102-533: The Singranatore family ( Bengali : সিংড়ানাটোর পরিবার ) is the consanguineous name given to a noble family in Rajshahi of landed aristocracy in erstwhile East Bengal (present day Bangladesh ) and West Bengal that were prominent in the nineteenth century till the fall of the monarchy in India by Royal Assent in 1947 and subsequently abolished by the newly formed democratic Government of East Pakistan in 1950 by
204-419: A feudal aristocracy, for neither the offices nor the estates that supported them were hereditary. However, senior mansabdars were awarded a jagir (personal fief) rather than a salary. Rates of remuneration, which included both the mansabdar's salary and so much per Sowar (सवार,ਸਵਾਰ; meaning a cavalry troop), were matched by jagirs affording a similar aggregate yield. If their specified yield came to more,
306-403: A Municipality in 1869. The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 was enacted. With the increase of population and rise of prices of agricultural produce in the nineteenth century, demand for land increased. As a result, zamindars used to increase rents and land revenues. The Ryots (tenants) refused to accept the zamindari right to enhance rent beyond the customary rates. Zamindars, as absolute lords of
408-492: A bid to lessen this burden on young learners, efforts have been made by educational institutions in the two main Bengali-speaking regions (West Bengal and Bangladesh) to address the opaque nature of many consonant clusters, and as a result, modern Bengali textbooks are beginning to contain more and more "transparent" graphical forms of consonant clusters, in which the constituent consonants of a cluster are readily apparent from
510-590: A different word from a speaker of Standard Bengali in Bangladesh, even though both words are of native Bengali descent. For example, the word salt is লবণ lôbôṇ in the east which corresponds to নুন nun in the west. Bengali exhibits diglossia , though some scholars have proposed triglossia or even n-glossia or heteroglossia between the written and spoken forms of the language. Two styles of writing have emerged, involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax : Linguist Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar categorises
612-480: A diphthong. The total number of diphthongs is not established, with bounds at 17 and 31. An incomplete chart is given by Sarkar (1985) of the following: In standard Bengali, stress is predominantly initial. Bengali words are virtually all trochaic ; the primary stress falls on the initial syllable of the word, while secondary stress often falls on all odd-numbered syllables thereafter, giving strings such as in সহযোগিতা shô -hô- jo -gi- ta "cooperation", where
714-479: A heated debate over whether or not to introduce a permanent settlement with the zamindars. Shore argued that the native zamindars would not trust the permanent settlement to be permanent, and that it would take time before they realised it was genuine. Cornwallis believed that they would immediately accept it and begin investing in improving their land. In 1790 the Court of Directors issued a ten-year (Decennial) settlement to
816-672: A large scale and were communally limited. Owing to Bengal's geographic location, Bengali areas bordering non-Bengali regions have been influenced by each other. Small numbers of people in Midnapore , which borders Odisha , have used the Odia script to write in Bengali. In the border areas between West Bengal and Bihar , some Bengali communities historically wrote Bengali in Devanagari , Kaithi and Tirhuta . In Sylhet and Bankura , modified versions of
918-660: A majority in Bangladesh speaks dialects notably different from SCB. Some dialects, particularly those of the Chittagong region, bear only a superficial resemblance to SCB. The dialect in the Chittagong region is least widely understood by the general body of Bengalis. The majority of Bengalis are able to communicate in more than one variety – often, speakers are fluent in Cholitobhasha (SCB) and one or more regional dialects. Even in SCB,
1020-626: A part in the adoption of the English alphabet to write Bengali, with certain social media influencers publishing entire novels in Roman Bengali. Battle of Buxar British victory [REDACTED] Great Britain The Battle of Buxar was fought between 22 and 23 October 1764, between the forces of the British East India Company , under the command of Major Hector Munro , and
1122-562: A rounded total of 280 million) worldwide. The Bengali language is native to the region of Bengal , which comprises the present-day nation of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal . Besides the native region it is also spoken by the Bengalis living in Tripura , southern Assam and the Bengali population in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Bengali is also spoken in
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#17330852341201224-408: A special diacritic, called the hôsôntô (্) , may be added below the basic consonant grapheme (as in ম্ [m] ). This diacritic, however, is not common and is chiefly employed as a guide to pronunciation. The abugida nature of Bengali consonant graphemes is not consistent, however. Often, syllable-final consonant graphemes, though not marked by a hôsôntô , may carry no inherent vowel sound (as in
1326-575: A state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan . On 21 February 1952, five students and political activists were killed during protests near the campus of the University of Dhaka ; they were the first ever martyrs to die for their right to speak their mother tongue. In 1956, Bengali was made a state language of Pakistan. 21 February has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh and has also been commemorated as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO every year since 2000. In 2010,
