Continuing with my INDIRA GANDHI STORY ..... INDIRA TURNS HINDU GODDESS DURGA - PART 1 Last week, I left my story at Indiras finally getting a grip on power after defeating the South india dominated Syndicate. The next chapter actually begins far far away from Delhi, the center of power, in the green paddy fields of BENGAL...... BENGAL or VANGA as it was historically known lies on an extremely fertile plains carved out of Ganges and Brahmaputra Delhi, that supported such a huge population. Bengalis are the largest homogeneous community in entire South Asia, with their numbers equal to the population of INDONESIA. This land was earlier inhabited largely by Dravidians, Australoids (Santhals, Munda) and Tibeto Burman communities from South East Asia. Indo-Aryan civilization made this region as its part under mighty NANDA DYSNASTY of Magadha ( Bihar) Over years, the region threw its first powerful dynasty of PALA kings. PALA dynasty was predominantly Buddhist and under their nearly 4 centuries of rule, VANGA reached its zenith. Pala rulers patronized Buddhism and constructed such world class Buddhist universities as Nalanda. Their empire stretched from Assam to Afghanistan. The dominance of PALAS was ultimately crushed by South Indias Chola and Chalukya kings and gave birth to yet another native Bengali dynasty, that of SENAS.& DEVAS,under whose rule there was a revival of Hinduism once again. However Vanga was now much weakened and stage was set for the ADVENT OF ISLAM. Bengals Islamizaion did not occur over night or solely due to one factor. Islam was first introduced by Arab traders ( like in Malaysia and Indonesia) and they were followed by sufi missionaries. But the big boost to popularization of Islam came with the victory of successive line of Muslim rulers, a process that began with the defeat of HINDU SENA dynasty by Turkish king Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji. Due to remoteness of the region from Delhi, Muslim rule from Delhi would always end up by the appointed governor usurping power and declaring himself independent. As a result, the region saw emergence of rebel independent kingdoms of Mamluks and Shahi dynasties till Pashtuns came and conquered Bengal. Beginning with Sher Shah Suri, Bengal saw rule of Karrani and Sonargaon Pashtun dynasties. These small periods of various Muslim rulers ultimately gave way to the annexation of Bengal by the MIGHTY MUGHALS. Bengal came under the Mughal rule during the reign of Akbar and with the annexation of Sylhet by Jahangir, the entire Bengal was now under Mughals. The rule of Mughals and its extended period of stability helped in cultivating and formalizing the Bengali and Bangla identity as we know it today. Modern Bangla language and literature developed during this time. DHAKA emerged as the prominent city of East (Calcutta was no where in sight). After, the decline of Mugal rule and in the true Bengali tradition, the governors appointed by Mughals ultimately declared themselves as independent and thus began the RULE OF NAWABS over Bengal, which started with Murshid Quli Khan. Simultaneously, Europeans were also landing in the rich land. Portugese, Dutch, French and then ultimately the BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY. Calcutta was one of the three villages that British bought from Mughal Emperor Jahangir. British slowly gained momentum and after the battle of Palassey , East India company gained the official control of Bengal. Calcutta and Hooghly emerged as important urban center of business and commerce. After, the mutiny of 1857, the rule of Bengal passed over to the British crown and Bengal became one of the most important provinces under the BRITISH RAJ.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 14:00:16 +0000
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