Should we make a Petition to change the Devanagari script of Bangla!?

[kalu_miah]

The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760

"Serving to check the growth of the “religion of the Book,” however, was the fact that the book in question, the Qur’an, was written in a language unknown to the masses of Bengali society. Moreover, since the Qur’an had been revealed in Arabic, in Bengal as elsewhere fear of tampering with the word of God inhibited its outright translation. As we have seen, Bengali Muslims were extremely reluctant to translate even Islamic popular lore into Bengali. Of course, they could have done what many other non-Arab Muslims did—that is, retain their own language for written discourse but render it in the Arabic script, as happened in Iran (modern Persian) and North India (Urdu). The transliteration of any language into Arabic script not only facilitates the assimilation of Arabic vocabulary but fosters a psychological bond between non-Arab and Arab Muslims. In the seventeenth century, in fact, attempts were made to do the same for Bengali. The Dhaka Museum has a manuscript work composed in 1645 entitled Maqtul Husain—a tract treating the death of Husain at Karbala—written in Bengali but using the Arabic, and not the Bengali, script.[79] Although subsequent writers made similar such literary attempts,[80] it is significant that the effort never took hold, with the result that Bengali Muslims remain today the world’s largest body of Muslims who, despite Islamization, have retained both their language and their script.[81]"

Maqtul Husain - Muhammad Khan - Google Books
[Maqtul Husain. (Book) [WorldCat.org]
"Details
Named Person:Ḥusayn ibn ʻAlī
Document Type:Book
All Authors / Contributors:Muhammad Khan.; University of Dacca. Library.
OCLC Number:844601138
Description:v.
Responsibility:Within the frame work of the story of Karbala it gives an account of the history of the world from Prophet Muhammad to Doomsday. 1827] Microfilm (negative) of the original ms. 380 in Dacca University Library Dacca, University Library Photo-copying Service, 1968."

Muslim Bengali literature - Muhammad Enamul Haq - Google Books
A History of Chittagong: From ancient times down to 1761 - Sunīti Bhūshaṇa Kānunago - Google Books
Bangladesh: Past and Present - Salahuddin Ahmed - Google Books
Constructing Bangladesh: Religion, Ethnicity, and Language in an Islamic ... - Sufia M. Uddin - Google Books

Banglapedia

"Syed Sultan (c 1550-1648) poet of medieval bangla literature, was a resident of Patiya village under Chakrashala Chakla in chittagong. He lived in Laskarpur (Paragalpur), Chittagong for some time. The name of his pir was Syed Hasan. The poet himself later reached the status of a pir. Muhammad Khan, author of the poetical work called Maktul Hussain, was his disciple.

Sultan was noted as a composer of poems based on oral narratives or scriptures. He wrote several books, including nabi bangsha (Family of the Prophet), Jvanpradip (Light of knowledge), Jvanchautisha, and Jaikum Rajar Ladai (Battle of King Jaikum). He composed some poems in couplets. His Jnanchautisa is primarily an abridged version of Jnanpradip; both works deal with yoga and sufism. Jaikum Rajar Ladai is based on the battle of a king.

His most noted work is Nabi Bangsha and is based on Kasasul Ambiya in Persian, and covers the entire range religions of history from genesis and is to the work and life of all the prophets tillhazrat muhammad (Sm). The work also includes some mythological deities in the lineage of prophets. But it professes the glory and greatness of islam and is a work of epic stature.

Rasulcharita, the second part of the Nabi Bangsha, is considered a separate work. It begins beginning with the doctrine of creation, moves on to the birth of Abdullah, his marriage, Amina’s pregnancy, attempt of abortion by Abu Jehel, and the birth and life of Hazrat Muhammad (Sm). The work contains both historical elements and writer’s own imaginings, being influenced by the society and culture of Bengal. rasulbijay (15th century) by Jainuddin is the first work of this genre, followed by Rasulcharita. Rasulcharita is the best work of biographical nature written in verse in the middle age. Although Shab-e-Miraj (The night of travel) and Ofat-e-Rasul (The death of the Prophet) are popularly known as two separate works, they are in fact part of Rasulcharita.

