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The Bengali Calendar or Bangla Calendar (, colloquially বাংলা সন, Bāṅlā Sôn or বাংলা সাল, Bāṅlā Sāl, "Bangla Year") is a used in the of the Indian subcontinent. In contrast to the traditional Indian Hindu calendar, which begins with the month , The Bengali Calendar starts with . A revised version of the Bangladeshi calendar is officially used in , while an earlier, traditional version continues to be followed in the Indian states of , , and . The Bengali calendar began in 590–600 CE to commemorate the ascension of , the first independent king in Bengal's unified polity. Some modifications were done to the original calendar during Mughal emperor 's era, to facilitate the collection of land revenue at the start of bengali harvesting season. The first day of the Bengali year is known as (1st of Boishakh) which is a public holiday in Bangladesh.

The Bengali era is called Bengali Sambat (BS) and has a zero year that starts in 593/594 CE. It is 594 less than the or year in the Gregorian calendar if it is before Pohela Boishakh, or 593 less if after Pohela Boishakh.


History
The was widely used in , prior to the arrival of Muslim rule in the region, according to various epigraphical evidence.
(1998). 9780195099843, Oxford University Press. .
(1996). 9788120811669, Motilal Banarsidass. .
The was in use by the Bengali people of the region. This calendar was named after king with a zero date of 57 BCE.
(2025). 9780198745570, Oxford University Press. .
In rural Bengali communities, the Bengali calendar is credited to "Bikromaditto", like many other parts of India and . However, unlike these regions where it starts in 57 BCE, the modern Bangladeshi and Bengali calendar starts from 593 CE suggesting that the starting refers the bengali king 's ascent to throne.


Buddhist/Hindu influence
Some historians attribute the Bengali calendar to the 7th century Bengali king , whose reign covered the Bengali era of 594 CE. The term Bangabda (Bangla year) is found too in two Shiva temples many centuries older than era, suggesting that a Bengali calendar existed long before Akbar's time.
(2025). 9780143416784, Penguin Books India.

Hindus developed a calendar system in ancient times. Jyotisha, one of the six ancient ,James Lochtefeld (2002), "Jyotisha" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, , pages 326–327 was the Vedic era field of tracking and predicting the movements of astronomical bodies in order to keep time. The ancient Indian culture developed a sophisticated time keeping methodology and calendars for Vedic rituals.

The Hindu Vikrami calendar is named after king Vikramaditya and starts in 57 BCE.

(2025). 9780198745570, Oxford University Press. .
In rural Bengali communities of India, the Bengali calendar is credited to "Bikromaditto", like many other parts of India and Nepal. However, unlike these regions where it starts in 57 BCE, the Bengali calendar starts from 593 suggesting that the starting reference year was adjusted at some point.
(1978). 9780761804208, University Press of America. .
(2025). 9788180280061, Orient Blackswan. .

Various dynasties whose territories extended into Bengal, prior to the early 13th-century, used the . For example, Buddhist texts and inscriptions created in the era mention "Vikrama" and the months such as , a system found in Sanskrit texts elsewhere in ancient and medieval Indian subcontinent.

(1965). 9788120811669, Motilal Banarsidass. .
(1998). 9780195099843, Oxford University Press. .

Hindu scholars attempted to keep time by observing and calculating the cycles of the Sun (), Moon, and the planets. These calculations about the Sun appear in various Sanskrit astronomical texts in , such as the 5th century Aryabhatiya by , the 6th century Romaka by Latadeva and Panca Siddhantika by Varahamihira, the 7th century Khandakhadyaka by Brahmagupta and the 8th century Sisyadhivrddida by Lalla.

(1989). 9788120806122, Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint), Original: Yale University Press, American Oriental Society. .
These texts present Surya and various planets and estimate the characteristics of the respective planetary motion. Other texts such as Surya Siddhanta dated to have been complete sometime between the 5th century and 10th century.

The current Bengali calendar in use by Bengali people in the Indian states such as , , , and is based on the Sanskrit text Surya Siddhanta and includes the modifications introduced during the reign of Shashanka, the first independent ruler of . The timeline Shashanka becoming the sovereign ruler of Bengal rising from a territorial ruler matches with the first year of . It retains the historic Sanskrit names of the months, with the first month as Baishakh. Their calendar remains tied to the Hindu calendar system and is used to set the various Bengali Hindu festivals.


Influence of Islamic Calendar
Another theory is that the calendar was first developed by Alauddin Husain Shah (reign 1494–1519), a Hussain Shahi sultan of Bengal by combining the lunar (Hijri) with the solar calendar, prevalent in Bengal. Yet another theory states that the Sasanka calendar was adopted by Alauddin Husain Shah when he witnessed the difficulty with collecting land revenue by the Hijri calendar.

