|
| ethnic_groups_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnic population in 2022 census |url=https://sid.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/sid.portal.gov.bd/publications/01ad1ffe_cfef_4811_af97_594b6c64d7c3/PHC_Preliminary_Report_(English)_August_2022.pdf }}</ref>
| ethnic_groups_year = 2022 census
| religion_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Census-data-confirm-decline-of-Bangladesh%E2%80%99s-religious-minorities-56363.html|title=Census data confirm decline of Bangladesh's religious minorities|website=www.asianews.it|access-date=7 February 2024|archive-date=7 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207012047/https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Census-data-confirm-decline-of-Bangladesh%E2%80%99s-religious-minorities-56363.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( ACT NO. OF 1972 ). (n.d.). In Bangladesh. Retrieved 13 June 2023, from http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24549.html {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117214755/http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24549.html |date=17 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/hindu-population-bangladesh-decreases-further-466170|title=Population of minority religions decrease further in Bangladesh|date=27 July 2022|website=[[The Business Standard]]|access-date=6 February 2024|archive-date=5 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505210353/https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/hindu-population-bangladesh-decreases-further-466170|url-status=live}}</ref>
| demonym = [[Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]]
| government_type = [[Unitary parliamentary republic]] under an [[Yunus interim government|interim government]]
}}
{{Contains special characters|Bengali}}
'''Bangladesh''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|%|b|ae|N|g|l|@|"|d|E|S|,_|%|b|A:|N|-}}; {{lang-bn|<!-- The following spelling is correct. If you see anything odd, your browser isn't Unicode compliant. -->বাংলাদেশ|Bāṅlādēś}}, {{IPA-bn|ˈbaŋlaˌdeʃ|pron|Bn-বাংলাদেশ.oga}}}} officially the '''People's Republic of Bangladesh''',{{efn|{{lang-bn|গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ|Gôṇôprôjātôntrī Bāṅlādēś}}, {{IPA-bn|ɡɔnopɾodʒat̪ɔnt̪ɾi‿baŋlad̪eʃ|pron|}}}} is a country in [[South Asia]]. It is the [[List of countries and dependencies by population|eighth-most populous]] country in the world and is among the [[List of countries and dependencies by population density|most densely populated countries]] with a population of nearly 170 million in an area of {{convert|148460|km2|sqmi}}. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the north, west, and east, and [[Myanmar]] to the southeast. To the south, it has a coastline along the [[Bay of Bengal]]. It is narrowly separated from [[Bhutan]] and [[Nepal]] by the [[Siliguri Corridor]], and from [[China]] by the mountainous Indian state of [[Sikkim]] in the north. [[Dhaka]], the capital and [[list of cities and towns in Bangladesh|largest city]], is the nation's political, financial, and cultural centre. [[Chittagong]] is the second-largest city and is the busiest port on the Bay of Bengal. The official language of Bangladesh is [[Bengali language|Bengali]], whilewith [[Bangladeshi English]] is also used in the government and official documents alongside [[Bengali language|Bengali]].
Bangladesh forms the sovereignis part of the historic and [[ethnolinguistic]] region of [[Bengal]], which was divided during the [[Partition of India|Partition of British India]] in 1947 as the [[East Bengal|eastern enclave]] of the [[Dominion of Pakistan|Dominion of Pakistan,]], from which it separatedgained fromindependence in 1971 after a bloody independence war in 1971.<ref name="EyetsemitanGire2003">{{cite book |author1=Frank E. Eyetsemitan |author2=James T. Gire|title=Aging and Adult Development in the Developing World: Applying Western Theories and Concepts |url={{GBurl|id=xxZf3Jai1rAC|p=91}}|year=2003|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-0-89789-925-3|page=91}}</ref> The country has a [[Bengali Muslim]] majority. Ancient Bengal was known as [[Gangaridai]] and was a bastionstronghold of pre-Islamic kingdoms. The [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim conquest]]s after 1204 heraldedled to the sultanate and [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] periods, during which an independent [[Bengal Sultanate]] and a wealthy [[Mughal Bengal]] transformed the region into an important centre of regional affairs, trade, and diplomacy. After theThe [[Battle of Plassey]] in 1757, the maximum extent of [[Bengal Presidency|British Bengal]] stretched frommarked the [[Khyber Pass]] in the west to Singapore in the east.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whiteboardmagazine.com/3987/the-commonwealth-and-dhaka/ | title=The Commonwealth and Dhaka | date=15 September 2023 | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=4 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004190303/https://whiteboardmagazine.com/3987/the-commonwealth-and-dhaka/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXysEAAAQBAJ&dq=bengal+presidency+khyber+pass+singapore&pg=PT26 |title=Empire Building: The Constructionbeginning of British India, 1690–1860 |date=8 February 2023 |isbn=9781805260264 |accessdate=28 July 2023 |last1=Llewellyn-Jones |first1=Rosie |publisher=Hurst Publishers |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://webrule.archive.org/web/20230818231736/https://books.google.com/books?id=vXysEAAAQBAJ&dq=bengal+presidency+khyber+pass+singapore&pg=PT26 |url-status=live }}</ref> The creation of [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]] in 1905 set a precedent for the emergence of Bangladesh. The [[All India Muslim League]] was founded in Dhaka in 1906.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Muslim_League | title=Muslim League - Banglapedia | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320205000/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Muslim_League | url-status=live }}</ref> InThe 1940,[[Lahore theResolution]] firstin [[Prime1940 Ministerwas ofsupported Bengal]],by [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]], supported the [[Lahore Resolution]]. Before thefirst [[PartitionPrime of Bengal (1947)|partitionMinister of Bengal]],. aThe [[Unitedpresent-day Bengal|Bengaliterritorial sovereign state]]boundary was firstestablished proposed by premier [[H. S. Suhrawardy]]. A [[Sylhet referendum, 1947|referendum]] andwith the announcement of the [[Radcliffe Line]] established the present-day territorial boundary.
In 1947, [[East Bengal]] became the most populous province in the [[Dominion of Pakistan]]. Itand was renamed [[East Pakistan]], andwith Dhaka becameas the country's legislative capital. The [[Bengali Language Movement]] in 1952; the [[East Bengali legislative election, 1954]]; the [[1958 Pakistani coup d'état]]; the [[six point movement]] of 1966;, and the [[1970 Pakistani general election]] resulted in the rise ofspurred [[Bengali nationalism]] and [[pro-democracy]] movements. The refusal of the Pakistani [[military junta]] to transfer power to the [[Awami League]], led by [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]], led totriggered the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] in 1971. The [[Mukti Bahini]], aided by India, waged a successful [[Revolution|armed revolution]].; Thethe conflict saw the [[1971 Bangladesh genocide|Bangladeshi genocide]] and the massacre of pro-independence Bengali civilians, primarily targeting [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals|intellectuals]]. The new state of Bangladesh became a constitutionally [[Secularism in Bangladesh|secular state]] in 1972.<ref>{{cite, web |author=Lailufar Yasmin |url=https://institute.global/policy/struggle-soul-bangladesh |title=Struggle for the Soul of Bangladesh |publisher=Institute for Global Change |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014052636/https://institute.global/policy/struggle-soul-bangladesh |url-status=live }}</ref>although [[Islam]] was declared the [[state religion]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12651483 |title=Bangladesh profile – Timeline |publisher=BBC News |date=26 February 2019 |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=12 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512040834/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12651483 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/43110030 |title=The State-Religion Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh: A Critique |author=Alam, Shah |year=1991 |journal=Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=209–225 |jstor=43110030 |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=8 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108225101/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43110030 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Writ challenging Islam as state religion rejected |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/city/islam-retains-status-state-religion-1200808 |work=The Daily Star |date=28 March 2016 |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=16 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116183403/https://www.thedailystar.net/city/islam-retains-status-state-religion-1200808 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010, the [[Bangladesh Supreme Court]] reaffirmed secular principles in the constitution.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/171752.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/171752.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |title=Bangladesh |website=U.S. State Department |access-date=7 November 2016}}</ref> The Constitution of Bangladesh officially declares it a [[socialist state]].<ref>{{cite constitution|article=Preamble|section=Preamble|country=the People's Republic of Bangladesh|language=|ratified=4 November 1972|url=http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/bangladesh-constitution.pdf|access-date=}}</ref>
A [[middle power]] in the [[Indo-Pacific]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/rising-bangladesh-starts-exert-its-regional-power |title=A rising Bangladesh starts to exert its regional power |work=The Interpreter |publisher=Lowyinstitute.org |date=21 February 2019 |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331093408/https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/rising-bangladesh-starts-exert-its-regional-power |url-status=live }}</ref> Bangladesh is home to the [[List of languages by number of native speakers|fifth-most spoken native language in the world]], the [[Islam by country|third-largest Muslim-majority population]] in the world, and the [[Economy of Bangladesh|second-largest economy]] in South Asia. It maintains the third-largest [[Bangladesh Armed Forces|military]] in the region and is the largest contributor of personnel to [[UN peacekeeping]] operations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 April 2023 |title=Contribution of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country and Personnel Type |url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/01_contributions_to_un_peacekeeping_operations_by_country_and_post_59_february_23.pdf.pdf |access-date=12 May 2023 |website=United Nations |language=en |archive-date=12 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512143419/https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/01_contributions_to_un_peacekeeping_operations_by_country_and_post_59_february_23.pdf.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Bangladesh is a unitary [[parliamentary republic]] based on the [[Westminster system]]. [[Bengalis]] make up almost 99% of the total population.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roy |first1=Pinaki |last2=Deshwara |first2=Mintu |date=9 August 2022 |title=Ethnic population in 2022 census: Real picture not reflected |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/ethnic-population-2022-census-real-picture-not-reflected-3090941 |access-date=11 August 2022 |work=The Daily Star |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809110404/https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/ethnic-population-2022-census-real-picture-not-reflected-3090941 |url-status=live }}</ref> The country consists of [[Divisions of Bangladesh|eight divisions]], [[Districts of Bangladesh|64 districts]], and [[Upazila|495 subdistricts]], as welland asincludes the [[Sundarbans|world's largest mangrove forest]]. ItBangladesh hosts one of the largest [[Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh|refugee populations]] populations in the world due to the [[Rohingya genocide]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Mahmud |first=Faisal |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/25/rohingya-exodus-hopes-are-getting-thin-for-repatriation |title=Four years on, Rohingya stuck in Bangladesh camps yearn for home |work=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605193447/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/25/rohingya-exodus-hopes-are-getting-thin-for-repatriation |url-status=live }}</ref> Bangladesh faces many challenges, particularlylike [[Corruption in Bangladesh|corruption]], [[political instability]], [[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]], and [[effects of climate change]]. Bangladesh has beentwice a leader withinchaired the [[Climate Vulnerable Forum]]. Itand hosts the headquarters of [[Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation]] (BIMSTEC) headquarters. It is a founding member of the [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]] (SAARC), as well asand a member of the [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|Organization of Islamic Cooperation]] and the [[Commonwealth of Nations]].
==Etymology==
==History==
{{Main|History of Bangladesh}}
{{History of Bangladesh}}
The history of Bangladesh dates back over four millennia to the [[Chalcolithic]] period. The region's early history was characterized by a succession of [[Hindus|Hindu]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] kingdoms and empires that fought for control over the [[Bengal region]]. [[Islam in Bangladesh|Islam]] arrived in the 8th century and gradually became dominant from the early 13th century with the conquests led by [[Bakhtiyar Khalji]] and the activities of [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] missionaries like [[Shah Jalal]]. Muslim rulers promoted the spread of Islam by building mosques across the region. From the 14th century onward, Bengal was ruled by the [[Bengal Sultanate]], founded by [[Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah]], who established an individual currency. The Bengal Sultanate expanded under rulers like [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]], leading to economic prosperity and military dominance, with Bengal being referred to by Europeans as the richest country to trade with. The region later became a part of the [[Mughal Empire]], and according to historian [[C. A. Bayly]], it was probably the empire's wealthiest province.
Following the decline of the Mughal Empire in the early 1700s, [[Bengal]] became a semi-independent state under the [[Nawabs of Bengal]], ultimately led by [[Siraj-ud-Daulah]]. It was later conquered by the [[British East India Company]] after the [[Battle of Plassey]] in 1757. Bengal played a crucial role in the [[Industrial Revolution]] in Britain, but also faced significant [[deindustrialization]]. The [[Bengal Presidency]] was established during British rule.
===Ancient Bengal===
[[File:Asia 800ad.jpg|thumb|The earliest form of the [[Bengali language]] developed during the [[Pala Empire]], shown here on a map of Asia in 800 CE.]]
[[Stone Age]] tools have been found in different parts of Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Prehistory | title=Prehistory | website=Banglapedia | access-date=5 April 2023 | archive-date=26 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326034508/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Prehistory | url-status=live }}</ref> Remnants of [[Copper Age]] settlements date back 4,000 years. Ancient Bengal was settled by [[Austroasiatic]]s, [[Tibeto-Burman]]s, [[Dravidian people|Dravidians]] and [[Rigvedic tribes|Indo-Aryans]] in consecutive waves of migration.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft067n99v9&chunk.id=ch01&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch01&brand=ucpress | title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=6 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206124202/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft067n99v9&chunk.id=ch01&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch01&brand=ucpress | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="congress">{{cite book |last=Blood |first=Peter R. |year=1989 |chapter=Early History, 1000 B.C.–A.D. 1202 |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/4.htm |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |page=4 |access-date=17 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622211513/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |archive-date=22 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Archaeological evidence confirms that by the second millennium BCE, rice-cultivating communities inhabited the region. By the 11th century, people lived in systemically aligned housing, buried their dead, and manufactured copper ornaments and black and red pottery.<ref name="google5">{{cite book|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 |author=Eaton, R.M.|date=1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-20507-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=16 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116111746/https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Ganges]], [[Brahmaputra]] and [[Meghna]] rivers were natural arteries for communication and transportation,<ref name="google5"/> and estuaries on the Bay of Bengal permitted maritime trade. The early [[Iron Age]] saw the development of metal weaponry, coinage, agriculture and [[irrigation]].<ref name="google5"/> Major urban settlements formed during the late Iron Age, in the mid-[[first millennium BCE]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=David |author-link=David Lewis (academic) |date=2011 |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society |url={{GBurl|id=5lH40gT7xvYC|p=42}} |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=42 |isbn=978-1-139-50257-3 |access-date=16 July 2017}}</ref> when the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] culture developed.<ref name="PierisRaven2010">{{cite book |last1=Pieris |first1=Sita |last2=Raven |first2=Ellen |date=2010 |title=ABIA: South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Index |volume=3 |url={{GBurl|id=fCL8pjd0JVMC|p=116}} |publisher=Brill |page=116 |isbn=978-90-04-19148-8 |access-date=11 December 2015}}</ref> In 1879, [[Alexander Cunningham]] identified [[Mahasthangarh]] as the capital of the [[Pundra Kingdom]] mentioned in the ''[[Rigveda]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Alam |first=Shafiqul |year=2012 |chapter=Mahasthan |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mahasthan |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |access-date=11 December 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210618/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mahasthan |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Suchandra |year=2012 |chapter=Pundravardhana |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Pundravardhana |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |access-date=11 December 2015 |archive-date=23 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623150622/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Pundravardhana |url-status=live }}</ref> The oldest inscription in Bangladesh was found in Mahasthangarh and dates from the 3rd century BCE, written in the [[Brahmi script]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mahasthan_Brahmi_Inscription | title=Mahasthan Brahmi Inscription | website=Banglapedia | access-date=15 December 2015 | archive-date=14 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414230802/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mahasthan_Brahmi_Inscription | url-status=live }}</ref>
The borders of modern Bangladesh were established with the [[Partition of Bengal (1947)|partition of Bengal]] between India and Pakistan during the [[Partition of India]] in August 1947, when the region became [[East Pakistan]] as part of the newly formed [[Dominion of Pakistan|State of Pakistan]] following the end of the [[British Raj|British rule in the region]]. The [[Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence]] in March 1971 led to the nine-month-long [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], which culminated in the emergence of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Independence was declared by [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] in 1971.