Sultan had a good command over Bangla and he could explain many difficult-to-understand aspects of Sufism and Islam lucidly. Edited by ahmed sharif, all his works including Rasulcharita had been published in a book form (1978) by the bangla academy. [Khandker Muzammil Haq]"

Karim Sahityavisharad, Abdul | BanglaPedia : National Pedia of Bangladesh
"Karim Sahityavisharad, Abdul

Karim Sahityavisharad, Abdul (1871-1953) a litterateur, historian of Bangla literature and collector and interpreter of old Bangla manuscripts. Born in village Suchakradandi in Patiya Upazila within greater Chittagong, Abdul Karim Sahityavisharad passed his Entrance Examination in 1893 from Patiya High School. He served as a teacher in some schools, later joined the office of the Divisional Commissioner of Chittagong, and finally became Divisional Inspector of Schools. He retired in 1934. Abdul Karim started writing literary articles in early life. His literary pursuits drew the attention of contemporary literati.

His special interest was Muslim contribution to Bangla literature in the medieval period. Throughout his life he collected old Bangla manuscripts (called puthis). The Bongiya Sahitya Parisat published his catalogue of Bangla manuscripts entitled Bangala Prachin Puthir Bivaran in two volumes in 1920-21. The major portion of his manuscript collection, comprising works by Muslim poets, is preserved in the Dhaka University Library and the rest, written by Hindu poets, in the varendra research museum, Rajshahi.

Abdul Karim Sahityavisharad

The Bengali department of Dhaka University has published a catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the University Library under the title Puthi Parichiti. Abdul Karim himself edited and published eleven old Bangla texts; he also wrote a book on the history and culture of Chittagong, entitled Islamabad and co-authored with Dr Muhammad Enamul Haq a book entitled Arakan Rajsabhaya Bangla Sahitya. All these are scholarly works. His collection of manuscripts produced by Muslim poets indicates that the Muslim intellectuals of the medieval age had made great contributions to the development of Bangla literature. Some poets like daulat qazi, alaol, syed sultan, Muhamad Khan etc are rated among the greatest Bengali poets. Abdul Karim discovered about a hundred Muslim poets whose names and works were not known before.

Nadia Sahitya Sabha (Literary Association of Nadia) honored him with the title of Sahitya Sagar, whileChattal Dharmamandali gave him the title of Sahitya Visharad. He always preferred the latter and used it with his name and is remembered by this singular title. [Abdul Karim]

 

[Saiful Islam]

The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760

"Serving to check the growth of the “religion of the Book,” however, was the fact that the book in question, the Qur’an, was written in a language unknown to the masses of Bengali society. Moreover, since the Qur’an had been revealed in Arabic, in Bengal as elsewhere fear of tampering with the word of God inhibited its outright translation. As we have seen, Bengali Muslims were extremely reluctant to translate even Islamic popular lore into Bengali. Of course, they could have done what many other non-Arab Muslims did—that is, retain their own language for written discourse but render it in the Arabic script, as happened in Iran (modern Persian) and North India (Urdu). The transliteration of any language into Arabic script not only facilitates the assimilation of Arabic vocabulary but fosters a psychological bond between non-Arab and Arab Muslims. In the seventeenth century, in fact, attempts were made to do the same for Bengali. The Dhaka Museum has a manuscript work composed in 1645 entitled Maqtul Husain—a tract treating the death of Husain at Karbala—written in Bengali but using the Arabic, and not the Bengali, script.[79] Although subsequent writers made similar such literary attempts,[80] it is significant that the effort never took hold, with the result that Bengali Muslims remain today the world’s largest body of Muslims who, despite Islamization, have retained both their language and their script.[81]"

Maqtul Husain - Muhammad Khan - Google Books
[Maqtul Husain. (Book) [WorldCat.org]
"Details
Named Person:Ḥusayn ibn ʻAlī
Document Type:Book
All Authors / Contributors:Muhammad Khan.; University of Dacca. Library.
OCLC Number:844601138
Description:v.
Responsibility:Within the frame work of the story of Karbala it gives an account of the history of the world from Prophet Muhammad to Doomsday. 1827] Microfilm (negative) of the original ms. 380 in Dacca University Library Dacca, University Library Photo-copying Service, 1968."

Muslim Bengali literature - Muhammad Enamul Haq - Google Books
A History of Chittagong: From ancient times down to 1761 - Sunīti Bhūshaṇa Kānunago - Google Books
Bangladesh: Past and Present - Salahuddin Ahmed - Google Books
Constructing Bangladesh: Religion, Ethnicity, and Language in an Islamic ... - Sufia M. Uddin - Google Books

Banglapedia

"Syed Sultan (c 1550-1648) poet of medieval bangla literature, was a resident of Patiya village under Chakrashala Chakla in chittagong. He lived in Laskarpur (Paragalpur), Chittagong for some time. The name of his pir was Syed Hasan. The poet himself later reached the status of a pir. Muhammad Khan, author of the poetical work called Maktul Hussain, was his disciple.

