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[edit] Article 1
- Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban or National Assembly building of Bangladesh, located in the capital Dhaka, is an architectural masterpiece and one of the largest legislative complexes in the World. It houses all parlimentary activities of Bangladesh. It was designed by the legendary architect Louis Kahn.
[edit] Article 2
- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangla: শেখ মুজিবর রহমান) (March 17, 1920 – August 15, 1975) was a Bengali political leader in East Pakistan and the founding leader of Bangladesh. Heading the Awami League, Rahman twice served as the first President of Bangladesh and as its second Prime Minister. He is popularly referred to as Sheikh Mujib, and with the more honorary title of Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengalis). Demanding increased civil rights and provincial autonomy, Rahman became a fierce opponent of the military rule of Ayub Khan and was tried in 1968 for allegedly conspiring with the Indian government, but not convicted. At the heightening of sectional tensions, Rahman outlined a 6-point autonomy plan which was seen as separatism in West Pakistan. Despite leading his party to a major victory in the 1970 elections, Rahman was not invited to form the government. After talks broke down, Rahman was arrested. Amidst political violence and a political and guerilla campaign for independence, Indian intervention in 1971 would lead to the establishment of Bangladesh, and after his release, Rahman would assume office as prime minister. more...)
[edit] Article 3
- Bengali or Bangla (বাংলা, IPA: ['baŋla]) is an Indo-Aryan language of East South Asia, evolved from Prakrit, Pali and Sanskrit. With nearly 200 million native speakers, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world (it is ranked between four[1] and seven[2] based on the number of speakers). Bengali is the main language spoken in Bangladesh, and the second most commonly spoken language in India (after Hindi-Urdu). Along with Assamese, it is geographically the most eastern of the Indo-European languages. Owing to the Bengal renaissance in the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature emerged among the richest in South Asia, and includes luminaries such as Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian to be awarded a Nobel Prize. Like most other modern Indic languages, Bengali arose from the Apabhramsha melting + Bengali or Bangla (বাংলা, IPA: ['baŋla]) is an Indo-Aryan language of East South Asia, evolved from Prakrit, Pali and Sanskrit. With nearly 200 million native speakers, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world (it is ranked between four[1] and seven[3] based on the number of speakers). Bengali is the main language spoken in Bangladesh, and the second most commonly spoken language in India (after Hindi-Urdu). Along with Assamese, it is geographically the most eastern of the Indo-European languages. Like most other modern Indic languages, Bengali arose from the Apabhramsha melting pot of Middle Indic languages, around the turn of the first millennium CE. Some argue for much earlier points of divergence - going back to even 500 BCE,[4] but the language was not static, and different varieties co-existed concurrently, and authors often wrote in multiple dialects. In particular, the eastern region language known as Abahatta (with considerable overlap with Purvi and Magadhi Apabhrangsha), had begun to emerge by the seventh century AD. Hiuen Tsang has noted that the same language was spoken in most of Eastern India. (more...)
[edit] Article4
Dhaka (previously Dacca; Bangla: ঢাকা Đhaka; IPA: [ɖʱaka]) is the capital of Bangladesh and the Dhaka District. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka and its metropolitan area have a population exceeding 9 million, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and one of the most populous cities in the world.
Under Mughal rule, the city was also known as Jahangir Nagar. The modern city was largely developed by British authorities and soon became the second-largest city in Bengal after Kolkata. With the partition of India, Dhaka became the administrative capital of East Pakistan before becoming the capital of an independent Bangladesh in 1972. During this period Dhaka witnessed extensive political turmoil, including many periods of martial law, the declaration of Bangladesh's independence, military suppression and devastation from war and natural calamities.
Modern Dhaka is the centre of political, cultural and economic life in Bangladesh, enjoying the highest literacy rate amongst other Bangladeshi cities and a diverse economy. While the urban infrastructure is the most developed in the country, Dhaka suffers from severe challenges such as pollution, congestion, supply shortages, poverty and crime. In recent decades Dhaka has seen a modernisation of transport, communications and public works. The city is attracting considerable foreign investment, greater volumes of commerce and trade and an increasing influx of people from across the nation. (more...)
