Prachin Bangla Sahityer Itihas by Tamonash Chandra Dasgupta PDF.
Name of book – Prachin Bangla Sahityer Itihas,
Author – Tamonash Chandra Dasgupta,
Book Genre – Bengali Literature,
Book Pages – 820,
Book format – PDF.
PDF Size – 22 MB,
Tamonash Chandra Dasgupta wrote Prachin Bangla Sahityer Itihas
Bengalis are still not as aware of ancient Bengali literature as expected. This is a matter of regret. It is certain that in order to understand the ancient ideology, tradition and culture of Bengalis, the study of ancient Bengali literature is absolutely necessary. Modern Bengali literature is the heir of ancient Bengali literature. This is true of ancient and modern literature of all countries. In this context, in the context of discussing Bengali literature, it is absolutely necessary to know the continuous history of its origin and enrichment in the ancient era. For example, the 8th to the 18th century is mainly the ancient era of Bengali literature. From then until the present time, it is the modern era.
The ancient era of Bengali literature has created several problems, and therefore difficulties. When did Bengali literature begin? The vehicle of literature is language, so how old is the Bengali language? How large is the area of Bengali country and do all its inhabitants speak ‘Bengali’, that is, Bengali language? When did the emergence of the Bengali nation begin? Such questions naturally arise in the mind. The conclusions that are acceptable regarding such questions or problems are mentioned here. Leaving aside the thorny path of logic and argument in this regard, only the accepted conclusions have been recorded for the time being, because of the lack of space and the unlimited scope for logic and argument.
What is the deferent between ancient Bengali literature and Modern Bengali literature?
It can be assumed that the Bengali language began to develop in the 8th century and that literature began to develop from the 9th century. The era of Prakrita and Apabhramsha languages lasted until the 8th century and probably the first emergence of the Bengali language took place in this 8th century. After this, the Bengali language and literature can be said to have been characterized by Prakrit and Apabhramsha languages for several centuries at first.
Even at this time, the words Bangla or Banga were in use for a long time in place of the words Prakrit and Bhasha. It is difficult to say exactly when the words Banga or Bangla started being used in place of Prakrit or Bhasha, but the use of the words Gaudiya and Banga in place of Prakrit or Bhasha can be found in sufficient numbers in the 16th and 17th centuries. The use of the word ‘Subhasha’ in the Tripura Rajpanji to refer to the Bengali language is quite interesting. The word ‘Bangal’ used in Raga-Ragini can also be noted on this occasion.
When did Bengali literature begin?
The extent of Bengal is taken in different forms for different purposes. The alluvial plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers in eastern India are the natural or geographical Bengal. It is only a province related to the present administration. If we consider the extent of the country on the basis of race, language and culture, it is even larger. Accordingly, the extent of the country has to be increased. It is appropriate to include Bihar, Chhotanagpur, Orissa and a part of Assam in it. There should be no objection to including the entire Assam province, as well as the entire Chhotanagpur division, in the larger Bengal as an area of contact, conflict and colonization of the ancient races that came to Bengal.
What are the characteristics of Apabhramsha?
As a result of the spread of various races in eastern India, they did not establish their abodes only in the present Bengal country; they settled at different times throughout the whole of Bihar, Assam, Chhotanagpur, Orissa and a part of northern Brahma, Madras and Madhya Pradesh, that is, in the hilly regions of the Eastern Himalayas. A major part of this is the actual Bengal country. It consists of the plains of present Bengal and the plains and hilly regions on its four sides. This territory is, of course, larger than the alluvial plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, and it is not difficult to indicate its natural boundaries. Perhaps, if we take the term Bengal country in a broader sense rather than in a narrow sense, it is more convenient to understand the ancient literature and culture of Bengal.
In which century did the Bengali language probably first emerge?
The races that came to East India or the Orient in ancient times and settled in Bengal were mainly of the Austro-Alpine race. Apart from these (except for the almost extinct Negritos), the Pamirians, Mongols, Dravidians and Aryans can be mentioned. We believe that after initial clashes, all these races gradually got used to living in a friendly manner like Neighbours. As a result, some marital relations were also established between them. Due to all these reasons, the Bengali race has mainly become a mixed race called “Austro-Alpine” (Pamirian). Gradually, the blood of this race has also been mixed with a relatively small amount of Mongolian, Dravidian and Aryan blood.
Although their external culture and customs are Vedic and mythological, they can be said to belong to the Austro-Alpine culture. In this respect, they have a very close linguistic and cultural affinity with the Malays and other nations of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, they have come into contact with the ancient Aryan nations of West Asia, such as the Mitanni and Iranians, through the worship of the Sun God and Mother Durga.
Who wrote the informative novel Ancient Bengali Literature?
When discussing ancient Bengali literature, these ethnic and cultural characteristics must be kept in mind. Apart from this, several other things need to be considered when discussing this literature. How much do we know about the ancient inhabitants of this eastern mainland, Bangladesh, in the very ancient times, that is, in the prehistoric period? What was the proper identity of this region in the Vedic and later Puranic periods? After that, how much information do we have about the inhabitants of this land in the Buddhist and Tantric periods? During the Buddhist era, during the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and the Hindu Mauryan emperor Chandragupta, who followed the religion, in the third century BC, Bengal was part of the Mauryan empire, and there is much to know about Bangladesh during this period. Even then, a sufficient Bengali language had not been born.
At what time was Bangladesh part of the Mauryan Empire?
During this period, the influence of Buddhism, which strengthened the royal power, brought the Bengali nation to a level of unity and solidarity, which paved the way for a linguistic unity of its own in Bengal. After that, in the 4th and 5th centuries, came the Gupta era. The Gupta emperors were Hindus. Emperors Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta began to respect Prakrit and Sanskrit in place of the Pali language, which was revered by the Buddhists. After that, in the 7th century, under the patronage of the Bengali emperor Shashanka, the Hindu ideal gained dominance in eastern India.
The author has beautifully presented this book about the national policy of Prachin Bangla Sahityer Itihas (Ancient Bengali Literature). Ramesh Chandra Dutta and Ramgati Nyaratna were the first to compose a partial history of Prachin Bangla Sahityer Itihas (Ancient Bengali Literature) at a time when there was a great deal of neglect in Bengali literature. Finally, Dr. Dinesh Chandra Sen worked tirelessly to compose a complete history of the ancient Bengali language and literature for the first time. It is an invaluable book as a history of literature. So, the PDF file of the Prachin Bangla Sahityer Itihas Bengali literature book is provided on this web page to introduce this book of the author to the readers. Readers can collect the PDF file of the book from this web page and read it online.