“Islamisation in Bengal has no parallel in South Asia”
4 hour(s) ago
In Focus
Kedarnath Majumdar: The forgotten historian of Bengal
5 April 2026, 14:30 PM
In Focus
Banglay Bidroho: A rare collection of Liberation War paintings
2 April 2026, 16:05 PM
In Focus
Once again the debate over Bengali nationalism
31 March 2026, 12:58 PM
In Focus
Does South Asia need secularism?
30 March 2026, 00:44 AM
In Focus
Did Jinnah lose faith in the Two-Nation Theory after 1947?
26 March 2026, 16:02 PM
In Focus
The black flag at Rajshahi and the officer who chose conscience
26 March 2026, 13:39 PM
In Focus
At Highgate, remembering Karl Marx
22 March 2026, 15:00 PM
In Focus
Celebrating Eid: Thousand years of history in three embraces
21 March 2026, 10:00 AM
In Focus
Historical glimpses of Eid processions in Dhaka
20 March 2026, 10:00 AM
In Focus
A Tribute to My Martyr Teachers
The Pakistani occupation army wrote a black chapter in the history of our War of Liberation on the 14th-15th December, 1971 by killing intellectuals in Dhaka city in a planned way.
10 December 2023, 18:00 PM
Haraprasad Shastri: An Unusual Pundit
Haraprasad Shastri (1853-1931, Bhattacharya was the original family name) was a Sanskrit scholar, commonly referred to as a ‘pundit.
3 December 2023, 18:00 PM
How did the U.S. and Bangladesh come to be at the same negotiating table on climate change?
We hear a lot about the COP meetings in the media. Most of what we hear is generally around the time when these meetings of high-ranking officials from most of the countries of the world are held, usually late November or early December.
26 November 2023, 18:00 PM
The mountains and hills of South Asia’s languages and dialects
South Asia is one of the most intensely multilingual regions in the world. It covers over 5 million square kilometres, has a population of approximately 1.9 billion (around 25% of the world’s population), and is home to five families of languages (the Indo-European, Iranian, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic or Munda, and Tibeto-Burman).
20 November 2023, 18:00 PM
Bengal’s Fishermen: Through War, Famine and Partition
The fishermen communities of Bengal were diverse with regional variations. Apart from Malos, Kaibartas, Bagdis, and Pods, the numerically significant fishermen sub-castes, there were many other smaller and localized communities involved in fishing.
12 November 2023, 18:00 PM
The night of unspeakable horror: A survivor’s account
“Ding dong ding dong,” an irregular bell continued to resound within Dhaka Central Jail on a Monday at around 3 a.m. This unusual and disquieting disturbance echoed throughout various cells and wards, catching the incarcerated off guard.
5 November 2023, 18:00 PM
Understanding the maverick politician, AK Fazlul Huq
Fazlul Huq is a largely forgotten politician in West Bengal. The apparent indifference towards Huq in West Bengal or India can be partly explained by the unfortunate vivisection of India in 1947.
29 October 2023, 18:00 PM
Re-discovering the goddess in medieval bengali poetry
The Medieval period in Bengal was noteworthy for its amazing religious syncretism, with the fusion of Shaiva, Shakta, and Vaishnava cults with regional folk traditions.
22 October 2023, 18:00 PM
Dutch perspectives on early-modern Bengal
The riverine area of Bengal has held a significant position in Indian Ocean trade for centuries and has also given rise to different narratives about the region in European accounts.
15 October 2023, 18:00 PM
The Weeping King: How Hindustani Music flourished in colonial Bengal
In 1870, a song collector from Calcutta called Nanda Lal Sharma flicked through the pages of his newly published book, Sangit Sutra. In the central pages was a thumri lyric, set to the rag Alhaiya Khamaj.
8 October 2023, 18:00 PM
Tea-Tokens: A forgotten chapter in the history of tea plantations
The emergence of tea as a beverage in India is a unique social event in history. Sylhet, Assam, Cachar, Dooars, and Darjeeling were preferred for tea production, considering the hill climate favorable for tea production.
1 October 2023, 18:00 PM
The political origin of hunger in Bangladesh
Historical evidence suggests that almost every year before independence in 1971, present-day Bangladesh consistently grappled with a widespread shortage of food grains.
24 September 2023, 18:00 PM
SOULS: Through the eyes of its founder, Sazed Ul Alam
I returned to Chattogram from the Liberation War on December 20, 1971 with my nephew,
17 September 2023, 18:00 PM
Syed Mujtaba Ali between Bengal and Afghanistan
We have to ask an important question about Mujtaba Ali's Kabul adventures - what did this experience mean to this young Bengali man?
10 September 2023, 18:00 PM
Reflecting on ‘Amar Dekha Rajnitir Ponchash Bochor’
As I delved into the autobiographical works of Abul Mansur Ahmad, it became evident that he had a penchant for plain speaking, avoiding embellishments.
3 September 2023, 18:00 PM
The Portrayal and Relevance of Women in Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Novels
Kazi Nazrul Islam is our National Poet, but, in addition to writing poetry and composing songs, he also wrote fiction. In fact, Nazrul’s first publication was not poetry, but the short story “Baundeler Atmakahini” (The Autobiography of a Vagabond), published in Saogat in May 1919.
27 August 2023, 18:00 PM
The many meanings of Partition 1947 and beyond
My memory is again in the way of your history. Agha Shahid Ali
20 August 2023, 18:00 PM
My heart doesn’t desire to speak about Sultan
I had once written extensively about S.M. Sultan. Why? Because it felt essential to make our ‘art authorities’ aware that he was a rare talent, although many were unwilling to accept it. Thus, the pen became my last resort.
13 August 2023, 18:00 PM
“The Ever-Falling Darkness of History”
In the opening years of the twentieth century, Abanindranath Tagore (1871– 1951), Rabindranath’s nephew and a prominent artist living at the Tagore palazzo in Calcutta, Jorasanko, made a trio of paintings depicting the Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58) at different stages of his life, together with his great monument to love, the Taj Mahal.
6 August 2023, 18:00 PM
As I Remember Syed Waliullah, My Papa
Thinking of Syed Waliullah and being his son always triggers contrasting feelings of joy and pride, melancholy and pain. Regrettably, neither my elder sister Simine nor I am able to remember much about our father, as we were both very young when he passed away.
30 July 2023, 18:00 PM