Bangladeshi national calendar

The Saka Era was the widely used in Bengal, prior to the arrival of Muslim rule in the region, according to various epigraphical evidence.{{cite book|author=Richard Salomon|title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-4RDAAAQBAJ |year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-509984-3|pages=148, 246–247, 346}}{{cite book|author=D. C. Sircar|title=Indian Epigraphy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXMB3649biQC |year=1996 |orig-year=First published 1965 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1166-9|pages=241, 272–273}} The Bikrami calendar was in use by the Bengali people of the region. This calendar was named after king Vikramaditya with a zero date of 57 BCE.{{cite book|author=Eleanor Nesbitt|title=Sikhism: a Very Short Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XebnCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 |year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-874557-0|pages=122, 142}} In rural Bengali communities, the Bengali calendar is credited to "Bikromaditto", like many other parts of India and Nepal. However, unlike these regions where it starts in 57 BCE, the modern Bangladeshi and Bengali calendar starts from 593 CE suggesting that the starting reference year was adjusted at some point.{{cite book|author=Morton Klass|title=From Field to Factory: Community Structure and Industrialization in West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAZ2JBQ2vwsC&pg=PA166|year=1978|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-0420-8|pages=166–167}}{{cite book|author=Ralph W. Nicholas|title=Fruits of Worship: Practical Religion in Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLI7nyI2UVYC&pg=PA13|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-8028-006-1|pages=13–23}}

Crop cycle's depended on solar calendars. The Islamic lunar calendar of the Mughal government, before Akbar's era caused problems in tax collection since the lunar year was shorter than the solar year by about eleven days per year.{{cite web|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bangabda |title=Bangabda - Banglapedia |publisher=En.banglapedia.org |access-date=2017-04-27}}{{cite book|author=William D. Crump|title=Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cDTfCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|year=2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-9545-0|pages=27–}} Akbar commissioned his astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to develop a new syncretic calendar to allow land tax and crop tax collection according to the harvest cycles. In 1584, Emperor Akbar commissioned a new calendar as part of tax collection reforms.

Shirazi's new calendar was known as the Tarikh-e-Ilahi (God's Era).{{cite book|author=R. Nath|title=History of Mughal Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8FIAQAAIAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Humanities Press|isbn=978-0-391-02681-0|page=42}} It used 1556 as the zero year, the year of Akbar's ascension to the throne. The Tarikh-e-Ilahi calendar were one of the syncretic reforms Akbar introduced, along with a new religion called Din-ilahi, a syncretic faith that integrated Islam and Indian religious ideas.{{cite book|author=Manav Ratti|title=The Postsecular Imagination: Postcolonialism, Religion, and Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_5I03DLcyvMC&pg=PA83|year= 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-09689-2|page=83}} However, Akbar's ideas were almost entirely abandoned after his death, and only traces of the Tarikh-e-Ilahi calendar survive in the modern Bengali calendar, according to Amartya Sen.{{cite book|author=Amartya Sen|title=The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bKvAAAAQBAJ|year=2005|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-0-374-10583-9|pages=319–322}}

Shamsuzzaman Khan believed that Nawab Murshid Quli Khan was responsible for widely implementing the tax collection according to the Bengali calendar throughout Bengal. Khan promoted celebrations of the Punyaha, a ceremonial collection of land taxes.{{cite web|author=Amitava Kar |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news/a-giant-in-our-cultural-history |title=A Giant in Our Cultural History |work=The Daily Star |date=18 May 2013 |access-date=2017-04-27}} The calendar year became known as the Bangla san in Arabic and Bangla sal in Persian; both terms mean the Bangla Year.{{cite web|author=Shamsuzzaman Khan |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/emergence-of-bengali-new-year-and-calendar-20078 |title=Emergence of Bengali New Year and Calendar |work=The Daily Star |date=14 April 2014 |access-date=2017-04-27}}

In 1966, a committee headed by Muhammad Shahidullah was appointed in Bangladesh to reform the traditional Bengali calendar. It proposed the first five months 31 days long, rest 30 days each, with the month of Falgun adjusted to 31 days in every leap year. This was officially adopted by Bangladesh in 1987.{{cite book |author=Syed Ashraf Ali|chapter=Bangabda|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bangabda|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |editor=Sirajul Islam|editor2=Ahmed A. Jamal |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |year=2012 |edition=2nd}}

In 2018, the Bangladesh government planned to modify the Bangladeshi calendar again.{{cite news |url=https://samakal.com/todays-print-edition/tp-khobor/article/19042705/%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%9B%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%9E%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BE |script-title=bn:থমকে আছে বাংলা বর্ষপঞ্জি পরিবর্তন প্রক্রিয়া |language=bn |date=14 April 2019 |first=Deepak |last=Nandi |newspaper=Samakal |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702064003/https://samakal.com/todays-print-edition/tp-khobor/article/19042705/%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%9B%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%9E%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%BE |url-status=live}} The changes were done to match national days with West.{{cn|date=October 2024}} As a result of the modification, Kartik started on Thursday (17 October 2019) and the dry season was delayed by a day as the revised calendar went into effect from Wednesday (16 October 2019).{{cite news |url=https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%9E%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%9C-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95 |script-title=bn:বাংলা দিনপঞ্জি বদল, আজ পয়লা কার্তিক |language=bn |date=17 October 2019 |newspaper=Prothom Alo |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704050201/https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%9E%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%9C-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%9F%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95 |url-status=live}}

The calendar has 12 months and 6 seasons, which are illustrated in the table below. The bolded dates indicate the 2018 revision of the calendar.

The following illustrates the 7-day Bengali week. Bengali weekdays are named after deities of celestial bodies in the Surya Siddhanta, an ancient treatise on Indian astronomy. Bolded days indicate weekends.

• Language Movement Day (21 February) – 8 Phalgun
• Independence Day (26 March) – 12 Côitrô
• Bengali New Year (14 April) – 1 Boisakh
• Victory Day (16 December) – 1 Pous

• {{annotated link|Indian national calendar}}
• {{annotated link|Bangladesh Standard Time}}

{{reflist}}

{{Calendars}}

Category:Calendars

Category:Culture of Bangladesh

Category:Time in Bangladesh

Category:National symbols of Bangladesh