1428-664: A time when the territories were mainly ruled by the Hindu raj families (Royal families) such as the Maharajas of Dighapatia Raj (who were very close to the Singranatore family as well, the Mullahbari palatial complex houses various artefacts from the Hindu rajas). Structures have been deemed of historic significance by the government. The first ever trip of an elected Head of State in the history of
1530-463: A vowel in isolation from any preceding or following consonant, the independent form of the vowel is used. For example, in মই [moj] "ladder" and in ইলিশ [iliʃ] "Hilsa fish", the independent form of the vowel ই is used (cf. the dependent form ি) . A vowel at the beginning of a word is always realised using its independent form. In addition to the inherent-vowel-suppressing hôsôntô , three more diacritics are commonly used in Bengali. These are
1632-494: Is Bangladesh's national march, written by The National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in Bengali in 1928. It was adopted as the national marching song by the Bangladeshi government in 1972. Additionally, the first two verses of Vande Mataram , a patriotic song written in Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee , was adopted as the "national song" of India in both the colonial period and later in 1950 in independent India. Furthermore, it
1734-536: Is a classical Indo-Aryan language from the Indo-European language family native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With over 237 million native speakers and another 41 million as second language speakers as of 2024, Bengali is the fifth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. It is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language . Bengali
1836-468: Is a cursive script with eleven graphemes or signs denoting nine vowels and two diphthongs , and thirty-nine graphemes representing consonants and other modifiers. There are no distinct upper and lower case letter forms. The letters run from left to right and spaces are used to separate orthographic words . Bengali script has a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the graphemes that links them together called মাত্রা matra . Since
1938-400: Is an abugida , a script with letters for consonants, with diacritics for vowels, and in which an inherent vowel (অ ô ) is assumed for consonants if no vowel is marked. The Bengali alphabet is used throughout Bangladesh and eastern India (Assam, West Bengal, Tripura). The Bengali alphabet is believed to have evolved from a modified Brahmic script around 1000 CE (or 10th–11th century). It
2040-668: Is believed by many that the national anthem of Sri Lanka ( Sri Lanka Matha ) was inspired by a Bengali poem written by Rabindranath Tagore , while some even believe the anthem was originally written in Bengali and then translated into Sinhala . After the contribution made by the Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force in the Sierra Leone Civil War under the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone ,
2142-699: Is considered a separate language, although it shares similarities to Northern Bengali dialects. During the standardisation of Bengali in the 19th century and early 20th century, the cultural centre of Bengal was in Kolkata , a city founded by the British. What is accepted as the standard form today in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect of Nadia and Kushtia District . There are cases where speakers of Standard Bengali in West Bengal will use
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#17330852341202244-404: Is known as Apabhraṃśa , by the end of the first millennium. The Bengali language evolved as a distinct language over the course of time. Though some archaeologists claim that some 10th-century texts were in Bengali, it is not certain whether they represent a differentiated language or whether they represent a stage when Eastern Indo-Aryan languages were differentiating. The local Apabhraṃśa of
2346-621: Is one of the five government colleges in the Natore District, and the third oldest, established before the War of 1971 and the Independence of Bangladesh . Although it was a private college of the aristocratic Singranatore family, in 1986, the then President and former military ruler , HM Ershad announced that it would be made into a public college. Since then it is under the Ministry of Education of
2448-477: Is set out below in the International Phonetic Alphabet (upper grapheme in each box) and romanisation (lower grapheme). Bengali is known for its wide variety of diphthongs , combinations of vowels occurring within the same syllable . Two of these, /oi̯/ and /ou̯/ , are the only ones with representation in script, as ঐ and ঔ respectively. /e̯ i̯ o̯ u̯/ may all form the glide part of
2550-497: Is the official , national , and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh , with 98% of Bangladeshis using Bengali as their first language. It is the second-most widely spoken language in India . It is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura and the Barak Valley region of the state of Assam . It is also the second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. It
2652-500: Is the most widely spoken language in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal , and is spoken by significant populations in other states including Bihar , Arunachal Pradesh , Delhi , Chhattisgarh , Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland , Odisha and Uttarakhand . Bengali is also spoken by the Bengali diasporas ( Bangladeshi diaspora and Indian Bengalis) across Europe, North America,
