient to address complex
ethical issues. The case raises questions about the role of
global governance and collective action in addressing
environmental sustainability and social justice.
Discourse ethics: This theory emphasizes the importance of
communication and dialogue in resolving ethical dilemmas.
The case highlights the need for open and inclusive dialogue
among stakeholders to find solutions that are equitable and
sustainable.
Sustainability: This concept refers to the ability to meet the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs. The firms' actions
may have negative impacts on the environment and on future
generations, making sustainability a key ethical issue in the
case.
In conclusion, the case illustrates the complex ethical dilemmas
associated with environmental sustainability and global justice.
The firms' actions raise questions about their responsibilities to
minimize their negative impact on the environment and to
contribute to sustainable development. The case highlights the
need for collective action and global governance to address
these challenges and to promote a more sustainable and just
future.
 Big QUS

2. Role of Muslim reformers in the development of Bengali renaissance.

THE Bengal Muslim Renaissance refers to a socio-cultural, educational and religious reform movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth century in undivided India's Bengal province. It is said to have
begun with Sir Sayed Ahmed (1817-1898). Nawab Abdul Latif (1828-1893) is considered as the architect and Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah (1873-1965) was one of the pioneers of the Renaissance in Bengal.

Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was a silent revolutionist who played a pioneering role in upgrading Muslim society in undivided Bengal during the British period. He was a renowned educationist, a high government
official of Bengal, one of the most enlightened personalities of his time, and a social reformer of undivided Bengal and Assam. He was also a philanthropist, remarkable literary figure, humanitarian philosopher,
religious thinker and a spiritual guide to his people. He is known as the founder of Ahsania Mission and considered a great Sufi.

Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was born in a respectable Muslim family of Nalta Sharif village—under Satkhira district—in December, 1873. He passed the Entrance examination with a scholarship and distinction
from the London Missionary School of Bhabanipur, Kolkata in 1890. He passed the F.A. examination with a scholarship from the Hoogli College, Kolkata in 1892. He obtained the B.A. degree in 1894 and M.A.
degree in Philosophy from Presidency College under the University of Kolkata in 1895.
After getting the Master degree he joined as a supernumerary teacher at the Rajshahi Collegiate High School in 1896, and became its first Muslim headmaster in 1904. In 1924, he was promoted to the post of
the assistant director of education department of undivided Bengal and Assam. He was the first officer from India and also the only Muslim who was selected for that post, and after his retirement no other
Indian was appointed to that post. He was a close friend of Sher-e- Bangla A.K. Fazlul Haque and played a very important role in education of Muslims in undivided Bengal.

During his service life (1896-1926) he tremendously reformed education of Muslims. He introduced the system of writing the roll numbers of the students instead of their names in examination papers. In the
schools and colleges, he readjusted the ratio of stipends for the Muslim students and made provisions so that increasing number of poor but meritorious students could study free of cost. He was instrumental
in establishing many madrasas and Muslim high schools, and the Islamia College for Muslim students in Kolkata. He was actively associated with the establishment of the new-scheme madrasa. He made
valuable contributions to the establishment of the Baker Hostel, Taylor Hostel, Carmichael Hostel, Muslim Institute of Kolkata and the Fuller Hostel in Rajshahi. He was elected a member of the Senate and the
Syndicate of the Kolkata University.

Ahsanullah was conferred the title of 'Khan Bahadur' by the British government in 1911. He was also elected a member of Royal Society of London the same year. During 1917-1918, he was the vice-president of
the Literary Association of the Muslims of Bengal. Ahsanullah was an official member of the Muhammadan Educational Advisory Committee. The Islamic Foundation Bangladesh award was bestowed on him
posthumously in 1405 Hizri of the Arabic calendar. Bangla Academy also awarded him an honourary fellowship in 1960 for his valuable contributions in the field of Bengali literature.

Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah had a significant contribution in the formation of the University of Dhaka (1921). After the First World War, the Hornell Committee (special committee to establish Dhaka University)
was formed in 1914 and Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was made a member. The Commission justified the setting up of University of Dhaka. On November 1, 1919, a nine-member senate special committee was
formed, and Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was an important member. It submitted its report along with a note of dissent from Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, in which he reiterated the reasons for the establishment of
the University. Most of the suggestions from Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah were adopted in the Dhaka University Act 1920.

In 1935, Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah founded a non-political and service-oriented organisation, Ahsania Mission—inspired by Ramakrishna Mission—with its head office at Nalta Sharif, Satkhira. The motto of
Ahsania Mission is “Divine and Humanitarian Service.” There are now 138 branches of the Mission at home and abroad. Ahsania Mission is the outward manifestation of Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah's faith and
ideals, and reflects the inherent beauty of his being. It is still working to ensure humanity, social welfare, education and spiritual line.

Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah passed away on the February 9, 1965. He was a spiritual leader and his tomb (Pak Rawza Sharif) is in Nalta and is called holy Nalta Sharif. His name and fame, and his contributions will
live eternally. He was a great contributor to the upgrading of Muslim education and Muslim society, but at the same time he was a non-communal philosopher.

3. Origin of Brahmo Samaj and the Impact of Hindu social reform movement?

Brahmo Samaj began as a reformist movement within Hinduism and began the Bengal Renaissance. It was started at Calcutta in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Debendranath Tagore as a reform movement
and proved to be one of the most influential religious reform movements in India, and made significant contribution to the making of modern India. The first Brahmo Samaj was founded in 1861 by Pandit
Nobin Chandra Roy at Lahore. Attacking the prevailing Brahmanism, it heralded the Bengal Renaissance, which emphasized religious, educational and social reform.

Brahmo Samaj created a revolution against the prevailing evils in Indian society. The significance of Brahmo Samaj is as under

 Brahmo Samaj successfully denounced the practice of idol worship and polytheistic religion.
 It contributed to social change by fighting against many superstitions and dogmas.
 It repudiated the beliefs in divine incarnation.
 It made a remarkable impact on the caste system.
 Brahmo Samaj spread the awareness that morality and a rational mind are more important and hold the ultimate power than any book.

Because of Brahmo Samaj, society started to raise its voice against child marriage.

Though Brahmo Samaj had changed a lot of norms prevailing in the society, it could not explain the transformation theories of the soul and the concept of Karma. Also, a few people disagreed with the Doctrine
of God in Conscience. Because of the conflict of thoughts, this samaj broke in 1878.

4. Colonial Economy: Characteristics and impact on Indian?

Colonial economy is stripped off all independent economic decisions. The development of agricultural, utilization of the country’s vast natural resources, its industrial and tariff policies, trading relations with
foreign countries, and so on are left into the hands of the ruling country.

Characteristics and impact

Land Revenue Policy and Land Settlements

Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal and Bihar in 1793. It made the landlord or zamindar deposit a fixed amount of money in the state treasury. In return they were recognised as
hereditary owners of land. This made the zamindar the owner of the land. The amount of revenue to be paid to the Company was fixed for a period of time which made the British financially secured. Now they
knew in advance as to how much revenue was coming in form the State. The zamindar also knew how much revenue was to be paid. So to get surplus revenue for themselves they asked the peasants to
increase production. But, if the zamindar failed to pay the fixed revenue on time his land was sold off to another zamindar. The British stood to benefit from this settlement as the new class of zamindars that
emerged became their political allies. They supported the British in times of need and acted as a buffer between them and the peasants. This class, in fact, supported the British against the freedom movement.

