Dhaka

“ The petala made fast for the night near the bank, at a spot a little below Hugli, between that place and Chinsura. When the two Bengalis had eaten their evening rice, Hossain told them that they might, if they pleased, take the dinghy and attend a tamasha {entertainment} that was being held in Chinsura that night in honor of the wedding of one of the Dutch Company's principal gumashtas. The Bengalis, always ready for an entertainment of this kind, slipped overboard and were soon rowing down to Chinsura. ”

“ The country is flat; but the quaint conical Bengali houses that line the shore, with their carefully-laid thatch roofs, the cocoanut and date palms growing in great luxuriance on the alluvial deposit of the river front, and the wide reaches of the rich rice-fields, through which the winding river makes its way, all present a picture of rare tropical interest and beauty. ”

“ No special theory is required to account for the physical and mental qualities of the Mongolo-Dravidians of Bengal. No doubt the original population was Dravidian with a strong intermixture of Tibeto-Burmese blood, especially in the east and north-east. But the Hindu religion, developed in the sacred Midlands round Benares, spread to Bengal, bringing with it the Indo-European speech which in medieval times became the copious and supple Bengali tongue. From the west too came what we in Europe would call the gentry, the priestly and professional castes. ”

“ Bangladesh came into existence in 1971 when Bengali East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development. ”

“ In Bihār, travelling eastwards, medium heads are most common. In the damp and steamy delta of Bengal, inhabited by over forty millions of rather dusky rice-eating people, there is a marked tendency towards the Mongolian brachy-cephaly of Tibeto-Burman races. ”

“ The ordinary government of the country goes on without interference from Tibet, and Lhasa does not exercise any voice in the election of the Deb Raja. In Bogle’s time Tibetans were excluded from trading in Bhutan except for the exchange of rice and salt. ”

“ Two days were occupied in making preparations, but afterwards I spent a fortnight in my tent at Leh, a city by no means to be passed over without remark, for, though it and the region of which it is the capital are very remote from the thoughts of most readers, it is one of the centres of Central Asian commerce. There all traders from India, Kashmir, and Afghanistan must halt for animals and supplies on their way to Yarkand and Khotan, and there also merchants from the mysterious city of Lhassa do a great business in brick tea and in Lhassa wares, chiefly ecclesiastical. ”

“ Durban, although not the capital, is the largest town in the colony, and is remarkable for the cosmopolitan character of its population, including considerable numbers of Zulu Kafirs, Hindus, Arabs, Chinese, English and other Europeans. The island of Salisbury in the bay is inhabited by over two hundred Hindus, who are almost exclusively engaged in the capture and curing of fish for the market of Durban. Other Hindus occupied with gardening supply the city and neighbour- hood with fruits and vegetables. ”

“ Janghera, thus happily placed between the rugged scenery of the upper provinces, and the smiling landscapes of Bengal, partakes of the nature of both: the Ganges spreads itself like a sea at the foot of the rock, which on the land-side overlooks a wide expanse of fertile country, having for a back-ground the low ranges of hills which separate Behar from Bengal. ”

“ I am new here and gradually finding my way tumbling and stumbling. However, only Category:Bangladesh doesn't suffice here; the books I am currently working on were originally published in British India, all except Nil Durpan in Calcutta (now Kolkata) , so these books come under Indian literature; Bangladesh was not yet in existence. Hrishikes (talk) 15:55, 9 August 2014 (UTC) You can add them to Category:Indian literature as well. When country borders change, or when one ethnic group lives within the borders of another country, sometimes a single category does not work. ”

“ A man of Chinese nationality who had been thirteen years in the Colony was refused a Licence for no other reason, I am convinced, than because he was a Chinaman. The statistics of Durban show that the Town has more than doubled in extent and population within the past ten years; and yet this man who had linked his fortunes with the Colony—a man of unblemished character— who arrived when there were only about 40 human beings for every 100 there are today: this man’s character and long residence were ignored, and a means of earning an honest living in Durban denied him. ”

