History of Bangladesh: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:07, 19 July 2007

Revision as of 21:39, 23 July 2007

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==Ancient period==

===The Alpine civilization===

Remnants of [[civilization]] in the greater [[Bengal]] region date back three millennia. The civilization that flourished in this region before the Aryan conquest was the [[Alpine Aryans|Alpine]] civilization. The [[Alpine Race|Alpines]] (Eastern Bracycephalic) from [[Taklamakan]] Desert]] in [[Central Asia]] settled in eastern India (Bengal, Orissa and the plains of Assam) and formed the main elements of today's Bengali people. The Alpines were divided into various indigenous tribes: [[Vanga Kingdom|Vanga]] (south Bengal), [[Pundra Kingdom|Pundra]] (north Bengal), and Rarh/[[Suhma Kingdom|Suhma]] (West Bengal) according to their respective Totems.

[[Image:Mahasthangar.jpg|thumb|[[Mahasthangarh]] the oldest archaeological site of Bangladesh (dates back to 700 BCE) was the ancient capital of the Pundra kingdom]]

Not much is known about this civilization. Some deprecatory references indicate that the primitive people in Bengal ware different in ethnicity and culture form the Vedic beyond the boundary of Aryandom and who were classed as '[[Dasyus]]'. The Bhagavata Purana classes them as sinful people while Dharmasutra of Bodhayana prescribes expiatory rites after a journey among the Pundras and Vangas. However, the Alpines successfully resisted the [[Vedic Aryan]] invaders for about a millennium. It was only in the 4th century BCE when aryanism started to flux into this region with the Mauryan conquest.