[[Greco-Roman world|Greek and Roman]] records of the ancient [[Gangaridai]] Kingdom, which (according to legend) deterred the invasion of [[Alexander the Great]], are linked to the fort city in [[Wari-Bateshwar ruins|Wari-Bateshwar]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Diodorus Siculus |translator=Charles Henry Oldfather |title=The Library of History of Diodorus Siculus |volume=II |series=[[Loeb Classical Library]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/2B*.html |year=1940 |oclc=875854910 |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412180430/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/2B%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="thedailystar1">{{cite news |last=Hossain |first=Emran |date=19 March 2008 |title=Wari-Bateshwar one of earliest kingdoms |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-28431 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630014116/http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-28431 |archive-date=30 June 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The site is also identified with the prosperous trading centre of Souanagoura listed on [[Ptolemy's world map]].<ref name="google1">{{cite book |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |date=2006 |title=Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE |url={{GBurl|id=efaOR_-YsIcC|p=6}} |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=6 |isbn=978-0-19-977507-1 |access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> Roman geographers noted a large seaport in southeastern Bengal, corresponding to the present-day [[Chittagong District|Chittagong]] region.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ring |first1=Trudy |last2=Salkin |first2=Robert M. |last3=La Boda |first3=Sharon |date=1994 |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |url={{GBurl|id=vWLRxJEU49EC|p=186}} |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=186 |isbn=978-1-884964-04-6 |access-date=11 December 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Siraj ud-Daula.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|left|[[Siraj-ud-Daulah]], the last independent [[Nawabs of Bengal|Nawab of Bengal]]]]
Ancient [[Buddhist]] and [[Hindu]] states which ruled Bangladesh included the [[Vanga Kingdom|Vanga]], [[Samatata]] and Pundra kingdoms, the Mauryan and [[Gupta Empire]]s, the [[Varman dynasty]], [[Shashanka]]'s kingdom, the [[Khadga dynasty|Khadga]] and [[Candra dynasty|Candra dynasties]], the [[Pala Empire]], the [[Sena dynasty]], the [[Harikela]] kingdom and the [[Deva dynasty]]. These states had well-developed currencies, banking, shipping, architecture, and art, and the ancient universities of [[Bikrampur]] and [[Mainamati]] hosted scholars from other parts of Asia. [[Gopala I]] was the first ever elected ruler of the region in 750 AD; he went on to form the Pala dynasty that ruled until 1161 AD, during which time Bengal prospered.<ref name="Majumdar1977">{{cite book |author=R. C. Majumdar |author-link=R. C. Majumdar |date=1977 |title=Ancient India |url={{GBurl|id=XNxiN5tzKOgC|p=268}} |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |pages=268– |isbn=978-81-208-0436-4}}</ref> [[Xuanzang]] of China was a noted scholar who resided at the [[Somapura Mahavihara]] (the largest monastery in ancient India), and [[Atisa]] travelled from Bengal to [[Tibet]] to preach Buddhism. The earliest form of the Bengali language emerged during the eighth century. Seafarers in the [[Bay of Bengal]] sailed and traded with Southeast Asia<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/19480881.2019.1640577 |title=Crossings and contacts across the Bay of Bengal: a connected history of ports in early South and Southeast Asia |first=Suchandra |last=Ghosh|date=2 September 2019|journal=Journal of the Indian Ocean Region|volume=15|issue=3|pages=281–296|doi=10.1080/19480881.2019.1640577|s2cid=202332142 | issn = 1948-0881}}</ref> and exported Buddhist and Hindu cultures to the region since the early Christian era.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/025764309000600101?journalCode=siha|title=Seafaring in the Bay of Bengal in the Early Centuries AD By Himanshu Prabha Ray|journal=Studies in History|date=February 1990 |volume=6|issue=1|pages=1–14 |doi=10.1177/025764309000600101|s2cid=220673640|access-date=30 May 2022|archive-date=30 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530050752/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/025764309000600101?journalCode=siha|url-status=live}}</ref>
Since gaining independence, Bangladesh has faced political instability, economic reconstruction, and social transformation. The country experienced military coups and authoritarian rule, notably under [[Ziaur Rahman|General Ziaur Rahman]] and [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad|General Hussain Muhammad Ershad]]. The restoration of parliamentary democracy in the 1990s saw power alternate between the [[Awami League]], and the [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]]. In recent decades, Bangladesh has achieved significant economic growth, emerging as one of the world's fastest-growing economies, driven by its [[Textile industry in Bangladesh|garment industry]], remittances, and infrastructure development. However, it continues to grapple with political instability, human rights issues, and the impact of climate change. The return of the Awami League to power in 2009 under Sheikh Hasina's leadership saw economic progress but criticisms of [[authoritarianism]]. Bangladesh has played a critical role in addressing regional issues, including the [[Rohingya refugee crisis]], which has strained its resources and highlighted its humanitarian commitments.
The [[poverty]] rate went down from 80% in 1971 to 44% in 1991 to 13% in 2021.<ref name="The Daily Star-2021">{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/pre-pandemic-level-poverty-set-drop-further-2193171 |title=Pre-Pandemic Level: Poverty set to drop further |work=The Daily Star |date=8 October 2021 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203050519/https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/pre-pandemic-level-poverty-set-drop-further-2193171 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cri.org.bd/2021/03/26/what-milestones-have-bangladesh-crossed-in-50-years/|title=What milestones have Bangladesh crossed in 50 years|date=26 March 2021|access-date=1 October 2022|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006211719/https://cri.org.bd/2021/03/26/what-milestones-have-bangladesh-crossed-in-50-years/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2018/11/15/bangladesh-reducing-poverty-and-sharing-prosperity|title=Bangladesh: Reducing Poverty and Sharing Prosperity|website=World Bank |access-date=1 October 2022|archive-date=3 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103122155/https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2018/11/15/bangladesh-reducing-poverty-and-sharing-prosperity|url-status=live}}</ref> Bangladesh emerged as the second-largest economy in South Asia,<ref name="The Daily Star-2019">{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/bangladesh/bangladesh-ranked-41st-largest-economy-in-2019-all-over-the-world-study-1684078 |title=Bangladesh ranked 41st largest economy in 2019 all over the world |work=The Daily Star |date=8 January 2019 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326035229/https://www.thedailystar.net/bangladesh/bangladesh-ranked-41st-largest-economy-in-2019-all-over-the-world-study-1684078 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="scroll.in">{{cite news |author=Sayeed Iftekhar Ahmed |url=https://scroll.in/article/1019006/where-do-bangladesh-and-pakistan-stand-after-50-years-of-separation#:~:text=Bangladesh%20outpaces%20Pakistan%20across%20all,the%20world's%20fastest%2Dgrowing%20economies |title=Where do Bangladesh and Pakistan stand after 50 years of separation? |work=Scroll.in |date=18 March 2022 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404150359/https://scroll.in/article/1019006/where-do-bangladesh-and-pakistan-stand-after-50-years-of-separation#:~:text=Bangladesh%20outpaces%20Pakistan%20across%20all,the%20world's%20fastest%2Dgrowing%20economies |url-status=live }}</ref> surpassing the per capita income levels of both India and Pakistan.<ref name="Sharma-2021">{{cite news |last=Sharma |first=Mihir |date=31 May 2021 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-31/india-and-pakistan-are-now-poorer-than-bangladesh |title=South Asia Should Pay Attention to Its Standout Star |work=Bloomberg News |type=Opinion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207162332/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-31/india-and-pakistan-are-now-poorer-than-bangladesh |archive-date=7 February 2022 |access-date=2 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="scroll.in"/> As part of the [[green transition]], Bangladesh's industrial sector emerged as a leader in building green factories, with the country having the largest number of certified green factories in the world in 2023.<ref>[https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/321769/spearheading-sustainable-industries". Spearheading sustainable industries"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818205402/https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/321769/spearheading-sustainable-industries |date=18 August 2023 }}. ''Dhaka Tribune.'' 6 August 2023.</ref> In January 2024, Awami League led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured a fourth straight term in Bangladesh's [[2024 Bangladeshi general election|general election]]. Following [[2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement|nationwide protests]] against the Awami League government, on 5 August 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was [[Non-cooperation movement (2024)#Resignation of Sheikh Hasina|forced to resign and flee]] to India.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bangladesh's prime minister flees country and resigns after deadly protest |url=https://news.sky.com/story/bangladesh-prime-minister-resigns-after-deadly-protests-reports-13191184 |date=2024-08-05 |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=[[Sky News]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/05/bangladesh-pm-has-resigned-and-left-country-media-reports-say-sheikh-hasina|title=Bangladesh PM has resigned and left country, reports say |date=2024-08-05 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country, media reports say |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-protesters-call-march-dhaka-defiance-curfew-2024-08-05/ |access-date=5 August 2024 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=5 August 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="resign TST">{{Cite news |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/bangladesh-protest-pm-sheikh-hasina-resign-storm-palace-flee-safety-4527106 |title=Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns and flees as protesters storm palace |date=5 August 2024 |access-date=5 August 2024 |website=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref><ref name=resign>{{Cite news |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3273265/bangladesh-pm-sheikh-hasina-has-resigned-and-left-country-media-reports-say |title=Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country, media reports say |date=5 August 2024 |access-date=5 August 2024 |website=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref> An [[2024 Bangladesh interim government|interim government]] was formed on 8 August, with Nobel laureate [[Muhammad Yunus]] as the [[Chief Advisor of Bangladesh|Chief Advisor]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/yunus-led-interim-govt-sworn-3672581 | title=Yunus-led interim govt sworn in | date=8 August 2024 }}</ref>
===Islamic Bengal===
The early history of Islam in Bengal is divided into two phases: the period of maritime trade with Arabia and Persia between the 8th and 12th centuries, and centuries of Muslim dynastic rule after the Islamic conquest of Bengal. The writings of [[Muhammad al-Idrisi|Al-Idrisi]], [[Ibn Hawqal]], [[Al-Masudi]], [[Ibn Khordadbeh]] and [[Sulaiman al-Tajir|Sulaiman]] record the maritime links between Arabia, Persia and Bengal.<ref name="Banglapedia">{{cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Arabs,_The|title=Arabs, The|website=Banglapedia|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=24 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124202752/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Arabs,_The|url-status=live}}</ref> Muslim trade with Bengal flourished after the fall of the [[Sasanian Empire]] and the Arab takeover of Persian trade routes. Much of this trade occurred with southeastern Bengal in areas east of the [[Meghna River]]. There is speculation regarding the presence of a Muslim community in Bangladesh as early as 690 CE; this is based on the discovery of one of South Asia's oldest mosques in northern Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zy_hTIyNA|title=Remains of ancient mosque found in Bangladesh|date=17 August 2012 |via=YouTube|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116095506/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zy_hTIyNA&gl=US&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://m.theindependentbd.com/magazine/details/139441/Harano-Masjid- |title=Harano Masjid |work=The Independent |access-date=18 January 2022|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116095507/https://m.theindependentbd.com/magazine/details/139441/Harano-Masjid-}}</ref><ref name="Banglapedia"/> Bengal was possibly used as a transit route to China by the earliest Muslims. [[Abbasid]] coins have been discovered in the archaeological ruins of [[Somapura Mahavihara|Paharpur]] and [[Mainamati]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Coins|title=Coins|website=Banglapedia|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=16 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116095508/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Coins|url-status=live}}</ref>
====Sultanate period====
{{see also|Bengal Sultanate}}
[[File:Tribute Giraffe with Attendant.jpg|thumb|upright|Chinese manuscript showing an African giraffe gifted to China by the Sultan of Bengal on 20 September 1414]]
The Muslim conquest of Bengal began with the 1204 [[Ghurid Empire|Ghurid]] expeditions led by [[Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji]], who overran the Sena capital in [[Gauda (city)|Gauda]] and led the [[Islamic invasion of Tibet|first Muslim army into Tibet]].<ref name="google5" /> Bengal was ruled by the Sultans of the [[Delhi Sultanate]] for a century under the [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluk]], Balban, and [[Tughluq dynasty|Tughluq dynasties]]. In the 14th century, three city-states emerged in Bengal, including [[Sonargaon]] led by [[Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah]], [[Satgaon]] led by [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]] and [[Gauḍa (city)|Lakhnauti]] led by [[Alauddin Ali Shah]]. These city-states were led by former governors who declared independence from Delhi. In 1352, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah united the three city-states into a single, unitary and independent [[Bengal Sultanate]]. The new Sultan of Bengal forced the Sultan of Delhi to [[Bengal Sultanate-Delhi Sultanate War|retreat]] during an invasion. The army of Ilyas Shah reached as far as [[Varanasi]] in the northwest, [[Kathmandu]] in the north, [[Kamarupa]] in the east, and [[Orissa]] in the south. During the reign of [[Sikandar Shah]], Delhi recognised Bengal's independence. The Bengal Sultanate established a network of mint towns that acted as provincial capitals where the [[History of the taka|Sultan's currency]] was minted.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Mint_Towns|title=Mint Towns|website=Banglapedia|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=5 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105030928/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Mint_Towns|url-status=live}}</ref> As Bengal became the easternmost frontier of the Islamic world, Bengali crystallized as an official court language, giving rise to various prominent writers. The sultanate was evolving as a commercialized and monetized economy and as a melting pot of Muslim political, mercantile and military elites.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal|title=Bengal|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=5 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105030929/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal|url-status=live}}</ref>
The two most prominent dynasties of the Bengal Sultanate were the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty|Ilyas Shahi]] and [[Hussain Shahi dynasty|Hussain Shahi]] dynasties. The reign of Sultan [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]] saw the opening of diplomatic relations with [[Ming China]]. The reign of the Sultan [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]] saw the development of [[Bengali architecture]]. During the early 15th century, Bengal aided the [[Restoration of Min Saw Mon]] in [[Arakan]], which led to the latter becoming a tributary state of Bengal.<ref name="Chowdhury2004">{{cite book |author = Mohammed Ali Chowdhury | date = 2004 | title = Bengal-Arakan Relations, 1430–1666 A.D. | publisher = Firma K.L.M. | pages = | isbn = 9788171021185 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rohuAAAAMAAJ | access-date = 25 July 2023 | archive-date = 4 April 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230404212649/https://books.google.com/books?id=rohuAAAAMAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="ChutintharanonChutintharānonBaker2002">{{cite book |author1 = [[Jacques Leider]] | date = 2002 | title = Recalling Local Pasts: Autonomous History in Southeast Asia | publisher = Silkworm Books | pages = | isbn = 9789747551686 | url = {{GBurl|id=HnluAAAAMAAJ}}}}</ref> During the reign of Sultan [[Alauddin Hussain Shah]], Bengali forces penetrated deep into the [[Brahmaputra Valley]], and conquered [[Kamata Kingdom|part of Assam]],<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=R. C. |editor1-link=R. C. Majumdar |title=The Delhi Sultanate |url=https://archive.org/details/delhisultanate0006rcma/page/219/mode/1up |year=1980 |orig-year=First published 1960 |series=The History and Culture of the Indian People |volume=VI |edition=3rd |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |location=Bombay |oclc=664485 |page=219}}</ref> Jajnagar in Orissa,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Kamata-Kamatapura|title=Kamata-Kamatapura|website=Banglapedia|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116095515/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Kamata-Kamatapura|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Husain_Shah|title=Husain Shah|website=Banglapedia|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116095510/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Husain_Shah|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Jaunpur Sultanate]], [[Pratapgarh Kingdom]] and the island of [[Chandradwip]].<ref name="Hasan2007p16-17">{{cite book |author=Perween Hasan |year=2007 |title=Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uunyz4qFZwEC&pg=PA16 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |pages=16–17 |isbn=978-1-84511-381-0 |quote="[Husayn Shah pushed] its western frontier past Bihar up to Saran in Jaunpur ... when Sultan Husayn Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur fled to Bengal after being defeated in battle by Sultan Sikandar Lodhi of Delhi, the latter attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Jaunpur ruler. Unable to make any gains, Sikandar Lodhi returned home after concluding a peace treaty with the Bengal sultan." |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707092411/https://books.google.com/books?id=Uunyz4qFZwEC&pg=PA16 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite wikisource |script-title=bn:শ্রীহট্রের ইতিবৃত্ত: উত্তরাংশ |title=Srihattar Itibritta: Uttarrangsho |wslink=পাতা:শ্রীহট্টের_ইতিবৃত্ত_-_উত্তরাংশ.pdf/৪৮৪ |wslanguage=bn |last=Choudhury |first=Achyut Charan |author-link=Achyut Charan Choudhury |year=1917|publisher=Katha |page=484}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Motahar |first1=Hosne Ara |editor-last1=Ahmed |editor-first1=Sharif Uddin |chapter=Museum Establishment and Heritage Preservation: Sylhet Perspective |title=Sylhet: History and Heritage |year=1999 |publisher=Bangladesh Itihas Samiti |isbn=984-31-0478-1 |pages=714–715 |quote=At the instruction of the Sultan [Alauddin Hossain Shah], he [Sarwar Khan] suppressed the rebellion of the Zamindars of Pratapgarh}}</ref><ref name="Hasan1987">{{cite book |author=Sayed Mahmudul Hasan |title=Muslim monuments of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vdtAAAAMAAJ |year=1987 |publisher=Islamic Foundation Bangladesh |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707092413/https://books.google.com/books?id=9vdtAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Population Census of Bangladesh, 1974: District census report |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cE7C3wpNgX4C |year=1979 |publisher=Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Division, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707092905/https://books.google.com/books?id=cE7C3wpNgX4C |url-status=live }}</ref> By 1500, Gaur became the sixth-most populous city in the world with a population of 200,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMs5xapBewM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/pMs5xapBewM |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Bar chart race: the most populous cities through time|date=20 March 2019 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://scroll.in/article/917929/medieval-cities-in-gujarat-were-once-the-biggest-in-the-world-their-culture-deeply-influential|title=Gujarat's medieval cities were once the biggest in the world – as a viral video reminds us |first=Aparna |last=Kapadia|work=Scroll.in|date=30 March 2019|access-date=16 January 2022|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108003030/https://scroll.in/article/917929/medieval-cities-in-gujarat-were-once-the-biggest-in-the-world-their-culture-deeply-influential|url-status=live}}</ref> Maritime trade linked Bengal with China, [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]], [[Aceh Sultanate|Sumatra]], [[Bruneian Empire|Brunei]], [[Portuguese India]], East Africa, Arabia, Persia, Mesopotamia, [[Yemen]] and the [[Maldives]]. The Sultans permitted the opening of the [[Portuguese settlement in Chittagong]].