Sultan was noted as a composer of poems based on oral narratives or scriptures. He wrote several books, including nabi bangsha (Family of the Prophet), Jvanpradip (Light of knowledge), Jvanchautisha, and Jaikum Rajar Ladai (Battle of King Jaikum). He composed some poems in couplets. His Jnanchautisa is primarily an abridged version of Jnanpradip; both works deal with yoga and sufism. Jaikum Rajar Ladai is based on the battle of a king.

His most noted work is Nabi Bangsha and is based on Kasasul Ambiya in Persian, and covers the entire range religions of history from genesis and is to the work and life of all the prophets tillhazrat muhammad (Sm). The work also includes some mythological deities in the lineage of prophets. But it professes the glory and greatness of islam and is a work of epic stature.

Rasulcharita, the second part of the Nabi Bangsha, is considered a separate work. It begins beginning with the doctrine of creation, moves on to the birth of Abdullah, his marriage, Amina’s pregnancy, attempt of abortion by Abu Jehel, and the birth and life of Hazrat Muhammad (Sm). The work contains both historical elements and writer’s own imaginings, being influenced by the society and culture of Bengal. rasulbijay (15th century) by Jainuddin is the first work of this genre, followed by Rasulcharita. Rasulcharita is the best work of biographical nature written in verse in the middle age. Although Shab-e-Miraj (The night of travel) and Ofat-e-Rasul (The death of the Prophet) are popularly known as two separate works, they are in fact part of Rasulcharita.

Sultan had a good command over Bangla and he could explain many difficult-to-understand aspects of Sufism and Islam lucidly. Edited by ahmed sharif, all his works including Rasulcharita had been published in a book form (1978) by the bangla academy. [Khandker Muzammil Haq]"

Is it me or are the people on the internet not too well informed regarding Bangladesh's Islamic history (and general) and I'm talking about the non-Bangladeshis. I assume it has to be that because the things I see on forums not just this forum such as "Bangladesh did not under-go as much foreign invasion as other countries in the region", is this a true statement or is it incorrect? Sorry random question.

 

[Joe Shearer]

@Saiful Islam I think you are right and wrong together.

First, there is a much livelier understanding of the development of the Bengali language, and its literature, among two or three selected individuals than among the rest. These selected individuals have introduced a good amount of erudite information to the forum. The information from @kalu_miah in particular is outstanding.

Second, the answer to your question is contained in one of the books referred by @kalu_miah. If you read Eaton, your question about the invasions of Bangladesh will be answered in a fair amount of detail.

 

[kalu_miah]

Is it me or are the people on the internet not too well informed regarding Bangladesh's Islamic history (and general) and I'm talking about the non-Bangladeshis. I assume it has to be that because the things I see on forums not just this forum such as "Bangladesh did not under-go as much foreign invasion as other countries in the region", is this a true statement or is it incorrect? Sorry random question.

Can you be a little more specific, I am not sure I understand the question.

 

[kalu_miah]

Ancient And Medieval History of Bangladesh - WikiEducator

Origin of Bengali Language and literature

The language of the original inhabitants of Bengal was Austric. This language gradually died away after the coming of the Aryans. The name of the language of the Aryans was Ancient Vedic Language. This was later reformed. The scholars turned the Vedic language into a language of literature. As the old language was reformed, this new language was named as the 'Sanskrit' language. Many are of opinion that the Bengali language originated from the Sanskrit language.

The modern scholars, however, have not accepted this view. In the ancient time, the common people did not use this language. Only the Brahmins used it. The name of the language of the common people was called 'Prakrita Bhasa'. As time passed, changes began to come over the language. It gained excellence and quality through the writing of books. Two languages were born of the 'Prakrita' language. One was 'Pali' and the other was 'Apabhransha'. The language of the common people, howerve, remained as 'Prakrita' language. Many new languages were bom in many states of Eastern India at that time. These originated from the 'Apabhrangsha' language. Our Bengali language was also born in this manner.

Sanskrit language has been used most in Bengal during the reigns of the Pala and the Sena dynasties. As a result Bengali language did not develop much during that time. The cultivation of the Bengali language increased later, in the Medieval Age. The language, too, developed a lot. During the period 1350 A. D-1800 A.D, Bengali poetry was compossed extensively by Hindu and Muslim poets. In the Age of the Muslims, Bengali language gradually secured a seat of its own under the generous patronization of the Sultans.

