Page 5 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

2 ART AND CRAFTS

live here permanently. The indigenous peoples of this area are known to be the non-
Aryan peoples the Kohls, Sabaras, Chandalas, etc. Judged as a linguistic group they
are called ‘austric’. Gradually the minority coming from outside established control
over the greater non-Aryan ethnic groups through the influence of their higher culture.
The world was first acquainted with the name Bengala from the tales of the journey
of the traveller Marco Polo. But the historical identity of Bengal can be established
through authentic written documents from the 4th century BC. In approximately 300
BC. Pundravardhana was annexed to the Maurya Empire. This can be decided in the
light of the archaeological evidence discovered in Pundranagar of Mahasthan near
Bogra of Bangladesh. From various inscriptions found here the establishment of
Buddhism in this area is evident. From a later period the terracotta plaques discovered
in Mahasthan and Chandraketugarh made during the reign of the Hindu Sunga dynasty
(183 BC-71 BC) the effort to integrate the art of both cultures is noticeable. Before the
rise of the Gupta empire (320 AD-540 AD) the history of Bengal was the history of
the local feudal kings fighting with one another. In 400 AD during the reign of
Samudra Gupta the whole of Bengal except Samatata was annexed to the Gupta
Empire. In the reign of Chandra Gupta the Second, Indian civilization and culture
assumed its classic form. Sanskrit literature, music, drama, astrology, and the fine arts
achieved a kind of perfection. In the middle of the 6th century the Gupta Empire began
to decline and taking advantage of the situation two independent kingdoms originated
in Bengal. One was the Kingdom of Vanga (south-east Bengal and the southern region
of West Bengal) and the other was Gauda (West and North Bengal). Later in the early
7th century a powerful king named Sasanka rose to prominence in Bengal. The period
after the death of Sasanka upto the establishment of the Pala dynasty (750 AD-1162
AD) in the mid-8th century is commonly known as the ‘matsanyaya yuga’ due to a
situation of extreme anarchy prevailing in Bengal. After the rise of the Pala dynasty in
the 8th century Bengal and the Bengalis could establish themselves as a political,
economic, military and cultural force in the following five hundred years. It was
mainly through the establishment of the Pala dynasty in the middle of the 8th century
that the socio-economic and cultural rise of Bengal and the Bengalis was initiated.
This dynasty was established in Bengal for a period of more than four hundred years.
The influential kings of this dynasty raised Bangladesh to a distinguished status in
North and South India in the fields of religion, education and culture in the Indian and
international Buddhist world. 2
Although king Gopala was the founder of the Pala dynasty, his son Dharmapala (770
AD-810 AD) consolidated it placing it on a firm foundation. This dynasty which
believed in Buddhism built many institutions in their kingdom with the aim of
spreading the message and teachings of Buddhism. The establishment of the famous
Vikramasila Vihara of Bihar and the very large Somapura Mahavihara of the
Varendra region, which later earned fame as the Paharpur Vihara, was the
achievement of Dharmapala. Huge Buddhist Viharas were built in Mainamati with
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