BOUNCE BACK OF BENGAL FROM:STONE AGE TO INDEPENDENCE

WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD IS FACING A PANDEMIC SITUATION BENGAL HAVE TO SUFFER FROM BOTH THE UNFAMILIAR CONDITION (SUPER CYCLONE&CORONA).BENGAL IS FACING THE COMBINATION OF DANGER AND UNCERTANITY BOTH,IN SUCH CONDITION THOUSAND OF QUESTION ARRIVES what we will do after that?how long it will last?how we can survive? BUT APART FROM  THIS ONE QUESTION ALWAYS KNOCK TO MY MIND IS THAT EVER BENGAL HAS FACE ANY UNEXPECTED CONDITION(not only pandemic or cyclone) .IF YES THEN HOW BENGAL AGAIN BOUNCE BACK TO IT,S NORMAL STITUATION.SO TO START THE JOURNEY OF HISTORY OF BENGAL PLEASE TIGHTEN YOUR SEAT BELT AND ENJOY THE NEVER ENDING BOUNCE BACK OF BENGAL FROM:”STONE AGE TO INDEPENDENCE OF BENGAL”     

Ancient Bengal:

Bengal is a 4,000 year old civilization that thrived between the banks of Ganges to Brahmaputra and sustained itself with the riches of Gangetic Delta.

Remnants of earliest cities in the state date back to the Vedic Period. The oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh is Mahasthangarh, which dates back to 700 BCE. The culture and ethnicity of Bengal was different than that of the Vedic people. The latter referred to the people of Bengal as 'dasyus' or demons.

The Retreat of Alexander:

Greek traveler and chronicler Megasthenes referred to Bengal as Gangaridai in his book Indica (300 BC). When Alexander invaded India and defeated Porus, he wanted to conquer all of India and moved eastward where he came to know about the mighty forces of the Gangaridai warriors.

Alexander read accounts of Gangetic Delta written by Ptolemy and Diodorus. Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (90 BC -30 BC) depicted the Gangaridai warriors in this manner:

"The river is called the Ganges which had a width of thirty two stadia, and a greater depth than any other Indian river. Beyond this again were situated the dominions of the nation of the Prasioi and the Gandaridai, whose king, Xandrammes, had an army of 20,000 horses, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 chariots and 4,000 elephants trained and equipped for war.... Now this (Ganges) river, which is 30 stadia broad, flows from north to south, and empties its water into the ocean forming the eastern boundary of the Gandaridai, a nation which possesses the greatest number of elephants and the largest in size."

Arguably, it was the might of the Gangaridai warriors that made Alexander retreat of Bengal

Mention in Mahabharata:

The Mahabharata mentions Bengali kings Chitrasena and Sanudrasena, who were defeated by Pandav king Bhima. It also talks about a folklore that Bhima was injured by a poisoned arrow and he came to the southern most parts of Bengal, called Patratal, to heal. The southern most parts of Bengal indicates towards the mangrove lands of the Sundarbans.

In a significant development of events, a third century civilisation has been recently discovered beneath the surface of Gobardhanpur in Pathar Pratima Block, Sundarbans. The place has remnants of cauldrons and pots that would have been used to make herbal medicines.

Have you ever wondered why is it called the Bay of Bengal?

The answer is simple. The Bengal rulers have always paid attention to naval expansion. Trade links among Bengal, Java, Sumatra and Siam (now Thailand) can be traced even now.

Entrepot of the Silk Route:

Bengal has always been the gateway to the eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is the shortest and easiest route from the Bay of Bengal to the Himalayas. Such a geographical advantage made Bengal a commercial hub that connected the sea to the famous Silk Route.

The Empires in Bengal:

1)Maurya Dynasty (324 BC - 185 BC)

2)Gauda Empire (590 CE - 626 CE)

What we know as Bankura, a western district in modern day West Bengal, was once known as Mallabhum, the land of the Mallas. The Malla kings ruled the western provinces of Bengal from the seventh century and their dynasty can be traced to this date. Their last king Kalipada Singha Thakur became the king of Mallabhum in 1930 and 'ruled' till his death in 1983

The Maratha Invasion:

During the political turmoil after the death of Murshid Quli Khan in the 18th century, the Maratha Empire decided to invade Bengal. Led by Maratha Maharaja Raghuji of Nagpur, the Maratha force was able to capture parts of Odisha and Bengal but failed to get a hold of the entire province. The term 'Bargi', which refers to Maratha plunderers, is still a common term used in West Bengal (It's even used in a lullaby!)

Plassey and the British:

Being a gateway to India, a strong naval presence, a land full of riches and a weak ministerial cabinet -- to answer the question on how the British invaded India, one should fall back on these four factors.

The Battle of Plassey (June 1757), which allowed the British to consolidate their hold in Bengal as rulers, was only the curtain fall on a plot of a catastrophic betrayal.

Mirza Muhammad Sirajud-Daulah, who was the last independent Nawab of Bengal, gave the British a commercial licence to buy muslins and jute from Bengal. The British manipulated Siraj's ministers and bribed them to stand against the Nawab.

Siraj was betrayed by his trusted ally Mir Jafar and others ministers. He lost the Battle of Plassey and Bengal lost itself to the western colonisers.

British Bengal:

The Fort William in Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the first British stronghold in India. Although Siraj was able to capture it, after his death, the British rebuilt it and made it into a fortified, cannon-fitted military base.

After the fall of Mughal Empire, the focus of Indian culture and politics shifted from Delhi to Calcutta. The city gradually became the capital of the British India. It remained so until 1911.

Bengal Renaissance:

The Bengal Renaissance saw the rise of extraordinary personalities and visionaries from the Bengal province in the 19th and 20th century. Free thinking was encouraged among students, caste discrimination was condemned, and literature and science were seen as the agents of progress.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the 'Father of modern India', was the pioneer of the renaissance. Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose, Satyendra Nath Bose, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore propelled the movement forward and made Bengal the face of progress and culture in India.