Bengal is a region in South Asia, politically split between Bangladesh and India. Due to its long history and complicated political divisions, various names have been used to refer to the region and its subsections. The name Bangla is used by both Bangladesh and West Bengal in international contexts. In the Bengali language, the two Bengals each use a different term to refer to the nominally identified nation: Bānglā () and Baṅga ()
Terminology in detail
Geography: Bengal is a region in Asia located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Geographically it is part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system, the largest river delta system in the world. The region borders the Himalayan states to its north and in the east borders Northeast India and the country of Burma. Bangla () may be a transliteration of either Bengal (a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia) or Bengali (an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Bengal). It can also refer to the endonym of the region in the Bengali language or the native name of the region. Bongo () is a transliteration of the Bengali name of the region of Bengal as a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia. Language: Bangladesh The etymology of Bangladesh ("Bengali Country") can be traced to the early 20th century, when Bengali patriotic songs, such as "Namo Namo Namo Bangladesh Momo" (1922) by Kazi Nazrul Islam and "Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy" (1905) by Rabindranath Tagore, used the term. The term Bangladesh was often written as two words, Bangla Desh, in the past. Starting in the 1950s, Bengali nationalists used the term in political rallies in East Bengal (In the year 1971 it became Bangladesh) province of Pakistan. The term Bangla is a major name for both the Bengal region (Bangladesh and West Bengal) and the Bengali language. The origin of the term Bangla is the Iron Age Vanga Kingdom (Now divided between the Bangladesh and the West Bengal). The ancient term Vangaladesa (Now used as 'Bangladesh') for the Bengal region (Modern day Bangladesh, West Bengal and Tripura) is found in 11th-century South Indian (Dravidian) records. The word "Bangāl" and "Banglā" became the most common name for the region during the Islamic period. The historian Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak mentions in his Ain-i-Akbari that the addition of the suffix "al" came from the fact that the ancient rajahs of the land raised mounds of earth 10 feet high and 20 in breadth in lowlands at the foot of the hills which were called "al". The Indo-Aryan suffix Desh is derived from the Sanskrit word deśha, which means "land" or "country". Hence, the name Bangladesh means "Land of Bengal" or "Country of Bengal". Alternatives to the name Bangladesh are: Bangadesh (; lit. Bengali Country) Bongobhumi or Banglabhumi (; lit. Bengali Land) Bangarajya or Banglarajya (; lit. Bengali Realm) Bangarashtra or Banglarashtra (; lit. Bengali State) Politics: East Bengal – The 1947 Partition of Bengal divided the British Indian province of Bengal as part of the formal Partition of India. East Bengal (now Bangladesh), which was predominantly Muslim, became a province of Pakistan. In 1955, East Bengal became the new province of East Pakistan. In 1971, East Pakistan declared Independence during the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the new nation of Bangladesh was formed. West Bengal – The Partition of Bengal also created West Bengal, a predominantly Hindu province of India. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the official name of the state to Paschimbongo ( Pôshchimbônggô). This is the native name of the state, literally meaning "West Bengal" in the Bengali language. In 2016, West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to change the name of West Bengal to Bengal in English, Bangla in Bengali and Bangal in Hindi. Despite the Trinamool Congress government's efforts to forge a consensus, the Congress, the Left Front, and the Bharatiya Janata Party opposed the resolution and it awaits the consent of the Indian Parliament for approval. Bangabhumi or Bir Banga – A separatist movement to create a Hindu country in southwestern Bangladesh, envisioned by Banga Sena. Greater Bangladesh – A political theory circulated by a number of politicians, intellectuals and writers that the People's Republic of Bangladesh has aspirations to unite Bengali-speaking regions into a greater historical Bengal. According to the theory this would include the Indian states of West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Andaman Islands, and the Rakhine State (formerly Arakan/Rohang) in Myanmar (formerly Burma) as part of its own territory with democratic governance.