Old Bangla Photos

[LaBong]

It's like worshipping the Goth barbers who after inheriting Roman civilization, wasted all their energy on rampage and destroying artworks.

 

[kobiraaz]

Well that's a myth which is still getting circulated in Bangladeshi Madrasas. Bakhtiyar Khilji had the whole Delhi Sultanate army behind him and he along with 20 of his men came forward to offer a truce, the old king of Gaur naively believed this brute and kept himself off-guard, the result you know.

Bugger mate his fate in hands of his own pals!

written everywhere in any well researched history book of Bengal. And i am not a madrasa student.... my school college were run by christian missionaries.... anyway, if that version of history gives you satisfaction, then you may believe it. no problem.....

 

[kobiraaz]

It's like worshipping the Goth barbers who after inheriting Roman civilization, wasted all their energy on rampage and destroying artworks.

more like who brought equality and idea of brotherhood in a society which was divided by caste sects!
anyway you should know that time muslims were most advanced in education and technology than any other people.....

 

[Loyus]

My dear Bangaldeshi members,

I found that there is a deep confusion on identity..
What is a Bangaldeshi ?
Some people take pride in culture regardless of religion..
Some people take pride in only Bengali Muslim identity..
Some people hate Tagore..
Some people perceive religion as culture..
Some people take pride in a Khilji who had nothing to contribute to Bengali culture and was just a marauding adventure who thrived in misery of people..and destruction of centers of learnings

It's better that you are sure of it or try to have some sort of referendum in your country..
You have gone through much pain and violence in your struggles
But until and unless you are sure of what others would like you to be identified as
It is going to lead to hatred, confusion possibly violence..
There should be complete consistency on your identity
And that should be enshrined in your Constitution, your national song, your national festivals
My thought process on identity and culture is mentioned in my membership introduction..
I broke my vow to never post again on this thread..
I won;t vow again but I will try not to..

I am sorry if i have hurt you..
LIVE AND LET LIVE

 

[LaBong]

written everywhere in any well researched history book of Bengal. And i am not a madrasa student.... my school college were run by christian missionaries.... anyway, if that version of history gives you satisfaction, then you may believe it. no problem.....

It was in the year 1201 that Bakhtiar made his famous and well-described raid into the heart of Bengal, then ruled by the aged Lakshman Sen. He led a cavalry not through the usual route of Rajmahal, but through the hills and jungles of Jharkhand and made a sudden appearance before Nadiya or Navadeep where Lakshman Sen was camping at that time. Presumably, this was already a well-known place of pilgrimage where orthodox people used to go for bathing in the sacred Ganges. According to Minhas’ Tabaqat-I-Nasiri, many of the residents of Nadiya panicked at the news of the sudden appearance of Bakhtiar’s horsemen and left the city. The vanguard of 18 horsemen entered into the town without any resistance. Perhaps some of the local people even mistook them as horse dealers from Central Asia. They suddenly attacked the rulers and residents causing panic and all round confusion. Lakshman Sen was taking his mid-day lunch when “a loud cry rose from the gate of the palace and from the interior of the town”. This shows that the main body of the Turkish troops had followed the reconnaissance party into the town almost immediately. The aged Lakshman Sen, taken by surprise, left the palace by boat together with his retinue leaving the town in possession of the daredevil invaders. He withdrew to riverine East Bengal which was beyond the reach of the Turks. Thus Bakhtiar’s men had a walkover as far as Navadwip was concerned. This is the famous event described traditionally as Bakhtiar’s conquest of Bengal with only 18 horsemen. The process of actual conquest of Bengal took many more years. For the present Bakhtiar had only occupied a holy place on the river Bhagirathi where religious minded people often stayed in order to have regular dips in the holy river. Navadwip was not the capital of Bengal, nor close to the capital Gaur, also called the capital of Lakshnavati; but Bakhtiar must have followed up the conquest of Nadia by occupying the central part of Bengal around Lakshmanvati.