Commercialisation of Agriculture

Another major economic impact of the British policies in India was the introduction of a large number of commercial crops such as tea, coffee, indigo, opium, cotton, jute, sugarcane and oilseed. Different kinds
of commercial crops were introduced with different intentions. Indian opium was used to balance the trade of Chinese tea with Britain in the latter’s favor. The market for opium was strictly controlled by
British traders which did not leave much scope for Indian producers to reap profit. Indians were forced to produce indigo and sell it on the conditions dictated by the Britishers. Indigo was sent to England and
used as a dyeing agent for cloth produced in British towns. Indigo was grown under a different system where all farmers were compelled to grow it on 3/20th part of their land. Unfortunately cultivation of
Indigo left the land infertile for some years. This made the farmers reluctant to grow it. In the tea plantations ownership changed hands quite often. The workers on these plantations worked under a lot of
hardships.
Transport and Communication

The means of transport in India at that time were bullock carts, camels and pack animals. England on the other hand needed railways that connected the raw material producing areas with the exporting ports
and to facilitate the movement of British goods to different parts of the country as well as bring raw materials to the ports. The vast network of railways that you witness today was pioneered during the latter
half of the 19th century. This opened avenue for British bankers and investors to invest surplus wealth and material in the construction of railways. Railways benefited the British capitalists in two important
ways. First, it made trading in commodities much easier and profitable by connecting the internal markets with the ports. Secondly, the rail engines, coaches and the capital input for building of rail lines came
from Britain. The British capitalists who invested in railways were also guaranteed a minimum profit of 5% by the government. These companies were also given free land with a lease of 99 years.

5. Baul Music: History, Features and importance

Baul Song is the mystical song of the Baul religious community. They nourish one kind of worldly religious tenet that formed on the basis of the essence of the body (the doctrine that the body
is the seat of all truths) and on the knowledge about God. This is known as the Baul religious tenet. It does not have any written literature or scripture. The Bauls express their religious doctrine,
philosophy, view of life and their beliefs through literature, in the language of music. This oral music is known as Baul song. The Bauls regard their songs as part and parcel of their religion.
They celebrate their religious occasions – both formal and informal – such as, religious gatherings and festivals and mendicancy by singing music. They try to find God by practicing the doctrine
of dehotattwa (belief that body is the seat of all truths). They address God in symbolic terms, such as: human, lover or beloved, the unknown bird, Manuray, etc. They believe that God inhabits
in the human body. So the main objective of celebrating the body is to facilitate the meeting of human soul with God. This meeting is possible through the love or devotion of the individual soul.
The body-centric religious practice of the Bauls is reliant on a guru. The Bauls have to be initiated by a guru and perform many rites and rituals to acquire spiritual attainments or salvation. Baul
music is largely concerned with body, spirit, God, guru, love and devotion, the mystery of creation and similar other issues. This is how, the following doctrines have become dominant in Baul
music: the doctrines of spirit, body, guru, love, creation, human, etc. The doctrine of the spirit is concerned with the preparation of the mind, that of body with the rules of devotion, that of guru
with the devotion to the guru, that of creation with the mystery of creation and existence of life, and that of human with meeting with God.

6. Bangla Literature: history, development and Key contributors

Avoid it

1. Islamization of Bengal and the growth of Muslim society (Narrate the conventional and modern theories of Islamization and the role of Sufism)

It was relatively late in their experience in Bengal that Englishmen became aware of the full extent of the province’s Muslim population. With British activity centered on
Calcutta, in the predominantly Hindu southwest, colonial officials through most of the nineteenth century perceived Bengal’s eastern districts as a vast and rather
remote hinterland, with whose cultural profile they were largely unfamiliar. They were consequently astonished when the first official census of the province, that of
1872, showed Muslims totaling 70 percent and more in the Chittagong, Noakhali, Pabna, and Rajshahi districts, and over 80 percent in Bogra.  Writing in 1894, James
Wise, a government official with considerable experience in the province, wrote that “the most interesting fact revealed by the census of 1872 was the enormous host
of Muhammadans resident in Lower Bengal—not massed around the old capitals, but in the alluvial plains of the Delta.” He went on to observe that “the history of the
spread of the Muhammadan faith in Lower and Eastern Bengal is a subject of such vast importance at the present day as to merit a careful and minute examination.”