Rise and Development of Bengali literature
With the rise of the Bengali language, Bengali literature, too, developed. It was in the Medieval Age, that Bengali language truly found its expression. It was cultivated to some extent in the ancient times also. A collection of lyrical poems composed by the Buddhist Monks known as 'Charjapada' is supposed to be the earliest specimen of Bengali literature. The Buddhist Monks composed those poems during the reigns the Pala and the Sena kings. The period upto the twelfth century was known as the ancient period of Bengali literature. The Buddhist kings of the Pala dynasty patronized language, literature, art and culture. The 'Charjapada' began to be composed from that period. A Bengali book by the name 'Sadukti Karnamrita' was written in the ancient Bengal. There were names of one hundred and thirteen poets in the book. Most of them were Buddhists and the inhabitants of Bengal. Shridhar Das compiled the book. We can learn from the 'Charjapada' that chess was the most popular game in ancient Bengal. Mention of the 'Vina' (Indian lute) among the musical instruments is found in it. Marriage ceremonies were performed with great pomp. Women dreesed their hair into a knot at the back of the head men kept long curly hair hanging down to the neck. They used to wear coronet on the occasion of marriage.

The Sena kings, Vallala Sena and Lakshman Sena were themselves great scholars. Lakshman Sena revered the poets and scholars. However, most of the literary works at the time were written in Sanskrit.

Before the Muslim rule, Ramai Pundit composed a book of verses called 'Shunnya Purana'. The stories and hymns of Hindu Gods and Goddesses like Mansha, Shitala, Chandi, etc. were at the mouth of all and sundry. Although the journey of Bengali literature started in ancient Bengal, it found its true expression in the Medieval Age.

Social and Cultural Life in Medieval Bengal
The Medieval Age in Bengal began with the assumption of power by the Muslims. Before the advent of the Muslims, people belonging to the Hindu and the Buddhist religions lived in Bengal. The Muslims under the leadership of Bakhtiar Khalji entered Bengal as a royal power in the beginning of the thirteenth century. Even five to six hundred years before that the Arab Muslims who had come to do business were living on the coastal belt in Southeast Bengal. The Sufis and the Saints began to come to Bengal to preach Islam from the eleventh century. Many of the common Hindus and Buddhists embraced Islam at the time. Thus, gradually a Muslim social structure developed in Bengal. The Hindus and the Muslims lived side by side all over Bengal at the time. As a result, a sort of mixture began to take place between one another's thoughts and rituals. The culture which evolved in this way is called the Bengali culture.

Language and Literature
The Sufis and the Saints had an important role in the expansion of the Muslim society in Bengal. The abodes of the Sufis and the Saints were called 'Khankahs'. Along with the establishment of the 'Khankah' the Sufis also established almshouses, Maktabs, Madrashas. In fact, they created the proper atmosphere for the establishment of a Muslim society in Bengal. The deprived Hindus during the Sena period got the equal privilege of learning during the Muslim period. Hence, some Hindu writers emerged in the society during the Muslim period. For example 'Karcha', 'Naladamyanti Kavya', 'and 'Devayan Upakhyana' were written by goldsmith Govinda Das, barber Madhusudan and milkman Ram Narayan Gope respectively. The Hindus and the Muslims had good relations with each other in the Age of the Sultans. Many Hindus were appointed in high offices of the State. When Sree Chaitnya preached the new 'Vaishnaba' religion, he received no opposition from the Muslim Sultans.

The Sultans patronized the growth and expansion of the Bengali language and literature. In this respect the first name that can be mentioned is Giasuddin Azam Shah (1393 A.D-1411 A.D) of the Ilias Shah Dynasty. It was during his regin Shah Mohammad Sagir wrote his famous poem 'Yusuf-Zulekha'. Barbak Shah of the later Ilias Shahi Dynasty patronized Jashoraj Khan, composer of 'Sree Krishna Vijoy'. Alauddin Hussain Shah had a reputation for inspiring the cultivation of Bengali literature. He patronaged Maladhar Basu, Bipradasa, Vijayagupta and other poets. Sultan Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah also has reputation for such patronage. During his time Kavindra Parameswar translated Mahabharata in Bengali. The cultivation of not only Bengali, but also of Arabic and Persian works were widely preactised during the Sultanate period.

The Society of Bengal in the Mughal Period - WikiEducator

Education and Literature

In the Mughal Age too, like the Age of the Sultans, there was a remarkable Development in education and literature. The employees recruited in the period were highly educated. They had great passion for learning. People of different professions like poets, teachers, doctors, etc. came with them. Consequently, their influence and endeavours greatly helped the advancement of education in Bengal. The Revenue Minister Raja Todarmal of Emperor Akbar introduced Persian language in government offices. Akbar helped a lot for the spread of education. For this reason the language and literature developed considerably in Bengal durin the Mughal period.