The disintegration of the Bengal Sultanate began with the intervention of the [[Suri Empire]]. [[Babur]] began invading Bengal after creating the Mughal Empire. The Bengal Sultanate collapsed with the overthrow of the [[Karrani dynasty]] during the reign of Akbar. However, the [[Bhati (region)|Bhati]] region of eastern Bengal continued to be ruled by aristocrats of the former Bengal Sultanate led by [[Isa Khan]]. They formed an independent federation called the [[Baro-Bhuyan|Twelve Bhuiyans]], with their capital in Sonargaon. The Bhuiyans ultimately succumbed to the Mughals after [[Musa Khan of Bengal|Musa Khan]] was defeated.
====Mughal period====
{{See also|Bengal Subah}}
[[File:DG 43 - 08 HAJI GONJ FORT OF SAESTA KHAN 16 CENTURTY NARAYANGONJ IMG 6424.jpg|thumb|The Mughals built riverside fortifications with musket holes like in [[Hajiganj Fort]].]]
[[File:Bibi Mariam.jpg|thumb|The [[Bibi Mariam Cannon]] (Lady Mary Cannon) is a large early modern [[artillery]] piece which the Mughals used to defend their bases.]]
The [[Mughal Empire]] controlled Bengal by the 17th century. [[Musa Khan of Bengal]], the last independent ruler of [[Sonargaon]] after resisting Mughal conquest for several years on 10 July 1610 was defeated and dethroned by [[Islam Khan I|Islam Khan Chisti]], the army general of Mughal Emperor [[Jahangir]]. Islam Khan Chisti became the first Mughal [[Subahdar]] of Bengal. After his defeat Musa Khan became loyal to the Mughal Empire. He actively participated in the conquest of [[Tripura]] and the suppression of revolt in [[Kamrup region|Kamrup]].<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Shipbuilding Industry |author=Khandakar Akhter Hossain}}</ref>
The Mughals established Dhaka as a fort city and commercial metropolis. It was the capital of [[Bengal Subah]] for 75 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Dhaka |title=Dhaka – national capital, Bangladesh|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=19 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010143325/https://www.britannica.com/place/Dhaka|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1666, the Mughals expelled the [[Kingdom of Mrauk U|Arakanese]] from the port of Chittagong. Mughal Bengal attracted foreign traders for its [[muslin]] and silk goods, and the [[Armenians in Bangladesh|Armenians]] were a notable merchant community. A Portuguese settlement in Chittagong flourished in the southeast, and a [[Dutch settlement in Rajshahi]] existed in the north.<ref name="Dutch, the - Banglapedia">{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Dutch,_The | title=Dutch, The |website=Banglapedia | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320201220/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Dutch,_The | url-status=live }}</ref> Bengal accounted for 40% of overall Dutch imports from Asia, including more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of raw silk.<ref name="Prakash">[[Om Prakash (historian)|Om Prakash]], "[http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3447600139/WHIC?u=seat24826&xid=6b597320 Empire, Mughal] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118051038/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=WHIC&u=seat24826&id=GALE%7B%7B%21%7D%7DCX3447600139&v=2.1&it=r&asid=6b597320 |date=18 November 2022 }}", ''History of World Trade Since 1450'', edited by John J. McCusker, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 237–240, ''World History in Context''. Retrieved 3 August 2017</ref> The Bengal Subah, described as the ''Paradise of the Nations'',<ref name=paradise>{{cite news |url=http://archive.dhakatribune.com/heritage/2014/dec/20/paradise-nations |title=The paradise of nations |work=Dhaka Tribune |date=20 December 2014 |access-date=7 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216011429/http://archive.dhakatribune.com/heritage/2014/dec/20/paradise-nations |archive-date=16 December 2017}}</ref> was a major global exporter,<ref name="Prakash" /><ref name="richards95">[[John F. Richards]] (1995), [{{GBurl|id=HHyVh29gy4QC|p=202}} ''The Mughal Empire'', page 202], [[Cambridge University Press]]</ref><ref name="riello">{{cite book |title=How India Clothed the World: The World of South Asian Textiles, 1500–1850 |author=Giorgio Riello, Tirthankar Roy |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] | year=2009 |page=174 |url={{GBurl|id=niuwCQAAQBAJ|p=174}}|isbn=978-90-474-2997-5}}</ref> a notable centre of worldwide industries such as [[Muslin trade in Bengal|muslin]], cotton textiles, silk,<ref name="google5"/> and [[shipbuilding in Bangladesh|shipbuilding]].<ref name="ray174">{{cite book |last=Ray |first=Indrajit |year=2011 |title=Bengal Industries and the British Industrial Revolution (1757–1857) |url={{GBurl|id=CHOrAgAAQBAJ|p=174}} |publisher=Routledge |page=174 |isbn=978-1-136-82552-1}}</ref> Its citizens enjoyed one of the world's best [[Standard of living|living standards]].<ref name="harrison">{{cite book|title=Developing cultures: case studies |author=[[Lawrence Harrison (academic)|Lawrence E. Harrison]] |author2=[[Peter L. Berger]]|publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2006 |page=158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|isbn=978-0-415-95279-8|access-date=25 July 2023|archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116111743/https://books.google.com/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
During the 18th century, the [[Nawabs of Bengal]] became the region's de facto rulers, with a realm encompassing much of [[eastern South Asia]]. The Nawabs forged alliances with European colonial companies, making the region relatively prosperous early in the century. Bengal accounted for 50% of the gross domestic product of the empire. The Bengali economy relied on [[textile manufacturing]], shipbuilding, [[saltpetre]] production, craftsmanship, and agricultural produce. Bengal was a major hub for international trade, renowned for its silk and cotton textiles worldwide.<ref>John F. Richards (1995), The Mughal Empire, p. 202, Cambridge University Press</ref><ref name="google5"/> Bengal was also famed as a shipbuilding hub.<ref>[[Angus Maddison|Maddison, Angus]] (2003): ''[{{GBurl|id=rHJGz3HiJbcC|p=259}} Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics]'', [[OECD Publishing]], {{ISBN|92-64-10414-3}}, pages 259–261</ref>
[[File:Siraj ud-Daula.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Siraj-ud-Daulah]], the last independent Nawab of Bengal]]
Eastern Bengal was a thriving [[melting pot]] with strong trade and cultural networks. It was a relatively prosperous part of the subcontinent and the centre of the Muslim population in the eastern subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&q=bengal%2Bmost%2Bfertile%2Bsalma%2Bfarooqi&pg=PA366 |title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century |author=Farooqui Salma Ahmed |page=366 |access-date=7 November 2016 |isbn=9788131732021 |year=2011 |publisher=Pearson Education India |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118152126/https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&q=bengal+most+fertile+salma+farooqi&pg=PA366 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Bengali Muslim]] population was a product of religious evolution,<ref name="google5"/> and their pre-Islamic beliefs included elements of Buddhism and Hinduism. The construction of mosques, Islamic academies (madrasas), and Sufi monasteries ([[khanqah]]s) facilitated conversion, and [[Islamic cosmology]] played a significant role in developing Bengali society. Scholars have theorised that Bengalis were attracted to Islam by its egalitarian social order, which contrasted with the Hindu caste system.<ref name="Roy1999">{{cite book |author=Samaren Roy|title=The Bengalees: Glimpses of History and Culture |url={{GBurl|id=2e44ZHj_fsQC|p=72}}|year=1999|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-81-7023-981-9|page=72|access-date=30 July 2017}}</ref> By the 15th century, Muslim poets were widely writing in the [[Bengali language]]. [[Syncretic]] cults, such as the [[Baul]] movement, emerged on the fringes of [[Bengali Muslim]] society. The [[Persianate]] culture was significant in [[Bengal]], where cities like Sonargaon became the easternmost centres of Persian influence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal|title=Bengal |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930180854/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal|archive-date=30 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Persian |title=Persian|work=Banglapedia|access-date=21 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911055911/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Persian|archive-date=11 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In 1756, nawab [[Siraj ud-Daulah]] sought to rein in the rising power of the [[British East India Company]] by revoking their free trade rights and demanding the dismantling of their fortification in Calcutta. A military conflict culminated in the [[Battle of Plassey]] on 23 June 1757.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=David |author-link=David Lewis (academic) |year=2011 |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economics, and Civil Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=47 |isbn=978-0-521-88612-3}}</ref> [[Robert Clive]] exploited rivalries within the nawab's family, bribing [[Mir Jafar]], the nawab's uncle and commander in chief, to ensure Siraj-ud-Daula's defeat.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=David |author-link=David Lewis (academic) |year=2011 |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economics, and Civil Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=47–48 |isbn=978-0-521-88612-3}}</ref><ref name="Avari2013p137">{{cite book |last1=Avari |first1=Burjor |author-link=Burjor Avari |year=2013 |title=Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent |publisher=Routledge |page=137 |isbn=978-0-203-09522-5}}</ref> Clive rewarded Mir Jafar by making him nawab in place of Siraj-ud-Daula, but henceforth the position was a figurehead appointed and controlled by the company.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Metcalf |first1=Barbara D. |author1-link=Barbara D. Metcalf |last2=Metcalf |first2=Thomas R. |author2-link=Thomas R. Metcalf |year=2012 |orig-year=First published 2001 |title=A Concise History of Modern India |edition=3rd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=52 |isbn=978-1-139-53705-6}}</ref><ref name="Lewis2011p48">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=David |author-link=David Lewis (academic) |year=2011 |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economics, and Civil Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=48 |isbn=978-0-521-88612-3}}</ref> Historians often describe the battle as "the beginning of British colonial rule in South Asia".<ref>{{cite book |last1=van Schendel |first1=Willem |year=2009 |title=A History of Bangladesh |edition=1st |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=49 |isbn=978-0-521-86174-8}}</ref>
The Company replaced Mir Jafar with his son-in-law, Mir Kasim, in 1760. Mir Kasim challenged British control by allying with Mughal emperor [[Shah Alam II]] and the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja ud-Daulah, but the company decisively defeated the three at the [[Battle of Buxar]] on 23 October 1764.<ref name="Avari2013p137" /><ref name="Lewis2011p48" /> The resulting treaty made the Mughal emperor a puppet of the British and gave the company the right to collect taxes (''[[Dewan|diwani]]'') in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, giving them de facto control of the region.<ref name="Lewis2011p48" /><ref name="vanSchendel2009p56">{{cite book |last1=van Schendel |first1=Willem |year=2009 |title=A History of Bangladesh |edition=1st |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=56 |isbn=978-0-521-86174-8}}</ref> The Company used Bengal's tax revenue to expand their territorial possession in rest of South Asia.<ref name="vanSchendel2009p56" />
===British Bengal===
{{Main|Bengal Presidency|Eastern Bengal and Assam}}
====European arrivals====
[[File:Clive.jpg|thumb|[[Lord Clive]] meeting with [[Mir Jafar]] after the [[Battle of Plassey]], which led to the overthrow of the last independent [[Nawab of Bengal]]]]
The Bengal Sultanate permitted the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] settlement in Chittagong to be established in 1528. It became the first European colonial enclave in Bengal. The Bengal Sultanate lost control of Chittagong in 1531 after Arakan declared independence and the established Kingdom of Mrauk U. Portuguese ships from Goa and [[Portuguese Malacca|Malacca]] began frequenting the port city in the 16th century. The ''[[cartaz]]'' system was introduced and required all ships in the area to purchase naval trading licenses from the Portuguese. Portuguese piracy in the sea flourished. The nearby island of [[Sandwip]] was captured in 1602. In 1615, the [[Portuguese Navy]] defeated a joint fleet of the [[Dutch East India Company]] and the Arakanese near the coast of [[Chittagong]].
After 1534, the Bengal Sultan allowed the Portuguese to create several settlements at [[Satgaon]],<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Taniya Gupta |editor2=Antonia Navarro-Tejero |year=2014 |title=India in Canada: Canada in India |url={{GBurl|id=EmYxBwAAQBAJ|p=22}} |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |pages=22– |isbn=978-1-4438-5571-6}}</ref> [[Hugli-Chuchura|Hoogly]], [[Bandel]], and [[Dhaka]]. In 1535, the Portuguese allied with the Bengal Sultan and held the Teliagarhi pass {{Convert|280|km|mi}} from [[Patna]] helping to avoid the invasion by the Mughals. By then several of the products came from Patna and the Portuguese send in traders, establishing a factory there in 1580.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thakur |first=Baleshwar |year=1980 |title=Urban Settlements in Eastern India |url={{GBurl|id=HHVIU-HsMswC|p=117}} |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |pages=117– |oclc=729123405}}</ref> The region accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia.<ref name="Prakash"/> In 1666, the Mughal government of Bengal led by viceroy [[Shaista Khan]] conquered Chittagong and expelled the Portuguese and Arakanese. The first [[Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)|Anglo-Mughal War]] took place in 1686.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Conflict and Cooperation in Anglo-Mughal Trade Relations during the Reign of Aurangzeb |first=Farhat |last=Hasan|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=34|issue=4|year=1991 |pages=351–360|doi=10.1163/156852091X00058|jstor=3632456}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=John Company Armed: The English East India Company, the Anglo-Mughal War and Absolutist Imperialism, c. 1675–1690 |first=James |last=Vaugn|journal=Britain and the World|volume=11|issue=1|date=September 2017}}</ref> By the 18th century, the British, [[French East India Company|French]], Dutch, [[Danish East India Company|Danish]] and [[Ostend Company|Austrian]] East India Companies built factories and trading posts across Bengal.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/French,_The | title=French, the - Banglapedia | access-date=21 March 2024 | archive-date=28 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928164533/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/French,_The | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dutch, the - Banglapedia"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Danes,_The | title=Danes, the - Banglapedia | access-date=21 March 2024 | archive-date=21 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321000913/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Danes,_The | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ostend_Company | title=Ostend Company - Banglapedia | access-date=21 March 2024 | archive-date=21 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321000913/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ostend_Company | url-status=live }}</ref> These companies obtained consent from the [[Nawabs of Bengal]] for trading rights and concessions. The British East India Company became the most powerful among the European companies in Bengal.
====British East India Company rule====
[[File:Lord Cornwallis.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Charles Cornwallis]] was responsible for enacting the [[Permanent Settlement]].]]
