The area which is now Bangladesh has a rich historical and
cultural past, combining Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Mongol/Mughul,
Arab, Persian, Turkic, and West European cultures. Residents
of Bangladesh, about 98% of whom are ethnic Bengali and speak
Bangla, are called Bangladeshis. Urdu-speaking, non-Bengali
Muslims of Indian origin, and various tribal groups, mostly
in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprise the remainder. Most
Bangladeshis (about 83%) are Muslims, but Hindus constitute
a sizable (16%) minority. There are also a small number of
Buddhists, Christians, and animists. English is spoken in
urban areas, and among the educated.
About 1200 AD, Muslim invaders, under Sufi influence, supplanted
existing Hindu and Buddhist dynasties in Bengal. This incursion
led to the conversion to Islam of most of the population in
the eastern areas of Bengal, and created a sizable Muslim
minority in the western areas of Bengal. Since then, Islam
has played a crucial role in the region's history and politics.
Bengal was absorbed into the Mughul Empire in the 16th century,
and Dhaka, the seat of a nawab (the representative of the
emperor), gained some importance as a provincial center. But,
it remained remote and thus a difficult-to-govern region--especially
the section east of the Brahmaputra River--outside the mainstream
of Mughul politics.
Portuguese traders and missionaries were the first Europeans
to reach Bengal, in the latter part of the 15th century. They
were followed by representatives of the Dutch, the French,
and the British East India Companies. By the end of the 17th
century, the British presence, on the Indian subcontinent,
was centered in Calcutta. During the 18th and 19th centuries,
the British gradually extended their commercial contacts and
administrative control beyond Calcutta to Bengal. In 1859,
the British Crown replaced the East India Company, extending
British dominion from Bengal--which became a region of India--in
the east, to the Indus River in the west.
The rise of nationalism throughout British-controlled India,
in the late 19th century, resulted in mounting animosity between
the Hindu and Muslim communities. In 1885, the All-India National
Congress was founded with Indian and British membership. Muslims
seeking an organization of their own founded the All-India
Muslim League in 1906. Although both the League and the Congress
supported the goal of Indian self-government, within the British
Empire, the two parties were unable to agree on a way to ensure
the protection of Muslim political, social, and economic rights.
The subsequent history of the nationalist movement was characterized
by periods of Hindu-Muslim cooperation, as well as by communal
antagonism. The idea of a separate Muslim state gained increasing
popularity among Indian Muslims after 1936, when the Muslim
League suffered a decisive defeat in the first elections under
India's 1935 constitution. In 1940, the Muslim League called
for an independent state in regions where Muslims were in
the majority. Campaigning on that platform in provincial elections
in 1946, the League won the majority of the Muslim seats contested
in Bengal. Widespread communal violence followed, especially
in Calcutta.
When British India was partitioned and the independent dominions
of India and Pakistan were created in 1947, the region of
Bengal was divided along religious lines. The predominantly
Muslim eastern half was designated East Pakistan--and made
part of the newly independent Pakistan--while the predominantly
Hindu western part became the Indian state of West Bengal.
Pakistan's history from 1947 to 1971 was marked by political
instability and economic difficulties. Dominion status was
rejected in 1956 in favor of an "Islamic republic within the
Commonwealth." Attempts at civilian political rule failed,
and the government imposed martial law between 1958 and 1962,
and again between 1969 and 1972.
Almost from the advent of independent Pakistan in 1947, frictions
developed between East and West Pakistan, which were separated
by more than 1,000 miles of Indian territory. East Pakistanis
felt exploited by the West Pakistan-dominated central government.
Linguistic, cultural, and ethnic differences also contributed
to the estrangement of East from West Pakistan. Bengalis strongly
resisted attempts to impose Urdu as the sole official language
of Pakistan. Responding to these grievances, Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman--known widely as "Mujib"--in 1949 formed the Awami
League (AL), a party designed mainly to promote Bengali interests.
Mujib became president of the Awami League, and emerged as
leader of the Bengali autonomy movement. In 1966, he was arrested
for his political activities. After the Awami League won all
the East Pakistan seats of the Pakistan national assembly
in 1970-71 elections, West Pakistan opened talks with the
East on constitutional questions about the division of power
between the central government and the provinces, as well
as the formation of a national government headed by the Awami
League.
The talks proved unsuccessful, however, and on March 1, 1971,
Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the
pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil
disobedience in East Pakistan. Mujib was arrested again; his
party was banned, and most of his aides fled to India, where
they organized a provisional government. On March 26, 1971,
following a bloody crackdown by the Pakistan army, Bengali
nationalists declared an independent People's Republic of
Bangladesh. As fighting grew between the army and the Bengali
mukti bahini ("freedom fighters"), an estimated 10 million
Bengalis, mainly Hindus, sought refuge in the Indian states
of Assam and West Bengal.
The crisis in East Pakistan produced new strains in Pakistan's
troubled relations with India. The two nations had fought
a war in 1965, mainly in the west, but the refugee pressure
in India in the fall of 1971 produced new tensions in the
east. Indian sympathies lay with East Pakistan, and in November,
India intervened on the side of the Bangladeshis. On December
16, 1971, Pakistani forces surrendered and Bangladesh--meaning
"Bengal nation"--was born; the new country became a parliamentary
democracy under a 1972 constitution.
Sheikh Mujib, one of the founders of the Awami League, became
the country's first prime minister in January 1972; he was
assassinated in 1975 during a period of crisis.
The ruined and decimated new country experienced famine in
1973-74, followed by martial law, successive military coups
and political assassinations. In 1979, Bangladesh began a
short-lived experiment with democracy led by the overwhelmingly
popular President Zia, who established good relationships
with the West and the oil-rich Islamic countries. His assassination
in 1981 ultimately returned the country to a military government
that periodically made vague announcements that elections
would be held 'soon'. While these announcements were rapturously
greeted by the local press as proof that Bangladesh was indeed
a democracy, nothing came of them until 1991. That year the
military dictator General Ershad was forced to resign by an
unprecedented popular movement led by the Bangladesh Nationalist
Party and the Awami League.
In 1991 democracy was re-established and Begum Khaled Zia
became prime minister. The economy ticked along at a 4.5%
growth rate, and ties with the West were strengthened when
the government sent troops to assist in the Gulf War, the
US-led invasion of Haiti and the war in Bosnia. By 1994, however,
many Bangladeshis had become disenchanted with the Zia government.
Despite election promises, the 1974 Special Powers Act, allowing
detention without charge for 120 days, had never been repealed.
There were claims that the government had rigged by-elections,
and military and police repression of dissenters appeared
to be on the rise. Opposition parties called for mass general
strikes and the country's bureaucrats walked out.
A general election was held in February 1996, but a boycott
by opposition parties, 5% voter turnout, and claims of ballot
box stuffing and repression of anti-government protesters
raised serious questions about the legitimacy of the re-elected
Zia government. Opposition parties and activist groups campaigned
against the election, and on 30 March Zia stood down and a
caretaker government under Muhammad Habibur Rahman was appointed.
Elections, generally seen as free and fair, were held in June
and a coalition government headed by Sheikh Hasina Wazed of
the Awami League was voted in. In mid-1988 the country was
hit by devastating floods - 50 of the country's 64 districts
were flooded, 755 people died and nearly a million were made
homeless.