2754-500: The Aesop's Fables in Bengali was printed using Roman letters based on English phonology by the Scottish linguist John Gilchrist . Consecutive attempts to establish a Roman Bengali have continued across every century since these times, and have been supported by the likes of Suniti Kumar Chatterji , Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda , and Muhammad Enamul Haq . The Digital Revolution has also played
2856-660: The Arabic , Persian , and Turkic languages . The arrival of merchants and traders from the Middle East and Turkestan into the Buddhist -ruling Pala Empire , from as early as the 7th century, gave birth to Islamic influence in the region. In the 13th century, subsequent Arab Muslim and Turco-Persian expeditions to Bengal heavily influenced the local vernacular by settling among the native population. Bengali absorbed Arabic and Persian influences in its vocabulary and dialect, including
2958-659: The Battle of Buxar , saw the loss of Bengal from the Mughals, as Emperor Shah Alam II became a pensioner of the British after a loss. With him, Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula , the Ruler of Awadh was restored, while Nawab Mir Qasim , the Ruler of Bengal lost his control on Bengal. Murshid Quli Jafar Khan , the Nawab of Bengal governed Bengal, through his feudal chiefs, the Zamindars of Bengal who dominated all
3060-468: The Constitution of Bangladesh states Bengali to be the sole official language of Bangladesh. The Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 , made it mandatory to use Bengali in all records and correspondences, laws, proceedings of court and other legal actions in all courts, government or semi-government offices, and autonomous institutions in Bangladesh. It is also the de facto national language of
3162-514: The Government of Bangladesh . It is named after Begum Gole Afroz, a member of the Singranatore family of Rajshahi , the daughter of Begum GulBadan and Shamezuddin Ahmed. She was a granddaughter of Mirza Jalaluddin , the last zamindar of Natore and the wife of MM Rahmatullah . Bengali language Bengali , also known by its endonym Bangla ( বাংলা , Bāṅlā , [ˈbaŋla] ),
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3264-564: The Kaithi script had some historical prominence, mainly among Muslim communities. The variant in Sylhet was identical to the Baitali Kaithi script of Hindustani with the exception of Sylhet Nagri possessing matra . Sylhet Nagri was standardised for printing in c. 1869 . Up until the 19th century, numerous variations of the Arabic script had been used across Bengal from Chittagong in
3366-684: The Mughal Emperor —the three main scions—the British East India Company emerged as the preeminent power in Bengal. The battle was the beginning of the end for the Mughal Empire's political control, as the Company continued to consolidate its influence over vast territories. However, this rise to power came with various challenges, especially from the zamindars of Bihar . Mir Qasim disappeared into impoverished obscurity. Shah Alam II surrendered himself to
3468-558: The Mughal Empire were courtiers who governed the empire and commanded its armies in the emperor's name. Mansabs were of three classes, 7,000 to 3,000 were called Amir-i-Azam or "the greater nobles"; 2,500 to 500 were called Amirs or nobles and 400 to 20 were called Mansabdars or officers. It is from the world Amir that the family title came to be. The word Mīrzā is derived from the Persian term ‘Amīrzāde which literally means "child of
3570-520: The Nadia region . Bengali shows a high degree of diglossia , with the literary and standard form differing greatly from the colloquial speech of the regions that identify with the language. Modern Bengali vocabulary is based on words inherited from Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, along with tatsamas and reborrowings from Sanskrit and borrowings from Persian , Arabic , Austroasiatic languages and other languages with which it has historically been in contact. In
3672-598: The State Acquisition Act . The family gets the name from their former estates and land holdings in the Upazila (sub-districts or counties) of Singra and Natore . They held significant influence in local politics and administration in the area and founded the first colleges. Serving as vassals to the Maharajas of Natore and the Maharajas of Dighapatia , the clan also produced many politicians and influentials. During
3774-590: The University of Karachi (established by East Pakistani politicians before Independence of Bangladesh ) also offers regular programs of studies at the Bachelors and at the Masters levels for Bengali Literature. The national anthems of both Bangladesh ( Amar Sonar Bangla ) and India ( Jana Gana Mana ) were written in Bengali by the Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore . Notuner Gaan known as " Chol Chol Chol"
3876-499: The boldface represents primary and secondary stress. Native Bengali words do not allow initial consonant clusters ; the maximum syllabic structure is CVC (i.e., one vowel flanked by a consonant on each side). Many speakers of Bengali restrict their phonology to this pattern, even when using Sanskrit or English borrowings, such as গেরাম geram (CV.CVC) for গ্রাম gram (CCVC) "village" or ইস্কুল iskul (VC.CVC) for স্কুল skul (CCVC) "school". The Bengali-Assamese script
3978-540: The diwani ( Vice Royalty ) from the Nawabs. In effect, the British now directly controlled Bengal and most of its zamindars who were previously under the Nawabs and the Imperial Mughal rule. The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) saw the transformation of events of 1757 to 1764 where European forces were in a struggle to oust the Indian rulers and establish rule in Bengal, that resulted in direct rule over all of India. In 1764,