The subject certainly was examined. The census of 1872 touched off a heated debate that lasted the rest of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth.
Its opening salvo was fired by the compiler of the census report itself, Henry Beverley. Noting the apparent incongruity of masses of Muslims turning up in regions far
from the ancient centers of Muslim domination, Beverley concluded that “the existence of Muhammadans in Bengal is not due so much to the introduction of Mughul
blood into the country as to the conversion of the former inhabitants for whom a rigid system of caste discipline rendered Hinduism intolerable.” In short, he rejected
the Immigration theory and instead sketched out an early version of the Social Liberation theory. Henceforth this theory would dominate British thinking about
Islamization in the province, and eventually most Muslims would subscribe to it as well.

In the early twentieth century, as the Indian nationalist movement gathered momentum, and especially after the founding of the Muslim League in 1906, when
the drive for a separate Muslim “homeland” in British India began to gather strength, arguments for or against the various theories of Islamization became more
heated. Indian nationalists tended to sidestep the issue altogether, since any recognition of foreign origin of a large segment of the Indian community, or of past
Islamization among that community, would have weakened the nationalist position concerning the fundamental unity and homogeneity of all Indian peoples. Nor was it
easy for Hindus to embrace the thesis favored by Muslim intellectuals, the Religion of Social Liberation argument, since it placed high-caste Hindus in the unsavory role
of oppressors.[42]

For many Muslims, on the other hand, the issue of a separate Muslim community on the Indian subcontinent was fundamental, since it formed the historical
justification for the future state of Pakistan. This made it difficult to relinquish the Immigration thesis entirely, even though, so far as Bengal is concerned, considerable
ethnographic data had shown that the ancestors of the Muslim masses had been indigenous to the delta long before the thirteenth century. This led some to embrace a
hybrid theory that combined elements of both the Immigration theory and the Religion of Social Liberation thesis. In this view, ashrāf immigrants had settled the land
and become naturalized Bengalis, while at the same time masses of ethnic Bengalis were attracted to the egalitarian ethic of Islam. As this mutual accommodation was
said to have obliterated social differences between the ashrāf and the masses, the theory became ideologically convenient for post–1947 Muslim governments, which
naturally sought to stress the unity of all Muslims residing within their borders.

Short qus

 Permanent Settlement

Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal and Bihar in 1793. It made the landlord or zamindar deposit a fixed amount of money in the state treasury. In return they were recognised as
hereditary owners of land. This made the zamindar the owner of the land. The amount of revenue to be paid to the Company was fixed for a period of time which made the British financially secured. Now they
knew in advance as to how much revenue was coming in form the State. The zamindar also knew how much revenue was to be paid. So to get surplus revenue for themselves they asked the peasants to
increase production. But, if the zamindar failed to pay the fixed revenue on time his land was sold off to another zamindar. The British stood to benefit from this settlement as the new class of zamindars that
emerged became their political allies. They supported the British in times of need and acted as a buffer between them and the peasants. This class, in fact, supported the British against the freedom movement.

 1770 Famine

A disastrous famine affected the lower Gangetic Plains of India including the regions of Bengal and Bihar between 1769 and 1773 where 1/3rd of the population perished. An estimated 10 million people died of
starvation and famine-triggered epidemics that also affected the regions of Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bangladesh. The territory was then ruled by the British East India Company
Causes

 After the Battles of Plassey and Buxar, the British East India Company had acquired the Diwani rights over Bengal.

 The Nawab was only a nominal head with the real power resting under the company’s head.

 The company was only interested in maximising revenue and profits for itself while the plight of the local farmers and others were completely neglected.

 Prior to the company’s rule, the tax rate on land revenue was only about 1/10th of the agricultural produce. But the company increased it overnight to 50% of the produce.

 The farmers, who had previously-stored excess produce for a lean season (they had excess because of the less tax), were not permitted to store produce, and they could not store too, because
of the terrible tax regime under the English.

 The British forced farmers to harvest cash crops like poppy and indigo for export rather than food crops like paddy. This resulted in a shortage of grains for the people.

 There was a minor shortage of crops in 1768 which was not an alarming situation.

