Naru embarked on a life-long cerebral journey to find acceptable explanations for a few unanswered questions that arose in his mind during his school days. Those previously unexplained issues were critical to understanding the history, geography, and concept of the Bengal region, popularly known as ‘Bangla’. In his journey through life, he was able to find a previously unheard of but logically sustainable explanation of the word ‘Banga’ and one more closely associated word, ‘Bangal’. That explanation was in consonance with the present understanding of the process of geological evolution of the Bengal Basin. It was also capable of aligning itself with the accepted concept of the geological evolution of that basin. However, something even more startling occurred to Naru’s mind. As his logic-based journey to arrive at an acceptable and verifiable explanation of the word ‘Banga’ was approaching its end, the information gathered by him, in conjunction with some logical deductions, took him to the gateway that led to a new horizon. Naru started to realise the presence of something that lacked supporting physical evidence. All writers of Indian history, and thus all writers of Bengal’s history too, had to introduce a new batch of migrants into the scenario and assign that group a very high level of excellence and attainment. That has been the demand for a logical construct to explain everything at hand in relation to prehistoric as well as ancient India. Strong indications exist that a superior civilization existed in that geography. No model could be framed that could explain the mysterious past of that land, even remotely. Nobody dared to trade on that path. It is almost impossible to defend any such model. Rakhaldas Bandopadhyay attributed the 'self-inflicted downfall’ of that group to keeping logical consistency with the perceivable course of history. In recorded history, humankind has seen the downfall of a civilisation in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Whenever an unexplainable gap appears in history, it becomes handy to attribute that dark area to a self-inflicted downfall, as such examples are available at hand. In the case of India, something extraordinary has happened. The entire imagined civilisation has disappeared without leaving any trace. No archaeological evidence has been found with regard to that postulated civilisation. In all the other cases where civilisational or societal downfall has happened, remnants of the existence of such people have been found. In one of his essays about the origin of the Bengali people, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay commented that the origin of the people who were very significant in number within Bengal, i.e., those who were much larger in number than the higher classes, was shrouded in mystery. Something irritated Naru when he thought that a materialistic person like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay went on to comment that "no history has been written for Bengal." As it is evident from the writings of the experts, there is an "obscurity factor" involved with the past of the geography and history of the Bengal Basin. There is the undeniable presence of a spectre as far as the evolution of Bengali society is concerned. Naru wanted to see whether he could open a line of approach to the spectre associated with the Bengal Basin that was ever-present and allured all the travellers of history. Naru embarked on a new journey where an analysis of the different aspects of the life of the old inhabitants of Bengal became necessary to lift the shroud around the spectre associated with that basin. Ultimately, Naru was able to find a clue through which he thought that he would be able to continue his journey to the deep past of the Bengal Basin. This book provides a description of that clue and an account of the process of finding that all-important clue.

"The Muslim Heritage of Bengal is a multidimensional work. . . . I am sure this book will add to the vista of knowledge in the field of Muslim history and heritage of Bengal. I recommend this work."—A. K. M. Yaqub Ali, PhD, professor emeritus, Islamic history and culture, University of Rajshahi "Khan's book provides invaluable information which will inspire present and future generations."—M. Abdul Jabbar Beg, PhD, former professor of Islamic history and civilization, National University of Malaysia A popular history that covers eight hundred years of the history of Islam in Bengal through the example of forty-two inspirational men and women up until the twentieth century. Written by the author of the best-selling The Muslim 100. Included are the prominent figures Shah Jalal, Nawab Abdul Latif, Rt. Hon. Syed Ameer Ali, Sir Salimullah Khan Bahadur, and Begum Rokeya. Muhammad Mojlum Khan was born in 1973 in Habiganj, Bangladesh, and was educated in England. He is a teacher, author, literary critic, and research scholar, and has published more than 150 essays and articles worldwide. He is the author of The Muslim 100 (2008). He is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and director of the Bengal Muslim Research Institute, United Kindgom. He lives in England with his family.

Land of Two Rivers chronicles the story of one of the most fascinating and influential regions in the Indian subcontinent. The confluence of two major river systems, Ganga and Brahmaputra, created the delta of Bengal--an ancient land known as a center of trade, learning and the arts from the days of the Mahabharata and through the ancient dynasties. During the medieval era, this eventful journey saw the rise of Muslim dynasties which brought into being a unique culture, quite distinct from that of northern India. The colonial conquest in the eighteenth century opened the modern chapter of Bengal's history and transformed the social and economic structure of the region. Nitish Sengupta traces the formation of Bengali identity through the Bengal Renaissance, the growth of nationalist politics and the complex web of events that eventually led to the partition of the region in 1947, analyzing why, despite centuries of shared history and culture, the Bengalis finally divided along communal lines. The struggle of East Pakistan to free itself from West Pakistan's dominance is vividly described, documenting the economic exploitation and cultural oppression of the Bengali people. Ultimately, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman, East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. Land of Two Rivers is a scholarly yet extremely accessible account of the development of Bengal, sketching the eventful and turbulent history of this ancient civilization, rich in scope as well as in influence.