4080-557: The phonology of Eastern Bengali is seen through the lack of nasalised vowels and an alveolar articulation of what are categorised as the "cerebral" consonants (as opposed to the postalveolar articulation of western Bengal). Some varieties of Bengali, particularly Sylheti , Chittagonian and Chakma , have contrastive tone ; differences in the pitch of the speaker's voice can distinguish words. Kharia Thar and Mal Paharia are closely related to Western Bengali dialects, but are typically classified as separate languages. Similarly, Hajong
4182-627: The subcontinent (most notably, Nawab of Bengal and Nawab of Awadh ), Nizam of Hyderabad and short lived Sultanate of Mysore . According to one brigadier-general H. Biddulph, "the European infantry was composed of the Bengal European Battalion, two weak companies of the Bombay European Battalion, and small detachments of Marines and of H.M. 84th, 89th and 96th Regiments. The only officers killed were Lt. Francis Spilsbury of
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4284-573: The 'Amīr" or "child of the ruler" in Persia ‘Amīrzād in turn consists of the Arabic title ‘Amīr (engl. Emir ), meaning "commander", and the Persian suffix -zād , meaning "birth" or "lineage". Due to vowel harmony in Turkic languages , the alternative pronunciation Morza (plural morzalar ; derived from the Persian word) is also used. Though the mansabdars were usually aristocrats, they did not form
4386-608: The 16th century, Portuguese missionaries began a tradition of using the Roman alphabet to transcribe the Bengali language. Though the Portuguese standard did not receive much growth, a few Roman Bengali works relating to Christianity and Bengali grammar were printed as far as Lisbon in 1743. The Portuguese were followed by the English and French respectively, whose works were mostly related to Bengali grammar and transliteration. The first version of
4488-637: The 19th and 20th centuries, there were two standard forms of written Bengali: In 1948, the government of Pakistan tried to impose Urdu as the sole state language in Pakistan, giving rise to the Bengali language movement . This was a popular ethnolinguistic movement in the former East Bengal (today Bangladesh ), which arose as a result of the strong linguistic consciousness of the Bengalis and their desire to promote and protect spoken and written Bengali's recognition as
4590-576: The 6th century, which competed with the ancestor of Bengali for some time. The ancestor of Bengali was the language of the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty . During the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterised by the elision of the word-final অ ô and the spread of compound verbs, which originated from the Sanskrit Schwa . Slowly, the word-final ô disappeared from many words influenced by
4692-458: The 96th Foot and Ensign Richard Thompson of the Bengal European Battalion." The Battle of Buxar had far-reaching consequences that reshaped the political landscape of colonial India. Its aftermath witnessed significant shifts in power dynamics and set the stage for British dominance in the Bengal region. Following their victory over the combined forces of the Nawab of Bengal , the Nawab of Awadh , and
4794-451: The Bengali equivalent of a full stop – have been adopted from Western scripts and their usage is similar. Unlike in Western scripts (Latin, Cyrillic, etc.) where the letter forms stand on an invisible baseline, the Bengali letter-forms instead hang from a visible horizontal left-to-right headstroke called মাত্রা matra . The presence and absence of this matra can be important. For example,
4896-426: The Bengali script is an abugida, its consonant graphemes usually do not represent phonetic segments , but carry an "inherent" vowel and thus are syllabic in nature. The inherent vowel is usually a back vowel , either [ɔ] as in মত [m ɔ t] "opinion" or [o] , as in মন [m o n] "mind", with variants like the more open [ɒ] . To emphatically represent a consonant sound without any inherent vowel attached to it,
4998-805: The British East India Company . The war was brought to an end by the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765. The defeated Indian rulers were forced to sign the treaty, granting the East India Company Diwani rights, which allowed them to collect revenue from the territories of Bengal , Bihar , and Orissa on behalf of the Mughal emperor. The British engaged in the fighting numbered 17,072 comprising 1,859 British regulars, 5,297 Indian sepoys and 9,189 Indian cavalry . The alliance army's numbers were estimated to be over 40,000, but they were still defeated by
5100-660: The British being given the Jemmidarship (British diminutive of the word zamindari ) by the Rulers of Bengal. It read: October 31st, 1698. The Prince having given us the three towns adjacent to our Settlement, viz. De Calcutta, Chutanutte, and Gobinpore, or more properly may be said the Jemmidarship of the said towns, paying the said Rent to the King as the Jemidars have successively done, and at
5202-400: The British side and 6,000 casualties on the Mughal side. The victors captured 133 pieces of artillery and over 1 million rupees of cash. Immediately after the battle, Munro decided to assist the Marathas , who were described as a "warlike race", well known for their relentless rivalry and unwavering hatred towards Mughal Empire , Durrani Empire , Rohilla Chieftaincies , different Nawabs of
