Maktaba Al Hind

Today is the Bengali New Year.

While Secular and Hindu historians and activists have coopted this event and added their own spins and narratives, it's origins and implementation make it a symbol of Muslim rule in India.

While historians contest as to who exactly introduced the Calendar, we know to some certainty that it is the Muslim administration that introduced this formally ratified this calendar as a means of aligning the tax collection cycle to the harvest cycle of Bengal.

Perhaps it's a coincidence but

"The “formula,” as it were, for calculating the Bengali year, therefore is: Islamic year at Akbar’s crowning (963) + current Gregorian solar year (2017) - Gregorian solar year at Akbar’s crowning (1556)."

So this is a pretty strong proof of Akbar being the one to establish this Calendar which he called Tarikh-e-Elahi.

The Tarikh-e-Ilahi was introduced for the entire Mughal Empire and, like the Din-e-Ilahi, it really didn’t last much beyond Akbar’s lifetime.

As a result, it is interesting to note that when, say, Durga Puja dates will be calculated for the Bengali year 1424, the two events referenced (unknown to most Bengalis themselves) will be the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Makkah to Medina and Akbar’s coronation.

This goes to show that Islam(in some shape and form, as Akbar is largely regarded as syncretic heretic) has shaped the Islamic culture in Bengal.

Modern secular narratives that try to cast Islam as a foreign culture seem to be ignorant of these historical developments.

Muslims have made the mistake of letting this event be coopted by Hindus and the Secular Non-Muslims who seek to erase Islam from our Communities.

While some might deem it to be Bidah, Pohela Boishakh should be celebrated as indigenous Islamic celebration in Bangladesh.

Muslims in Bangladesh should make use of this event as way of dawah to their communities rather than locking themselves up in the masjids and merely venting against those who celebrate it.

Further reading:

Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis, Kunal Chakrabarti and Shubhra Chakrabarti

The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics

https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2017/04/17/akbar-invented-modern-bengali-calendar

https://scroll.in/article/720351/bengali-new-year-how-akbar-invented-the-modern-bengali-calendar

https://twitter.com/IbnMosharraf/status/1249926668572954626?s=19

Ahmad Ibn Mosharraf on Twitter “Today is the Bengali New Year. While Secular and Hindu historians and activists have coopted this event and added their own spins and narratives, it's origins and implementation make it a symbol of Muslim rule in India.”