For much of history, the state that we today call Bangladesh has been a part of a greater India and was known only as Bengal; what happened elsewhere on the subcontinent affected Bengal. The history of the modern state of Bangladesh has been short and, rarely, sweet. Born in a war that some call genocide, the nation’s history has been filled with an almost unnaturally large guest list of villains, tyrants, soldiers and politicians, as well as one or two ever so rare heroes.
Prior to the creation of Bangladesh, the history of Bengal was one that seemed to involve the constant meddling of foreign powers – sometimes this resulted in the glow of cultural splendour, but more often than not it descended into the tears of war.Contents
Buddhism in Bangladesh
Strange though it may now seem in such an overwhelmingly Muslim country, Buddhism in Bangladesh is no small player in the nation’s history and culture. Countrywide it’s the third major religion but in certain areas, such as Chittagong division, Buddhists make up an impressive 12% of the population.It’s not mere numbers though that makes Bangladesh important in the Buddhist world, but history. It’s not far from Bodhgaya (in present-day India, where the Buddha reached enlightenment) to Bengal, and the region has played a huge part in the development of Buddhism, including the creation of the mystical Tantric Buddhism.
By the reign of the great Indian Buddhist emperor Ashoka (304–232 BC), Buddhism was firmly entrenched as the number one religion of Bengal and, aside from a few minor blemishes, it continued to thrive in the region until the 12th century AD, making Bengal the last stronghold of Buddhism in an increasingly Hindu and Muslim dominated subcontinent.
In the 6th century, Sasanaka, a powerful Buddhist king, founded the Gauda Empire in Bengal, which was eventually overthrown by the warrior king Sri Harsa, who ruled the Bengal area until the 8th century.
Gopala, a Kshatriya tribal chief from Varendra, became the founding figure of the Buddhist Pala dynasty (8th to 11th centuries). He was succeeded by his son Dharmapala, who established the gigantic Somapura Vihara in Varendra, known today as Paharpur.
In the 12th century, Hindu senas (armies) came to rule Bengal, and crushed Buddhism. Surviving Buddhists retreated to the Chittagong area. In less than a century the senas were swamped by the tide of Islam.
Though somewhat beaten, Buddhism never totally died out in Bangladesh and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts there are several monasteries which lean to Myanmar (Burma) for religious inspiration and a number of schools in which children learn to read Burmese and Pali (an ancient Buddhist language). As in neighbouring Myanmar, many Buddhist men in this region spend a part of their lives as monks. The large number of Burmese refugees who have fled the terror of their country have brought their religion with them and this has had a profound effect on Bangladeshi Buddhism. The Ministry of Religious Affairs helps to maintain Buddhist religious sites.