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#17330852341205304-407: The British, and Shuja-ud-Daula fled west hotly pursued by the victors. The whole Ganges valley lay at the company's mercy; Shuja-ud-Daula eventually surrendered. In 1765, the British East India Company was granted the right to collect taxes from Bengal-Bihar. Eventually, in 1772, the East India company abolished local rule and took complete control of the province of Bengal-Bihar. The battle exposed
5406-469: The British. A lack of basic co-ordination between the three disparate allies is seen as responsible for their decisive defeat. Mirza Najaf Khan commanded the right flank of the Mughal imperial army and was the first to advance his forces against Major Hector Munro at daybreak; the British lines formed within twenty minutes and reversed the advance of the Mughals . According to the British, Durrani and Rohilla cavalry were also present and fought during
5508-520: The Middle East and other regions. Bengali was accorded the status of a classical language by the government of India on 3 October 2024. It is the second most spoken and fourth fastest growing language in India , following Hindi in the first place, Kashmiri in the second place, and Meitei ( Manipuri ), along with Gujarati , in the third place, according to the 2011 census of India . Bengali has developed over more than 1,400 years. Bengali literature , with its millennium-old literary history,
5610-423: The Prince had an officer upon them to bring them to a Compliance, it is agreed that 1,500 Rupees be paid them, provided they will relinquish their title to the said towns, and give it under their Hands in Writing, that they have made over the same to the Right Honourable Company. Ext of Consns. at Chuttanutte, the 29th December (Printed for Parliament in 1788). They were one of the few Muslim zamindars in Bengal, at
5712-536: The basis of modern standard colloquial Bengali. In the dialects prevalent in much of eastern and south-eastern Bangladesh ( Barisal , Chittagong , Dhaka and Sylhet Divisions of Bangladesh), many of the stops and affricates heard in West Bengal and western Bangladesh are pronounced as fricatives . Western alveolo-palatal affricates চ [ tɕɔ ] , ছ [ tɕʰɔ ] , জ [ dʑɔ ] correspond to eastern চ [tsɔ] , ছ [tsʰɔ~sɔ] , জ [dzɔ~zɔ] . The influence of Tibeto-Burman languages on
5814-658: The battle in various skirmishes. But by midday, the battle was over and Shuja-ud-Daula blew up large tumbrils and three massive magazines of gunpowder. Munro divided his army into various columns and particularly pursued the Mughal Grand Vizier Shuja-ud-Daula , the Nawab of Awadh , who responded by blowing up his boat-bridge after crossing the river, thus abandoning the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and members of his own regiment. Mir Qasim also fled with his 3 million rupees worth of gemstones and later died in poverty in 1777. Mirza Najaf Khan reorganised formations around Shah Alam II , who retreated and then chose to negotiate with
5916-415: The combined armies of Balwant Singh , Maharaja of the Banaras State ; Mir Qasim , Nawab of Bengal ; Shuja-ud-Daula , Nawab of Awadh ; and Shah Alam II , Emperor of the Mughal Empire . The battle was fought at Buxar , a "strong fortified town" within the territory of Bihar , located on the banks of the Ganges river about 130 kilometres (81 mi) west of Patna ; it was a challenging victory for
6018-410: The common suffix دار -dār, "-holder") to divert the revenue back to the Imperial Capital at Delhi. Although zamindaris were allowed to be held hereditarily, the holders were not considered to be the proprietors of their estates . Unlike the autonomous or frontier chiefs, the hereditary status of the zamindar class was circumscribed by the Mughal Emperors , and the heir depended to a certain extent on
6120-469: The consonant which comes first is put on top of or to the left of the one that immediately follows. In these ligatures, the shapes of the constituent consonant signs are often contracted and sometimes even distorted beyond recognition. In the Bengali writing system, there are nearly 285 such ligatures denoting consonant clusters. Although there exist a few visual formulas to construct some of these ligatures, many of them have to be learned by rote. Recently, in
6222-455: The country. In India, Bengali is one of the 23 official languages . It is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal , Tripura and in Barak Valley of Assam . Bengali has been a second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. In Pakistan , Bengali is a recognised secondary language in the city of Karachi mainly spoken by stranded Bengalis of Pakistan . The Department of Bengali in
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#17330852341206324-430: The development of Dobhashi . Bengali acquired prominence, over Persian, in the court of the Sultans of Bengal with the ascent of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah . Subsequent Muslim rulers actively promoted the literary development of Bengali, allowing it to become the most spoken vernacular language in the Sultanate. Bengali adopted many words from Arabic and Persian , which was a manifestation of Islamic culture on
6426-410: The east to Meherpur in the west. The 14th-century court scholar of Bengal, Nur Qutb Alam , composed Bengali poetry using the Persian alphabet . After the Partition of India in the 20th century, the Pakistani government attempted to institute the Perso-Arabic script as the standard for Bengali in East Pakistan ; this was met with resistance and contributed to the Bengali language movement. In
6528-443: The eastern subcontinent, Purbi Apabhraṃśa or Abahatta (lit. 'meaningless sounds'), eventually evolved into regional dialects, which in turn formed three groups, the Bengali–Assamese languages , the Bihari languages , and the Odia language . The language was not static: different varieties coexisted and authors often wrote in multiple dialects in this period. For example, Ardhamagadhi is believed to have evolved into Abahatta around
