It is believed that the region where today’s Bangladesh exists was inhabited right from the Stone Age but there is a lack of strong evidence to prove this fact.

During the first century, the strong Gangaridai Empires that existed on the land of modern Bangladesh was strong enough to drive Alexander the Great back, and kept their ruling status for several years, until the Gupta dynasty took over in the third century. Until the twelfth century, the region of modern Bangladesh was ruled by Hindu dynasties.

In the initial years of the thirteenth century, Islam was introduced into the region.
The empire was now captured and ruled by Muslim dynasties that included the Turkic, Ilyas Shahi, Hussain Shahi and Afghans dynasties.

Mughal Empire

During the second half of the sixteenth century, the Mughals defeated the last Afghan ruler, thus making Bengal a part of their Delhi Sultanate. During his period, Bengal, a region partly known as Bangladesh in recent years, became an important province of the Mughal Emperor, who had headquarters in Delhi. A representative of the Emperor called ‘Nawab’ was appointed for this new province with Dhaka as its capital.

In the second decade of the seventeenth century, Mughals could conquer the entire region of Bengal, and there were several new constructions done by Aurangzeb, the Emperor of the period.

British Reign

The British first entered Bengal in the last years of the fifteenth century. Though the initial period was very challenging for the British, as they had to face severe resistance from the later Afghan dynasties and than from Mughal rulers, they eventually settled in the region of Bengal after they purchased some land from on of the Nawab of the Emperor in the seventeenth century.

The British acquired the complete Bengal Empire after they won the Battle of Plassey. In earlier periods, the British East India Company controlled the region. However later due to several scandals, control of this empire was taken over by the British monarchy. The British ruled undivided India for almost two hundred years. Finally, after serious protests from the people of India, the British left India divided into Pakistan and India. Bangladesh was then still a part of Pakistan; the other part of Bengal became a state know as West Bengal belonging to the Indian Territory.

Freedom of Bangladesh

Bangladesh finally received its independence from Pakistan with the intervention of India on 16th December 1971, when Pakistani forces had surrendered to the Indian forces.