The annual Bengali New Year parade. Bengali New Year (“Pahela Baishakh” or “Bangla Nabobarsho”) is the first day of Bengali Calendar. It is celebrated on 14 April as a national holiday in Bangladesh. *Photo from Wikipedia
March 26 is Bangladesh’s Independence Day and National Day, celebrates the declaration of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
The Greeks and Romans identified the region as “Gangaridai”, a powerful kingdom of the historical subcontinent, in the 3rd century BCE. Archaeological research has unearthed several ancient cities in Bangladesh, which had international trade links for millennia.
The Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal transformed the region into a cosmopolitan Islamic imperial power between the 14th and 18th centuries. It was a notable center of the worldwide muslin (a cotton fabric of plain weave) and silk trade.
As part of British India, the region was influenced by the Bengali renaissance and played an important role in anti colonial movements. The Partition of British India made East Bengal a part of the Dominion of Pakistan; and was renamed as East Pakistan.
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. 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.
Bangladesh (lit. “The land of Bengal”), officially the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia, bordered by India and Myanmar. It is one of the most densely populated nations on Earth.
In commemoration of the day, we’ll introduce you to Bangladeshi people in Japan and a Japanese who is engaged in Bangladeshi society.
*Click a photo below to see their stories!
“You can go to India, you can go to Sri Lanka, but I would like you to consider Bangladesh as one option.” – Ahmadul Hoq, Bangladeshi Business Owner
*Reference: Wikipedia