After the [[Battle of Plassey]] in 1757 and [[Battle of Buxar]] in 1764, by 1772 Bengal was the first major part of the Indian subcontinent to be conquered by the [[British East India Company]]. Under the terms of the [[Treaty of Allahabad]], the company would collect taxes on behalf of the Mughal emperor. The treaty was written by the Bengali Muslim diplomat [[I'tisam-ud-Din]].<ref name=christian>{{cite book|title=Christian–Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 12 Asia, Africa and the Americas (1700–1800)|year=2018|pages=544–548}}</ref> Under [[Company rule in India]], Bengal was effectively ruled by the British on behalf of the Mughal emperor under Mughal [[suzerainty]]. The East India Company formed the [[Bengal Presidency]], through which it administered the region until 1858. A notable aspect of the company's rule was the [[Permanent Settlement]], which established the feudal [[zamindar]]i system; in addition, Company policies led to the [[deindustrialisation]] of Bengal's textile industry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Cornwallis-Code/26365|title=Cornwallis Code|date=4 February 2009|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=24 February 2017|archive-date=8 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108100746/https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Cornwallis-Code/26365|url-status=live}}</ref> The capital amassed by the East India Company in Bengal was invested in the emerging [[Industrial Revolution]] in [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Ray |first=Indrajit |year=2011 |title=Bengal Industries and the British Industrial Revolution (1757–1857) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHOrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=7–10 |isbn=978-1-136-82552-1 |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116111751/https://books.google.com/books?id=CHOrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="sengupta">Shombit Sengupta, [http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/bengals-plunder-gifted-the-british-industrial-revolution/576476/ Bengals plunder gifted the British Industrial Revolution] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801120317/http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/bengals-plunder-gifted-the-british-industrial-revolution/576476/ |date=1 August 2017 }}, ''[[The Financial Express (India)|The Financial Express]]'', 8 February 2010</ref> Economic mismanagement, alongside drought and a smallpox epidemic, directly led to the [[Great Bengal famine of 1770]], which is estimated to have caused the deaths of millions of people.<ref name="Roy2019">{{citation |last=Roy |first=Tirthankar|title=How British Rule Changed India's Economy: The Paradox of the Raj |url={{GBurl|id=XBWZDwAAQBAJ|p=117}}|year=2019|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-030-17708-9|pages=117–|quote=The 1769-1770 famine in Bengal followed two years of erratic rainfall worsened by a smallpox epidemic.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Datta |first=Rajat |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44927255|title=Society, economy, and the market : commercialization in rural Bengal, c. 1760–1800|date=2000|publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors|isbn=81-7304-341-8|pages=262, 266|oclc=44927255}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Amartya Sen|title=Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation |url=https://archive.org/details/povertyfamineses0000sena|url-access=registration|year=1981|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-828463-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/povertyfamineses0000sena/page/39 39]}}</ref><ref name="Jonsson2013p167">{{cite book |author=Fredrik Albritton Jonsson|title=Enlightenment's Frontier: The Scottish Highlands and the Origins of Environmentalism |url={{GBurl|id=d9FUmajYyqgC|pg=PT167}}|date=18 June 2013|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-16374-2|pages=167–170}}</ref> Several rebellions broke out during the early 19th century, as Company rule had displaced the Muslim ruling class from power. A conservative Islamic cleric, [[Haji Shariatullah]], sought to overthrow the British by propagating Islamic revivalism.<ref>Khan, Moin-Ud-Din. "[http://search.proquest.com/docview/1301938794/?pq-origsite=primo Haji Shari'at-Allah] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224125342/https://search.proquest.com/docview/1301938794?pq-origsite=primo |date=24 February 2021 }}". ''Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society'', vol. 11, no. 2 p. 106 (1 April 1963).</ref> Several towns in Bangladesh participated in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/revisiting-the-great-rebellion-of-1857-33161 |title=Revisiting the Great Rebellion of 1857 |work=The Daily Star |date=13 July 2014 |access-date=11 September 2019 |archive-date=26 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626115845/https://www.thedailystar.net/revisiting-the-great-rebellion-of-1857-33161 |url-status=live }}</ref>
====British Raj====
[[File:1786 - A map of Bengal, Bahar, Oude & Allahabad - James Rennell - William Faden.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb| Bengal, Bihar, Awadh and Allahabad in 1786]]
After the 1857 rebellion, the [[British parliament]] transferred India's administration from the company to the British government. Direct rule by the Crown was imposed. The British government took over all the administrative functions of the Bengal Presidency.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India/Government-of-India-Act-of-1858 | title=India - Government, Act, 1858 | Britannica | access-date=21 March 2024 | archive-date=19 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119232654/https://www.britannica.com/place/India/Government-of-India-Act-of-1858 | url-status=live }}</ref>
At its maximum extent, the Bengal Presidency stretched from the [[Khyber Pass]] to Southeast Asia. According to the British historian [[Rosie Llewellyn-Jones]], the Bengal Presidency was an administrative jurisdiction introduced by the East India Company and staffed by British civil servants, aristocrats and military officers. It would stretch across the whole of northern India up to the Khyber Pass on the north-west frontier with Afghanistan. It spread eastwards to Burma and Singapore.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXysEAAAQBAJ&dq=bengal+presidency+khyber+pass+singapore&pg=PT26 |title=Empire Building: The Construction of British India, 1690–1860 |date=8 February 2023 |isbn=9781805260264 |accessdate=28 July 2023 |last1=Llewellyn-Jones |first1=Rosie |publisher=Hurst Publishers |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818231736/https://books.google.com/books?id=vXysEAAAQBAJ&dq=bengal+presidency+khyber+pass+singapore&pg=PT26 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Bengal Presidency was arguably the largest division of the [[British Empire]]. Its territorial evolution can be contrasted with the maximum extent of [[New Spain]] in the [[Spanish Empire]], which stretched from the Philippines to the Americas.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Viceroyalty-of-New-Spain | title=Viceroyalty of New Spain | Map, Definition, Countries, & Facts | Britannica | date=2 February 2024 | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=18 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018220838/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/412085/Viceroyalty-of-New-Spain | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://exhibits.lib.utexas.edu/spotlight/a-new-spain | title=A New Spain | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=10 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310002811/https://exhibits.lib.utexas.edu/spotlight/a-new-spain | url-status=live }}</ref> The Bengal Presidency originally covered the territory gained from the [[Nawab of Bengal]] in the [[Battle of Plassey]] in 1757, including the regions of [[Bengal]], [[Bihar]] and [[Orissa]]. It later stretched into areas of the [[Nawab of Awadh]] and the Mughal capital in Delhi after the [[Battle of Buxar]] in 1764. The [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] resulted in the British conquest of [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]], and the eventual extension of the presidency to the Khyber Pass. The [[Bengal Army]] played a key role in the expansion into [[North India]] up to the Khyber Pass. The native [[Gurkha]] infantry played a key role in the expansion of the presidency into the northeastern frontier regions of [[Colonial Assam|Assam]]. The East India Company also took control of coastal Burma, while English traders brought trading settlements in the [[Malacca Straits]] under British rule.
[[File:Northeast-India-in-1855-Colton-map.jpg|thumb|[[Arakan]] under the Bengal Presidency after the [[First Anglo-Burmese War]] led to the British annexation of Arakan]]
The rebellion of 1857 upended the government of British India. The [[Straits Settlements]] were separated from Bengal and became a crown colony in 1867.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=57f1cda6-b5e7-4646-bd4f-14cb08181bfe#:~:text=In%201826%2C%20the%20East%20India,general%20of%20India%20in%20Calcutta | title=Formation of the Straits Settlements | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320201220/https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=57f1cda6-b5e7-4646-bd4f-14cb08181bfe#:~:text=In%201826%2C%20the%20East%20India,general%20of%20India%20in%20Calcutta | url-status=live }}</ref> By the turn of the century, most of northern India was reorganized into separate provinces, including Punjab, the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], and [[Colonial Assam|Assam]]. In Burma, the [[Arakan]] region which bordered Bengal received many settlers. Wealthy farmers from [[Chittagong]] played an important role in developing the rice economy in Burma. [[Arakan Division]] was one of the top rice exporters in the world, due in large part to rich farmers from Chittagong.<ref name="Hartwig1863">{{cite book|author=Georg Hartwig|title=The Tropical World: a Popular Scientific Account of the Natural History of the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms in the Equatorial Regions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-uA8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA159|year=1863|publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green|page=159}}</ref><ref>Cheng Siok Hwa, 'The Development of the Burmese Rice Industry in the Late Nineteenth Century' (1965) 6 [[Journal of Southeast Asian History]].</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.networkmyanmar.org/ESW/Files/PS_40,_Chapter_6,_Leider_Chittagonians.pdf |title=The Chittagonians in Colonial Arakan: Seasonal and Settlement Migrations |access-date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026143924/https://www.networkmyanmar.org/ESW/Files/PS_40,_Chapter_6,_Leider_Chittagonians.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
Within what is now Bangladesh, the trade networks of the British Empire brought traders and diplomats from far and wide.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://caravanmagazine.in/letters/dhaka-saving-old-dhakas-landmarks | title=Preservationists worry that in the rush to modernise Bangladesh's capital, the city's architectural legacy is being destroyed |magazine=The Caravan| access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320214400/https://caravanmagazine.in/letters/dhaka-saving-old-dhakas-landmarks | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="U.S. Consulate General Kolkata">{{cite web | url=https://in.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/kolkata/ | title=U.S. Consulate General Kolkata | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=29 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229012022/https://in.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/kolkata/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Benjamin Joy was nominated by [[George Washington]] as the first U.S. consul and a consular agency was created for Chittagong.<ref name="U.S. Consulate General Kolkata"/> In Dhaka, the Mughal legacy was reflected in the city's courtly-genteel manners based on Mughal etiquette. Dhaka became home to communities of [[Armenians in Bangladesh|Armenians]], Greeks, and [[History of the Jews in Bangladesh|Jews]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/history-the-greek-community-dhaka-2025501 | title=History of the Greek community in Dhaka |work=The Daily Star | date=11 January 2021 | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=28 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928164535/https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/history-the-greek-community-dhaka-2025501 | url-status=live }}</ref> The British established several schools, colleges, and a university in what is now Bangladesh. [[Syed Ahmed Khan]] and [[Ram Mohan Roy]] promoted modern and [[liberal education]] in the subcontinent, inspiring the [[Aligarh movement]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/history/sir-syed-ahmed-khan-and-the-aligarh-movement/23145/|title=Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and the Aligarh Movement|website=YourArticleLibrary.com: The Next Generation Library|date=4 January 2014|access-date=3 April 2016|archive-date=22 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922121824/http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/history/sir-syed-ahmed-khan-and-the-aligarh-movement/23145|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Bengal Renaissance]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Nitish Sengupta |author-link=Nitish Sengupta |year=2001 |title=History of the Bengali-speaking People |publisher=UBS Publishers' Distributors |page=211 |isbn=978-81-7476-355-6 |quote=The Bengal Renaissance can be said to have started with Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775-1833) and ended with Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), also there were many other stalwarts embodying particular aspects of the unique intellectual and creative ferment.}}</ref> During the late 19th century, novelists, social reformers, and feminists emerged from Muslim Bengali society. Electricity and municipal water systems were introduced in the 1890s; [[Movie theatre|cinemas]] opened in many towns during the early 20th century. East Bengal's [[plantation economy]] was important to the British Empire, particularly its [[jute]] and [[Tea production in Bangladesh|tea]]. The British established [[free port|tax-free river ports]], such as the [[Port of Narayanganj]], and large seaports like the [[Port of Chittagong]].
Bengal had the highest gross domestic product in British India, with the summer capital of [[Shillong]] boasting the highest per capita income in the subcontinent.<ref name="daily-sun.com">{{Cite news |url=https://www.daily-sun.com/home/printnews/218795 |title=Reimagining the Colonial Bengal Presidency Template (Part I) |work=Daily Sun |access-date=28 April 2019 |archive-date=2 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202195430/https://www.daily-sun.com/home/printnews/218795}}</ref> Bengal was one of the first regions in Asia to have a railway, which began operating in 1862.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Railway |title=Railway |website=Banglapedia |access-date=15 August 2019 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010143242/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Railway |url-status=live }}</ref> The main railway companies in the region were the [[Eastern Bengal Railway]] and [[Assam Bengal Railway]]. Railways competed with waterborne transport to become one of the main means of transport.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/railways-colonial-bengal-1726765 |title=Railways in colonial Bengal |date=8 April 2019 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=15 August 2019 |archive-date=15 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615064949/https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/railways-colonial-bengal-1726765 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:George Nathaniel Curzon by John Singer Sargent 1914.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[Lord Curzon]] oversaw the creation of [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]] in 1905.]]
Supported by the Muslim aristocracy, the British government created the province of [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]] in 1905; the new province received increased investment in education, transport, and industry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theodora.com/encyclopedia/e/eastern_bengal_and_assam.html |title=Eastern Bengal and Assam – Encyclopedia |publisher=Theodora.com |access-date=24 September 2015 |archive-date=25 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525072735/https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/e/eastern_bengal_and_assam.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|first partition of Bengal]] created an uproar in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] and the [[Indian National Congress]]. In response to growing Hindu nationalism, the [[All India Muslim League]] was formed in Dhaka in 1906. The British government reorganised the provinces in 1912, reuniting East and West Bengal and making [[Assam Province|Assam]] a second province.
The Raj was slow to allow self-rule in the colonial subcontinent. It established the [[Bengal Legislative Council]] in 1862, and the council's native Bengali representation increased during the early 20th century. The [[Bengal Provincial Muslim League]] was formed in 1913 to advocate [[civil rights]] for Bengali Muslims. During the 1920s, the league was divided into factions supporting the [[Khilafat movement]] and favouring cooperation with the British to achieve self-rule. Segments of the Bengali elite supported [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]]'s [[Secularism in Turkey|secularist]] forces.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kennedy |first=Bernard |date=December 2005 |title=Ambassador Rezaqul Haider: Mediating for commerce |url=http://www.diplomat.com.tr/sayilar/s14/yazilar/s14-3.htm |magazine=Diplomat|quote=After the First World War when the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk started his war of independence, the people of Bengal were very spontaneous in giving all sorts of support. To the extent that there is evidence that the womenfolk donated their own bangles and gold ornaments, and the funds were used for the establishment of a bank, the construction of the parliament building, and the purchase of armaments and ammunition to help the war of liberation. Bangladesh's national poet, Nazrul Islam, was the first foreigner to write an epic poem about Mustafa Kemal. |access-date=30 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010140515/http://www.diplomat.com.tr/sayilar/s14/yazilar/s14-3.htm |archive-date=10 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1929, the [[Krishak Sramik Party|All Bengal Tenants Association]] was formed in the Bengal Legislative Council to counter the influence of the Hindu landed gentry, and the [[Indian Independence Movement|Indian Independence]] and [[Pakistan Movement]]s strengthened during the early 20th century. After the [[Morley-Minto Reforms]] and the [[Government of India Act 1919|diarchy]] era in the [[legislatures of British India]], the British government promised [[Government of India Act 1935|limited provincial autonomy]] in 1935. The [[Bengal Legislative Assembly]], British India's largest legislature, was established in 1937. [[British Burma]] was also separated from British India in 1937.
[[File:Nawab Salimullah car.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Sir [[Khwaja Salimullah]] oversaw the creation of the [[All India Muslim League]] in Dhaka in 1906.]]
Although, it won most seats in 1937, the Bengal Congress boycotted the legislature. [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]] of the [[Krishak Sramik Party|Krishak Praja Party]] was elected as the first [[Prime Minister of Bengal]]. In 1940 Huq supported the [[Lahore Resolution]], which envisaged independent states in the subcontinent's northwestern and eastern Muslim-majority regions. Huq was succeeded by [[Khawaja Nazimuddin]], who grappled with the effects of the [[Burma Campaign]], the [[Bengal famine of 1943]] which claimed the lives of millions of people,<ref>{{cite news |title=Churchill's policies contributed to 1943 Bengal famine – study |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study |work=The Guardian |date=29 March 2019 |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=19 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619014739/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Quit India]] movement. During [[World War II]], Bengal faced a possible Japanese invasion from Burma. Chittagong was bombed by the Japanese air force in April and May 1942.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 May 1942 |title=Nippon Bombers Raid Chittagong |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19420509&id=WP0tAAAAIBAJ&pg=4560,1489075 |newspaper=The Miami News |agency=Associated Press }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=14 December 1942 |title=Japanese Raid Chittagong: Stung By Allied Bombing |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17799625 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=13 May 2013}}</ref> [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] were stationed across eastern Bengal during the war.<ref name="Maurer, Maurer 1983">{{cite book |editor-last=Maurer |editor-first=Maurer |year=1983 |orig-year=First published 1961 |title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II |url=https://permanent.fdlp.gov/lps48183/AirForceCombatUnitsOfWorldWarIi.pdf |publisher=Office of Air Force History |page=35 |isbn=0-912799-02-1 |access-date=21 March 2024 |archive-date=13 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313185640/https://permanent.fdlp.gov/lps48183/AirForceCombatUnitsOfWorldWarIi.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1946, the Bengal Provincial Muslim League won the provincial election with the largest Muslim League mandate in British India. [[H. S. Suhrawardy]], who made a final futile effort for a [[United Bengal]] in 1946, was the last premier of Bengal.
===Partition of Bengal (1947)===
{{Main|Partition of Bengal (1947)}}
[[File:Suhrawardy interview on Partition of India.oga|thumb|British Bengal's last premier [[H. S. Suhrawardy]] speaking about partition]]
On 3 June 1947, the [[Mountbatten Plan]] outlined the [[partition of British India]]. On 6 July, the [[Sylhet Division|Sylhet region]] of Assam voted in a [[1947 Sylhet referendum|referendum to join East Bengal]]. [[Cyril Radcliffe]] was tasked with drawing the borders of Pakistan and India, and the [[Radcliffe Line]] established the boundaries of present-day Bangladesh. The Radcliffe Line awarded two-thirds of Bengal as the eastern wing of Pakistan, but the medieval and early modern Bengali capitals of [[Gauda (city)|Gaur]], [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua]] and [[Murshidabad]] fell on the Indian side close to the border with Pakistan.
===As part of Pakistan===
{{Main|East Bengal|East Pakistan}}
[[File:21 Feb 1953 Dhaka University female students procession.png|thumb|Women students of Dhaka University marching in defiance of the [[Section 144]] prohibition on assembly during the Bengali Language Movement in early 1953]]
[[File:Sheikh Mujib at Fletcher School.jpg|thumb|[[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] (seated) at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States in 1958]]
The [[Dominion of Pakistan]] was created on 14 August 1947. East Bengal, with Dhaka as the capital, was the most populous province of the 1947 [[State of Pakistan|Pakistani federation]] (led by [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], who promised freedom of religion and secular democracy in the new state).<ref name="Ispahani2017">{{cite book |author=Farahnaz Ispahani|title=Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities |url={{GBurl|id=o36uDQAAQBAJ|p=8}}|year=2017|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-062165-0|page=8|access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="Saikia2011">{{cite book |author=[[Yasmin Saikia]]|title=Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971 |url={{GBurl|id=YdQaz1ddI-wC|p=34}}|year=2011|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-5038-5|page=34}}</ref>
Khawaja Nazimuddin was East Bengal's first [[Chief Minister of East Bengal|chief minister]] with [[Frederick Chalmers Bourne]] its governor. The [[All Pakistan Awami Muslim League]] was formed in 1949. In 1950, the [[East Bengal Legislative Assembly]] enacted [[land reform]], abolishing the Permanent Settlement and the zamindari system.<ref>[[#Baxter|Baxter]], p. 72</ref> The 1952 [[Bengali Language Movement]] was the first sign of friction between the country's geographically separated wings. The Awami Muslim League was renamed the more secular [[Awami League]] in 1953.<ref name="LewisSagar1992">{{cite book |author1=David S. Lewis |author2=Darren J. Sagar|title=Political Parties of Asia and the Pacific: A Reference Guide |url={{GBurl|id=S4uyAAAAIAAJ}}|year=1992|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-09811-4|page=36|access-date=30 July 2017}}"ts present name in December 1953"</ref> The first constituent assembly was dissolved in 1954. The [[United Front (East Pakistan)|United Front]] coalition swept aside the Muslim League in a landslide victory in the [[1954 East Bengali legislative election]]. The following year, East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan as part of the [[One Unit]] programme, and the province became a vital part of the [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]].
Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956. The [[Pakistan Army]] imposed [[1958 Pakistani coup d'état|military rule in 1958]], and [[Ayub Khan (general)|Ayub Khan]] was the country's strongman for 11 years. Political repression increased after the coup. Khan introduced a new constitution in 1962, replacing Pakistan's parliamentary system with a presidential and gubernatorial system (based on [[electoral college]] selection) known as Basic Democracy.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4323370 | jstor=4323370 | title=Pakistan's Basic Democracy |last1=Sayeed |first1=Khalid B. | journal=Middle East Journal | year=1961 | volume=15 | issue=3 | pages=249–263 | access-date=23 June 2023 | archive-date=4 November 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104235917/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4323370 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-9776.html | title=Pakistan - Basic Democracies | access-date=23 June 2023 | archive-date=23 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623173401/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-9776.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Basic_Democracies | title=Basic Democracies | website=Banglapedia | access-date=23 June 2023 | archive-date=23 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623173403/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Basic_Democracies | url-status=live }}</ref> In 1962, Dhaka became the seat of the [[National Assembly of Pakistan]], a move seen as appeasing increased Bengali nationalism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vale |first=Lawrence J. |year=2008 |title=Architecture, Power and National Identity |url={{GBurl|id=qWx9AwAAQBAJ|p=291}} |publisher=Routledge |edition=2nd |page=291 |isbn=978-1-134-72921-0 |access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref> The Pakistani government built the controversial [[Kaptai Dam]], displacing the [[Chakma people]] from their indigenous homeland in the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Terminski |first=Bogumil |year=2014 |title=Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement |url={{GBurl|id=WW8xCgAAQBAJ|p=28}} |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=28 |isbn=978-3-8382-6723-4 |access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> The [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]] blocked cross-border transport links with neighbouring India in what is described as a second partition.<ref>{{cite news |author=Zafar Sobhan |date=17 August 2007 |title=Tragedy of errors |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-318 |work=The Daily Star |type=Editorial |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829180610/http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-318 |archive-date=29 August 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1966, Awami League leader [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] announced a [[six point movement|six-point movement]] for a federal parliamentary democracy.
According to senior [[World Bank]] officials, the Pakistani government practised extensively [[economic discrimination]] against East Pakistan. Despite generating 70% of Pakistan's export revenue with jute and tea,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/15.htm|title=Bangladesh – The "Revolution" of Ayub Khan, 1958–66|access-date=11 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306080130/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/15.htm|archive-date=6 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> East Pakistan received much less government spending than West Pakistan. Economists in East Pakistan, including [[Rehman Sobhan]] and [[Nurul Islam (economist)|Nurul Islam]] among others, demanded a separate foreign exchange account for the eastern wing. The economists paraphrased Pakistan's [[Two-Nation Theory]] ideology against India, by pointing to the existence of two different economies within Pakistan itself, dubbed the Two-Economies Theory.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/the-two-economies-thesis-road-to-the-six-points-programme-29679 |title=The Two Economies thesis: Road to the Six Points Programme |first=Nurul |last=Islam |date=22 June 2014 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=5 April 2023 |archive-date=7 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107182453/https://www.thedailystar.net/the-two-economies-thesis-road-to-the-six-points-programme-29679 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cpd.org.bd/from-two-economies-to-two-nations-my-journey-to-bangladesh/ |title=Two Economies to Two Nations: Rehman Sobhan's Journey to Bangladesh |work=CPD |date=30 August 2015 |access-date=5 April 2023 |archive-date=7 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107182457/https://cpd.org.bd/from-two-economies-to-two-nations-my-journey-to-bangladesh/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/first-anniversary/two-economies-two-nations-revisiting-bangladeshs-economic-transformation-189289 |title=From Two Economies to Two Nations: Revisiting Bangladesh's Economic Transformation |work=The Business Standard |date=21 January 2021 |access-date=5 April 2023 |archive-date=7 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107185453/https://www.tbsnews.net/first-anniversary/two-economies-two-nations-revisiting-bangladeshs-economic-transformation-189289 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/48150285-from-two-economies-to-two-nations-my-journey-to-bangladesh |title=From Two Economies To Two Nations |website=goodreads.com}}</ref> The central government also refused to release foreign aid allocated for East Pakistan.<ref name="google.co.nz">{{cite book |last=Muscat |first=Robert J. |year=2015 |title=Investing in Peace: How Development Aid Can Prevent or Promote Conflict |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZ5zCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT72 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-46729-8 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404212613/https://books.google.com/books?id=yZ5zCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT72 |url-status=live }}</ref> The populist leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested for treason in the [[Agartala Conspiracy Case]] and was released during the [[1969 uprising in East Pakistan]] which resulted in Ayub Khan's resignation. General [[Yahya Khan]] assumed power, reintroducing martial law.
Ethnic and linguistic discrimination was common in Pakistan's civil and military services, in which Bengalis were under-represented.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Raic |first1=D |year=2002 |title=Statehood and the Law of Self-Determination |url={{GBurl|id=L7UOyPGYBkwC|p=336}} |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |page=336 |isbn=978-90-411-1890-5 |access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> Cultural discrimination also prevailed, making East Pakistan forge a distinct political identity.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Raju G.C. |year=2003 |title=Yugoslavia Unraveled |url={{GBurl|id=9L6ZayN27PAC|p=322}} |publisher=Lexington Books |page=322 |isbn=978-0-7391-0757-7}}</ref> Authorities banned Bengali literature and music in state media.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ahsan |first=Syed Badrul |author-link=Syed Badrul Ahsan |date=2 June 2010 |title=The sky, the mind, the ban culture |work=The Daily Star |type=Editorial |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=140968 |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222114353/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=140968 |archive-date=22 December 2015}}</ref> A [[1970 Bhola cyclone|cyclone]] devastated the coast of East Pakistan in 1970, killing an estimated 500,000 people,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1483615/Bangladesh-cyclone-of-1991 Bangladesh cyclone of 1991] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826071713/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1483615/Bangladesh-cyclone-of-1991 |date=26 August 2009}}. Britannica Online Encyclopedia.</ref> and the central government was criticised for its poor response.<ref name="countrystudies.us1">{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/16.htm|title=Bangladesh – Emerging Discontent, 1966–70|access-date=11 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623150140/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/16.htm|archive-date=23 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> After the December 1970 elections, the Bengali-nationalist Awami League won 167 of 169 East Pakistani seats in the National Assembly. The League claimed the right to form a government and develop a new constitution but was strongly opposed by the Pakistani military and the [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] (led by [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]).
===War of Independence===
{{Main|Bangladesh Liberation War}}
{{see also|Bangladesh genocide}}
In early 1971, negotiations began on the transfer of power.<ref name="Bangladesh">{{cite web |url=http://www.uplbooks.com/book/bangladesh-quest-freedom-and-justice | title=Bangladesh: Quest for Freedom and Justice | the University Press Limited | access-date=5 April 2023 | archive-date=16 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016211539/http://www.uplbooks.com/book/bangladesh-quest-freedom-and-justice | url-status=live }}</ref> The Awami League wanted to develop a constitution based on its [[Six point movement|Six Points]] agenda;<ref name="Bangladesh"/> this was opposed by the Pakistani military, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Muslim League factions. Talks eventually broke down as the junta led by [[Yahya Khan]] prepared for a military operation in East Pakistan. The Bengali population was angered when the newly elected National Assembly was not convened under pressure from the junta and West Pakistani politicians. Despite enjoying an [[absolute majority]] in the newly elected parliament, Prime Minister-elect [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] was prevented from taking the oath. [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] threatened to break the legs of West Pakistani MPs if they flew to Dhaka for the first session of parliament.<ref>Hossain, Kamal (2013). Bangladesh: Quest for Freedom and Justice. Oxford University Press. p. 130. {{ISBN|978-0199068531}}.</ref><ref>[[#Baxter|Baxter]], pp. 78–79</ref> [[Non-cooperation movement (1971)|Civil disobedience]] erupted across East Pakistan,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ray |first1=Jayanta Kumar |author-link=Jayanta Kumar Ray |year=2010 |title=India's Foreign Relations, 1947–2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NnfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PG148 |publisher=Routledge |pages=148–149 |isbn=978-0-415-59742-5 |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328181539/https://books.google.com/books?id=-NnfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PG148#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> with loud calls for independence. Mujib addressed a [[7 March Speech of Bangabandhu|pro-independence rally]] of nearly 2 million people on 7 March 1971, where he said, "This time the struggle is for our liberation. This time the struggle is for our independence".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Historic 7th March Speech |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScueL1pcHD4|website=YouTube| date=31 October 2017 |access-date=31 October 2017|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403160446/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScueL1pcHD4|url-status=live}}</ref> The flag of Bangladesh was raised for the first time on 23 March, Pakistan's Republic Day.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thorpe |first1=Edgar |year=2012 |title=The Pearson General Knowledge Manual |url={{GBurl|id=I9OyQ9mEpxkC|pg=SL1-PA125}} |publisher=Pearson Education India |page=A.125 |isbn=978-81-317-6190-8}}</ref>
[[File:Central Rotunda with Light-infused Water Pillar - Museum of Independence - Suhrawardy Udyan - Dhaka 2015-05-31 2177-2181.tif|thumb|[[Museum of Independence, Dhaka]]]]
Around midnight on 26 March 1971, military operations under the code name of [[Operation Searchlight]] began.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bass |first=Gary J. |author-link=Gary J. Bass |year=2013 |title=The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |page=50 |isbn=978-0-307-70020-9 |quote=That night [25 March] ... The Pakistani military had launched a devastating assault on the Bengalis.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Siegfried O. Wolf |author2=Jivanta Schöttli |author3=Dominik Frommherz |author4=Kai Fürstenberg |author5=Marian Gallenkamp |author6=Lion König |author7=Markus Pauli |title=Politics in South Asia: Culture, Rationality and Conceptual Flow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAJNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |year=2014 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-09087-0 |page=111 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328181612/https://books.google.com/books?id=BAJNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA111#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The first targets were the [[1971 Dhaka University massacre|student dormitories of Dhaka University]], the police barracks in Dhaka's Rajarbagh locality, and Hindu neighbourhoods in Old Dhaka. The Pakistan Army arrested Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and flew him to a jail in West Pakistan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bates |first1=Crispin |year=2013 |title=Subalterns and Raj: South Asia Since 1600 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXjdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA191 |publisher=Routledge |page=191 |isbn=978-1-134-51375-8 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328181541/https://books.google.com/books?id=fXjdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA191#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Pervez Musharraf|title=In the Line of Fire |url={{GBurl|id=ZBws32j4zwYC|pg=PT70}}|year=2008|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-84739-596-2|page=70}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Faith |year=2013 |title=Four Miles to Freedom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFYiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT112 |publisher=Random House India |isbn=978-81-8400-507-3 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328181542/https://books.google.com/books?id=LFYiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT112#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The army burnt down the ''[[The Daily Ittefaq|Ittefaq]]'' newspaper's office.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/the-genocide-march-25-metaphor-3279591 | title=The genocide of March 25 as a metaphor | work=The Daily Star | date=25 March 2023 | type=Opinion | access-date=5 April 2023 | archive-date=5 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405073029/https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/the-genocide-march-25-metaphor-3279591 | url-status=live }}</ref> Before his arrest, Mujib [[Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence|proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh]].<ref>{{cite web |title=ABC News, March 26, 1971 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tQk4r0FtmY |website=YouTube | date=25 March 2012 |access-date=25 March 2012 |archive-date=28 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328070211/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tQk4r0FtmY&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bangabandhur Shadhinota Ghoshonar Telegraphic Barta |url=https://opinion.bdnews24.com/bangla/archives/46455 |newspaper=BDNews24 |type=Opinion |access-date=31 March 2017 |archive-date=5 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405024844/https://opinion.bdnews24.com/bangla/archives/46455}}</ref> Pakistani forces launched a widespread campaign of killings, torture, rape, arson and destruction across East Pakistan, targeting segments of the population perceived to be pro-Awami League and pro-independence. The Hindu minority was distinctly targeted because of Pakistan's hostility with neighbouring Hindu-majority India.<ref>{{cite book |last=Debnath |first=Angela |year=2012 |orig-year=First published 2009 |chapter=The Bangladesh Genocide: The Plight of Women |editor-last1=Totten |editor-first1=Samuel |editor-link=Samuel Totten |title=Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crJ7ai7GJH0C&pg=PA47 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=47 |isbn=978-1-4128-4759-9 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328181542/https://books.google.com/books?id=crJ7ai7GJH0C&pg=PA47#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
During the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], the [[Mukti Bahini]] emerged as the Bengali resistance force. A highly successful [[guerrilla war]] was fought against Pakistan. Bengalis continued to defect from Pakistan's diplomatic service, military, police, and bureaucracy. In April, they helped Awami League leaders to set up the [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh]], which operated in exile from [[Calcutta]] with the support of the Indian government until December 1971. The [[Bangladesh Armed Forces]] was formally established in November 1971, when Bengali forces secured control of much of the countryside. The Mukti Bahini forced the railway network to shut down to stop Pakistani troop movements. Some of the notable operations of the Mukti Bahini included [[Operation Jackpot]] and [[Operation Barisal]].
[[File:1971 Instrument of Surrender.jpg|thumb|[[Jagjit Singh Aurora]] of the [[Indian Army]] watches [[A. A. K. Niazi]] of the [[Pakistan Army]] sign the [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender|Instrument of Surrender]] in 1971, ending the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].]]