[edit] Article 5
The Grameen Bank (Bangla: গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organization started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the impoverished without requiring collateral. The system is based on the idea that the poor have skills that are under-utilized. The bank also accepts deposits, provides other services, and runs several development-oriented businesses including fabric, telephone and energy companies. The organization and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.[5]
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[edit] Article 6
Cricket is a team sport. The game, sometimes referred to as the "gentleman's game", originated in its formal form in England, and is popular mainly in the countries of the Commonwealth. In the countries of South Asia, including Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, cricket is by far the most popular participatory and spectator sport. It is also the national sport of Australia, and it is the major summer sport in New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The rich jargon of cricket can often leave those unfamiliar with the game confused; the rules are of similar complexity to those of its cousin baseball. Cricket fosters die-hard aficionados, for whom matches provide passionate entertainment. Occasionally, rival nations have lampooned each other over cricket matches, provoking diplomatic outrage. (more...)
[edit] Article 7
The Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 is a war between India and Pakistan. The war is closely related with Bangladesh Liberation War. The exact time of the war is unknown. But the war at western front of India between December 3-December 16 is called the Indo-Pakistan War by both Bangladeshi and Indian armies. Pakistan lost the war in the end. (more...)
[edit] Article 8
The Bangladesh War(i) (Mukti Judhho in Bangla), incorporating the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, was an armed conflict between West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that lasted for roughly nine months, from 26 March until 16 December 1971. The war resulted in Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan. (more...)
[edit] Article 9
Rabindranath Tagore 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941[γ]), also known by the was a Bengali poet, Brahmo Samaj (syncretic Hindu monotheist) philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist whose works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A cultural icon of Bengal and India, he became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.
A Pirali Bengali Brahmin from Calcutta (Kolkata), India, Tagore first wrote poems at age eight. He published his first substantial poetry — under the pseudonym Bhanushingho ("Sun Lion") — in 1877 and wrote his first short stories and dramas at age sixteen. His home schooling, life in Shilaidaha, and travels made Tagore a nonconformist and pragmatist ; however, growing disillusionment with the British Raj caused Tagore to back the Indian Independence Movement and befriend Mahatma Gandhi. Despite losing virtually his entire family and his sorrow at witnessing Bengal's decline, his life's work — Visva-Bharati University — endured.
Tagore's works included Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World), while his verse, short stories, and novels — many defined by rhythmic lyricism, colloquial language, meditative naturalism, and philosophical contemplation — received worldwide acclaim. Tagore was also a cultural reformer and polymath who modernised Bangla art by rejecting strictures binding it to classical Indian forms. Two songs from his rabindrasangeet canon are now the national anthems of Bangladesh and India: the Amar Shonar Bangla and the Jana Gana Mana.
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[edit] Article 10
- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangla: শেখ মুজিবর রহমান) (March 17, 1920 – August 15, 1975) was a Bengali political leader in East Pakistan and the founding leader of Bangladesh. Heading the Awami League, Rahman twice served as the first President of Bangladesh and as its second Prime Minister. He is popularly referred to as Sheikh Mujib, and with the more honorary title of Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengalis). Demanding increased civil rights and provincial autonomy, Rahman became a fierce opponent of the military rule of Ayub Khan and was tried in 1968 for allegedly conspiring with the Indian government, but not convicted. At the heightening of sectional tensions, Rahman outlined a 6-point autonomy plan which was seen as separatism in West Pakistan. Despite leading his party to a major victory in the 1970 elections, Rahman was not invited to form the government. After talks broke down, Rahman was arrested. Amidst political violence and a political and guerilla campaign for independence, Indian intervention in 1971 would lead to the establishment of Bangladesh, and after his release, Rahman would assume office as prime minister. more...)
