Kamal Guha at 01:45, 28 July 2023

2023-07-28T01:45:33Z

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[[Image:Watching you (Bangladesh).JPG|thumb|Bengali people of [[Bangladesh]]]]

The '''Bengali people''' are the main [[ethnic]] group in the region of [[Bengal]] (now divided between [[Bangladesh]] and the [[Republic of India|Union of India]]) in [[South Asia]]. They speak [[Bengali language|Bengali]] (বাংলা Bangla), a language of the eastern branch of the [[Indo-Aryan languages]].

They are natively concentrated in the nation of Bangladesh and in the Indian states of [[West Bengal]] and [[Tripura]]. Some of the most well established Bengali communities are in the [[Middle East]], [[Japan]], [[Malaysia]], [[United Kingdom]] and [[United States]].

Remnants of civilisation in the greater [[Bengal]] region date back 4,000 years,<ref name=bsahistory>{{cite web| url = http://www.orgs.ttu.edu/saofbangladesh/history.htm| title = History of Bangladesh| accessdate = 2006-10-26| publisher = Bangladesh Student Association @ TTU|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20051226045659/http://www.orgs.ttu.edu/saofbangladesh/history.htm |archivedate = 2005}}</ref><ref name=xinhua>{{cite news| agency=Xinhua| date = 2006| title = 4000-year old settlement unearthed in Bangladesh| url = http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/12/content_4293312.htm}}</ref> when the region was settled by [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]], [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] and [[Austroasiatic]] peoples. The origin of the word ''Bangla ~ Bengal'' is unknown, but it is believed to be derived from the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian-speaking]] tribe ''Bang'' that settled in the area around the year 1000 [[BC]].<ref name=congress>{{cite book| publisher = Library of Congress| url = http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/bdtoc.html| chapter = Early History, 1000 B.C.-A.D. 1202| title = Bangladesh: A country study| editor = James Heitzman and Robert L. Worden| year = 1989}}</ref>

After the arrival of [[Indo-Aryan]]s, the kingdoms around Bengal were first described in the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'' about 1000 BC. From the 6th century BC, Magadha expanded to include most of the [[Bihar]] and Bengal regions. It was one of the four main kingdoms of India at the time of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]. Magadha extended over nearly all of South Asia, including parts of [[Iran|Persia]] and [[Afghanistan]], reaching its greatest extent under the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] emperor [[Ashoka the Great]] in the 3rd century BC. One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land ruled by the king Xandrammes named [[Gangaridai]] by the [[Greeks]] around 100 BC. The word is speculated to have come from ''Gangahrd'' (Land with the [[Ganges]] in its heart) in reference to an area in Bengal.<ref name=Gangaridai>{{cite web| url = http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/G_0019.htm| title = Gangaridai| accessdate = 2006-09-08| last = Chowdhury| first = AM| work = [[Banglapedia]]| publisher = Asiatic Society of Bangladesh}}</ref> Later from the 3rd to the 6th centuries [[AD]], the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the [[Gupta Empire]].

== References ==
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{{Asia-stub}}

[[Category:Ethnic groups in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in West Bengal]]

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Bengali people - Revision history

Kamal Guha at 01:45, 28 July 2023