 But in 1769, there was a monsoon failure followed by severe drought. Starvation deaths started by 1769, but the company officials ignored this situation.

 By 1770, the death count was increasing and almost 10 million people fell victim to this man-made devastation.

 The company continued to collect taxes from farmers who could pay by further increasing the tax rate to make up for the loss in agricultural revenue due to the famine.

 This famine was caused, to a large extent, by the company’s tax and revenue policies, and apathy of the company officials to rising starvation.

 Treaty of Diwani

The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 12 August 1765, between the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, and Robert Clive, of the East India Company, in the aftermath of the Battle of Buxar of 23 October 1764. The
treaty was handwritten by I'tisam-ud-Din, a Bengali Muslim scribe and diplomat to the Mughal Empire. The Treaty marked the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of British rule in India.
Based on the terms of the agreement, Alam granted the East India Company Diwani rights, or the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Emperor from the eastern province of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa. These rights
allowed the company to collect revenue directly from the people of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. In return, the Company paid an annual tribute of twenty-six lakhs of rupees (equal to 260,000 pounds sterling)
while securing for Shah Alam II the districts of Kada and Allahabad. The tribute money paid to the emperor was for the maintenance of the Emperor's court in Allahabad. The accord also dictated that Shah Alam
be restored to the province of Varanasi as long as he continued to pay a certain amount of revenue to the company. Awadh was returned to Shuja-ud-Daulah, but Allahabad and Kora were taken from him. The
Nawab of Awadh Shuja ud Daulah also had to pay fifty lakhs of rupees as war indemnity to the East India Company.

Moreover, the two signed an alliance by which the company promised to support the Nawab against outside attacks provided he paid for services of the troops sent to his aid. This alliance made the Nawab
dependent on the company. This was a turning point in Indian history.

 Dhakai Muslin

Muslin a brand name of pre-colonial Bengal textile, especially of Dhaka origins. Muslin was manufactured in the city of Dhaka and in some surrounding stations, by local skill with locally
produced cotton and attained world-wide fame as the Dhaka Muslin. The origin of the word Muslin is obscure; some say that the word was derived from Mosul, an old trade centre in Iraq, while
others think that Muslin was connected with Musulipattam, sometime headquarters of European trading companies in southern India. The textile industry of Bengal is very old. Bengal cotton
fabrics were exported to the Roman and the Chinese empires and they are mentioned in Ptolemy’s Geography and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, and by the ancient Chinese travellers.
But Dhaka Muslin became famous and attracted foreign and transmarine buyers after the establishment of the Mughal capital at Dhaka. The Muslin industry of Dhaka received patronage from
the Mughal emperors and the Mughal nobility. A huge quantity of the finest sort of Muslin was procured for the use of the Mughal emperors, provincial governors and high officers and nobles. In
the great 1851 Exhibition of London, Dhaka Muslin occupied a prominent place, attracted a large number of visitors and the British Press spoke very highly of the marvelous Muslin fabrics of
Dhaka.  

 Colonial Drug Trade

Through the dealings of the British East India Company, opium, traditionally used medicinally, became a non-medicinal business commodity during the late eighteenth and throughout the nineteenth centuries.
At the time of growth and development of the opium monopoly in Bengal from 1773 to 1856, the economic condition of the poppy farmers (ryots) had deteriorated and tension had erupted between the local
zamindars (landlords) and the colonial authorities. This conflict aided in the eventual uprising of 1857, also known as the Indian ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. In an attempt to further control the private cultivation of opium
poppies and the free trade in opium, the government adopted the Opium Act of 1857 and the Opium Act of 1878.

 Bengali Folk Art

Folk Art and Crafts traditional arts and crafts evolving over time through the age-old folk practices. The distinction between what constitutes art and craft is often blurred. Thus floor and wall paintings or nakshi
kantha are included in folk art while the products of potters, carpenters and weavers, as well as articles made of bamboo, cane, shola, conch-shell, ivory, bell-metal are referred to as craft. There are, however,
some folk arts that cannot be categorised separately. For instance, an earthen pot on which fish, leaves and other designs have been painted as well as cane mats with designs of trees, birds, mosques etc are a
combination of both art and handicraft.