This book reopens the debate on colonial nationalisms, going beyond derivative , borrowed , political and modernist paradigms. It introduces the conceptual category of samaj to demonstrate how indigenous socio-cultural origins in Bengal interacted with late-colonial discourses to produce the notion of a nation. Samaj (a historical society and an idea-in-practice) was a site for reconfiguring antecedents and negotiating fragmentation. Drawing on indigenous sources, this study shows how caste, class, ethnicity, region and community were refracted to conceptualise wider unities. The mapping of cultural continuities through change facilitates a more nuanced investigation of the ontology of nationhood, seeing it as related to, but more than political nationalism. It outlines a fresh paradigm for recalibrating postcolonial identities, offering interpretive strategies to mediate fragmentation.

Often described as the soul of Islam, Sufism is one of the most interesting yet least known facet of this global religion. Sufism is the softer more inclusive and mystical form of Islam. Although militant Islamists dominate the headlines, the Sufi ideal has captured the imagination of many. Nowhere in the world is the handprint of Sufism more observable than South Asia, which has the largest Muslim population of the world, but also the greatest concentration of Sufis. This book examines active Sufi communities in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh that shed light on the devotion, and deviation, and destiny of Sufism in South Asia. Drawn from extensive work by indigenous and international scholars, this ethnographical study explores the impact of Iran on the development of Sufi thought and practice further east, and also discusses Sufism in diaspora in such contexts as the UK and North America and Iran's influence on South Asian Sufism.

This study, done within the comprehensive Weberian framework, focuses on religion and social change in Bangladesh through an imaginative use of qualitative as well as quantitative methods of modern social research. It first provides a sociological interpretation of the origin and development of Islam in Bengal using historical and literary works on Bengal. The main contribution is based on two sample surveys conducted by Mrs. Banu in 20 villages of Bangladesh and in three areas in the metropolitan Dhaka city. Using these survey data, she gives a sociological analysis of Islamic religious beliefs and practices in contemporary Bangladesh, and more importantly, she studies the impact of the Islamic religious beliefs on the socio- economic development and political culture in present-day Bangladesh. She also shows how Islam compares with modern education in social 'transforming capacity'. This careful and rigorous work is a notable contribution to sociology of religion and helps to deepen our understanding of the interactions between religious and social changes common to many parts of the Third World.

Land of Two Rivers chronicles the story of one of the most fascinating and influential regions in the Indian subcontinent. The confluence of two major river systems, Ganga and Brahmaputra, created the delta of Bengal—an ancient land known as a centre of trade, learning and the arts from the days of the Mahabharata and through the ancient dynasties. During the medieval era, this eventful journey saw the rise of Muslim dynasties which brought into being a unique culture, quite distinct from that of northern India. The colonial conquest in the eighteenth century opened the modern chapter of Bengal’s history and transformed the social and economic structure of the region. Nitish Sengupta traces the formation of Bengali identity through the Bengal Renaissance, the growth of nationalist politics and the complex web of events that eventually led to the partition of the region in 1947, analysing why, despite centuries of shared history and culture, the Bengalis finally divided along communal lines. The struggle of East Pakistan to free itself from West Pakistan’s dominance is vividly described, documenting the economic exploitation and cultural oppression of the Bengali people. Ultimately, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman, East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. Land of Two Rivers is a scholarly yet extremely accessible account of the development of Bengal, sketching the eventful and turbulent history of this ancient civilization, rich in scope as well as in influence.

Sharmistha Gooptu is a founder and managing trustee of the South Asia Research Foundation (SARF), a not-for-profit research body based in India. SARF’s current project SAG (South Asian Gateway) is in partnership with Taylor and Francis, and involves the creation of what will be the largest South Asian digital database of historical materials. She is also the joint editor of the journal South Asian History and Culture (Routledge) and the Routledge South Asian History and Culture book series.

The Bengali (Bangla) speaking people are located in the northeastern part of South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh and two states of India – West Bengal and Tripura. There are almost 246 million Bengalis at present, which makes them the fifth largest speech community in the world. Despite political and social divisions, they share a common literary and musical culture and several habits of daily existence which impart to them a distinct identity. The Bengalis are known for their political consciousness and cultural accomplishments The Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis provides an overview of the Bengalis across the world from the earliest Chalcolithic cultures to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 750 cross-referenced dictionary entries on politicians, educators and entrepreneurs, leaders of religious and secular institutions, writers, painters, actors and other cultural figures, and more generally, on the economy, education, political parties, religions, women and minorities, literature, art and architecture, music, cinema and other major sectors. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Bengalis.