A report on Bengalis, West Bengal and Bengali Buddhists

The ancient political divisions of the Ganges delta.
Somapura Mahavihara from the Pala dynasty, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Parts of the Charyapada, a collection of ancient Buddhist hymns which mention the Bengalis, in display at the Rajshahi College Library.
Coin of the King Shashanka, who created the first separate political entity in Bengal, called the Gauda Kingdom
The Mainamati Buddhist ruins in southeastern Bangladesh
Depiction of Gangaridai on a map by 11th-century polymath Ptolemy.
The Pala Empire was an imperial power during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal.
A Buddhist temple on Maheshkhali Island, Chittagong
Atiśa is recognised as one of the greatest figures of classical Buddhism, having inspired Buddhist thought from Tibet to Sumatra.
Firoz Minar at Gauḍa was built during the Bengal Sultanate.
Dipankara Srijan, president of the Chittagong Buddhist Association, as leader of a delegation at the 6th Buddhist council in Rangoon.
Ghazi Pir is thought to have lived in the Sundarbans some time between the 12th to 13th century.
An 1880 map of Bengal
15th-century Portuguese painting of "Bengalis".
Subhas Chandra Bose, he was a leading freedom fighter of India
The Bengali artillery at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
A painting by Shaikh Muhammad Amir of Karraya displaying a syce of Bengal holding two carriage horses.
Many areas remain flooded during the heavy rains brought by a monsoon.
A Bengali woman in Dhaka clad in fine Bengali muslin, 18th century.
Districts of West Bengal
W.C. Bonnerjee, co-founder and first president of Indian National Congress.
A hut in a village in the Hooghly district
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, the co-founder and inaugural president of the Awami League.
The Grand Hotel in Kolkata. Tourism, especially from Bangladesh, is an important part of West Bengal's economy.
Dean Mahomed is credited for introducing shampoo to the Europeans.
Freshly sown saplings of rice in a paddy; in the background are stacks of jute sticks.
Large numbers of Bengalis have settled and established themselves in Banglatown.
Satyajit Ray, a pioneer in Bengali cinema along with Ravi Sankar.
I'tisam-ud-Din was the first educated Bengali and South Asian to have travelled to Europe.
Panchchura Temple in Bishnupur, one of the older examples of the terracotta arts of India.
Regional dialects form one of the determiners to the social stratification of Bengalis.
Jamdani Sari of Bangladesh is very popular in West Bengal.
Bengali schoolboys in the port city of Chittagong.
Salt Lake Stadium / Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata
Eid prayers in Dhaka.
Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata
Durga Puja in Kolkata.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is a hub for flights to and from Bangladesh, East Asia, Nepal, Bhutan and north-east India.
Harvesting preparation in Bangladesh.
Durgapur Expressway
A sculpture of the Nawab of Bengal's Royal Peacock Barge in Murshidabad.
An SBSTC bus in Karunamoyee
Traditional way of weaving Jamdani.
Kolkata Metro, India's first metro rail system
A Bengali man sporting a simple black sherwani.
University of Calcutta, the oldest public university of India.
Artistes from Purulia district of West Bengal performs Chhau dance
The front entrance to the academic block of NUJS, Kolkata.
Satyajit Ray, eminent film director who has made Bengali films popular all over the world
Prajna Bhavan, housing the School of Mathematical Sciences and School of RKMVU.
Gitanjali intro featuring its author Rabindranath Tagore
The application of mehndi onto one's hand hosts a ceremony of itself during Bengali wedding seasons.
A Bengali groom partaking in a supplication during his wedding.
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Qazi Azizul Haque is recognised for his contributions to the development of modern fingerprint biometrics, a discovery of worldwide importance.
Meghnad Saha, J C Bose, J C Ghosh, Snehamoy Dutt, S N Bose, D M Bose, N R Sen, J N Mukherjee, N C Nag
A sculpture honoring Fazlur Khan at the Willis Tower
A lathi khela event taking place in Tangail.
A Nouka Baich competition taking place in the monsoon season.
Mohammed Salim, the first South Asian footballer to play for a foreign club. Due to playing in bare feet, he is having them bandaged by Jimmy McMenemy in 1936.
Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan is currently crowned the world's best all-rounder in all formats for ODI cricket, and one of the greatest of all times.

Bengali Buddhists (বাঙালি বৌদ্ধ) are a religious subgroup of the Bengalis who adhere to or practice the religion of Buddhism.

- Bengali Buddhists

The current population is divided between the independent country Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and parts of Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur.

- Bengalis

Bengali Buddhist people mainly live in Bangladesh and Indian states West Bengal and Tripura.

- Bengali Buddhists

The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.

- West Bengal

There also exist small numbers of Bengali Christians, a large number of whom are descendants of Portuguese voyagers, as well as Bengali Buddhists, the bulk of whom belong to the Bengali-speaking Baruas in Chittagong and Rakhine (who should not be confused with other Buddhists of Bangladesh that belong to different ethnic groups).