India intervened in the war on 3 December 1971, after Pakistan's failed pre-emptive air strikes on India's northwestern flank. With a joint ground advance by Bangladeshi and Indian forces, coupled with air strikes by both India and the small Bangladeshi air contingent, the capital Dhaka was liberated from Pakistani occupation in mid-December. During the last phase of the war, both the Soviet Union and the United States dispatched naval forces to the Bay of Bengal in a Cold War standoff. The nine-month-long war ended with the [[Surrender of Pakistan|surrender of the Pakistan Eastern Command]] to the Bangladesh-India Allied Forces on 16 December 1971.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/victory-pakistan-army-surrenders-to-allied-forces-54462 | title=Victory: Pakistan army surrenders to allied forces |work=The Daily Star | date=15 December 2014 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://www.thedailystar.net/victory-pakistan-army-surrenders-to-allied-forces-54462 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2022/12/15/indian-1971-veteran-unveils-prelude-to-surrender-negotiation | title=Victory Day: Indian 1971 veteran unveils prelude to surrender negotiation |work=Dhaka Tribune | date=15 December 2022 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2022/12/15/indian-1971-veteran-unveils-prelude-to-surrender-negotiation | url-status=live }}</ref> Under international pressure, Pakistan released Mujib from imprisonment on 8 January 1972 and he was flown to a million-strong homecoming in Dhaka.<ref>{{cite book|author=Srinath Raghavan|title=1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u6gQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT247|year=2013|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-73127-1|page=247|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328182140/https://books.google.com/books?id=u6gQCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT247#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsTOIiJr7so|title=Sheikh Mujib's Return to Bangladesh – January 10, 1972 Monday|date=23 December 2013|publisher=NBC|access-date=21 December 2015|via=Centre for Bangladesh Genocide Research|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317043314/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsTOIiJr7so|archive-date=17 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Remaining Indian troops were withdrawn by 12 March 1972.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lyon |first=Peter |year=2008 |title=Conflict Between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLwOck15eboC&pg=PA192 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=193 |isbn=978-1-57607-712-2 |quote="12 March India's armed forces withdraw from Bangladesh at a ceremonial parade in Dacca." |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328182101/https://books.google.com/books?id=vLwOck15eboC&pg=PA192 |url-status=live }}</ref>
By August 1972, the new state was recognised by 86 countries.<ref name="Benvenisti2012">{{cite book |last=Benvenisti |first=Eyal |author-link=Eyal Benvenisti |year=2012 |orig-year=First published 1992 |title=The International Law of Occupation |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f19hVb54_s8C&pg=PA190 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=190 |isbn=978-0-19-163957-9 |quote=The genuine and widely recognized claim for Bangladeshi self-determination as an entity independent of West Pakistan, coupled with the repulsion caused by the Pakistani measures to suppress that claim convinced global public opinion ... By the time its admission for membership in the United Nations came before the Security Council, in August 1972, Bangladesh had already been recognized by eighty-six countries. |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328182136/https://books.google.com/books?id=f19hVb54_s8C&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Pakistan recognised Bangladesh in 1974 after pressure from most of the Muslim countries.<ref>{{cite news |author=Syed Muazzem Ali |date=19 February 2006 |title=Bangladesh and the OIC |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/15thanniv/bangladesh&theworld/bd_world21.htm|work=The Daily Star|access-date=21 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065259/http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/15thanniv/bangladesh%26theworld/bd_world21.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Liberation War Museum,new building.jpg|thumb|[[Liberation War Museum]], Dhaka]]
The Government of Bangladesh records the official death toll of the war at 3 million,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/30-lakh-martyrs-settled-history-211537 | title=30 lakh martyrs a settled history |work=The Daily Star | date=3 February 2016 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404193200/https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/30-lakh-martyrs-settled-history-211537 | url-status=live }}</ref> including victims of atrocities and those who died from starvation. Minimum estimates for the number of those killed range between 300,000 and 500,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/genocide-us-cant-remember-bangladesh-cant-forget-180961490/ | title=The Genocide the U.S. Can't Remember, but Bangladesh Can't Forget | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=17 December 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217125201/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/genocide-us-cant-remember-bangladesh-cant-forget-180961490/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201 | title=Bangladesh war: The article that changed history | work=[[BBC News]] | date=15 December 2011 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=8 May 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508091712/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201 | url-status=live }}</ref> An estimated 10 million [[refugee]]s fled to neighboring India and 30 million were internally displaced.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/feature/panorama/1971-exodus-managing-astronomical-10-million-refugees-222751 | title=1971 Exodus: Managing an astronomical 10 million refugees |work=The Business Standard | date=27 March 2021 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191648/https://www.tbsnews.net/feature/panorama/1971-exodus-managing-astronomical-10-million-refugees-222751 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/how-india-responded-the-influx-10-million-refugees | title=How India responded to the influx of 10 million refugees | date=5 October 2015 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191647/https://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/how-india-responded-the-influx-10-million-refugees | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/opinion/1971/genocide-confusion-with-numbers | title=Genocide: Confusion with numbers |work=bdnews24.com |type=Opinion | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191645/https://bdnews24.com/opinion/1971/genocide-confusion-with-numbers | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.efsas.org/publications/study-papers/bangladesh%E2%80%99s-genocide-debate;-a-conscientious-research/ | title=Bangladesh's genocide debate; A conscientious research | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=26 September 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926032926/https://www.efsas.org/publications/study-papers/bangladesh%E2%80%99s-genocide-debate;-a-conscientious-research/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The war was one of the first to record the use of [[Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War|rape as a weapon of war]], with an estimated 200,000 women being subjected to sexual abuse by the Pakistani army.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/03/52-years-bangladesh-birangona-women-mass-rape-surviviors?CMP=share_btn_tw | title='We lay like corpses. Then the raping began': 52 years on, Bangladesh's rape camp survivors speak out | newspaper=The Guardian | date=3 April 2023 |last1=Begum |first1=Thaslima | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/apr/03/52-years-bangladesh-birangona-women-mass-rape-surviviors?CMP=share_btn_tw | url-status=live }}</ref> The war saw the systematic targeting of Bengali elites,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mittalsouthasiainstitute.harvard.edu/2019/09/gary-bass-development-legacy-1971-bangladesh/ | title=Gary Bass: Development and the Legacy of the 1971 War in Bangladesh • the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute | date=5 September 2019 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://mittalsouthasiainstitute.harvard.edu/2019/09/gary-bass-development-legacy-1971-bangladesh/ | url-status=live }}</ref> particularly [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals|intellectual]]s. The [[Jamaat-e-Islami]] formed paramilitary militias, which aided Pakistani troops and guided them to their intended targets. While [[Bengali Muslims]] bore the brunt of atrocities because of racial tensions with the largely [[Punjabi Muslims|Punjabi Muslim]] West Pakistani forces,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/editorial/news/why-wont-the-un-recognise-1971-genocide-3280396 | title=Why won't the UN recognise 1971 genocide? |work=The Daily Star |type=Opinion | date=25 March 2023 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/editorial/news/why-wont-the-un-recognise-1971-genocide-3280396 | url-status=live }}</ref> the minority [[Bengali Hindu]] community was singled out for attacks by the Pakistani armed forces, a legacy which has led Hindu nationalist groups to claim that the war was a Hindu genocide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hinduamerican.org/1971-bangladesh-genocide | title=1971 Bengali Hindu Genocide | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://www.hinduamerican.org/1971-bangladesh-genocide | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Archer Blood]], the US Consul General in East Pakistan at the time of the war, described the situation as "selective genocide".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjxuAAAAMAAJ&q=archer%2Bk%2Bblood%2Bselective%2Bgenocide%2B1971%2Bbangladesh%2Bwar%2Bbook | title=The Cruel Birth of Bangladesh: Memoirs of an American Diplomat | isbn=9789840516506 |last1=Blood |first1=Archer K. | year=2002 | publisher=University Press | access-date=25 July 2023 | archive-date=25 July 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725001453/https://books.google.com/books?id=NjxuAAAAMAAJ&q=archer%2Bk%2Bblood%2Bselective%2Bgenocide%2B1971%2Bbangladesh%2Bwar%2Bbook | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bass |first1=Gary J. |author-link=Gary J. Bass |year=2013 |title=The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide |url={{GBurl|id=dQ_lAAAAQBAJ}} |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |page=58 |isbn=978-0-307-70020-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/american-centre-library-after-name-of-archer-k-blood-his-son-deplores-bombers | title=American Centre Library after name of Archer K Blood: His son deplores bombers |work=bdnews24.com | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191708/https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/american-centre-library-after-name-of-archer-k-blood-his-son-deplores-bombers | url-status=live }}</ref> In 1974 and 2002, Pakistan formally expressed "regret" for what happened.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/29/archives/bhutto-regrets-crimes-in-bangladesh.html | title=Bhutto Regrets 'Crimes' in Bangladesh | work=The New York Times | date=29 June 1974 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404222620/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/29/archives/bhutto-regrets-crimes-in-bangladesh.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/50327/president-regrets-71-war-excesses-trade-accords-to-be-signed-today | title=President regrets '71 war excesses: Trade accords to be signed today |work=Dawn | date=30 July 2002 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://www.dawn.com/news/50327/president-regrets-71-war-excesses-trade-accords-to-be-signed-today | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2015, Pakistan denied any atrocities took place.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/pakistan-denies-war-atrocities-1971-180319 | title=Pakistan denies war atrocities in 1971 |work=The Daily Star | date=30 November 2015 | access-date=4 April 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191646/https://www.thedailystar.net/country/pakistan-denies-war-atrocities-1971-180319 | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, a bipartisan resolution was introduced in the [[US Congress]] to "Recognize the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1430/text|title=Text - H.Res.1430 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Recognizing the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress|access-date=4 April 2023|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404194241/https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1430/text|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[International Association of Genocide Scholars]] regards the atrocities as a genocide.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Scholars recognise 1971 genocide |url=https://www.newagebd.net/article/200115/scholars-recognise-1971-genocide |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427112817/https://www.newagebd.net/article/200115/scholars-recognise-1971-genocide |archive-date=27 April 2023 |access-date=27 April 2023 |work=[[New Age (Bangladesh)|New Age]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/h604uz7l94|title=IAGS declares crimes committed by Pakistan during Bangladesh's independence war were genocide|work=bdnews24.com|access-date=27 April 2023|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427112815/https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/h604uz7l94|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Modern Bangladesh===
====First parliamentary era====
[[File:MH Khan with Bangabandhu.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] with a commander of the Bangladesh Navy]]
The new government of Bangladesh transformed East Pakistan's state apparatus into an independent Bangladeshi state. The Awami League successfully reorganised the bureaucracy, framed a [[written constitution]], and rehabilitated war victims. In January 1972, Mujib introduced a [[parliamentary republic]] through a presidential decree.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whiteboardmagazine.com/1874/mujib-administrations-policy-action-timeline/ |title=Mujib Administration's Policy Action Timeline |date=16 March 2020 |access-date=11 April 2023 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105033118/https://whiteboardmagazine.com/1874/mujib-administrations-policy-action-timeline/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On 12 January 1972 Mujib took oath and assumed office as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.albd.org/pages/7/Bangabandu-Sheikh-Mujibur-Rahman |title=Life and Struggle of Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |date=19 December 2017 |website=Bangladesh Awami League |access-date=29 July 2023 |archive-date=29 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729051924/https://www.albd.org/pages/7/Bangabandu-Sheikh-Mujibur-Rahman |url-status=live }}</ref> The emerging state structure was heavily influenced by the British [[Westminster]] model. The Constitution Drafting Committee led by Kamal Hossain established a [[bill of rights]] influenced by the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://legal.un.org/avl/ls/Hossain_HR.html | title=Lecture Series - Dr. Kamal Hossain | access-date=9 April 2023 | archive-date=6 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406165754/https://legal.un.org/avl/ls/Hossain_HR.html | url-status=live }}</ref>
The constituent assembly adopted the constitution of Bangladesh on 4 November 1972, establishing a secular, multiparty parliamentary democracy. Bangladesh joined the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], the UN, the [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|OIC]], and the [[Non-Aligned Movement]]. In his maiden speech to the [[UNGA]], Mujib stated that "the Bengali has struggled for many centuries for the right to live a free and honourable life as independent citizens of an independent country. They expected to live in peace and harmony with all the nations in the world".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theindependentbd.com/post/253673 |title=Bangabandhu's historic 1974 UN speech |work=The Independent |access-date=6 April 2023 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105024614/https://www.theindependentbd.com/post/253673}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzpb14fl73M |title=25th September 1974 Speech in UN by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |date=14 August 2016 |via=YouTube |access-date=9 April 2023 |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402125355/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzpb14fl73M |url-status=live }}</ref> He strengthened relations with India by signing a 25-year friendship treaty, a border demarcation agreement, and protocols on cross-border trade. The land boundary treaty was aimed at resolving border disputes inherited from East Pakistan and swapping the [[Indo-Bangladesh enclaves]]. The land boundary agreement was challenged in court, which ruled that the government needed the prior approval of parliament to implement the land boundary treaty.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-law-reports/article/abs/kazi-mukhlesur-rahman-v-bangladesh-and-another/33725F95F2064D3BE08F2035865C7763 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781316151983.013 |title=Kazi Mukhlesur Rahman v. Bangladesh and Another |journal=International Law Reports |year=1986 |volume=70 |pages=35–50 |s2cid=248999854 |access-date=9 April 2023 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406165750/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-law-reports/article/abs/kazi-mukhlesur-rahman-v-bangladesh-and-another/33725F95F2064D3BE08F2035865C7763 |url-status=live}}</ref> Mujib was a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights despite Israel being one of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh's independence. In what became Bangladesh's first dispatch of military aid overseas, Mujib sent an army medical unit to Egypt during the [[Yom Kippur War|1973 Arab-Israeli War]].<ref name="OP-2020">{{cite news |date=24 October 2020 |title=OP-ED: Bangladesh and the first Gulf War |url=https://archive.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/10/24/op-ed-bangladesh-and-the-first-gulf-war |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406182518/https://archive.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/10/24/op-ed-bangladesh-and-the-first-gulf-war |archive-date=6 April 2023 |access-date=9 April 2023 |work=[[Dhaka Tribune]]}}</ref>
In economic policy, the first five years of Bangladesh was the only [[socialist]] period in its history. Mujib [[nationalized]] 580 industrial plants, as well as banks and insurance companies. In 1974, the government invited international oil companies to explore the [[Bay of Bengal]] for oil and natural gas. [[Petrobangla]] was established as the national oil and gas corporation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newagebd.net/article/178014/national-energy-security-day-today |title=National Energy Security Day today |work=New Age |access-date=9 April 2023 |archive-date=5 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105024611/https://www.newagebd.net/article/178014/national-energy-security-day-today |url-status=live }}</ref> The Mujib government faced huge economic problems exacerbated by the resettlement of millions of people displaced in 1971, a breakdown in the food supply chain, poor health services and a lack of other necessities. The effects of the 1970 cyclone were still being felt, and the [[economy of Bangladesh|economy]] needed reconstruction after the war.<ref>Lawrence B. Lesser. "Economic Reconstruction after Independence". [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/bdtoc.html ''A Country Study: Bangladesh''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711103712/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/bdtoc.html |date=11 July 2015 }} (James Heitzman and Robert Worden, editors). [[Federal Research Division]], Library of Congress (September 1988). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.''[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/about.html About the Country Studies / Area Handbooks Program: Country Studies – Federal Research Division, Library of Congress] {{Webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20120710004153/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/about.html |date=10 July 2012 }}</ref> The [[Bangladesh famine of 1974]] damaged Mujib's popularity.
Mujib presided over a regime that was built around his personality cult. Sycophants and loyalists developed an ideology called [[Mujibism]].
====Presidential era (1975–1991)====
{{See also|Military coups in Bangladesh}}
[[File:Statiefoto Koninklijke Familie en President Ziaur Rakm (Bangladesj) en echtgenot, Bestanddeelnr 253-8087.jpg|thumb|[[Ziaur Rahman]] (second from right) with members of the Dutch royal family in 1978]]
In January 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman introduced [[One-party state|one-party socialist rule]] under [[Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League|BAKSAL]]. Rahman banned all newspapers except four state-owned publications and amended the constitution to increase his power. He was [[Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman|assassinated]] during a coup on 15 August 1975, and the presidency passed to the [[usurper]] [[Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad]] for four months. Ahmad is widely regarded as a traitor by Bangladeshis.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mushtaq was the worst traitor: attorney general |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2009/11/08/mushtaq-was-worst-traitor-attorney-general|work=bdnews24.com|access-date=19 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010140521/https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2009/11/08/mushtaq-was-worst-traitor-attorney-general|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Tajuddin Ahmad, the nation's first prime minister, and four other independence leaders were assassinated on 4 November 1975. Chief Justice [[Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem]] was installed as president by the military on 6 November 1975. Bangladesh was governed by a [[military junta]] led by the [[Chief Martial Law Administrator]] for three years. In 1977, the army chief [[Ziaur Rahman]] became president. Rahman reinstated [[multiparty]] politics, [[privatised]] industries and newspapers, re-opened the [[Dhaka Stock Exchange]], established [[Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority|BEPZA]] and held the country's second general election in 1979. In 1978, 200,000 [[Arakan]]ese Muslim refugees crossed the [[Naf River]] into Bangladesh due to a Burmese military crackdown. The refugees were later repatriated.<ref name="Burma">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/burma/burm005-01.htm | title=Burma/Bangladesh: Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh - Historical Background | access-date=9 April 2023 | archive-date=28 June 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628114708/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/burma/burm005-01.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> A [[semi-presidential]] system evolved, with the [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] (BNP) governing until 1982. Rahman was assassinated in 1981 and was succeeded by vice-president [[Abdus Sattar (president)|Abdus Sattar]].<ref name="Khasru">{{cite book |author=B.Z. Khasru|title=The Bangladesh Military Coup and the CIA Link |url={{GBurl|id=z8OeAwAAQBAJ}}|publisher=Rupa Publications India |isbn=978-81-291-3416-5}}</ref>
After a year in office, Sattar was overthrown in the [[1982 Bangladesh coup d'état]]. Chief Justice [[A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury]] was installed as president, but army chief [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad]] became the country's ''de facto'' leader and assumed the presidency in 1983. Ershad lifted martial law in 1986. He governed with four successive prime ministers ([[Ataur Rahman Khan]], [[Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury]], [[Moudud Ahmed]] and [[Kazi Zafar Ahmed]]) and a parliament dominated by his [[Jatiya Party (Ershad)|Jatiyo Party]]. Ershad pursued administrative decentralisation, dividing the country into 64 districts, and pushed Parliament to make Islam the state religion in 1988.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12651483|title=Bangladesh profile|date=13 August 2017|access-date=19 September 2017|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711040420/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12651483|archive-date=11 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[List of SAARC summits|First SAARC Summit]] was held in Dhaka under Ershad in December 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.saarc-sec.org/index.php/resources/summit-declarations/11-first-saarc-summit-dhaka-1985/file |title=Dhaka Declaration |access-date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320201220/https://www.saarc-sec.org/index.php/resources/summit-declarations/11-first-saarc-summit-dhaka-1985/file |url-status=live }}</ref> Bangladesh dispatched its first contingent of [[UN Peacekeeping|UN peacekeepers]] in 1988.<ref name="OP-2020"/> In 1990, Bangladesh joined the US-led coalition to liberate Kuwait during the [[Gulf War]].<ref name="OP-2020"/><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41393571 | jstor=41393571 | title=Bangladesh and the Gulf War: Response of a Small State |last1=Hossain |first1=Ishtiaq | journal=Pakistan Horizon | year=1997 | volume=50 | issue=2 | pages=39–55 | access-date=9 April 2023 | archive-date=14 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214062023/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41393571 | url-status=live }}</ref> A [[1990 Mass Uprising in Bangladesh|mass uprising]] forced Ershad to resign, and Chief Justice [[Shahabuddin Ahmed]] led the country's first caretaker government as part of the transition to parliamentary rule.<ref name="Khasru"/>
====Parliamentary era (1991–present)====
[[File:Bangladesh aid after 1991 cyclone.jpg|thumb|Bangladeshis unload humanitarian aid from a [[United States Marine Corps]] helicopter following a devastating [[1991 Bangladesh cyclone|cyclone in 1991]].]]
