The writing of history in the Bengali language by a Bengali began around 225 years ago with the publication of Raja Pratapaditya Charitra in 1801.
The Cold War was a war of armaments and ideologies—but it was also a war of words, fought in classrooms, libraries, and on the printed page.
Jamdani is not just the material or the motifs; it encompasses everything—from the river system and flora-fauna of the Dhaka region
Dhaka's air is a stew of brick kiln soot, exhaust fumes, construction dust, and factory emissions
Anisur Rahman and I have traveled together across the troubled landscape of Bangladesh’s history over many years. We first came together in October 1957, when we were recruited as teachers by Professor M.N. Huda, then the Chairman of the Economics Department at Dhaka University (DU).
We live within ecosystems, engaging in mutual interactions. Ecosystems such as rivers, forests, and agricultural lands are shared resources.
Tamam na sud or ‘Not the end’! There could not have been a better ending of a captivating romantic novel like Shabnami.
In a quiet neighbourhood of a once lush green residential area of Dhanmondi, I grew up in a three-storied house that dates back to the year 1957, listening wide-eyed to stories of a man deeply involved in Bangladesh’s struggle for sovereignty and democracy.
The 1969 Mass Uprising was primarily focused on achieving either provincial autonomy or independence, which ultimately led to the Liberation War in 1971.
As I was completing my undergraduate program in USA, the American Presidential election of 1976 came up.
Kazi Imdadul Huq’s novel Abdullah, written nearly a century ago, is regarded as one of the first modern novels by a Bengali Muslim writer. Initially known for his poetry and children’s literature, Huq transitioned into a notable prose writer, offering profound insights into history, culture, and society. Abdullah was his only novel, published posthumously, and it has since become a milestone in Bengali literature, earning enduring acclaim from readers.
In the often-treacherous world of showbiz, there is always “something else” beyond mere skill, charisma, and looks that contributes to stardom.
The poetic tradition in the East, particularly in Greater India, has long been characterised by diverse literary experimentation, significantly influenced by Sanskritic, Arabic, and Persian cosmopolitan traditions.
The inspiration for decolonization, as a philosophical term, writes Achille Mbembe, was the ‘active will to community’ which can be translated as something like ‘to stand up on one’s own and create a heritage’.
Anwarul Quadir (1887-1948) was a key literary figure whose work significantly influenced the intellectual movement of Bengali Muslims in late colonial Bengal.
Cartography in India might have had its roots in this expansionist ambition but went on to achieve much more than this. Rennell’s Map of Hindostan, published by an act of Parliament in 1782, inaugurated the cartographic identity of modern India for the first time on the world stage.
Kazi Nazrul Islam, according to Kazi Abdul Wadud (1895-1970), perhaps the first formidable critic who took him seriously, “was the first writer among Bengali Muslims of the modern era who was able to conquer the hearts of Hindus and Muslims alike of Bengal.”
In Europe, steam power evolved gradually and uncertainly over the course of the eighteenth century, with innovative peaks and long plateaus, from Thomas Savery’s steam pump (1698) via Thomas Newcomen’s reciprocating atmospheric engine (1712) to James Watt and Matthew Boulton’s double-acting rotative steam engine with a separate condenser (1765-90).
