Bangladesh

Bengal Sultanate — the independent Islamic kingdom of the east

The Sultanate of Bengal (1352–1576 CE) was one of the most powerful independent Muslim states in medieval India — governing the vast, fertile delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra for over two centuries, it was a major centre of Islamic culture, Persian literature, and trade across the Bay of Bengal.

Bengali Language Movement — Blood for Mother Tongue

The 1952 Language Movement, in which students were killed for demanding recognition of Bengali, became the first anti-colonial linguistic uprising and the inspiration for International Mother Language Day.

The Language Movement — martyrs who died for Bengali

On 21 February 1952, students in Dhaka were shot dead by police while protesting Pakistan's imposition of Urdu as the sole national language — a sacrifice that seeded Bengali nationalism, led to independence in 1971, and gave the world International Mother Language Day.

Bangladesh Independence — 1971

The Liberation War of 1971 created Bangladesh, the world's most densely populated major country, at the cost of a devastating genocide.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — Father of the Bengali Nation

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's 1971 speech launched the liberation war and his vision shaped Bangladesh's founding.

Bangladesh Liberation War — nine months of genocide and freedom

The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War — triggered by Pakistan's military crackdown on East Pakistan — killed between 300,000 and 3 million people and ended with Bangladesh's independence on 16 December 1971.

BRAC — The World's Largest Development NGO

Founded in Bangladesh in 1972, BRAC became the world's largest NGO, operating in 11 countries and transforming millions of lives.

Sheikh Mujib assassinated — democracy derailed

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding father, was killed along with most of his family in a military coup on 15 August 1975 — a trauma that set the pattern for decades of military-civilian instability in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Garment Industry — Clothing the World

Bangladesh became the world's second-largest garment exporter, with the industry employing 4 million workers, predominantly women.

Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank — Microcredit Revolution

Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus pioneered microcredit — small loans to the poorest borrowers — winning the Nobel Peace Prize and transforming development economics.

Grameen Bank — banking the poorest of the poor

Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide micro-credit to the rural poor — especially women — without collateral, proving that the very poor were creditworthy and pioneering a global development model that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Cyclone SIDR and Bangladesh's disaster management miracle

Bangladesh — long synonymous with catastrophic cyclone death tolls — drastically cut cyclone fatalities from 500,000 (1970) to 3,000 (2007) through an extraordinary network of coastal shelters, volunteer warning systems, and community preparedness.

Bangladesh's garment miracle — and its human cost

Bangladesh became the world's second-largest garment exporter by the 2010s, driving spectacular economic growth — but the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse, which killed 1,134 workers, exposed the deadly underside of the fast-fashion supply chain.