page_title: Bengali Muslims
section_title: Language
hierarchical_section_title: Bengali Muslims / Culture / Language
caption_attribution_description: English: Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The monument in Dhaka established to commemorate those killed during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations of 1952.বাংলা: শহীদ মিনার, ঢাকা, বাংলাদেশ
context_page_description: Bengali Muslims are an ethnic, linguistic and religious population who make up the majority of Bangladesh's citizens and the largest minority in the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam. They are Bengalis who adhere to Islam and speak the Bengali language. They form the largest Bengali and the second largest Muslim ethnic group in the world.
  Bengal was a leading power of the medieval Islamic East. Europeans traders identified the Bengal Sultanate as "the richest country to trade with". During Emperor Aurangazeb's rule, the Bengal Subah, as the richest region of the Mughal Empire, was described as the Paradise of Nations and its citizens, chiefly Muslims, had the highest standard of living and real wages in the world. Two Bengal viceroys – Muhammad Azam Shah and Azim-us-Shan – assumed the imperial throne. Mughal Bengal became increasingly independent under the Nawabs of Bengal in the 18th century.
  The endogamous Bengali Muslim population emerged as a synthesis of Islamic and Bengali cultures. After the Partition of India in 1947, they comprised the demographic majority of Pakistan until the independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh in 1971.
context_section_description: Bengali Muslims maintain their indigenous language and script. This tradition is similar to that of Central Asian and Chinese Muslims.
  Bengali evolved as the most easterly branch of the Indo-European languages. The Bengal Sultanate promoted the literary development of Bengali over Sanskrit, apparently to solidify their political legitimacy among the local populace. Bengali was the primary vernacular language of the Sultanate. Bengali borrowed a considerable amount of vocabulary from Arabic and Persian. Under the Mughal Empire, considerable autonomy was enjoyed in the Bengali literary sphere. The Bengali Language Movement of 1952 was a key part of East Pakistan's nationalist movement. It is commemorated annually by UNESCO as International Mother Language Day on 21 February.
caption: Shaheed Minar (Martyr Monument), at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh, commemorates those who were killed in 21 February 1952 Bengali Language Movement demonstration.
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