5 Interesting Facts About Bangladesh That No One Knows

5 Interesting Facts About Bangladesh That No One Knows

1. Bangladesh Didn't Exist Before 1971

 Before 1971 Bangladesh didn't exist. The region of Bengal was ruled by a list of Indian, Turkic, and Mughal dynasties as well as the British. In 1947, the British Raj relinquished its rule over the Indian sub-continent following decades of independence movements, resulting in the establishment of the countries of India and Pakistan—East and West Pakistan. Bangladesh was “East Pakistan” until its Independence in 1971

2. The Only Country to Fight a War and Declare Independence Over Language

The name “Bangladesh” is made up of two words; “Bangla," the native name of the Bengali language, and “desh," meaning country.

In the years following the division of the Indian sub-continent, tensions rose between West and East Pakistan (Bangladesh) on a number of different fronts including West Pakistan’s economic exploitation of East Pakistan, political division, cultural differences, views on religious fundamentalism and most importantly—language.

In 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the All-India Muslim league and founder of Pakistan declared in Dhaka that Urdu alone should be the national language of Pakistan. This was strongly opposed by the populace of East Pakistan and following the deaths of students and civilians in demonstrations against it on February 21 1952* and West Pakistan imposed martial law, resentment towards West Pakistan continued to fester until on March 7, 1971 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh in a speech urged every household in East Pakistan to remain a “fort of resistance”

West Pakistan reacted violently to this with systematic targeted killings at the University of Dhaka and political and ethnic killings around East Pakistan on March 25, 1971. On March 26, 1971 a declaration of independence was broadcasted across East Pakistan in reaction to the killings and war ensued⁵.
With the assistance of the India the East Pakistani liberation fighters finally defeated West Pakistan by December. West Pakistan signed an Instrument of Surrender on the 16^th of December 1971 and Bangladesh was born.

3. The Origin of “Bangla” and Ancient History

Although the precise origin of the word “Bangla” or “Bengal” is unknown, it is often attributed to the ancient kingdom of Vanga which was first mentioned in the Aranyanka layers and the Bodhayana sutras of the Vedic texts. They mention the Vangas as a tribe of people living in the regions beyond the borders of the Aryan civilisation in current day central and eastern Bengal (Bangladesh) with intimate political ties to the aristocracy of the ancient kingdom of Ayodhya⁷, now a city in current day India.

A seafaring thalossocracy, the Arthaxastra of Kautilya, a subsequent ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy, mentions the kingdom as the producers of the finest quality white and soft cotton fabrics

4. Bangladesh has more people than Russia

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated country, actually Bangladesh is on the top in the countries with more than 10 million people.

The circled green part is Bangladesh, and the whole red giant is Russia. Bangladesh have 156.6 million, and Russia has a population of 143.5 million.

 5.The oldest university in Dhaka

One of the oldest and historic universities in the world attracts the students from all the corners of Bangladesh for higher studies. The graduation period is generally five years here. Too long!!