6630-466: The final ন in মন [m o n] or the medial ম in গামলা [ɡamla] ). A consonant sound followed by some vowel sound other than the inherent [ɔ] is orthographically realised by using a variety of vowel allographs above, below, before, after, or around the consonant sign, thus forming the ubiquitous consonant-vowel typographic ligatures . These allographs, called কার kar , are diacritical vowel forms and cannot stand on their own. For example,
6732-483: The former ruling princes were guaranteed their hereditary styles and titles, certain privileges of rank and honour, as well as privy purses to cover the living expenses of themselves and their families. However, this too was abolished in 1956. In 1971, the styles and titles enjoyed by the former ruling families ceased to be officially recognised by the Government of Pakistan in January 1972. The previous year East province of Pakistan ( East Pakistan ) became independent as
6834-606: The government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared Bengali as an honorary official language in December 2002. In 2009, elected representatives in both Bangladesh and West Bengal called for Bengali to be made an official language of the United Nations . Regional varieties in spoken Bengali constitute a dialect continuum . Linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji grouped the dialects of Bengali language into four large clusters: Rarhi , Vangiya , Kamrupi and Varendri ; but many alternative grouping schemes have also been proposed. The south-western dialects ( Rarhi or Nadia dialect) form
6936-499: The graph মি [mi] represents the consonant [m] followed by the vowel [i] , where [i] is represented as the diacritical allograph ি (called ই-কার i-kar ) and is placed before the default consonant sign. Similarly, the graphs মা [ma] , মী [mi] , মু [mu] , মূ [mu] , মৃ [mri] , মে [me~mɛ] , মৈ [moj] , মো [mo] and মৌ [mow] represent the same consonant ম combined with seven other vowels and two diphthongs. In these consonant-vowel ligatures,
7038-412: The graphical form. However, since this change is not as widespread and is not being followed as uniformly in the rest of the Bengali printed literature, today's Bengali-learning children will possibly have to learn to recognise both the new "transparent" and the old "opaque" forms, which ultimately amounts to an increase in learning burden. Bengali punctuation marks, apart from the downstroke । daṛi –
7140-424: The lands as private estates, and taxes the inhabitants on produce from the lands, which in turn pays for the upkeep of the land holdings, buildings, etc. Most of the residences used by the family lies mostly uninhabited, yet under the ownership of the family. The family set the Gole Afroz College in the provincial government of East Pakistan and it became and still stands as the only public college of Singra . It
7242-503: The lands were not prepared to recognise such customary rights. Another factor that lead to the class discontent was the emergence of a landed intermediate class of lesser nobles ( Chowdhurys and Taluqdars ), whose existence contrary to the rules of the Permanent Settlement . The madhyasvatvas or intermediate interests acquired their rights by purchase, and not inheritance. According to the law, these madhyasvatvas did not exist. The law courts were giving conflicting judgements as regards
7344-483: The language as: While most writing is in Standard Colloquial Bengali (SCB), spoken dialects exhibit a greater variety. People in southeastern West Bengal, including Kolkata, speak in SCB. Other dialects, with minor variations from Standard Colloquial, are used in other parts of West Bengal and western Bangladesh, such as the Midnapore dialect, characterised by some unique words and constructions. However,
7446-510: The language movement. Although Sanskrit has been spoken by Hindu Brahmins in Bengal since the 3rd century BC, the local Buddhist population spoke varieties of the Prakrit . These varieties are generally referred to as "eastern Magadhi Prakrit ", as coined by linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji , as the Middle Indo-Aryan dialects were influential in the first millennium when Bengal
7548-480: The language. Major texts of Middle Bengali (1400–1800) include Yusuf-Zulekha by Shah Muhammad Sagir and Srikrishna Kirtana by the Chandidas poets. Court support for Bengali culture and language waned when the Mughal Empire conquered Bengal in the late 16th and early 17th century. The modern literary form of Bengali was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries based on the west-central dialect spoken in
7650-428: The letter ত tô and the numeral ৩ "3" are distinguishable only by the presence or absence of the matra , as is the case between the consonant cluster ত্র trô and the independent vowel এ e , also the letter হ hô and Bengali Ôbogroho ঽ (~ô) and letter ও o and consonant cluster ত্ত ttô . The letter-forms also employ the concepts of letter-width and letter-height (the vertical space between
7752-585: The neighbouring states of Odisha , Bihar , and Jharkhand , and sizeable minorities of Bengali speakers reside in Indian cities outside Bengal, including Delhi , Mumbai , Thane , Varanasi , and Vrindavan . There are also significant Bengali-speaking communities in the Middle East , the United States , Singapore , Malaysia , Australia , Canada , the United Kingdom , and Italy . The 3rd article of