Both the Hindus and Muslims learnt Persian to get government jobs. These Persian knowing officials were called 'Munshis'. The books of the famous Persian poet Sheikh Saadi were very popular in this country at that time. The Nawabs and Subadars like Kasim Khan, Shah Shuja, Mir Jumla, Shayesta Khan and Murshid Kuli Khan worked a lot to develop the Persian language.

The influence of the Persian language on Bengali literature during the Mughal period can very well be observed. Persian is an affluent language. When the influence of a rich language falls on another language, the grandeur of the latter is enhanced. The same happened in the case of the Bengali language too. The Bengali language began to brighten in following the subject and style of the Persian language. Gradually the use of Persian words in Bangla began to increase. The Bengali Muslims began to introduce ideas and thoughts of Persian literature in their poems. Gazals and Sufi literature began to be evolved bearing likeness to Persian literature. The Hindu poets were inspired by the Sanskrit literature instead of Persian. Nevertheless, many of them could not avoid the Persian influence. The Vaishmava Padabali was composed following the Persian style. The influence of the Persian literature can be observed in the writing of the authors like Bharata Chandra Raigunakar, etc. The Baul songs developed in Bengal during the Mughal rule. The poets at that time composed mourning songs of the Muharram also.

 

[MilSpec]

^^So when are you guys changing to arabic?

 

[kalu_miah]

Sylheti Nagri:
Endangered Archives Programme: Item Overview

Puthi collection:
Guardian of a lost art | Dhaka Tribune

Guardian of a lost art
Faisal Mahmud Weekend
Faisal Mahmud writes about our poetic heritage

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PrevNext
By day, Abu Bakar Siddique is a music producer for Bangladesh Betar. He has to write music for at least 10 songs per week. “Creating music for a lyric is hard, and an artist can never get satisfaction if he has to create music under a deadline,” says Siddique. “But that’s a part of my job.”

By night however, he indulges his creative self. In a small music studio in the corner of his house in Shyamoli, he practises, researches and creates music for a glorious, almost-lost art of Bengal: puthipaath.

“Only a hundred years ago, puthipaath was the main source of entertainment for the people of rural Bengal, along with palagaan and kiccha kahinir ashor. Now it has almost become obsolete. A very few people, like me, still bear the torch for it,” he said.

Before I met Abu Bakar Siddique, I knew very little about puthi. But one night at a poetry reading, I was about to leave early after averse overdose, eager to grab a cup of coffee, but my plans changes as soon as Siddique’s mellifluous voice started his puthipaath. It was rhythmic and full of story.
I was instantly hooked.

A family affair
“It’s hard to understand the magic of puthipaath by sitting in a room amid the concrete jungle,” Siddique tells me. “Just think of the context: It’s a spring night under a banyan tree in some village without electricity, a group of simple, guileless villagers ready to be charmed by the two bards.”
Siddique talked about growing up during a time when people would take pleasure in simpler things. “It was in the 60s, and a village in Tangail district couldn’t offer much to entertain rather than puthipaath.”

He has been involved with puthipaath since childhood. “My village is in Sakhipur, Tangail, an area with rich cultural heritage. During my childhood, I saw my uncle reciting puthi everyday. My father also recited puthi.”

That image is etched in his mind. “I used to participate as an assistant, reciting and playing the percussion, in the village gathering where my uncle performed puthi. He was a famous bard of the area. A group of village bauls provided background music. Since then, I developed a great affection for it.
Later he did a Master’s degree in Bangla literature from Dhaka University (DU), where he conducted research on puthi.

Passion as profession
Siddique was drawn into the profession of music since his student years in DU. At that time, he was mainly singing the folk songs of Abbas Uddin and Abdul Alim.
In 1984, Siddique was enlisted by BTV and Bangladesh Betar as a music composer and artist, where he met Abdul Latif.
“The thought of puthipaath flickered in my mind again when I met Latif. He revived the practice of puthipaath in the modern era. Also an enlisted artist and composer for BTV and Bangladesh Betar, Abdul Latif started creating music for puthi. I started working with him on it. Later I pursued a Master’s degree on it and conducted research on puthipaath.”
After completing his Master’s, he enrolled at the government music college in Agargaon and did a Bachelor’s in music. He then went to Medinipur in India and did another Master’s in music. His core focus at that Master’s program was Bangali folklore.

