HIS-103: Emergence of Bangladesh

Lecture 01
Bangladesh: Basic Facts

Dr. Sadik Hasan

Course Teacher
 Geography
 Bangladesh, on the northern coast of the Bay of Bengal, is surrounded by India, with a small common border
with Myanmar in the southeast. Except the hilly regions in the north-east, south-east and some areas of high
land in the northern part, the country consists of plain and fertile land. A network of rivers exists in the country
of which the Padma, the Jamuna, the Teesta, the Brahmaputra, the Surma, the Meghna and the Karnaphuli are
prominent . All those rivers have 230 tributaries with a total length of about 24140 kilometers. The alluvial soil is
thus continuously being enriched by heavy silts deposited by rivers during the rainy season.
 Area:
 Total: 147,570 sq km/56,977 sq. miles.
 Land: 130,170 sq km
 Water: 17,440 sq km
 Land Boundaries:
 Total: 4427 km
 Border Countries: Myanmar (271 km) and India (4156 km)
 Coastline:
 Total: 580 km
 Territorial Sea: 12 nautical miles.
 Climate

 Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate characterized by wide seasonal variations in rainfall,
high temperatures, and high humidity. Regional climatic differences in this flat country are minor.
 Three seasons are generally recognized: a hot, muggy summer from March to June; a hot,
humid and rainy monsoon season from June to November; and a warm-hot, dry winter from
December to February.
 In general, maximum summer temperatures range between 38 and 41 °C (100.4 and 105.8 °F).
April is the hottest month in most parts of the country. January is the coolest month, when the
average temperature for most of the country is 16–20 °C (61–68 °F) during the day and around
10 °C (50 °F) at night.
 From March to May, violent thunderstorms, called northwesters by local English speakers,
produce winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour (37.3 mph). During the intense storms of the early
summer and late monsoon season, southerly winds of more than 160 kilometers per hour
(99.4 mph) cause waves to crest as high as 6 meters (19.7 ft) in the Bay of Bengal, which brings
disastrous flooding to coastal areas.
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 Heavy rainfall is characteristic of Bangladesh causing it to flood every year. With the exception of
the relatively dry western region of Rajshahi, where the annual rainfall is about 1,600 mm (63.0 in),
most parts of the country receive at least 2,300 mm (90.6 in) of rainfall per year. Because of its
location just south of the foothills of the Himalayas, where monsoon winds turn west and northwest,
the region of Sylhet in northeastern Bangladesh receives the greatest average precipitation.
 About 80% of Bangladesh's rain falls during the monsoon season. The monsoons result from the
contrasts between low and high air pressure areas that result from differential heating of land and
water. During the hot months of April and May hot air rises over the Indian subcontinent, creating
low-pressure areas into which rush cooler, moisture-bearing winds from the Indian Ocean.
 This is the southwest monsoon, commencing in June and usually lasting through September.
Dividing against the Indian landmass, the monsoon flows in two branches, one of which strikes
western India. The other travels up the Bay of Bengal and over eastern India and Bangladesh,
crossing the plain to the north and northeast before being turned to the west and northwest by the
foothills of the Himalayas.
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 There are no precautions against cyclones and tidal bores except giving advance warning and providing safe
public buildings where people may take shelter. Adequate infrastructure and air transport facilities that would
ease the sufferings of the affected people had not been established by the late 1980s. Necessary expert
services, equipment, and training facilities were expected to be developed under the United Nations
Development Program.
 Cold weather is unusual in Bangladesh. When temperatures decrease to 8 °C or less, people without warm
clothing and living in inadequate homes may die from the cold.
 Average Temperature:
 Winter 11° C - 20° C (October - February)
 Summer 21° C - 38° C (March - September)
 Rainfall : 1,100 mm to 3,400 mm (June - August)
 Humidity:
 Highest 99% (July)
 Lowest 36% (December & January)
 People
 Remnants of civilization in the greater Bengal region date back 4,000 years, when the region was
settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic peoples.
 The Bengalis are a mixture of Dravido-Mundo Longheads, Alpine Short-heads, Aryan Longheads
and Mongolian Short-heads.
 The origin of the word Bangla ~ Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from the
Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang that settled in the area around the year 1000 BC.
 After the arrival of Indo-Aryans, the kingdoms of Anga, Vanga and Magadha were formed in and
around Bengal. From the 6th Century BC, Magadha expanded to include most of the Bihar and
Bengal regions. It was one of the four main kingdoms of India at the time of Buddha and was one
of the sixteen Maha Janapadas.
 Under the Maurya Empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya, Magadha extended over nearly all
of South Asia, including parts of Baluchistan and Afghanistan, reaching its greatest extent under
the Buddhist emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BC.
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 One of the first recorded independent king of Bengal was Shashanka, reigning around the early 7th
century. After a period of anarchy, Gopala came to power in 750. He founded the Bengali Buddhist
Pala Empire which ruled the region for four hundred years, and expanded across much of Southern
Asia, from Assam in the northeast, to Kabul in the west, to Andhra Pradesh in the south.
 The Pala dynasty was later followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena Empire. Islam was
introduced to Bengal in the twelfth century by Sufi missionaries. Subsequent Muslim conquests
helped spread Islam throughout the region. Bakhtiar Khilji, a Turkic general of the Slave dynasty of
Delhi Sultanate, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal.
Consequently, the region was ruled by dynasties of sultans and feudal lords under the Delhi
Sultanate for the next few hundred years.
 The Moghul victory in Delhi in 1526 drove much of the Afghan aristocracy to Bengal. In fact, most of
the Muslim dynasties in Bengal were of Afghan origin. From the Moghul Nawabs power passed on to
the British in 1757. The rise and fall of various kingdoms in Bengal had a lot to do with the racial mix
and religious beliefs of the people of Bangladesh. With every new kingdom, especially as kings
came from outside, new races moved into Bengal; the rulers also brought new beliefs.
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 The Aryans came in various waves, but they never overran the country. The Senas originally
belonged to an Aryan race but it is believed that before they moved to Bengal they settled in
South India. The settlers who came with them were thus a mixture of Aryans and Dravidians.
The last influx of outsiders took place with the advent of Muslim rule.
 There was a substantial flow of settlers of Afghan, Persian and Turkish origin who fled from the
Moghuls of North India. Also came a large number of Sufis and saints, a good many of whom
were Arabs, who preached Islam and influenced local beliefs and traditions.
 The egalitarianism of Islam and its liberalizing influence on an inequitable social system coupled
with the aura of the ruling class secured a large number of converts from all strata of Bengal
society. Muslim patronage of local arts and culture and free intermarriage brought converts from
higher strata of the society. Muslim population of greater Bengal increased but it never became
a majority. It is estimated that only 30% of Muslim population were settlers from outside while
30% were converts from the Bengal upper classes and 40% were converts from the lower
strata, which included the persecuted Buddhists and scheduled castes.