THE MUSLIM PERIOD
Muslim power had been creeping towards India from the Middle East for centuries before Mohammed Bakhtiar, a Khijis from the Turkistan region of central Asia, appeared on the scene. With only 20 men, and by means of a bold and clever stratagem, Bakhtiar captured Bengal in 1199, and brought the area under the rule of the sultanate of Delhi, the centre of Muslims power which already held sway over most of northern India. For a short period the Mameluk Sultante was established in Bengal, but in the 14th century this was overrun by the holders of timur ( better known in the west as Tamerlane ), and the Tughluk Sultanate was formed. The influx of Muslims from Samarkand, Balkh and Abyssinia, and of Persians from Shiraz continued, and under the Muslims Bengal entered a new era. Cities Devloped, palaces sprange up along with forts, mosques, mausoleums and gardens, roads and bridges were constructed, and prosperity brought a new cultural life. The Afghans arrived 1520 and contributed further to the urbanization of the land. In particular, the city of gaud on the Indian border emerged as a cosmopolitan metropolis.In 1526 the Sultanate of Delhi was overthrown by Babur, a descendant of both Timur and Genghis Khan, and the Mughal Empire under this Central Asian leader reached out to encompass most of northern India. It was not until 1576, however, that Babur’s grand-son Akbar finally defeated the Bengali Sultan Daud Karrani at the Battle of Tukaroi and Bengal became a province of the Mughal Empire. Gaud remained the center of power in Bengal unit the capital was moved to Dhaka in 1608. Under the Mughal viceroys, urbanization continued, art and literature flourished, overland trade expended and Bengal was opened to world maritimes trade. Intellectual and cultural life at this time was influenced mainly by the Persians, particularly by the Sifis, Muslims mystics who seek direct experience of divine love and wisdom, and who recite, or write, mystical love poetry.Glorious at its peak, the Mughal Empire ushered in another golden age in india, only to be the country’s final great colonial power-the Bengal.
THE EUROPEAN PERIOD
With the growth of international maritime trade and commerce, Europeans began to establish themselves in the region. The Portuguese had founded settlements as early as the 15th century, and were soon joined by the East India Company: a London-based trading firm that had been granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, giving them a monopoly over British trade with India. After a few initial setbacks- the Portuguese were ousted from their foothold on 1633 by Bengali opposition, and the British failed in an attempt to capture Chittagong in 1686-the European juggernaut was unstoppable. The British managed to negotiate trade terms with the authorities in Bengali and established a fortified trading post at Calcutta, dealing mainly in cotton, raw silk, yarn, sugar and saltpeter. Following the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 come the decline of Mughal power, and the provincial governors of the once great empire began to assume autonomy. In 1740 Sarfaraz Khan, the viceroy of the three provinces of Bengali, Orissa and Bihar, was overthrown by Ali Vardi khan, a subordinate official in charge of the administration of Bihar. This heralded the rise of the independent dynasty of the nawab of Bengal, with whom the Englishman Robert Clive came in contact. The East India Company’s trading post at Calcutta was a thriving concern by now and Calcutta was fast becoming a great center of trade and commerce. The role of Robert Clive in establishing British control over Bengal is well-Known. Originally a mere clerk with the East Indian Company, he rose to become the local head of the Company, and the effective ruler of the province, after a series of wars against local potentates. In 1756 Suraj-ud-Daula, the 21 year old Nawab of Bengal, attacked the British settlement of Calcutta. The British inhabitants unlucky enough not to escape were packed an into underground cellar, where most of them suffocated during the night in the infamous ‘Black Hole of Calcutta”. A year later Clive retook Calcutta and in the Battle of Plessey defeated defeated Suraj-ud-Daula. As a result the British became the defector rulers of Bengal, and the East Indian Company governed the providence through puppet nawabs, effectively exercising its raj (sovereignty) over the province. This was the start of British government intervention in Indian affairs. The Company’s control over Bengal aroused concern in London, leading to the passage of an act regulating its power. Following the Indian Mutiny, or First War of Independence, of 1857, during which Bengal had been used as a secure base for British operations, the British government took control of India from the East Indian Company.
BRITISH RAJ
Even the Raj machine found that it didn’t
escape the influence of the area. The British engineers found that the rivers
here were sometimes beyond their taming, and the earlier British settlers in
this backwater came to be considered not quite pukka (genuine) by their more
proper counterparts elsewhere in India. Quite a number of the chaps went
native’ and they even spent their time playing a silly game they called polo.It has been said that the British Raj ushered
Bengal into another period of growth and development, but Bangladeshi
historians hotly dispute this. The consider the dictatorial agriculture
policies of the British in east Bengal, and the establishment of the zamibder
(landowner) system, as being responsible for the draining the country of its
wealth, damaging to today’s desperate condition. 
Karjon Hall Dhaka.
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Zaminders were independent rent collectors,
who administered areas under their jurisdiction, for the Raj. Although many of
them were given or adopted the title of raja (ruler or landlord), they were
really entrepreneurs. In addition, they were really always Hindus, which grated
on the predominantly Muslim peasantry of east Bengal. The introduction of the English language and
the British educational, administrative and judicial systems established an
organizational and social structure unparalleled in Bengal in its breadth and
dominance. There were new buildings, roads, bridges, a railway system and
continued urbanization. Calcutta became one of the most important centres of
commerce, education, culture and the arts on the subcontinent.The establishment of the British Raj was a
relief to the Hindus but a catastrophe for the Muslims. The Hindus immediately
began to cooperate with the British, entering British educational institutions
and studying the English language. The Muslims on the other hand refused to
cooperate, preferring to remain landlords and farmers. Bengal’s religious dichotomy formed a
significant basis for future conflict. Unlike the rest of India, the people of
Bengal were predominantly Muslim and from early on, Islamic fervor against the
British was strong, flaring up whenever any crop other local product was made
uneconomic by government policy.At the end of the 19th century
Bengal was an overgrown province of 78 million people, comprising Bengal, Bihar
and Orissa. A massive earthquake struck the country in 1897, causing havoc over
large areas of present-day Bangladesh. Many buildings and stately rajbaris
(zaminderi palaces) that caved in were never repaired; today they are decaying
historical monuments. In 1905 Load Curzon, the Victory of India, decided to
partition Bengal for administrative purpose into East Bengal and Assam, and
West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The new province of East Bengal and Assam, with
a population of 31 million people, had its capital at Dhaka. The Indian National Congress, which had been
formed in 1885, was originally supported by both Hindus and Muslims. But
division of Bengal was seen as a religious partition, prompting the formation
of the All India Muslim League in the following year. Its purpose was the protection
of Muslim interests, as the Congress was increasingly being perceived as a
Hindu power group. This first partition of Bengal physically
defined by the Brahmaputra and the Padma rivers. East Bengal prospered, Dhaka
assumed its old status as capital and Chittagong became an important sea port.Although the partition of Bengal was opposed
by Hindus and Muslims began to have doubts. They feared Hindus social, economic
and even political dominance and continued to press for Muslim autonomy.At the same time the imperial capital of the
British Raj was moved to Delhi, and although Calcutta remained an important
commercial, cultural and political centre, the rest of Bengal was neglected.
Political agitation increased over the next few decades as did the violent
enmity between Muslims and Hindus. Although there was a movement in favour of a
united Bengal, the Muslims supported repartition and the formation of a Muslim
state separate from India.
