Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• From Sanskrit kṣatriya or kṣhatra means ‘rule, authority’. They belong to the
second of the four Hindu castes, called the military caste. The traditional
function of the Kshatriyas is to protect society by fighting in wartime and
governing in peacetime. The recognized castes are Brahmin, Kshatriya,
Vaishya and Shudra.
• Due to an interval of the Buddhist Palas, from 7th to 11th centuries an orthodox
Sena rule was established with kṣatriya hegemony. It is named after its ruling
dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffix of Pala ("protector" in
Sanskrit). The Palas were intelligent diplomats and military conquerors.
• The emergence of Sena Dynasty displaced the Palas in Bengal towards the
close of the 11th century AD and ruled for little over a century. Their ancestors
came from the south and established themselves as chieftains in southwestern Bengal.
Sena rule in Bengal brought about a marked revival of orthodox Hinduism. The
caste system was reestablished which had become relaxed because of the
Buddhist influence.
LEGACIES Contd
• With the advent of the Muslim rulers the civil military
settings in administration continued their rule initially by
the Turkish Sultans in Delhi by 1204 and by the Mughals
from central Asia in 1526.
• The ascendancy of British colonial authority was
established in Bengal by 1765. But they further extended
the traditional Mughal aristocratic practice. The
communal politics including deliberate neglect and
disparity impacted adversely on the development of
democratic institutions in Eastern Bengal.
• Hence, the participation of the community leaders of
Bengali Muslims were very miserable in the Imperial
Legislative Council during 1861-1911.
MOVEMENTS AGAINST BRITISH RAJ
The Partition of Bengal (ব ভ )
• As a reward few of them were picked up for the first time in the Bengal
Legislative Council in 1911.
MOVEMENTS AGAINST BRITISH RAJ
Swadeshi Movement
• The Swadeshi movement started with the partition of Bengal in 1905 and
continued up to 1911. It was the most successful of the pre-Gandhian
movement.
• It was in response to the Swadeshi movement’s riots in protest against
the policy and the growing belief among Hindus that east Bengal would
have its own courts and policies.
• In order to calm down Bengali sentiment, Bengal was reunited by Lord
Hardinge once again in 1911.
• It is true that the Partition of Bengal was a British tactic of 'Divide and rule
policy'. The reason was to run the administration smoothly but in reality
an attempt was made by the British to dilute the demand for
independence.
MOVEMENTS AGAINST BRITISH RAJ
Ahimsa Movement
• The students of DU and other political activists defied the law and
organised a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its
climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day. The
deaths provoked widespread civil unrest.
• Faced with pressure from the bureaucracy and business community over his policies in
aid distribution, nationalization and opposition to the one unit scheme he was ousted
from office in October 1957 and was imprisoned as traitor and had been exiled to
Lebanon where he had a mysterious death at a hotel room in Beirut.
• The Assembly was initially not inaugurated as President Yahya Khan and
the PPP did not want a party from East Pakistan in government. This
caused great unrest in East Pakistan, which soon escalated into a civil
war that led to the formation of the independent state of Bangladesh.
• BRITISH LEGACY
• SINGLE PARTY DOMINANCE
• DOMINANCE OF RELIGION
• SEAT BELTS FOR MPS
• CARE TAKER INTERVENTION
• EXECUTIVE SUPREMACY
• GENERALS IN POLITICS
• DYSFUNCTIONAL PARLIAMENT
• COMMITTEE SYSTEM
• DYNASTIC RULE
• ELECTORAL ORDEAL
BRITISH LEGACY
• General Zia and General Ershad embraced the principal office left
by Shiekh Mujibur Rahman.
• They used the power structure built by the civilian government and
made their ministers and prime minister remain subservient to them
instead of the legislature.
• Drawing support from the right wing elements Zia created the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). He was assassinated in a
military coup in 1980.
GENERALS IN POLITICS
• Army Chief General Ershad ousted democratically elected
President Satter government and took over power in 1982.