[edit] Article 11
- Ziaur Rahman (Bengali: জিয়াউর রহমান Ziaur Rôhman) (January 19, 1936 — May 30, 1981) was the 6th President of Bangladesh and founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Popularly called Zia, he is also sometimes referred to as a Shaheed (Martyr). His widow Begum Khaleda Zia has twice served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
An officer in the Pakistan Army, Zia's unit captured the Kalurghat radio station at the onset of the Bangladesh Liberation War and declared the independence of Bangladesh. Recognised as a war hero, he would be honoured with the Bir Uttom in 1972. A high-ranking officer in the Bangladesh Army, Zia was appointed chief of army staff following the assassination of Sheikh Mujib Rahman in 1975. Although briefly overthrown in a counter-coup, Zia returned to power in a military coup organised by Colonel Abu Taher.
Declaring himself president in 1977, Zia won a referendum held in 1978. Founding the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Zia won widespread popular support for stabilising the nation and leading it in a new direction. A right-wing politician, Zia established free-market policies in a 19-point programme of industrialisation and development. He adopted policies bringing the government increasingly under Islam, which he imbibed in the national constitution. Zia controversially pardoned the assassins of Sheikh Mujib by signing the Indemnity Act and rehabilitated individuals who had supported the Pakistan Army. A popular yet controversial leader, Zia was assassinated in 1981 in an abortive military coup.
[edit] Article 12
- Bengali or Bangla (বাংলা, IPA: ['baŋla]) is an Indo-Aryan language of East South Asia, evolved from Prakrit, Pali and Sanskrit. With nearly 200 million native speakers, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world (it is ranked between four[1] and seven[6] based on the number of speakers). Bengali is the main language spoken in Bangladesh, and the second most commonly spoken language in India (after Hindi-Urdu). Along with Assamese, it is geographically the most eastern of the Indo-European languages. Owing to the Bengal renaissance in the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature emerged among the richest in South Asia, and includes luminaries such as Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian to be awarded a Nobel Prize. Like most other modern Indic languages, Bengali arose from the Apabhramsha melting + Bengali or Bangla (বাংলা, IPA: ['baŋla]) is an Indo-Aryan language of East South Asia, evolved from Prakrit, Pali and Sanskrit. With nearly 200 million native speakers, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world (it is ranked between four[1] and seven[7] based on the number of speakers). Bengali is the main language spoken in Bangladesh, and the second most commonly spoken language in India (after Hindi-Urdu). Along with Assamese, it is geographically the most eastern of the Indo-European languages. Like most other modern Indic languages, Bengali arose from the Apabhramsha melting pot of Middle Indic languages, around the turn of the first millennium CE. Some argue for much earlier points of divergence - going back to even 500 BCE,[8] but the language was not static, and different varieties co-existed concurrently, and authors often wrote in multiple dialects. In particular, the eastern region language known as Abahatta (with considerable overlap with Purvi and Magadhi Apabhrangsha), had begun to emerge by the seventh century AD. Hiuen Tsang has noted that the same language was spoken in most of Eastern India. (more...)
[edit] Article 13
- Kazi Nazrul Islam (Bengali: কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম) (May 25, 1899 — August 29, 1976) was a Bengali poet, composer, revolutionary and philosopher who is best known for pioneering works of Bengali poetry. He is popularly known as the Bidrohi Kobi — Rebel Poet — as many of his works express an intense rebellion against the oppression of human beings through slavery, hatred and tradition. He is officially recognised as the national poet of Bangladesh and commemorated in India.
Nazrul made his mark as a revolutionary poet through poems such as Bidrohi ("Rebel") and Bhangar Gan ("The Song of Destruction"). Nazrul's writings explored themes such as love, freedom, and revolution; he opposed all forms of bigotry, particularly Muslim religious fundamentalism and gender divides. The patriotic stance expressed in his publications like the Dhumketu ("Comet"), often got him into prison, but even there he wrote fiery pieces such as Rajbandir Jabanbandi ("Deposition of a Political Prisoner"), an intense critique of imperialism.
He wrote short stories, novels and essays, but is best known for his poems, in which he pioneered new forms such as Bengali ghazals. Nazrul wrote and composed music for his nearly 3000 songs, which constitute the body known as Nazrul Sangeet (Nazrul songs) widely popular today. Around the age of 44, Nazrul began losing his voice and memory, possibly due to undiagnosed neurosyphilis. Nazrul progressively lost his mind and lived the last thirty years of his life mostly in the dark. (more...)