“ The capital of the province is Dacca, and its chief port is Chittagong.
The Bengal districts which were transferred to Eastern Bengal and Assam comprised northern and eastern Bengal, the most prosperous and least overcrowded portion of Bengal. The land there is less densely populated, wages are higher and food cheaper, and the rainfall more copious and more regular, while the staple crops of jute, tobacco and rice command a higher price relative to the rent of the land than in Behar or other parts of Bengal. ”

“ Not only are these people at enmity with the alien tribes above them, and those inhabiting the head-waters of the Mahkam (Koti) , the Batang Kayan (Belungan) , and the Kapuas, but also with the Dayaks living below them. Yet they have their redeeming points, especially those of the upper Rejang, who are a hard-working people. Many thousands of dollars worth of gutta-percha, india-rubber, and rattans annually pass from their hands to the Chinese traders, and the bulk of the jungle produce exported comes from the Rejang. ”

“ When the Son flowed down its old channel joining the Ganges at Fatuha, the Ganges ran close past Arrah. Indeed, from a passage in the Mahábhárata, where the sojourn of the Pándavas in Ekachakra, now Arrah, is detailed, the Ganges is implied to have been not far of. When, however, the Son began flowing down its new channel, the natural result of the new force brought to bear on the waters of the Ganges at the junction would be to push the Ganges over to the north, thus gradually producing a large tract of newly formed land at the junction of the rivers. ”

“ Currently Bangla seems to be the more politically correct term (compare Negro and African American) . As for unicode glyphs, the ones proposed by me are unicode only, is it not? Hrishikes (talk) 12:03, 19 April 2015 (UTC) More details: For the land: Bangla or Banga in native, Bengal in English (general term; specifically, East Bengal now known as Bangladesh; West Bengal known as such in English and as Paschim Banga/Bangla in native. For the language: Bangla in native, Bengali in English. For the people: Bangali in native, Bengalee in English (these days spelled as the language) . ”

“ He shall not accept any present from cattle-keepers. Any mandal, or lamas or shalugos who have been appointed to any posts, requiring to go to the seat of the Durbar, must not take any raiyats to accompany them, nor should they raise any tax on the pretence of nazars for the Durbar. Any officers, village headmen, who have obtained permission to retire from service on account of old age, infirmities, &c., must not linger above three days in the Jong. Any foreigners or strangers arriving in their jurisdiction must be reported and presented to their superior at the Jong. ”

“ The trade of the country was almost entirely in the hands of the Deb Raja, his ministers and governors, who held the monopoly of it both with Bengal and Tibet. The exports to Bengal were chiefly ponies, musk, cow-tails, coarse red blankets, and striped woollen cloths half a yard wide. The imports were chiefly broadcloth, spices, dyes, Malda cloth, coarse linen, hogs, and salt fish. The great trade with Bengal was carried on by means of the annual caravans to Rangpur, from which the Government of Bengal received about Rs. ”

“ How on earth am I to explain to the district that they are going to be governed by a Bengali? Do you—does the Government, I mean—suppose that the Khusru Kheyl will sit quiet when they once know? What will the Mahomedan heads of villages say? How will the police—Muzbi Sikhs and Pathans—how will they work under him? We couldn't say anything if the Government appointed a sweeper; but my people will say a good deal, you know that. ”

“ Our Government, instead of making the most of so unique an opening, has, by the most incomprehensible regulations and orders, emanating from London, raised an insuperable barrier against any fellow countrymen who may desire to travel in Tibet, while foreigners, whom they are powerless to keep out, are given every possible assistance and help. Hence, notwithstanding the vast expenditure of money, the heavy loss of life, and the many hardships endured by the Lhasa Mission of 1904, Tibet has again become an absolutely closed country to all Englishmen. ”