“I particularly focused on puthi. My uncle had lots of ancient puthi but I didn’t store those. I have only a few of those,” he said.
He has participated in several research workshops on puthi conducted by Bangla Academy.
“The pioneer in puthi research in Bangladesh is of course Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad. He has done a colossal amount of work in that regard.”
Siddique has been able to successfully provide music to many puthis. “But the problem is, with the advent of Western and other music, people of this generation have started to lose interest in this rich part of our folklore.”

What is puthipaath?
“Puthi represents the poetic part of ancient Bangla literature,” Siddique said, “while folklore represents mostly the narrative part of ancient Bangla literature.”
Wikipedia describes the puthi as: “A book of poetic fairy tales and religious stories of rural ancient Bengal which were read by a senior ‘educated’ person while others would listen. This was used as a medium for education and constructive entertainment.”

The word “puthi” means book. Puthis are ancient manuscripts, whose pages could be leaves, sheets of wood, or old papers. Usually, they were written on one side and bound with a piece of string.

“To understand the context of puthi, you have to go back to the medieval age of Bangla literature. In that time, in rural villages in Bengal, two bards would stand in front of each other and engage in an impromptu musical debate.”

Siddique said the bards would conduct these debates in poetic manner with a certain rhythm. “The bards had a number of disciples who, during such debates, took notes and later converted those into books. The concept of ‘puthi’ was born in that manner.”

“In Bengal,” Siddique said “these books were different and unlike other books at that time. Writers, or ‘munshis,’ wrote in Sanskrit, Bangla, or local dialects.”

A product of Muslim literature
Puthis were also part of Muslim revolution in arts and literature in the subcontinent. “Puthipaath was a way to spread messages about Islam in the form of entertainment. Various Sufis used to do that,” said Siddique.

The Indian subcontinent was mainly inhabited by Hindus. Sufis and Bauls, who came to the subcontinent from Persia, found it effective to spread the messages of Islam through songs and poetry. “Such practice was very common in Persia at that time.”
Siddique told me about Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad, who collected more than 2,000 puthis. More than 1,000 of them were written by Bangali Muslims. “Such findings prove that Muslim were at the forefront of producing puthis.”

The most ancient types of Bangla literature are Chorjapod, Shunnopuran and Srikrishnapuran. “These are basically puthi,” says Siddique. “The literature that got recognition in the court of Muslim Sultans of Gauda was all puthi.”
After the Sultani era in Bengal, literary works by Mohammad Khan, Alaol, Doulat Uzir Bahram Khan, Shah Mohammad Sagir, Shah Mohammad Garibullah in the post-Mughal period were also referred as puthis.

Language of its time
Originally, most puthis were written in Sanskrit. But during the Sultani era, many Persian and Arabic words were made into the puthis. “Sanskrit was a tough language. In Hindu dominant societies, only people from higher castes were allowed to communicate in that language, and it became unpopular among the common people. So puthi writers started to prefer writing puthis with a concocted language comprised of Persian, Arabic and Bangla.”

Shah Mohammad Garibullah should be given a special credit for popularising puthis written in that concocted language. In his Amir Hamza, Garibullah included colloquial words of contemporary society, a revolutionary practice in that time.

Later in the 19th century, Saidur Rahman Boyati of Manikganj and Helim Boyati of Netrokona started writing puthis in their local dialect.

^^So when are you guys changing to arabic?

That will depend on language researchers in Bangladesh, who are experts on the subject and how they recommend. We are just presenting ideas and historical facts, opening them up for debate. If it was up to me, I would introduce both English and Nastaliq script in addition to current Brahmi derived script. English will definitely become popular and Nastaliq may become popular with religious folks. So adoption will depend on future generations of Bangladeshi people, after the two additional scripts are introduced.

In post #542, you will find one book Maqtul Husain was written by Muhammad Khan of present day Chittagong in 1645, in the Bangla language of that era but entirely in Arabic script. So it is not something new.

 

[MilSpec]

Sylheti Nagri:


That will depend on language researchers in Bangladesh, who are experts on the subject and how they recommend. We are just presenting ideas and historical facts, opening them up for debate. If it was up to me, I would introduce both English and Nastaliq script in addition to current Brahmi derived script. English will definitely become popular and Nastaliq may become popular with religious folks. So adoption will depend on future generations of Bangladeshi people, after the two additional scripts are introduced.

In post #542, you will find one book Maqtul Husain was written by Muhammad Khan of present day Chittagong in 1645, in the Bangla language of that era but entirely in Arabic script. So it is not something new.

