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Questions and Answers
What are some of the common vocabularies associated with food habits of the people of Bengal?
dhan, chaul, bhat, parboiled, flattened, ground, puffed
Discuss the emergence of urban life with proper evidences.
Rice-based deltaic agriculture led to sedentary lifestyles and the emergence of urban centres by the fifth century BCE. Excavations at Wari-Bateshwar in eastern Bangladesh have revealed a fortified citadel, evidence of long-distance maritime trade, and the existence of Bengal's early states. Notable findings include iron-smelting, semi-precious stone bead industries, silver coins, and a road made of potsherds and crushed bricks. The discoveries at Wari-Bateshwar suggest it was a major administrative center on the Brahmaputra river.
What is often unclear about the integration of local and regional polities into large realms in the Bengal delta?
According to Sheena Panja, what were the towering brick constructions such as Paharpur seen as?
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What is the earliest written record in Bangladesh, and where was it discovered?
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Which languages were spoken by the inhabitants of early villages and towns in Bengal delta?
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According to an early source, in periods of political fragmentation 'every Ksatriya, grandee, Brahman and merchant was a king in his own ____.and there was no king ruling over the country.'
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The socio-economic and political development of the Bengal delta often followed a North-Indian model.
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Sanskrit culture first reached the Bengal delta from the east around the 5th century BCE.
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Rarh, Pundra, and Vanga are regions in _________ Bengal.
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What is another name for Tamluk, a city in Bengal delta that was an important port?
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Study Notes
The Pre-Historic Bengal Delta
- The Bengal delta was once covered in dense rainforests and wetlands, with high biodiversity.
- The decline of the Bengalian rainforest is directly related to the success of human beings, who have been roaming the forests and rivers of Bangladesh for thousands of years.
The Early Inhabitants of Bengal
- Few early remains have been found, and experts do not agree on when humans first entered the region.
- Some suggest humans entered the region from the north-east, crossing the mountains from China around 60,000 years ago.
- Others suggest a discrete regional culture developed in Bengal well before 100,000 BCE.
Archaeological Discoveries
- The eastern hills of Bangladesh and the western plateaux (now in West Bengal, India) give the best clues to the early inhabitants of the region.
- Stone, pebbles, and petrified wood (fossil wood) were available in these areas, and fossil wood industries producing hand axes, blades, and scrapers have been found.
- These tools have been linked to similar tools from West Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa (India) and the Irrawaddy delta (Burma).
The Emergence of Agriculture and Permanent Settlements
- Cultivation of plants and domestication of animals occurred well before 1500 BCE.
- The earliest evidence of settled agricultural communities comes from West Bengal.
- Stone and bone tools, pottery with geometric designs, iron agricultural implements, and the bones of domesticated animals have been found in these areas.
The Significance of Rice in Bengali Culture
- Rice is extremely well-suited to the ecology of Bangladesh, where it is known as dhan (paddy) when on the field or unhusked, chaul (husked) and bhat (boiled).
- There are many different words to describe rice in other forms: parboiled, flattened, ground, or puffed.
- Generations of cultivators have selected and adapted rice to suit their needs, especially with regard to resistance to disease, growing season, and taste.
Urban Life in Ancient Bengal
- The success of rice-based deltaic agriculture provided the basis for sedentary lifestyles, which led to urban centers, long-distance maritime trade, and Bengal's first sizable states.
- The port city of Wari-Bateshwar was a major administrative center on the banks of the Brahmaputra river, with evidence of iron-smelting and semi-precious-stone bead industries.
Linguistic History of Bangladesh
- The various communities of cultivators, fishing and craft persons, religious specialists, traders, and rulers spoke languages belonging to different language families: Tibeto-Burman, Austro-Asiatic, and Dravidian.
- Languages of the Indo-European family (to which Bengali belongs) began to spread only from about the fourth century BCE, possibly as languages of rule.
- Many common words relating to water, land, nature, agriculture, fishing, and settlement are thought to derive from these earlier languages.
The Influence of Sanskrit on Bangla Language
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Sanskrit writers had little knowledge of the area now covered by Bangladesh, and anyone returning from there had to undergo expiatory rites.
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Writers in Sanskrit revised their opinion somewhat as their centers of cultural production shifted eastwards from the upper to the middle Ganges delta.
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Eastern Bengal would remain largely unknown to them for much longer, and Sanskritic learning may not have begun to spread widely in Bengal till towards the end of the eleventh century.### New Approaches to Archaeology
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New approaches to archaeology are being introduced in Bangladesh for the first time, filling in the picture of Bangladesh as a meeting ground of Sanskritic and non-Sanskritic worldviews over millennia.
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Scientific excavations with detailed attention to archaeological strata and everyday life in the early Bengal delta are showing there is still a world to discover.
The Rise and Fall of States
- The Bengal delta's productive agriculture made it possible for socially stratified and economically diversified societies to develop from early times.
- Urban centers came up as early as the fifth century BCE, with large towns developing along major rivers rather than on the exposed sea coast.
- The fortunes of these towns were linked to the whims of the deltaic rivers: whenever a river moved course and the port silted up, the town would decline.
- Examples of this include Tamralipti, one of India's largest ports, which reversed its fortunes in the eighth century CE as the delta expanded southwards and its port silted up.
- Lakhnauti-Gaur is another example, demonstrating the vicissitudes of riverside urbanization, with many cycles of development and decay.
Gaur: A City of Prosperity and Decline
- Gaur was the capital of the Sena dynasty in the twelfth century CE and was one of the largest cities of South Asia in the fifteenth century.
- The city had a population of around 200,000 (although one estimate put it at 1.2 million) and was known for its broad and straight streets, ornamental tiles, and courtyards.
- However, the city's fortunes were dependent on the river, and it was eventually abandoned due to a combination of political instability and problems in trade with South-east Asia.
- Today, the river flows about fifteen kilometers from Gaur's ruins, which stretch over an area of thirty by six kilometers.
Flexible Urbanization and State Formation
- The Bengal delta's history is marked by flexible urbanization, with centers of urban power and commerce being remarkably mobile and so have their inhabitants and the trade routes they served.
- The same holds for the political organizations and states ruling the delta, with a continual emergence and decline of local and regional polities that only occasionally became integrated into large realms.
- The early history of state formation in the Bengal delta is characterized by a pattern of small and transient polities, with occasional integration into larger states.
Fragmentation and Regional States
- The western delta was more often part of large states than the eastern delta, with the Maurya and Gupta spheres of influence covering most of the delta.
- Regional states in Bengal occasionally expanded to the west, such as in the seventh century CE when Sasanka, the ruler of the north Bengal state of Gaur, ventured into north India.
- The eastern delta and southern region of Chittagong saw a succession of local states and episodic integration into states whose centers of power lay in Tripura, to the east, and Arakan, to the south.
Power and Authority
- The actual power of rulers over the agricultural population is difficult to assess, with some arguing that impressive monuments constructed by rulers were signs of weakness.
- The local population, whose lives were attuned to impermanence, probably set little store by these monuments.
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Description
Discover the history of Bengal, from its dense rainforests and wetlands to its decline in the last few centuries. Learn about the region's biodiversity and wildlife.