7854-521: The new British Raj that would rule all of India (present-day India , Pakistan , Bangladesh , Nepal and Burma ). While the Battle of Plassey secured a foothold for the British East India Company in the rich province of Bengal only, the Battle of Buxar is really the battle that secured its political ascendancy in India. The Viceroyalty and later direct Royal British Rule over Bengal started as
7956-444: The new nation was declared a republic within a year although some of the frontier states continued to be administered as separate units. During the same period 1948–1950, some of the remaining princely states joined India , and the Indian zamindaris were also abolished. In return for surrendering the government of their states in the case of Princes, and estates in the case of Zamindars, together with their revenues and military forces,
8058-514: The parliament of Bangladesh and the legislative assembly of West Bengal proposed that Bengali be made an official UN language. As of January 2023, no further action has been yet taken on this matter. However, in 2022, the UN did adopt Bangla as an unofficial language, after a resolution tabled by India. In 2024, the government of India conferred Bengali with the status of classical language . Approximate distribution of native Bengali speakers (assuming
8160-468: The pleasure of the sovereign. Heirs were set by descent or at times adoption by religious laws. Under the British Empire , the zamindars were to be subordinate to The Crown and not act as hereditary lords , but at times family politics was at the heart of naming an heir. At times, a cousin could be named an heir with closer family relatives present; a lawfully wedded wife could inherit the zamindari if
8262-466: The political realities of the Indian countryside. It was concluded in 1793, by the Company administration headed by Charles, Earl Cornwallis . It formed one part of a larger body of legislation enacted known as the Cornwallis Code . In 1825 the headquarters were moved to Rajshahi and in 1829 Natore became a subdivision of Rajshahi district . In 1845 Natore Mahukuma was established. Natore town became
8364-416: The princely order and the zamindari system itself. In 1984, Natore subdivision was turned into a district in independent Bangladesh. British media sometimes accorded their zamindar status as 'Princes'. After the War of 1971 , they held considerable alliances with ruling presidents, military dictators and prime ministers, all the while refraining from elected public offices. The family still owns most of
8466-509: The region was when former military ruler and President Lt General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986 when he was invited by MM Rahmatullah . During the Mughal era (specifically during the rule of Emperor Aurangzeb ), the Mansabdari system, the military nobility evolved into the aristocratic landed zamindari system. The former, which was a military-type grading of all imperial officials of
8568-652: The rights and liabilities of the intermediate classes and also of the peasants. The government tried to accommodate this class by enacting the Rent Act in 1859. To improve relations between landlord and tenant, a Rent Commission was set up in 1880. By the recommendations and observations of the Rent Commission, the Bengal Legislative Council enacted Act III of 1885 which defined rights and obligations of intermediate tenancies and raiyati tenancies. In 1905, Bengal
8670-537: The ruling zamindar named her as an heir. It was during the British rule , that the Zamindars of Bengal and Bihar became equivalents of the landed aristocracy . Specifically in the laws of 1793 , the zamindars were created absolute owners of the estates, and not just representatives of the sovereign rulers It was also during the conquest of Bengal , that the British settlers gained power in India. In 1612, Sir Thomas Roe
8772-593: The same time ordering the Zamindar of the said towns to make over their Right and Title to the English upon their paying to the Jemidar(s) One thousand Rupees for the same, it was agreed that money should be paid, being the best Money that ever was spent for so great a Privilege; but the Jemmidar(s) making a great Noise, being unwilling to part with their country and finding them to continue in their averseness, notwithstanding
8874-427: The so-called "inherent" vowel [ɔ] is first expunged from the consonant before adding the vowel, but this intermediate expulsion of the inherent vowel is not indicated in any visual manner on the basic consonant sign ম [mɔ] . The vowel graphemes in Bengali can take two forms: the independent form found in the basic inventory of the script and the dependent, abridged, allograph form (as discussed above). To represent
8976-709: The sovereign state of the People's Republic of Bangladesh . Pakistan was renamed the Islamic Republic of Pakistan where most of the formerly ruling families continued to exercise significant influence and considerable political and economic power. After a year-long battle in Republic of India , an amendment to the Constitution at the end of 1971 abolished the privy purses , guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and eliminated
9078-536: The superposed chôndrôbindu (ঁ) , denoting a suprasegmental for nasalisation of vowels (as in চাঁদ [tʃãd] "moon"), the postposed ônusbar (ং) indicating the velar nasal [ŋ] (as in বাংলা [baŋla] "Bengali") and the postposed bisôrgô (ঃ) indicating the voiceless glottal fricative [h] (as in উঃ! [uh] "ouch!") or the gemination of the following consonant (as in দুঃখ [dukʰːɔ] "sorrow"). The Bengali consonant clusters ( যুক্তব্যঞ্জন juktôbênjôn ) are usually realised as ligatures, where