Folk art generally includes those articles that are traditionally made by communities of people to satisfy their religious, social and aesthetic needs. alpana or painting floors with rice paste, manasaghat, laksmir
sara, mabgalghat etc are connected with social and cultural practices of the people and have no commercial value. However, chal chitra, paintings on canvas, which have religious connotations, are also a
means of livelihood.

 Caste System
Dating back more than 3,000 years, the caste system divides Hindus into four main categories – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras based on who they were in their past life, their karma, and what
family line they come from. Many believe that the system originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation, believing that the Brahmins represent the eyes and mind of Brahma and are therefore often
teachers and priests, the Kshatriyas represent his arms and are often warriors, the Vaishyas represent his legs and are often farmers or merchants, and the Shudras represent his feet and are often laborers.

Here is the Breakdown of the Four Main Castes:

1. Brahmins: The highest and most esteemed caste. These people often hold the job of priest or teacher.

2. Kshatriyas: The second caste. These people are often known traditionally as ‘warriors.’ They often hold the job of farmer, trader, or merchant.

3. Waishyas: The third caste. These people often hold the job of farmer, trader, or merchant.

4. Shudras: The fourth caste. These people are often those that do manual labor.

Mahayana Buddhism is the largest Buddhist sect in the world, and its beliefs and practices are what most non-adherents recognize as "Buddhism" in the modern era. It developed as a school of thought
sometime after 383 BCE, possibly from the earlier school known as Mahasanghika, though that claim has been challenged.

 Mahayana buddhism

Mahasanghika ("Great Congregation") was an early Buddhist school that developed after the Second Buddhist Council of 383 BCE when the Sthaviravada school ("Sect of the Elders" or "Teaching of the Elders")
broke away from the Buddhist community over doctrinal differences. This early schism led to others and the development of many different Buddhist schools of which Mahasanghika was only one.

Mahasanghika, claiming to represent the majority of Buddhists (as its name suggests) was thought by 19th-century scholars to have eventually become Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"), but modern scholars
contend that this is incorrect as evidence suggests Mahayana existed alongside Mahasanghika and was supported and encouraged by that school. How and why Mahayana Buddhism developed is a question
still debated by scholars and Buddhist theologians.

Q. What is Hisriography? Describe the history of writing history of culture phase?

historiography, the writing of history, especially the writing of history based on the
critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details from the authentic
materials in those sources, and the synthesis of those details into a narrative that
stands the test of critical examination. The term historiography also refers to the
theory and history of historical writing.
History of historiography
All human cultures tell stories about the past. Deeds of ancestors, heroes, gods, or animals sacred
to particular peoples were chanted and memorized long before there was any writing with which
to record them. Their truth was authenticated by the very fact of their continued repetition.
History, which may be defined as an account that purports to be true of events and ways of
thinking and feeling in some part of the human past, stems from this archetypal human narrative
activity.

While sharing a common ancestry with myth, legend, epic poetry, and the novel, history has of
course diverged from these forms. Its claim to truth is based in part on the fact that all the
persons or events it describes really existed or occurred at some time in the past. Historians can
say nothing about these persons or events that cannot be supported, or at least suggested, by
some kind of documentary evidence. Such evidence customarily takes the form of something
written, such as a letter, a law, an administrative record, or the account of some previous
historian. In addition, historians sometimes create their own evidence by interviewing people. In
the 20th century the scope of historical evidence was greatly expanded to include, among many
other things, aerial photographs, the rings of trees, old coins, clothes, motion pictures, and
houses. Modern historians have determined the age of the Shroud of Turin, which purportedly
bears the image of Jesus, through carbon-14 dating and have discredited the claim of Anna
Anderson to be the grand duchess Anastasia, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, through DNA
testing

Q. What is the meaning of culture? Discuss the key characteristics of culture?

Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs,

values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial
 relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions
acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual
and group striving.

