Bangla Community

The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between Bangladesh and India) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating back four millennia. They speak Bengali (বাংলা Bangla), a language of the eastern Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী (pronounced Bangali). They are an eastern Indo-Aryan people, who are also descended from Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian peoples, and closely related to the Oriya, Assamese, Biharis, and other East Indians, as well as to Munda and Tibeto-Burman peoples. As a result, Bengalis are a heterogeneous and considerably diverse ethnic group.The Bengalis are known for their artistic and cultural achievements. Noted Bengali authors, playwrights, music composers, painters and film-makers have played a significant role in the evolution and development of Indian artistic expression. The Bengal renaissance of the 19th century was brought about when the British introduced Western education and ideas. Among the various Indian cultures, the Bengalis were relatively quick to adapt to the British rule and actually use its principles (such as the judiciary and the legislature) in the subsequent political struggle for independence. The Bengali renaissance contained the seeds of a nascent Political Indian Nationalism and was the precursor in many ways to modern Indian artistic and cultural expression. The Bengali poet and novelist, Rabindranath Tagore became the first Nobel laureate from Asia when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.