DEV 101.lecture M 1-C 3.exploring Our Roots (II) .Geographical Features and Origin of Bangladesh

Lecture : M 1- C 3
Exploring Our Roots (ii):

Geographical Features and
Origin of Bangladesh
Geographical Features and

Geographical Features


Geographical Features and Origin of Bangladesh

Rivers
Total rivers including tributaries and
distributaries are about 700

They are under three mighty river systems:
Ganges - Padma River System
Brahmaputra Jamuna River System
Surma - Meghna River System
Rivers of the southeastern hilly region are
considered as the Chittagong Region
River System
Official Name: People's Republic of
Bangladesh
Area:147570 sq. km.
Boundary:
West: West Bengal
North: West Bengal , Assam, Meghalaya
East: Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Myanmar
South: Bay of Bengal
Land Border: 4246 km.(94 per cent with India &
6 percent with Myanmar)

Bangladesh in the Northern Hemisphere bisected
by Tropic of Cancer.
- twice as big as Sri Lanka.
- Equal to the Netherlands, Belgium,Denmark and
Switzerland.
Coastline of 1400 km is an asset and
opening to the oceans of the world.
A trading nation since ancient times.
Climate
- Tropical climate
- Rains esp. Monsoon Rains
- Annual Rainfall 1,194 mm to 3,454 mm
- High temperature congenial for growing crops.
The Himalayas in the North
- prevents from cold winds (of Mongolia,Tibet)
- Blocks moist winds from the Indian Ocean.

Climate

- drier in the West and wetter in the south

- BD is fortunate to have enough rains despite
being in the Northern Desert Belt.
Earthquake
- Rocks under surface moving north-east which
causes earthquake

- Earthquake of 1772 changed the course of
Brahmaputra.


Bangladesh is a humid low-lying alluvial
region

It is composed mainly of the great combined
delta of the Ganges - Brahmaputra - Meghna
rivers

It is one of the largest deltas in the world


Uplands constitute 12.5 per cent of area

The monotony of flatness has been relieved inland
by two elevated tracts :

-- The Madhupur and the Barind Tracts between the
Ganges and Brahmaputra Jamuna -- Covered with
grasslands, less fertile, less density of population

-- Rows of hills on the northeast and southeast

Geophormic Characteristics :

Total time span of earth is about 4.6 billion years

Between 66 - 37 million years most of Bangladesh
was under sea

Between 05 - 02 million years global cooling climate
and present Bengal Delta started taking shape

Between 0.1 million - 10,000 years modern man or
Homo-sapiens appeared

Himalayas were glaciated and the melt water was
flowing over Bengal plain through deeply incised
river valleys towards the Bay of Bengal

Most of Bangladesh took its present shape during
this period

So it took more than 2 million years to take the
present shape of Bangladesh

So it took more than 2 million years to
take the present shape of Bangladesh


Bangladesh
Bangla
Bengal
Bengala
Bangala
Vanga
Vangal
Names of same geographical location as of
present Bangladesh


Emerged as a Country in 1971

Remained in the ideas of poets, writers and
other conscious persons etc.
How did we get the Name ?

Earliest References to Bengal ?


Scanty references in the old
literatures

Vedas, Mahabharata and Ramayana

Arthashastra of Kautilya

Written in 3rd century BC
Refers to the fine cotton fabric of Vanga
(south-eastern Bengal)


References available in
archaeological evidences

Maurya Inscriptions found at Mahasthangarh

3rd century B C

Refers to the ancient Pundranagar

Earliest urban settlement in Bangladesh

Existed as an urban administrative and cultural
centre throughout the ancient period, up to the 12th
century AD

Mahasthangarh, Bogra
Mahastangarh, Coins

Mahastangarh, Coins

Mahastangarh
Mahastangarh


References available in foreign
sources


Greek and Latin Sources (3rd century BC -
1st century AD)

Gangaridae (Greek)

Gangaridai' (Latin)

located in parts of southern and
southeastern Bengal, adjacent to the
mouths of the Ganges (Bhagirathi and
Padma)
Ptolemy

Greek Astronomer, Mathematician and
Geographer

His book was Indica

Refers to a rich port named Tamralipti now
in present Tamluk of West Bengal

So from the earliest period up to 4th
century AD Bengal was known to be
inhabited by different groups of people

The names of these groups of people
came to be associated with the area
they inhabited


These areas are known as
Janapadas or principalities

There were about 8 janapadas

Janapadas or Principalities

Pundravardhana : Mahasthangarh Bogra

Varendra : Rajshahi - North Bengal

Vanga : Mymensingh - Dhaka - Faridpur -
Barisal up to the Brahmaputra river
referred to in Puranas, Mahabharata & by
Kalidasa

Vangal : Probably southern part of Vanga
near the sea

Samatata : Lalmai - Comilla including
Tripura & Noakhali

Harikel : Chittagong Sylet up to Comilla

Gaur : South of Murshidabad - Maldaha
probably it included Birbhum & Burdwan too

Sumha - Radh : West Bengal

Ancient
Janapadas
of Bengal


Muslim Conquest


Muslims conquered Bengal in 1204
AD

Bakhtiyar Khilji conquered
Lakhnauti from Laksman Sena

Only a part of Bengal

During the Sultani period historian Ziauddin
Barani in his book Tarikh-i-Firuzshahi used the
word Bangala

But he referred to a part of it only

Bengal then was divided into
three main territories :

1. Lakhnauti (North North-west Bengal)

2. Satgaon (West Bengal)

3. Vanga (East & South-east Bengal)

Historian Shams-i-Siraj Afif in his
book Tarikh-i-Firuzshahi first wrote of
the whole of Bengal

He called Sultan Shamsuddin Iliyas
Shah (1342-58) Shah-i-Bangalah &
Shah-i-Bangaliyan

Mughals captured Bengal in 1576

They made Bengal a Province under Delhi

They named it Subah Bangala or the Bengal
Province

Abul Fazl referred to it in his famous book Ain-
i-Akbari

Portuguese traveler Caesar Frederick
(1563-81) came to India during the
Mughal period

He wrote of Bengala

Some other European travelers who
came to India called the place Bengela
or sometimes Bangala

Famous traveler Marco Polo also
referred to Bengal

The English conquered Bengal in
1757 in the Battle of Plassey

They made Bengal a Province of
them

Present Bangladesh became a part
of this Bengal Province

Besides Bangladesh this also
included whole of present West
Bengal, some parts of Bihar,
Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya

It covered about 80,000 square
miles area

It slopes down 10 meters in
average towards the Bay of Bengal

About 50,000 square miles of this
whole area is under the influence
of Gages Brahmaputra - Meghna
rivers


This area belongs to the Tertiary
Age of about 100,000 years


This area forms the present
Bangladesh


This whole area continued to be
known the Bengal province during
the British rule up to 1947

In 1947 after the independence of
India and Pakistan Bangladesh
became a part of Pakistan

Initially it was known as East
Bengal and later it became East
Pakistan

But the Bengalis soon started
having a feeling of exploitation &
deprivation

This continued up to 1971

Finally after a nine months war
East Pakistan became independent
and Bangladesh is born


This is our country

BANGLADESH

Thank You

DEV 101.lecture M 1-C 3.exploring Our Roots (II) .Geographical Features and Origin of Bangladesh

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DEV 101.lecture M 1-C 3.exploring Our Roots (II) .Geographical Features and Origin of Bangladesh

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Lecture : M 1- C 3

Exploring Our Roots (ii):

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