With the same school of thought why even retain bangla, if such generation reform is up for debate, why not switch to Arabic completely...

 

[khair_ctg]

For Indian muslims nation come first



urdu is not ur mother tongue u dimwit ofcourse i can exclude them...if u guys had all moved to farsi and arabic by now i would have had no say in this matter but as u are not then it is an issue ....AND BY SAYING THAT YOU CANNOT EXCLUDE URDU for Allahs sake urdu of all languages,the language against u guys fought to save bengali in 1971 shows how much your mindset and nationalism has degraded

i was not surprised by this muck in bold from a person of UDAYCAMPUS' background. i will just ignore the dimwit bit for the same reason as such a tone has been utterly commonplace towards any idea with a "Muslim" flavour. i was a bit positively surprised at the commentary by @Joe Shearer on my "repertory" considering his same background - anyways i am just doing some light leg pulling

 

[Joe Shearer]

I understand what is 'light leg pulling'; this is not an example of that.

We know little or nothing about each other's background on an anonymous forum. All that we have to go by is the contributions that we make. I judge others, you included, on that basis. How nice it would be to get similar courtesy, instead of the communal (and therefore offensive) insinuations that I got simply because I made an objective assessment of your own contribution.

 

[khair_ctg]

I understand what is 'light leg pulling'; this is not an example of that.

We know little or nothing about each other's background on an anonymous forum. All that we have to go by is the contributions that we make. I judge others, you included, on that basis. How nice it would be to get similar courtesy, instead of the communal (and therefore offensive) insinuations that I got simply because I made an objective assessment of your own contribution.

you cannot get a more perfect example than that.

an objective assessment. that is new for me. get over it

 

[khair_ctg]

Since the handing over of power in 1947 there has been in East Pakistan a growing tendency to absorb words of Perso-Arabic origin in large numbers through Urdu, as a result of cultural and political contact with West Pakistan.


(M. Abdul Hai)

Most of Abdul Karim's essays on medieval Bengali literature start with a complaint regarding the neglect of scholars and more generally of the Bengali cultural elite for the texts composed by Muslim authors during the medieval period. Indeed, Harprasada Shastri (1853-1931), Dinesh Chandra Sen (1866-1939) and Nagendranath Vasu (1866-1938), who were the pioneers in the field of study and edition of medieval Bengali manuscripts, were all Hindus. Abdul Karim considered unfair the responsibility and the means given by the British to Hindu scholars to work on Sanskrit and Bengali Hindu texts and saw the dissolution of Muslim Bengali literature partly as a result of this phenomenon. The competition and the need to rehabilitate "Muslim literature" is omnipresent in his texts 25. This Hindu / Muslim dichotomy goes with another dichotomy West/Est Bengal: the Western part being the cradle of important Hindu movements such as Caitanism and the Eastern part, especially Chittagong, being the so called original center of Bengali Muslim culture 26.

thanks for sharing these. the bottom quote discusses greatly the neglect that Muslim mediums got during colonial period in the development of Bengali language. [i just noticed i used the wrong paragraph in the quote. now it's corrected. apologies]

the above quote is interesting. around Partition time, even though many north Indian migrants and some West Pakistanis joined the East Bengal population that already had some practise of Urdu from before, i think Urdu's impact on Bengali Muslim started to become less and less right since that time. thanks to anxieties raised by the zealots trying to make even an issue out of Bengali's not given national language status. it was A) a provincial language and B) officially in a state a Muslim could consider foreign to him.

my commentary is that whatever Persian-Arabic (re)infusion in Bengali that took place post-Partition was largely overwhelmed by many Muslims' closer association with the Calcutta literary traditions than ever before since colonial period.

and the need for Persian-Arabic re-infusion into Bengali had a perfectly native rationale for the Bengali Muslims, even if the level of interaction with non-Bengali Muslims haven't change at all after Partition.

 

[kalu_miah]

With the same school of thought why even retain bangla, if such generation reform is up for debate, why not switch to Arabic completely...

How did you get think tank status? Try to ask a more intelligent question next time. Obviously you are not following the discussion here at all and I doubt you read any of the posts.

 

[M.M.Ali]

Who is Mahmud Ali?

But Urdu and all that stuff is not coming back and is in the past. Now we have to move forward and make our Bangla more Islamidised.