Lakshamn Sen continued to rule in East Bengal for several years after AD 1201. Several land grants issued by him from East Bengal (e.g., Bhawal Pargana grant, AD 1205) clearly attest to this. There is also a laudatory reference to Lakshman Sen’s victory against the Mlechha king and also to the victory of his sons over Yavanas. Even the author of Tabaqat uses a very complimentary term in relation to him and describes him as the great Rai of Bengal comparable to Sultan Qutab-ud-Din of Delhi. Lakshman Sen must have died around AD 1206. His two sons, Biswarup Sen and Keshav Sen, ruled in succession in East Bengal with usual imperial titles. Thereafter there is no reference to them, although, in general, Eastern Bengal stayed outside Delhi’s rule for nearly half a century even up to the time of Balban. According to Minhas Ghiyas-ud-din Iwaz, the Sultan of Lakhanavati, made an abortive attempt in 1226 to conquer Banga. Perhaps this invasion was followed by Biswarup Sen. Keshav Sen also claimed victory in his inscription, over invaders from the West, possibly Malik Saifuddin (AD 1231-33) of Gaur, who sent an expedition to Banga which brought some elephants, according to Minhas. Minhas also informs us that the Sens occupied the throne of Banga up to AD 1245. Both Biswarup and Keshav worshipped the Sun god. There is also evidence about a Buddhist ruler, Madhu Sen, who ruled portions of East Bengal around AD 1289.


Extracted from the Dr. Nihar Ranjan Rays’ Bangalir Itihas.

 

[LaBong]

more like who brought equality and idea of brotherhood in a society which was divided by caste sects!
anyway you should know that time muslims were most advanced in education and technology than any other people.....

Budhhists don't observe caste system. But yes, under the Sen dynasty, who are originally outsiders and thus weren't integrated well with secular Bengal, Brahminical Rule thrived.

Central Asian invaders did acquire some technological superiority from Ottoman empire(who in turn got them from Europeans), but main reason of them being successful invaders were - possession of better and fast horses and tried and tested war formations. Their glory almost instantly faded as soon as technological advances left Horse Cavalry a thing of past.

What educational advance? Mughals and Sultans were great patronage of arts, true. But they never cared for education. When in England they were building Oxford, in Indian Sahjahan was making Tajmahal!

 

[divya]

Doesn't matter. It is gone and should stay that way.



I know the sentiment of your kind. After all you are a Awami type.

Dont cry next time coming for babri mosque..

 

[kobiraaz]

well, i have read the same version of history... Yes Khiljì had a large army with him, but they fell behind and Khilji didnt wait for them... This event has made him legend... Even there is a book on it ' bokhtiarer ghora' by Al Mahmud.. Anyway khilji and shen both were part of bengal history, i take pride on both of them. Moreover, i always had special fascination for Pala dynasty...you have read about Matshonay and their contribution to eradicate anarchy!

 

[kobiraaz]

My dear Bangaldeshi members,

I found that there is a deep confusion on identity..
What is a Bangaldeshi ?
Some people take pride in culture regardless of religion..
Some people take pride in only Bengali Muslim identity..
Some people hate Tagore..
Some people perceive religion as culture..
Some people take pride in a Khilji who had nothing to contribute to Bengali culture and was just a marauding adventure who thrived in misery of people..and destruction of centers of learnings

It's better that you are sure of it or try to have some sort of referendum in your country..
You have gone through much pain and violence in your struggles
But until and unless you are sure of what others would like you to be identified as
It is going to lead to hatred, confusion possibly violence..
There should be complete consistency on your identity
And that should be enshrined in your Constitution, your national song, your national festivals
My thought process on identity and culture is mentioned in my membership introduction..
I broke my vow to never post again on this thread..
I won;t vow again but I will try not to..

I am sorry if i have hurt you..
LIVE AND LET LIVE

You are deliberately trying to create confusion... islam has deeper meaning. It is the way of life.. It controls everything of a muslim's life..... So to bengali muslims they try to follow islam everywhere and try to maintain bengali culture which is permissible by Islam..... Yea i take pride on my religion as well as i take pride on my language.. Whats so confusion in it?? Diversification is part of a society.... There will be difference in thoughts likings among people. That doesnt mean they lack identity!

 

[LaBong]

well, i have read the same version of history... Yes Khiljì had a large army with him, but they fell behind and Khilji didnt wait for them... This event has made him legend... Even there is a book on it ' bokhtiarer ghora' by Al Mahmud.. Anyway khilji and shen both were part of bengal history, i take pride on both of them. Moreover, i always had special fascination for Pala dynasty...you have read about Matshonay and their contribution to eradicate anarchy!