- Bengalis

Bengalis, consisting of Bengali Hindus, Bengali Muslims, Bengali Christians and a few Bengali Buddhists, comprise the majority of the population.

- West Bengal
The ancient political divisions of the Ganges delta.

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Bangladesh

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Country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of either 148460 km2 or 147570 km2, making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; to the south it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor; and from China by 100 km of the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's economic, political, and cultural hub.

Country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of either 148460 km2 or 147570 km2, making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; to the south it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor; and from China by 100 km of the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's economic, political, and cultural hub.

Vanga Kingdom and erstwhile neighbours in ancient South Asia
7th century buddhist monastery. Known as Somapura Mahavihara
The Pala Empire was an imperial power during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal.
The Sixty Dome Mosque is the largest mosque in the UNESCO protected Mosque City of Bagerhat.
Choto Sona Mosque, built during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah
Kusumba Mosque
Shipbuilding was a major industry in the Bengal Sultanate and later in Mughal Bengal
The Bibi Mariam Cannon (Lady Mary Cannon) was used by the Mughals to defend their bases.
Lalbagh Fort was the residence of the Mughal viceroy Shaista Khan.
Portuguese envoys (top left) at the imperial court of emperor Akbar. The Portuguese settlement in Chittagong flourished until the Mughals expelled the Portuguese in 1666.
Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, which led to the overthrow of the last independent Nawab of Bengal
Founding conference of the All India Muslim League in Dhaka, 1906
The Dominion of Pakistan in 1947, with East Bengal its eastern part
Women students of Dhaka University marching in defiance of the Section 144 prohibition on assembly during the Bengali Language Movement in early 1953
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (left) and Munier Chowdhury (centre) visiting Matiul Islam (right), an East Bengali student at Harvard during the late 1950s
Museum of Independence, Dhaka
Sheikh Mujib casting his ballot during a general election. He was given the popular title of Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengal) and is regarded as Bangladesh's founding leader.
Ziaur Rahman with members of the Dutch royal family in 1978
Muhammad Yunus (center) celebrating the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 with his family in Oslo, Norway
Rohingya refugees entering Bangladesh from Myanmar
Physical map of Bangladesh
A Bengal tiger, the national animal, in the Sundarbans
Bangabhaban, the official residence of the President of Bangladesh, was built in 1905 during the British Raj for use by the Viceroy of India and the Governor of Bengal.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during bilateral talks with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office in Dhaka
The National Parliament of Bangladesh
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Map of Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force deployments
First South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting in 1985 in Dhaka (l-r, top row: the presidents of Pakistan and the Maldives, the king of Bhutan, the president of Bangladesh, the prime minister of India, the king of Nepal and the president of Sri Lanka)
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry meeting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her residence in Dhaka in April 2021
The Rapid Action Battalion has been sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses
Historical development of GDP per capita
Construction of Padma Bridge, the longest bridge on the Ganges, by China Major Bridge Engineering Co. Ltd. The bridge was designed by AECOM.
Hotels and office blocks in an upmarket neighborhood of Dhaka
Paddy fields dominate the country's farmland. Bangladesh is a top global producer of rice (3rd), potatoes (7th), tropical fruits (6th), jute (2nd), and farmed fish (5th).
A Boeing 777 of the national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines
Coal and natural-gas fields in Bangladesh, 2011
In 2018, the first payload of SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket was the Bangabandhu-1 satellite built by Thales Alenia Space
The Charyapada scrolls are the oldest surviving text of the Bengali language. The photograph was taken at the Rajshahi College Library
Chakma alphabets are indigenous to the Chittagong Hill Tracts
Eid prayers for Muslims at Barashalghar, Debidwar, Comilla
Bangladeshis celebrating Pahela Baishakh as a mark of the beginning of Bengali new year
Literacy rates in Bangladesh districts
Faculty of Sciences at the University of Dhaka; The Curzon Hall
A Bangladeshi nurse in Kutupalong Refugee Camp
Historical development of life expectancy in Bangladesh
A preserved cloth of historic Bengali fine muslin, which is now extinct
Syed Mujtaba Ali
Muslim feminist Begum Rokeya and her husband in 1898
The 18th century terracotta Hindu Kantanagar Temple in Dinajpur
A Baul from Lalon Shah's shrine in Kushtia
Embroidery on Nakshi kantha (embroidered quilt), centuries-old Bengali art tradition
Traditional Bangladeshi Meal: Mustard seed Ilish Curry, Dhakai Biryani and Pitha
A Nouka Baich boat race
Bangladesh team on practice session at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium
Anwar Hossain playing Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, in the 1967 film Nawab Sirajuddaulah
Beds of zamindars kept at the Bangladesh National Museum

Bengalis make up 98% of the total population of Bangladesh, and the large Muslim population of Bangladesh makes it the third-largest Muslim-majority country.

At a separate meeting of legislators from West Bengal, it was decided (58 votes to 21) that the province should be partitioned and West Bengal should join the Constituent Assembly of India.

Of Bengalis, Muslims are the majority, followed by Hindus, Christians and Buddhists.