Characteristic of culture from slide…..

Q. Who are the investigators of history?

Ans: Slide

Q. Briefly describe the sources of history ?

Historical sources are something that tells us about history. It may be a

document, a picture, a book, a building or an object. Any sort of artifact from
the period in question that conveys information can qualify as a source They
are the supporting materials, documents or the records in the form of evidence
that help us to reconstruct the past. They inform us about history at the most
basic level, and are used as clues in order to study history.

Q. briefly describe the modern concept of history?

History emerges like waves that occasionally burst over the edge of the shore
and soak you, but then retreat. So we’ll have a bout of debate about the empire,
or commemorate an anniversary, and then things move on. In the modern era
nature is no longer static, but can change. For history, this means a loss of
objective and impartial reality. In an impartial standpoint of history we can
credit infinite points of view.

VANGA JANAPADA

 The name Vanga, indicating a people, occurred for the first time in the Aitareya
Aranyaka, where they are mentioned along with the Magadhas.
  In the Baudhayana Dharmasutra the Vangas are mentioned in a list of peoples
who lived in regions beyond the zone of Aryan civilisation in the
neighbourhood of Kalinga.
 In the Puranas they are mentioned along with other eastern people such as
Anga, Magadha, Mudgaraka, Pundra, Videha, Tamralipti and Pragjyotisa.
 The Ramayana mentions the Vangas to be in league with Ayodhya. In the
Digvijaya section of the Mahabharata it is related that Bhima killed the king of
Modagiri, subjugated the ruler of the Pundras and another potentate who ruled
on the banks of the river Kaushiki.
 He then fell on the Vangas, and after having subjugated the Tamraliptas,
Karvatas, Suhmas and the people living in the coastal regions, he reached the
banks of the Lauhitya (Brahmaputra).
 In a later section of the epic it is indicated that the realm of the Vangas
extended up to the sea.

PUNDRA JANAPADA

Pundra or Paundra in early times denoted both land and people. It was comprised of
the present Bogra, Rangpur, Rajshahi and Dinajpur districts. The capital of the Pundra
Janapada was ‘Pundranagar’ . It was later named ‘Pundra Vardhana’ . Inscriptions
carved on pieces of round stones were found here. These are supposed to be the most
ancient stone inscriptions found in Bangladesh. The historians are of the opinion that
these inscriptions were made during the time of The Greek and the Chinese accounts
as well as the Buddhist and Jaina literary works referred to Pundra or Paundra in the
sense of both people and territory. The literary works and inscriptions of Gupta period
referred to the land of the Pundra or a race of people known as Pundras. Rakhaldas
Bandopadhyaya mentioned about Pundra in the sense of the people who lived in the
area which later on came to be identified with Northern Bangla. According to the
ancient Indian literary works i.e. “Aitareya Brahmana” in the 7th century B.C.,
referred that “Pundra”, in the sense of people or as one of the races in the eastern part
of the Indian sub-continent. However, Pundras were the oldest caste not only in
ancient Bengal but also in the Ancient World. Although the Pundras were first
referred as the inhabitants of a part of the north-eastern region and the word “Pundra”
sometimes denoted land and sometimes people occupying areas adjacent to one
another.
Bengal Renaissance

• There were four aspects of the Renaissance movement, which the Bangali

intelligentsia developed systematically throughout the nineteenth century.

• First, there was the modernization of the Bengali language and the

simultaneous birth of a new Bangali literature.

• Secondly, there was the rediscovery of, and identification with an Indian

classical era hailed as a golden age which placed South Asian civilisation

on a par with the grandeur of Greece and Rome.

• Thirdly, there was the Serampore missionary interpretation of the

Protestation Reformation, which Indians applied creatively to their own

historic situation.

• And finally, there was the secular view of universal progress on which

India's hope lay not in resurrecting the past but in projecting the golden

age into the future.