The thing is, the event have been described by British historians such as that it fits with Macaulay's racist description of Bengalis. But the fact is Khilji led a reconnaissance mission to an unprepared aged king with main army closely following and he only acquired ownership of an unimportant city. Lakhhan Sen still ruled most of Bengal for many years thereafter.

 

[kobiraaz]

off topic:wanted to share an article about one of my pakistani friends published in a local newspaper.... dont know where! so posting here!

it says

CAPTION: I AM FOND OF POTATO CHOP

my dream was to study abroad..but when i received my passport-visa, i was little bit scared about the new environment of BD.but after coming here, my concept changed totally within 2-3 months.people here are so much cordial that it never reminds me that i am abroad.'-- Wajahat Javed Mirza praised the BD people in such way. he came here in 2009 on SAARC scholarship to study in DMC. Wajahat, born in Islamabad, Pakistan, now stays in Dr Fazle Rabby Hall.he is proud of studying in DMC. in his view, medical study in BD is much better than Russia, China and so on. He says, " I have many frnds, who study med. science in Russia, china. they practise on Dummy dead body, but we do on real. they r afraid of real body. but we r the opposite. we handle it every now and then. so we r confident enough." He praised of BD food, specially Fish. he says, "we have to spend thousand money for fish in our country. but here i get good qualities within 100 tk." He also said of pine apple. it costs 200 rupee in pak, but 20 tk in BD.He takes pine apple with him whenever he goes home. He likes 'Potato Chop' more. he likes to hang on with frnds. last year he visited cox's bazar, teknaf. saint martin with frnds. the tour lasted 10 days.

 

[Avisheik]

Actually sixties was the time whole of Pakistan made progress. Since that time even we have made no progress except in the field of defence production

---------- Post added at 08:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 AM ----------

what were u fighting for in 71 ???

It was for a variety of reasons. These reasons were political, economic, etc.

To me the reasons were the oil. And the killings on the night of 25th march acted as the spark

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

Farhaan these are absolutely fab pictures !!! Do Keep posting more

Hopefully the thread on history and culture of Bengal will not be diverted to a tangential religious discourse.

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

You are deliberately trying to create confusion... islam has deeper meaning. It is the way of life.. It controls everything of a muslim's life..... So to bengali muslims they try to follow islam everywhere and try to maintain bengali culture which is permissible by Islam..... Yea i take pride on my religion as well as i take pride on my language.. Whats so confusion in it?? Diversification is part of a society.... There will be difference in thoughts likings among people. That doesnt mean they lack identity!

History agrees very much with the bold part --Did Islam compel Iranians , Turks , Hui Chinese , Indonesians , Malays etc to give up their cultural identity to be part of Islam ? It never did and today all ethnicities proudly associate with both their faith and their culture . And the Islamic message and the regional -way of living has managed to co-exist successfully everywhere except in one or two places . Bangaldesh is most fortunate that people here are quite comfortable in their religion and their cultural identity ( no contradiction), and if this continues this way --they are surely on the way to achieve as much prosperity as has been achieved by numerous other Islamic ethnicities aka Turks, Malays etc.

Blind adoption of Arab culture in the guise of adopting Islamic values has led to the ruin of our western neighbor , and this holds a very vital lesson for South Asia as a whole.

 

[eastwatch]

Actually sixties was the time whole of Pakistan made progress. Since that time even we have made no progress except in the field of defence production

---------- Post added at 08:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 AM ----------

what were u fighting for in 71 ???

We were fighting for our survival in 1971 when Bhutto/Yahya gang sent military to unleash terror, destroy our cultural pride and kill our people. AL of Sheiklh Mujib won the election, but was denied to form the central govt. Yahya cancelled the opening session of National Assembly to be held in Dhaka on 25th March, 1971. He unleashed his military on the innocent people of east Pakistan for the crime of voting in favoiur of AL.

The west Pakistan based military detasted democracy and favoured a military autocracy. It was probably to shut the mouths of Bengalis who were more democratic minded. It was also to stop Bengali muslims to achieve parity in the military. 50% participation in the military was our demand and dream. The first military take over was by Ayub Khan in 1958. It stopped the 1st free election from being held in 1959.

The next election was in 1970, but the military disliked the result and wanted a showdown against the democratic force. Well, it divided Pakistan into two entities, one with a democratic tradition and the other with religious extremism. So, 1971 was a tug of war between these two anti-forces.