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The
area which
is now Bangladesh
has a rich
historical
and cultural
past, the
product of
the repeated
influx of
varied peoples,
bringing with
them the Dravidian,
Indo-Aryan,
Mongol-Mughul,
Arab, Persian,
Turkic, and
European cultures.
About 1200
A.D., Muslim
invaders under
Sufi influence,
supplanted
Hindu and
Buddhist dynasties,
and converted
most of the
population
of the eastern
areas of Bengal
to Islam.
Since then,
Islam has
played a crucial
role in the
region's history
and politics.
In the 16th
century, Bengal
was absorbed
into the Mughul
Empire. .
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Portuguese
traders
and
missionaries
reached
Bengal
in the
latter
part
of the
15th
century.
They
were
followed
by representatives
of the
Dutch,
the
French,
and
the
British
East
India
Companies.
During
the
18th
and
19th
centuries,
especially
after
the
defeat
of the
French
in 1757,
the
British
gradually
extended
their
commercial
contacts
and
administrative
control
beyond
Calcutta
into
the
remainder
of Bengal
and
northwesterly
up the
Ganges
River
valley.
In 1859,
the
British
Crown
replaced
the
East
India
Company,
extending
British
dominion
from
Bengal
in the
east
to the
Indus
River
in the
west.
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In the late
19th and early
20th centuries,
Muslim and Hindu
leaders began
to press for
a greater degree
of independence.
At the movement's
forefront was
the largely
Hindu Indian
National Congress.
Growing concern
about Hindu
domination of
the movement
led Muslim leaders
to form the
All-India Muslim
League in 1906.
In 1913, the
League formally
adopted the
same goal as
the Indian National
Congress: self-government
for India within
the British
Empire. The
Congress and
the League were
unable, however,
to agree on
a formula to
ensure the protection
of Muslim religious,
economic, and
political rights.
Over the next
2 decades, mounting
tension between
Hindus and Muslims
led to a series
of bitter intercommunal
conflicts.
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The
idea of a
separate Muslim
state emerged
in the 1930s.
It gained
popularity
among Indian
Muslims after
1936, when
the Muslim
League suffered
a decisive
electoral
defeat in
the first
elections
under the
1935 constitution.
On March 23,
1940, Muhammad
Ali Jinnah,
leader of
the Muslim
League, publicly
endorsed the
"Pakistan
Resolution"
that called
for the creation
of an independent
state in regions
where Muslims
were a majority.
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At
the end of
World War
II, the United
Kingdom, under
considerable
international
pressure to
reduce the
size of its
overseas empire,
moved with
increasing
urgency to
grant India
independence.
The Congress
Party and
the Muslim
League could
not, however,
agree on the
terms for
drafting a
constitution
or establishing
an interim
government.
In June 1947,
the UK declared
it would grant
full dominion
status to
two successor
states--India
and Pakistan.
Pakistan would
consist of
the contiguous
Muslim-majority
districts
of western
British India,
plus parts
of Bengal.
The various
princely states
could freely
join either
India or Pakistan.
These arrangements
resulted in
a bifurcated
Muslim nation
separated
by more than
1,600 kilometers
(1,000 mi.)
of Indian
territory.
West Pakistan
comprised
four provinces
and the capital,
Lahore. East
Pakistan was
formed of
a single province.
Each province
had a legislature.
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Pakistan's
history
for
the
next
26
years
was
marked
by
political
instability
and
economic
difficulties.
Dominion
status
was
rejected
in
1956
in
favor
of
an
"Islamic
Republic
within
the
Commonwealth."
Attempts
at
civilian
political
rule
failed,
and
the
government
imposed
martial
law
between
1958
and
1962
and
1969
and
1972.
Frictions
between
West
and
East
Pakistan
culminated
in
a
1971
army
crackdown
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against
the East Pakistan
dissident movement
led by Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman,
whose Awami League
(AL) Party had
won 167 seats
out of 313 National
Assembly seats
on a platform
of greater autonomy
for the eastern
province.
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Mujibur
Rahman was arrested
and his party
banned. Many of
his aides and
more than 10 million
Bengali refugees
fled to India,
where they established
a provisional
government. India
and Pakistan went
to war in late
November 1971.
The combined Indian-Bengali
forces soon overwhelmed
Pakistan's small
army contingent
in the East. By
the time Pakistan's
forces surrendered
on December 16,
1971, India had
taken numerous
prisoners and
gained control
of a large area
of East Pakistan,
which is now Bangladesh.
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