9180-545: The surplus was due to the imperial treasury ; if the jagirdar (or zamindar ) extracted more than the specified yield, he kept it. Descended from former mansabdars as hereditary Mirzas , they are a cadet branch of the Imperial family of India, descended from a perso-Turkic dynasty . They moved after the imperial family was abolished in 1858 following the first Indian war of independence , to Bengal (where around 70 more descendants moved) possibly because Calcutta in Bengal
9282-686: The times of the Middle kingdoms of India rent was called rajasva (the King's share). The king's men used to collect rajasva from his subjects according to law, and none could be evicted if rajasva was paid regularly. Later, the Hindu 'rajasva' became 'jama' during Muslim rule of the Mughal Empire when zamindars belonged to the nobility when the Emperor granted them mansabs (military ranks) and their ancestral domains were treated as jagirs (feudal estates). The Mughals introduced new officials and courtiers named Zaamindaars ( Persian زمین Zamīn, "earth/land", and
9384-486: The victorious British. The historian John William Fortescue claimed that the British casualties totalled 847: 39 killed and 64 wounded from the European regiments and 250 killed, 435 wounded and 85 missing from the East India Company's sepoys. He also claimed that the three Indian allies suffered 2,000 dead and that many more were wounded. Another source says that there were 69 European and 664 sepoy casualties on
9486-588: The villages in the region. This European conquest of The Kingdom of Bengal would later instill the Company rule in India . This would, later on, turn into the British Empire , which effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey, lasted until 1858, when, following the events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Under the Government of India Act 1858 , the British Crown assumed direct administration of India in
9588-484: The visible matra and an invisible baseline). There is yet to be a uniform standard collating sequence (sorting order of graphemes to be used in dictionaries, indices, computer sorting programs, etc.) of Bengali graphemes. Experts in both Bangladesh and India are currently working towards a common solution for this problem. Throughout history, there have been instances of the Bengali language being written in different scripts, though these employments were never popular on
9690-435: The vocabulary may differ according to the speaker's religion: Muslims are more likely to use words of Persian and Arabic origin, along with more words naturally derived from Sanskrit ( tadbhava ), whereas Hindus are more likely to use tatsama (words directly borrowed from Sanskrit). For example: The phonemic inventory of standard Bengali consists of 29 consonants and 7 vowels, as well as 7 nasalised vowels . The inventory
9792-542: The zamindars, which was made permanent in 1800. By the Permanent Settlement Act of 1793 ( Bengali : চিরস্থায়ী বন্দোবস্ত ), the Zamindars class became more powerful than they were in the Mughal period. This agreement between the East India Company and Bengali lords to fix revenues to be raised from land, with far-reaching consequences for both agricultural methods and productivity in the entire Empire and
9894-554: Was a part of the Greater Magadhan realm. The local varieties had no official status during the Gupta Empire , and with Bengal increasingly becoming a hub of Sanskrit literature for Hindu priests, the vernacular of Bengal gained a lot of influence from Sanskrit. Magadhi Prakrit was also spoken in modern-day Bihar and Assam , and this vernacular eventually evolved into Ardha Magadhi . Ardha Magadhi began to give way to what
9996-597: Was extensively developed during the Bengali Renaissance and is one of the most prolific and diverse literary traditions in Asia. The Bengali language movement from 1948 to 1956 demanding that Bengali be an official language of Pakistan fostered Bengali nationalism in East Bengal leading to the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971. In 1999, UNESCO recognised 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of
10098-589: Was instructed by King James I to visit the Mughal Emperor to arrange for a commercial treaty which would give the Company exclusive rights to reside and build factories in Surat and other areas. The British were given the ability to trade in the Indian Empire by Emperor Jahangir . In 1757, after the Battle of Plassey , the rule of the Nawabs (governor or nobleman) were undermined by the British and later they received
10200-557: Was made the new capital (1858–1912) of the Empire . In 1706 Raja Ramjivan Ray established his capital called "Nator" by filling the Chalan Beel . Nator meant 'stop the boat' as Nao meant boat and tharo meant stop. Natore was the headquarters of the British district of Rajshahi from 1769 to 1825 during colonial rule. From, Between 1786 and 1790, the new Governor-General Lord Cornwallis and Sir John Shore (later Governor-General) entered
10302-519: Was partitioned and then the Government of India Act of 1919 and 1935 were enacted. Finally in 1947, Bengal was further partitioned once again before the Indian Independence Act 1947 was enacted that separated the old Indian Empire into the Dominion of Pakistan and the Dominion of India in the month of August of the same year. The East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950
10404-525: Was passed by the newly formed Democratic Government of the Dominion of Pakistan for its eastern provinces ( East Bengal , present day Bangladesh ). The bill was drafted on 31 March 1948 during the after the fall of the British Monarchy in India, and passed on 16 May 1951. Most of the princely states in the western part of empire ( Pakistan ) merged into the province of West Pakistan on 14 October 1955 and
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