“ The Ganges front is the supreme show-place of Benares. Its tall bluffs are solidly caked from water to summit, along a stretch of three miles, with a splendid jumble of massive and picturesque masonry, a bewildering and beautiful confusion of stone platforms, temples, stair-flights, rich and stately palaces—nowhere a break, nowhere a glimpse of the bluff itself; all the long face of it is compactly walled from sight by this crammed perspective of platforms, soaring stairways, sculptured temples, majestic palaces, softening away into the distances ”

“ Bengal, including the delta of the Ganges, was one of the most fertile regions in the world, whilst the inhabitants were most submissive and easily governed. For centuries the Bengalis had been oppressed by foreigners—Turk, Afghan, Abyssinian and Mogul. The revenues, however, had been collected by Hindu officials, as being at once more exacting in their demands, and more easily stripped of their ill-gotten gains. ”

“ I joined the main Lachung Valley at Yac-cha, some four miles above the village of Lachung, where I was met by the Phodong Lama, and where we remained some time transacting business with the headmen of the valley.
The two villages of Lamteng in the Lachen and Lachung in the Lachung Valley have an unusual and almost communistic government of their own. On every occasion the whole population meet at a “panchayat,” or council, where they sit in a ring in consultation. ”

“ Although so large a number of ponies and men is hardly necessary for the Envoy, who only brings presents of precious things of little bulk, the party avails itself of the privilege for the carriage of personal property and merchandise to and from Lhasa. As the mission passed by, we heard the people remark that all this splendour and ostentation was at the expense of the Government of Lhasa, and to the ruin of the poor people of Tibet. ”

“ To its north lies the valley of the Argandáb, running up north-east as far as the eye can reach in a continual succession of villages, gardens, and corn-fields, a picture of prosperity strikingly in contrast with the arid and bare aspect of the country to the south of the range. In this latter direction the parallel ranges of Arghasán, Barghana, and Kadani, coursing the wide plateau from north-east to south-west, all terminate in low ridges that abut upon the Dorí river opposite to the sand-cliffs of the great desert that separates Kandahar and Sistan from the mountain region of Makrán. ”

“ He bartered the fruits of his industry in Tibet for wool, which was spun, dyed, and woven by the females of the family, and what remained was taken to Rangpur and exchanged for hogs, salt fish, coarse linen, dyes, spices, and broadcloth. This class “live at home, cultivate their lands, pay taxes, serve in the wars, and beget children, who succeed to honours to which they themselves could never aspire.”
The regular army consisted of six hundred men in pay, but all lands in Bhutan were held by military service, and every man in the country was a soldier when called upon. ”

“ Calát is the capital of Balochistan, and the summer residence of the chief. It is a fortified little town, situated on the plain at the extremity of a low ridge of hills called Sháh Mírán, and contains about 8000 inhabitants—a mixture of Baloch, Brahoe, Jat, and Dihwár, with a few Hindu families. The town is indescribably filthy, and wears a thoroughly decayed look. It is the largest town in the country, and the valley in which it stands is the most populous. There are several villages and fruit-gardens crowded together on the upper part of the valley near the town. ”

“ At the base of the lower ranges of the Bhutan hills there is a narrow strip of country, from ten to twenty miles in breadth, and extending from the Dhunseeree River, in Assam, on the east, to the River Teesta, or frontier of the Darjeeling district, on the west. This tract, which is by nature singularly rich and fertile, was known as the Bhutan Duars, or Passes. Eighteen passes entered it from the hills, each under the authority of a Jongpen, and attached to each jurisdiction was the portion of the tract lying below the pass, and bearing its name. ”

“ The population is typical of a frontier region, and a sprinkling of natives from every quarter of Central Asia may be found there. The Hindus act as money-lenders and bankers, exacting an exorbitant usury; and other natives of India keep the drug stores and the dye shops. The vendors of dried fruits are mostly from Kabul. The trade with Yarkand is in the hands of Andijani merchants, who acquire the sheep and furs of the Oxus territory in exchange, at Yarkand, for tea, which is disposed of in Turkestan. ”