Mahmud Ali was a Bengali-Assamese politician in British India, in East Bengal/East Pakistan, and then in modern Pakistan. He was the secretary-general of the All-India Muslim League (Assam) with Bhashani as its president. During the Freedom Movement he worked towards making Assam a part of the eastern wing of Pakistan but a referendum was not giving in the province. He later concentrated his efforts to make Sylhet a part of Pakistan and the referendum was a success..After the creation of Pakistan, and after Jinnah and Liaquat passed away, he left the Muslim League as he saw the government drifting away from the needs of the people. He then founded Pakistan's first secular political party the Ganatantri Dal. The Dal demanded equal rights for all citizens regardless of their religion, abolition of feudalism, rights for women, and the demand for Bangla as a national language along with Urdu. He also published a Bangla language newspaper the Nao Belal which played an important role in propagating Bengali rights. The Dal later merged with the United Front and it won the elections defeating the Muslim League in 1954. He was the sole member of the assembly to speak out against the 'One-Unit' scheme which divided Pakistan into two provinces - East and West Pakistan. After Ayub Khan and the bureacracy imposed military rule in 1958 he spent the next decade fighting for the restoration on parliamentary democracy. He also supported Miss Jinnah in the Presidential elections against Ayub. Ali believed that Bengalis were more politically advanced and wanted a united Pakistan where Bengalis would guide the country with their majority and often said that "the western provinces need Bengal politically and Bengal needs the western provinces economically." He did not approve of Mujib's politics but argued for his release after the Fall of Dacca.

Bangla Language and Script

Mahmud Ali was strongly against any effort to impose Arabic as a language in Pakistan, and did not favour any attempt to change or "Islamasize" the language.

I'm of the same opinion. I think it betrays a degree of insecurity and an inferiority complex when speaking in favour of this absurd change. Also, those advocating the adoption of the Arabic/Farsi script are undermining both their culture and heritage, and the tolerant nature of Islam. Do we hear of Indonesians or Malaysians arguing in favour of this?

Another thing I don't understand is this half-baked attempt to adopt something which religion has nothing to do with. I mean why just change the script? Is the language itself not Indo-Aryan? Either way, I think this childish idea should be tossed away.

Arabic has nothing to do with Islam itself.

Lastly, just in case you were wondering, I'm an ethnic Bengali who grew up in Pakistan.

 

[kalu_miah]

Mahmud Ali was a Bengali-Assamese politician in British India, in East Bengal/East Pakistan, and then in modern Pakistan. He was the secretary-general of the All-India Muslim League (Assam) with Bhashani as its president. During the Freedom Movement he worked towards making Assam a part of the eastern wing of Pakistan but a referendum was not giving in the province. He later concentrated his efforts to make Sylhet a part of Pakistan and the referendum was a success..After the creation of Pakistan, and after Jinnah and Liaquat passed away, he left the Muslim League as he saw the government drifting away from the needs of the people. He then founded Pakistan's first secular political party the Ganatantri Dal. The Dal demanded equal rights for all citizens regardless of their religion, abolition of feudalism, rights for women, and the demand for Bangla as a national language along with Urdu. He also published a Bangla language newspaper the Nao Belal which played an important role in propagating Bengali rights. The Dal later merged with the United Front and it won the elections defeating the Muslim League in 1954. He was the sole member of the assembly to speak out against the 'One-Unit' scheme which divided Pakistan into two provinces - East and West Pakistan. After Ayub Khan and the bureacracy imposed military rule in 1958 he spent the next decade fighting for the restoration on parliamentary democracy. He also supported Miss Jinnah in the Presidential elections against Ayub. Ali believed that Bengalis were more politically advanced and wanted a united Pakistan where Bengalis would guide the country with their majority and often said that "the western provinces need Bengal politically and Bengal needs the western provinces economically." He did not approve of Mujib's politics but argued for his release after the Fall of Dacca.

Bangla Language and Script

Mahmud Ali was strongly against any effort to impose Arabic as a language in Pakistan, and did not favour any attempt to change or "Islamasize" the language.

I'm of the same opinion. I think it betrays a degree of insecurity and an inferiority complex when speaking in favour of this absurd change. Also, those advocating the adoption of the Arabic/Farsi script are undermining both their culture and heritage, and the tolerant nature of Islam. Do we hear of Indonesians or Malaysians arguing in favour of this?

Another thing I don't understand is this half-baked attempt to adopt something which religion has nothing to do with. I mean why just change the script? Is the language itself not Indo-Aryan? Either way, I think this childish idea should be tossed away.

Arabic has nothing to do with Islam itself.

Lastly, just in case you were wondering, I'm an ethnic Bengali who grew up in Pakistan.

If I may ask a question, have you lived in Bangladesh or East Pakistan for extended time, other than short visits, if any?