[[File:Mohammad Mosaddak Ali met with Emir of Bahrain Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa at the Kings Palace in Bahrain.jpg|thumb|[[Khaleda Zia]] (standing second from right) with the Emir of Bahrain in 1994]]
[[File:Sheikh Hasina with David Cameron.jpg|thumb|[[Sheikh Hasina]] with British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] at [[10 Downing Street]] in 2011]]
After the 1991 general election, the twelfth amendment to the constitution restored the parliamentary republic, and [[Begum Khaleda Zia]] became Bangladesh's first female prime minister. Zia, a former first lady, led a BNP government from 1990 to 1996. In 1991, her finance minister, [[Saifur Rahman (Bangladeshi politician)|Saifur Rahman]], began a major programme to liberalise the Bangladeshi economy.<ref name="Lewis2011">{{cite book |author=David Lewis|title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-50257-3|access-date=11 December 2015|archive-date=16 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116112820/https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to setting up the [[Chittagong Stock Exchange]]; banking, pharmaceuticals, aviation, ceramics, steel, telecoms, and tertiary education were opened up for investments, resulting in increased market competition. Around 140,000 Bangladeshis lost their lives during [[1991 Bangladesh cyclone|a 1991 cyclone]]; the lives of nearly 200,000 others were saved by a [[United States military]]-led task force through [[1991 Bangladesh cyclone#Operation Sea Angel|Operation Sea Angel]], one of the largest disaster relief efforts ever conducted.<ref name="atcr">{{cite report|url=http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/atcr/1991atcr.pdf |title=Annual Tropical Cyclone Report|year=1992|page=155 |access-date=August 30, 2020 |work=Joint Typhoon Warning Center |publisher=United States Navy, United States Airforce |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813232009/https://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/atcr/1991atcr.pdf|archive-date=August 13, 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-05-29-mn-2422-story.html|title=U.S. Forces Heading Home After Cyclone Mission|agency=Associated Press|date=May 29, 1991|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|issn=0458-3035|access-date=April 29, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/sea_angel.htm|title=Operation Sea Angel / Productive Effort|first=John|last=Pike|website=www.globalsecurity.org|access-date=April 20, 2018}}</ref> In 1992, an estimated 250,000 refugees from [[Burma]] took shelter in Bangladesh due to the suppression of the Burmese pro-democracy movement; most of these refugees returned to Burma by 1993.<ref name="Burma"/> In 1994, Bangladesh provided the largest non-US contingent in [[Operation Uphold Democracy]], a military intervention in [[Haiti]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3452.htm |title=Background Note: Bangladesh |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=9 April 2023 |archive-date=25 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525040012/https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3452.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1996, a year of political upheaval saw a [[February 1996 Bangladeshi general election|boycotted February election]], an [[1996 Bangladeshi coup d'état attempt|attempted military coup]], and mediation efforts producing a [[caretaker government of Bangladesh|caretaker government]] to oversee elections. For three months, [[Muhammad Habibur Rahman]] served as the interim leader of the country. The Awami League returned to power in the [[June 1996 Bangladeshi general election|June election]] after 21 years. One of the first initiatives of Prime Minister [[Sheikh Hasina]] was to repeal the deeply controversial [[Indemnity Ordinance]], which protected her father's killers from prosecution. Hasina also signed the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord]], which ended an insurgency in the southeastern hill districts. She reached an agreement with India for [[sharing the water of the Ganges]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uplbooks.com/book/sharing-ganges-water-indo-bangladesh-treaties-and-international-law | title='Sharing' Ganges Water: Indo-Bangladesh Treaties and International Law | the University Press Limited | access-date=9 April 2023 | archive-date=8 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408192009/http://www.uplbooks.com/book/sharing-ganges-water-indo-bangladesh-treaties-and-international-law | url-status=live }}</ref> In 1997, Sheikh Hasina hosted South Africa's first post-apartheid president [[Nelson Mandela]], [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]] chairman [[Yasser Arafat]], and Turkish president [[Süleyman Demirel]] for the [[silver jubilee]] celebrations of Bangladesh's independence.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mandela.gov.za/mandela_speeches/1997/970326_bangladeshindependence.htm | title=Nelson Mandela - Speeches - Address by President Nelson Mandela at a public rally in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320201221/http://www.mandela.gov.za/mandela_speeches/1997/970326_bangladeshindependence.htm | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=5340df46b69db4179a23d988efac0814&mediatype=video&source=youtube | title=AP | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320201220/https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=5340df46b69db4179a23d988efac0814&mediatype=video&source=youtube | url-status=live }}</ref>
The economic reform momentum lost steam due to political instability, including frequent [[hartal]]s and strikes by the opposition. In 2001, the BNP returned to power on the back of promises to improve the economy. The second Zia administration saw higher economic growth, but security and political problems gripped the country between 2004 and 2006. A radical Islamist militant group, the [[Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh|JMB]], carried out a series of terror attacks. At the end of the BNP's term in 2006, there was widespread political unrest. The Bangladeshi military urged President [[Iajuddin Ahmed]] to impose a [[state of emergency]] and a caretaker government, led by [[Fakhruddin Ahmed]], was installed from January 2007 to December 2008 to implement reforms to the electoral system, judiciary, and bureaucracy.<ref name="Lewis2011"/> The JMB leaders were arrested and later executed in March 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/2007/03/31/d7033101011.htm|title=Six JMB militants hanged|work=The Daily Star|access-date=10 November 2018|archive-date=15 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915190630/http://archive.thedailystar.net/2007/03/31/d7033101011.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
After achieving a landslide victory in the [[2008 Bangladeshi general election]] the Awami League government returned to power, taking their oath on 6 January 2009, with Sheikh Hasina once again becoming the Prime Minister and bringing political stability and economic growth to the nation.<ref name="mid-day">{{Cite news |url=https://www.mid-day.com/articles/hasina-sworn-in-bangladesh-pm-for-second-time/26544|title=Hasina sworn-in Bangladesh PM for second time|date=6 January 2009|work=mid-day|language=en|access-date=9 January 2019|archive-date=14 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414081739/https://www.mid-day.com/articles/hasina-sworn-in-bangladesh-pm-for-second-time/26544|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, the [[Supreme Court of Bangladesh|Supreme Court]] reduced the scope for military interventions through legal loopholes and reaffirmed [[Secularism|secular]] principles in the constitution. The Awami League set up a [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|war crimes tribunal]] to prosecute surviving Bengali Islamist collaborators of the 1971 atrocities. [[Human rights abuses]] increased under Hasina and her administration, particularly [[Forced disappearance in Bangladesh|enforced disappearances]] by the [[Rapid Action Battalion]], with the government being accused as increasingly authoritarian since returning to power in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sheikh Hasina: Once Bangladesh's democracy icon, now its 'authoritarian' PM |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/8/sheikh-hasina-once-bangladeshs-democracy-icon-now-its-authoritarian-pm |access-date=8 January 2024 |website=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |language=en |archive-date=8 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108164635/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/8/sheikh-hasina-once-bangladeshs-democracy-icon-now-its-authoritarian-pm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2 November 2023 |title=Sheikh Hasina and the Future of Democracy in Bangladesh |url=https://time.com/6330463/bangladesh-sheikh-hasina-wazed-profile/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104145458/https://time.com/6330463/bangladesh-sheikh-hasina-wazed-profile/ |archive-date=4 January 2024 |access-date=4 January 2024 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=18 December 2023 |title=Bangladesh's prime minister has plunged her country into authoritarianism |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/12/18/bangladesh-s-prime-minister-has-plunged-her-country-into-authoritarianism_6355434_4.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104165259/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/12/18/bangladesh-s-prime-minister-has-plunged-her-country-into-authoritarianism_6355434_4.html |archive-date=4 January 2024 |access-date=4 January 2024 |work=Le Monde |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bangladesh pushes back at US over visa curbs ahead of election |url=https://www.ft.com/content/394fc6f4-e828-49c6-bb15-8a48683bed76 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108040629/https://www.ft.com/content/394fc6f4-e828-49c6-bb15-8a48683bed76 |archive-date=8 January 2024 |access-date=4 January 2024 |website=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Riaz |first=Ali |date=29 April 2022 |title=Bangladesh's Quiet Slide Into Autocracy |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/bangladesh/2022-04-29/bangladeshs-quiet-slide-autocracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011163040/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/bangladesh/2022-04-29/bangladeshs-quiet-slide-autocracy |archive-date=11 October 2022 |access-date=4 January 2024 |work=Foreign Affairs |language=en-US |issn=0015-7120}}</ref> The [[2014 Bangladeshi general election|2014 elections]] and [[2024 Bangladeshi general election|2024 elections]] were boycotted by the BNP-Jamaat alliance. The BNP and Jamaat have often engaged in violent protests to overthrow the government.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Bangladesh-political-rallies-spark-clashes-as-election-tensions-rise | title=Bangladesh political rallies spark clashes as election tensions rise | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320201219/https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Bangladesh-political-rallies-spark-clashes-as-election-tensions-rise | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/in-bangladesh-bnp-is-derailing-democracy/ | title=In Bangladesh, BNP is Derailing Democracy | access-date=20 March 2024 | archive-date=20 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320201219/https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/in-bangladesh-bnp-is-derailing-democracy/ | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, Bangladesh experienced the largest influx of Arakanese refugees in its history. An estimated 700,000 [[Rohingya]] refugees took shelter in [[Cox's Bazar District|Cox's Bazar]] after a campaign of [[Rohingya genocide|ethnic cleansing]] in [[Rakhine State]], [[Myanmar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/what-we-do/emergencies/bangladesh-rohingya-refugee-crisis#:~:text=Beginning%20on%2025%20August%202017,huge%20protection%20risks%20and%20challenges | title=Bangladesh Rohingya refugee crisis | date=25 May 2022 | access-date=9 April 2023 | archive-date=6 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406191507/https://www.oxfam.org/en/what-we-do/emergencies/bangladesh-rohingya-refugee-crisis#:~:text=Beginning%20on%2025%20August%202017,huge%20protection%20risks%20and%20challenges | url-status=live }}</ref>
The national [[poverty rate]] went down from 80% in 1971 to 44.2% in 1991 to 12.9% in 2021.<ref name="The Daily Star-2021">{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/pre-pandemic-level-poverty-set-drop-further-2193171 |title=Pre-Pandemic Level: Poverty set to drop further |work=The Daily Star |date=8 October 2021 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203050519/https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/pre-pandemic-level-poverty-set-drop-further-2193171 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cri.org.bd/2021/03/26/what-milestones-have-bangladesh-crossed-in-50-years/|title=What milestones have Bangladesh crossed in 50 years|date=26 March 2021|access-date=1 October 2022|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006211719/https://cri.org.bd/2021/03/26/what-milestones-have-bangladesh-crossed-in-50-years/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2018/11/15/bangladesh-reducing-poverty-and-sharing-prosperity|title=Bangladesh: Reducing Poverty and Sharing Prosperity|website=World Bank |access-date=1 October 2022|archive-date=3 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103122155/https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2018/11/15/bangladesh-reducing-poverty-and-sharing-prosperity|url-status=live}}</ref> Bangladeshi economist [[Muhammad Yunus]] and the [[Grameen Bank]], which Yunus founded, were awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for pioneering [[microfinance]] and their efforts to eradicate poverty. Bangladesh has emerged as the second-largest economy in South Asia,<ref name="The Daily Star-2019">{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/bangladesh/bangladesh-ranked-41st-largest-economy-in-2019-all-over-the-world-study-1684078 |title=Bangladesh ranked 41st largest economy in 2019 all over the world |work=The Daily Star |date=8 January 2019 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326035229/https://www.thedailystar.net/bangladesh/bangladesh-ranked-41st-largest-economy-in-2019-all-over-the-world-study-1684078 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="scroll.in">{{cite news |author=Sayeed Iftekhar Ahmed |url=https://scroll.in/article/1019006/where-do-bangladesh-and-pakistan-stand-after-50-years-of-separation#:~:text=Bangladesh%20outpaces%20Pakistan%20across%20all,the%20world's%20fastest%2Dgrowing%20economies |title=Where do Bangladesh and Pakistan stand after 50 years of separation? |work=Scroll.in |date=18 March 2022 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404150359/https://scroll.in/article/1019006/where-do-bangladesh-and-pakistan-stand-after-50-years-of-separation#:~:text=Bangladesh%20outpaces%20Pakistan%20across%20all,the%20world's%20fastest%2Dgrowing%20economies |url-status=live }}</ref> surpassing the per capita income levels of both India and Pakistan.<ref name="Sharma-2021">{{cite news |last=Sharma |first=Mihir |date=31 May 2021 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-31/india-and-pakistan-are-now-poorer-than-bangladesh |title=South Asia Should Pay Attention to Its Standout Star |work=Bloomberg News |type=Opinion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207162332/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-31/india-and-pakistan-are-now-poorer-than-bangladesh |archive-date=7 February 2022 |access-date=2 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="scroll.in"/> Since 2009, Bangladesh has launched a series of infrastructure megaprojects. On 25 June 2022, the [[Padma Bridge]] opened and connected southwestern Bangladesh with the rest of the country, while the [[Dhaka Metro]] was opened in 2023.<ref name="likely">{{cite news |date=24 June 2022 |title=Grand preparations made for Padma Bridge inauguration |work=The Daily Star |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/development/news/grand-preparations-made-padma-bridge-inauguration-3055601 |access-date=24 June 2022 |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624173743/https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/development/news/grand-preparations-made-padma-bridge-inauguration-3055601 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64111526 | title=Bangladesh: Densely-populated Dhaka gets first metro line | work=BBC News | date=28 December 2022 | access-date=18 August 2023 | archive-date=18 August 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818205402/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64111526 | url-status=live }}</ref> As part of the [[green transition]], Bangladesh's industrial sector emerged as a leader in building green factories, with the country having the largest number of certified green factories in the world in 2023.<ref>[https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/321769/spearheading-sustainable-industries". Spearheading sustainable industries"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818205402/https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/321769/spearheading-sustainable-industries |date=18 August 2023 }}. ''Dhaka Tribune.'' 6 August 2023.</ref> In January 2024, Awami League led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured a fourth straight term in Bangladesh's [[2024 Bangladeshi general election|general election]]. The [[Jatiya Party (Ershad)|Jatiya Party]] was the main opposition party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh election: PM Sheikh Hasina wins fourth term in controversial vote |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67889387 |date=7 January 2024 |access-date=17 February 2024 |archive-date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107212214/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67889387 |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 2024, the government vowed to keep the country's pace of rapid economic development ongoing.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bssnews.net/news/pm/180719 | title=PM for joint efforts by all to expedite country's advancement | PM }}</ref>
Following [[2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement|nationwide protests]] against the [[Awami League]] government, on the 5th of August 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was [[Non-cooperation movement (2024)#Resignation of Sheikh Hasina|forced to resign and flee]] from Bangladesh to India.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bangladesh's prime minister flees country and resigns after deadly protest |url=https://news.sky.com/story/bangladesh-prime-minister-resigns-after-deadly-protests-reports-13191184 |date=2024-08-05 |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=[[Sky News]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/05/bangladesh-pm-has-resigned-and-left-country-media-reports-say-sheikh-hasina|title=Bangladesh PM has resigned and left country, reports say |date=2024-08-05 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country, media reports say |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-protesters-call-march-dhaka-defiance-curfew-2024-08-05/ |access-date=5 August 2024 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=5 August 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="resign TST">{{Cite news |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/bangladesh-protest-pm-sheikh-hasina-resign-storm-palace-flee-safety-4527106 |title=Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns and flees as protesters storm palace |date=5 August 2024 |access-date=5 August 2024 |website=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref><ref name=resign>{{Cite news |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3273265/bangladesh-pm-sheikh-hasina-has-resigned-and-left-country-media-reports-say |title=Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has resigned and left the country, media reports say |date=5 August 2024 |access-date=5 August 2024 |website=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref> An [[2024 Bangladesh interim government|interim government]] was formed on 8 August 2024, with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the [[Chief Advisor of Bangladesh|Chief Advisor]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/yunus-led-interim-govt-sworn-3672581 | title=Yunus-led interim govt sworn in }}</ref>
==Geography==
Bangladesh is in South Asia on the [[Bay of Bengal]]. It is surrounded almost entirely by neighbouring India, and shares a small border with [[Myanmar]] to its southeast, though it lies very close to [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], and China. The country is divided into three regions. Most of the country is dominated by the fertile [[Ganges Delta]], the largest river delta in the world.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Aditi Rajagopal|title=How the World's Largest Delta Might Slowly Go Under Water |url=https://www.discovery.com/nature/largest-delta-underwater|website=Discovery|date=8 February 2020|access-date=9 March 2020|archive-date=8 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208052815/http://www.discovery.com/nature/largest-delta-underwater|url-status=live}}</ref> The northwest and central parts of the country are formed by the [[Madhupur tract|Madhupur]] and the [[Barind Tract|Barind]] plateaus. The northeast and southeast are home to [[evergreen]] hill ranges.
The Ganges delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name [[Padma River|Padma]] or ''Pôdda''), [[Brahmaputra River|Brahmaputra]] ([[Jamuna River (Bangladesh)|Jamuna]] or ''Jomuna''), and [[Meghna River|Meghna]] rivers and their tributaries. The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later join the Meghna, finally flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is called the "Land of Rivers";<ref>{{cite web |title=No Place Like Home – BANGLADESH: LAND OF RIVERS |url=https://ejfoundation.org/films/bangladesh-land-of-rivers |work=Environmental Justice Foundation |access-date=10 March 2020 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930051647/https://ejfoundation.org/films/bangladesh-land-of-rivers |url-status=live }}</ref> as it is home to over 57 [[trans-boundary river]]s, the most of any nation-state. Water issues are hence politically complicated since the country is a lower [[Riparian zone|riparian]] state to India.<ref>{{cite book |last=Suvedī |first=Sūryaprasāda |title=International watercourses law for the 21st century |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |year=2005 |pages=154–166 |isbn=978-0-7546-4527-6}}</ref>
Bangladesh is predominantly rich fertile flat land. Most of it is less than {{convert|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level, and it is estimated that about 10% of its land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ali">{{cite journal |last=Ali |first=A. |title=Vulnerability of Bangladesh to climate change and sea level rise through tropical cyclones and storm surges |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00175563 |journal=Water, Air, & Soil Pollution |volume=92 |issue=1–2 |pages=171–179 |year=1996 |bibcode=1996WASP...92..171A |s2cid=93611792 |doi=10.1007/BF00175563 |access-date=1 February 2020 |archive-date=1 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201143058/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00175563 |url-status=live }}</ref> 17% of the country is covered by forests and 12% is covered by hill systems. The country's [[haor]] wetlands are of significance to global environmental science. The [[List of mountains of Bangladesh|highest point in Bangladesh]] is the [[Saka Haphong]], located near the border with Myanmar, with an elevation of {{convert|1064|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name=CIA/> Previously, either [[Keokradong]] or [[Tazing Dong]] were considered the highest.
===Urban centres===
{{Further|List of cities and towns in Bangladesh}}
Bangladesh's capital Dhaka and the largest city and is overseen by two city corporations that manage between them the northern and southern parts of the city. There are 12 [[List of City Corporations of Bangladesh|city corporations]] which hold mayoral elections: Dhaka South, Dhaka North, [[Chittagong]], [[Comilla]], [[Khulna]], [[Mymensingh]], [[Sylhet]], [[Rajshahi]], [[Barisal]], [[Rangpur, Bangladesh|Rangpur]], [[Gazipur, Dhaka Division|Gazipur]] and [[Narayanganj]]. But there are 8 district's in total. There being 8 districts in total. They are- [[Dhaka]],[[Chittagong]],[[Sylhet]],[[Rangpur, Bangladesh|Rangpur]],[[Rajshahi]], [[Khulna]], [[Mymensingh]], [[Barishal]]. Mayors are elected for five-year terms. Altogether there are 506 urban centres in Bangladesh which 43 cities have a population of more than 100,000.
{{Largest cities
| country = Bangladesh
===Language===
{{Main|Languages of Bangladesh}}
The official and predominant language of Bangladesh is [[Bengali language|Bengali]], which is spoken by more than 99% of the population as their [[first language|native language]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Population and Housing Census 2022: Report on Socio-Economic and Demographic Survey 2023 |url=http://nsds.bbs.gov.bd/storage/files/1/SEDS_2023_Report.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=AugustJune 2024 |publisher=Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics |page=xx |isbn=978-984-35-2977-0}}</ref><ref name="LOG">{{cite webencyclopedia |last1=Rahim |first1=Enayetur |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert L. |title=Ethnicity and Linguistic Diversity |encyclopedia=Bangladesh: a country study |year=1989 |access-date=24 September 2022 |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/29.htm |publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]] |page=59 |oclc=49223313}}</ref> Bengali is described as a [[dialect continuum]] where there are various [[Bengali dialects|dialects]] spoken throughout the country. There is a [[diglossia]] in which much of the population can understand or speak Standard Colloquial Bengali, and their regional dialects.<ref>{{cite webnews |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/amar-ekushey-2018/amago-bhasha-1537534 |title=Amago Basha |last=Khan |first=Sameer Ud Dowla |date=21 February 2018 |access-date=24 September 2022 |work=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]}}</ref> These include [[Chittagonian language|Chittagonian]] orand [[Sylheti language|Sylheti]],<ref name="LOG"/> though some linguists consider them as separate languages.<ref name="LOG"/>
English plays an important role in Bangladesh's judicial and educational affairs, due to the country's history as part of the British Empire. It is widely spoken and commonly understood, and is taught as a compulsory subject in all [[List of schools in Bangladesh|schools]], [[List of colleges in Bangladesh|colleges]] and [[List of universities in Bangladesh|universities]], while the English-medium educational system is widely attended.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rahman |first1=Mohammad Mosiur |last2=Islam |first2=Mohammad Shaiful |last3=Karim |first3=Abdul |last4=Chowdhury |first4=Takad Ahmed |last5=Rahman |first5=Muhammad Mushfiqur |last6=Ibna Seraj |first6=Prodhan Mahbub |last7=Mehar Singh |first7=Manjet Kaur |title=English language teaching in Bangladesh today: Issues, outcomes, and implications |date=5 June 2019 |journal=Language Testing in Asia |volume=9 |number=9 |doi=10.1186/s40468-019-0085-8 |s2cid=189801612 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
Tribal languages, although increasingly endangered, include the [[Chakma language]], another native Eastern Indo-Aryan language, spoken by the Chakma people. Others are [[Garo language|Garo]], [[Meitei language|Meitei]], [[Kokborok]] and [[Rakhine language|Rakhine]]. Among the [[Austroasiatic languages]], the most spoken is the [[Santali language]], native to the [[Santal people]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Seung |first1=Kim |last2=Kim |first2=Amy |title=The Santali cluster in Bangladesh: a sociolinguistic survey |year=2010 |url=https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/85/39/32/85393268857150358467007206894440229270/silesr2010_006.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.sil.org/system/files/reapdata/85/39/32/85393268857150358467007206894440229270/silesr2010_006.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |issue=2010–006 |publisher=[[SIL International]] |series=Survey Report |access-date=24 September 2022}}</ref>
The [[Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh|stranded Pakistanis]] and some sections of the [[Dhakaiyas|Old Dhakaite]]s often use [[Urdu]] as their native tongue. Still, the usage of the latter remains highly reproached.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ashrafi |first=Shah Tazrian |title=How the Urdu language and literature slipped into darkness in Bangladesh |url=https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/how-the-urdu-language-and-literature-slipped-into-darkness-in-bangladesh-43391 |work=[[TRT World]] |date=19 January 2021 |type=Opinion |access-date=24 September 2022}}</ref>
=== Religion ===
}}-->
Bangladesh was constitutionally proclaimed as a [[secular state]] in 1972. ItSecularism grantsis [[freedomone of religion]],its ensuresfour [[separationfounding ofconstitutional churchprinciples. andThe state]],constitution andalso claimsgrants to[[freedom beof "secular in practise"religion]], while establishing Islam as the [[state religion]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24556.html |title=The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh (part II) |website=Laws of Bangladesh}}</ref><ref name="Secularism">{{cite web |url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-details-367.html |title=The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |website=Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs |access-date=17 May 2019 |quote=Article 2A. – The state religion and Article 12. – Secularism and freedom of religion}}</ref><ref name="constituteproject">{{cite web |url=https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Bangladesh_2014.pdf?lang=en|title=Bangladesh's Constitution of 1972, Reinstated in 1986, with Amendments through 2014|website=constituteproject.org|access-date=29 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera:1">{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/bangladesh-court-upholds-islam-religion-state-160328112919301.html|title=Bangladesh court upholds Islam as the religion of the state |last=Bergman |first=David|date=28 March 2016|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> The constitution bans religion-based politics and discrimination, and proclaims equal recognition of people adhering to all faiths.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2013/sca/222325.htm|title=Report on International Religious Freedom|website=U.S. Department of State|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref> [[Islam in Bangladesh|Islam]] is the largest religion across the country, being followed by about 91.1% of the population.<ref name="dhakatribune1" /><ref name="globalreligiousfutures1">{{cite web|title=Religions in Bangladesh | PEW-GRF|url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/bangladesh#/?affiliations_religion_id=14&affiliations_year=2020®ion_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2020|access-date=26 June 2022|archive-date=27 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127112329/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/bangladesh#/?affiliations_religion_id=14&affiliations_year=2020®ion_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2020|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="kbrs">{{cite web |title=Know Bangladesh |url=https://bangladesh.gov.bd/site/page/812d94a8-0376-4579-a8f1-a1f66fa5df5d/Know--Bangladesh |website=Government of Bangladesh |access-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009183830/http://www.bangladesh.gov.bd/site/page/812d94a8-0376-4579-a8f1-a1f66fa5df5d/Know--Bangladesh |archive-date=9 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The vast majority of Bangladeshi citizens are [[Bengali Muslims]], adhering to [[Sunni Islam]]. The country is the third-most populous Muslim-majority state in the world and has the fourth-largest overall Muslim population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://features.pewforum.org/muslim-population/?sort=Pop2010 |title=Muslim Population by Country |publisher=Pew Research |date=27 January 2011 |access-date=23 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726201620/http://features.pewforum.org/muslim-population/?sort=Pop2010 |archive-date=26 July 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Before the partition of India in 1941, Hindus formed 28% of the population. AfterMass the formationexodus of Banglahindu-refugees Desh,from the Hindusthen wereEast 13.50%Pakistan into 1974.India Aftertook theplace independenceduring therethe was1971 a[[Bangladesh drastic decreaseWar of theIndependence]], Hindusdue andto arePakistan mainArmy's minoritiesgenocidal inonslaught. After the formation of Bangladesh, the Hindus constituted 13.50% in 1974. In 2022, [[Hinduism in Bangladesh|Hinduism]] is followed by 7.9% of the population,<ref name="dhakatribune1"/><ref name="globalreligiousfutures1"/><ref name=kbrs/> mainly by the [[Bengali Hindus]], who form the country's second-largest religious group and the third-largest Hindu community globally, after those in India and Nepal. [[Buddhism in Bangladesh|Buddhism]] is the third-largest religion, at 0.6% of the population. Bangladeshi Buddhists are concentrated among the tribal ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. At the same time, coastal Chittagong is home to many [[Bengali Buddhist]]s. Christianity is the fourth-largest religion at 0.3%, followed mainly by a small [[Bengali Christians|Bengali Christian]] minority. 0.1% of the population practices other religions like [[Animism]] or is [[Irreligion|irreligious]].<ref name="dhakatribune1"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://archive.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2012-09-22/news/291536|script-title=bn:১০ বছরে ৯ লাখ হিন্দু কমেছে |work=Prothom Alo |language=bn |access-date=3 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224032117/http://archive.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2012-09-22/news/291536|archive-date=24 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Education ===
===Media and cinema===
{{Main|Media of Bangladesh|Cinema of Bangladesh}}
[[File:Anwar Hossain in the film "Nawab Sirajuddoulah" (1967).jpg|thumb|[[Anwar Hossain (actor)|Anwar Hossain]] playing [[Siraj-ud-Daulah]], the last independent [[Nawabs of Bengal|Nawab of Bengal]], in the 1967 film ''[[Nawab Sirajuddaula (film)|Nawab Sirajuddaulah]]'']]
The Bangladeshi press is diverse and privately owned. Over 200 newspapers are published in the country. [[Bangladesh Betar]] is a state-run radio service.<ref>{{cite news |title=Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra's Rashidul Hossain passes away |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/12/22/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendras-rashidul-hossain-passes-away |work=bdnews24.com |access-date=2 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229065132/http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/12/22/swadhin-bangla-betar-kendras-rashidul-hossain-passes-away |archive-date=29 December 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] operates the popular [[BBC Bangla]] news and current affairs service. Bengali broadcasts from [[Voice of America]] are also very popular. [[Bangladesh Television]] (BTV) is a state-owned television network. More than 20 privately owned television networks, including several [[news channel]]s. [[Freedom of the media]] remains a major concern due to government attempts at censorship and the harassment of journalists.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Bangladesh National Football Team in Maldives in the SAFF Championship 2021.jpg|thumb|[[Bangladesh national football team|Bangladesh football team]]]]
[[Association football|Football]] is also a leading sport in Bangladesh.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/football-the-game-which-makes-us-come-alive-1671032486|title=Football ... the game which makes us come alive|date=14 December 2022|website=The Financial Express}}</ref> Although football was seen as the most popular sport in the country before the 21st century, success in cricket has overshadowed its previous popularity. The first instance of a national football team was the emergence of the [[Shadhin Bangla Football Team|Shadhin Bangla Team]], which played friendly matches throughout India to raise international awareness about the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/sports/shadhin-bangla-football-dal-team-no-other |title='Shadhin Bangla Football Dal': A team like no other |date=16 December 2019 |work=The Business Standard |access-date=15 August 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815160845/https://www.tbsnews.net/sports/shadhin-bangla-football-dal-team-no-other |url-status=live }}</ref> On 2625 July 1971, the team's captain, [[Zakaria Pintoo]], became the first person to hoist the Bangladesh flag on foreign land before their match in [[Nadia district]] of [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newagebd.net/article/133717/i-am-luckier-than-pele-zakaria-pintoo|title=I am luckier than Pele: Zakaria Pintoo|date=26 March 2021|work=New Age}}</ref> Following independence, the [[Bangladesh national football team|national football team]] participated in the [[AFC Asian Cup]] ([[1980 AFC Asian Cup|1980]]), becoming only the second South Asian team to do so.<ref>{{cite news|script-title=bn:যে ম্যাচগুলো 'আফসোস' বাংলাদেশের ফুটবলে|url=https://www.prothomalo.com/sports/football/%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8B-%E2%80%98%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AB%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B8%E2%80%99-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AB%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%87|first=Niar|last=Iqbal|language=bn|work=Prothom Alo|date=6 April 2020}}</ref> Bangladesh's most notable achievements in football include the [[2003 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup|2003 SAFF Gold Cup]] and [[Football at the 1999 South Asian Games|1999 South Asian Games]]. In 2022, the [[Bangladesh women's national football team]] won the [[2022 SAFF Women's Championship]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2022/09/19/president-pm-lauds-bangladesh-team-for-winning-saff-womens-championship-2022 |title=President, PM lauds Bangladesh team for winning SAFF Women's Championship 2022|website=[[Dhaka Tribune]]|date=19 September 2022 |access-date=19 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/sport/2022/09/19/bangladesh-women-create-history-clinch-saff-championship-for-first-time |title=Bangladesh women create history, clinch Saff Championship for first time|website=[[Dhaka Tribune]]|date=19 September 2022 |access-date=19 September 2022}}</ref>
Bangladesh archers Ety Khatun and Roman Sana won several gold medals winning all the 10 [[archery]] events (both individual and team events) in the [[2019 South Asian Games]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/sports/athletics/bangladesh-win-all-10-golds-in-archery-sa-games-2019-1837909 |title=Ety, Sana complete Bangladesh's clean sweep in archery |date=9 December 2019 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref> The [[National Sports Council]] regulates 42 sporting federations.<ref>{{cite web|title=All Affiliated National Federation/Association |url=http://nsc.gov.bd/n/?cat=11 |publisher=[[National Sports Council]] |access-date=25 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121160742/http://nsc.gov.bd/n/?cat=11 |archive-date=21 January 2013}}</ref> [[Chess]] is very popular in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has five grandmasters in chess. Among them, [[Niaz Murshed]] was the first grandmaster in South Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bdchessfed.com/grand-masters|title=Bangladesh Chess Federation|website=bdchessfed.com|access-date=17 January 2020|archive-date=29 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129112718/http://bdchessfed.com/grand-masters/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2010, mountain climber [[Musa Ibrahim]] became the first Bangladeshi climber to conquer [[Mount Everest]].<ref name="dailystardetail">{{cite news |title=Musa conquers Everest |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=139787 |work=The Daily Star |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027015045/https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-139787 |archive-date=27 October 2017 |date=24 May 2010}}</ref> [[Wasfia Nazreen]] is the first Bangladeshi climber to climb the [[Seven Summits]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Mary Anne Potts |title=Bangladeshi Climber Shares Her Spiritual Journey for the Women of Her Country |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventure-blog/2016/05/27/bangadeshi-climber-wasfia-nazreen-shares-her-spiritual-journey-for-the-women-of-her-country/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119031640/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventure-blog/2016/05/27/bangadeshi-climber-wasfia-nazreen-shares-her-spiritual-journey-for-the-women-of-her-country/ |archive-date=19 November 2019 |website=National Geographic |date=27 May 2016}}</ref>
|