During the rule, land taxes were collected from Bengali people according to the Islamic Hijri calendar. This calendar was a lunar calendar, and its new year did not coincide with the solar agricultural cycles. The current Bengali calendar owes its origin in Bengal to the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar who adopted it to time the tax year to the harvest. The Bangla year was therewith called Bangabda. Akbar asked the royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to create a new calendar by combining the lunar and solar already in use, and this was known as Fasholi shan (harvest calendar). According to some historians, this started the Bengali calendar.

(2025). 9780810880245, Scarecrow. .
According to Shamsuzzaman Khan, it could be Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, a Mughal governor, who first used the tradition of Punyaho as "a day for ceremonial land tax collection", and used Akbar's fiscal policy to start the Bangla calendar.
(2025). 9780822353188, Duke University Press.

It is unclear whether it was adopted by Hussain Shah or Akbar. The tradition to use the Bengali calendar may have been started by Hussain Shah before Akbar. According to , Akbar's official calendar "Tarikh-ilahi" with the zero year of 1556 was a blend of pre-existing Hindu and Islamic calendars. It was not used much in India outside of Akbar's Mughal court, and after his death the calendar he launched was abandoned. However, adds Sen, there are traces of the "Tarikh-ilahi" that survive in the Bengali calendar. Regardless of who adopted the Bengali calendar and the new year, states Sen, it helped collect land taxes after the spring harvest based on traditional Bengali calendar, because the Islamic Hijri calendar created administrative difficulties in setting the collection date. The government and newspapers of Bangladesh widely use the term Bangla shal (B.S.). For example, the last paragraph in the of the Constitution of Bangladesh reads "In our Constituent Assembly, this eighteenth day of Kartick, 1379 B.S., corresponding to the fourth day of November, 1972 A.D., do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution." The zero year in the Bangladeshi calendar era is 593 CE.

(2025). 9780374105839, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. .
(2025). 9780521588133, Cambridge University Press. .

Shamsuzzaman Khan wrote, "that it is called Bangla san or saal, which are Arabic and Parsee words respectively, suggests that it was introduced by a Muslim king or sultan." In contrast, according to Sen, its traditional name is Bangabda.Syed Ashraf Ali, Bangabda , National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh In the era of the Akbar, the calendar was called as Tarikh-e-Elahi (তারিখ-ই ইলাহি). In the "Tarikh-e-Elahi" version of the calendar, each day of the month had a separate name, and the months had different names from what they have now. According to Banglapedia, Akbar's grandson reformed the calendar to use a seven-day week that begins on Sunday, and the names of the months were changed at an unknown time to match the month names of the existing . This calendar is the foundation of the calendar that has been in use by the people of .


Calendar structure
The Bengali calendar used in is a and the one used in India is a lunisolar calendar.


Months
বৈশাখ313114 April30/31 (30.950)গ্রীষ্ম ( Grishshô)
April–MayMesha
জ্যৈষ্ঠ313115 May31/32 (31.429)May–JuneVrshaba
আষাঢ়313115 June31/32 (31.638)বর্ষা ( Bôrsha)
/
June–JulyMithuna
শ্রাবণ313116 July31/32 (31.463)July–AugustKarkataka
ভাদ্র313116 August31/32 (31.012)শরৎ ( Shôrôd)
August–SeptemberSimha
আশ্বিন303116 September30/31 (30.428)September–OctoberKanya
কার্তিকKartik303017 October29/30 (29.879)হেমন্ত ( Hemonto)
October–NovemberTula
অগ্রহায়ণ303016 November29/30 (29.475)November–DecemberVrschika
পৌষ303016 December29/30 (29.310)শীত ( Sheet)
December–JanuaryDhanu
মাঘMagh303015 January29/30 (29.457)January–FebruaryMakara
ফাল্গুন/ ফাগুন/ Fagun30 / 31 (leap year)29 / 30 (leap year)14 February29/30 (29.841)বসন্ত ( Bôsôntô)
Spring
February–MarchKumbha
চৈত্র303015 March30/31 (30.377)March–AprilMeena


Days
The Bengali Calendar incorporates the seven-day as used by many other calendars. The names of the days of the week in the Bengali Calendar are based on the (). The day begins and ends at sunrise in the Bengali calendar, unlike in the Gregorian calendar, where the day starts at midnight.

According to some scholars, in the calendar originally introduced by Akbar in the year 1584 CE, each day of the month had a different name, but this was cumbersome, and his grandson changed this to a 7-day week as in the Gregorian calendar, with the week also starting on a Sunday.

রবিবার/ রোববারRôbibar/ Robbar/RoibbárRooibar
সোমবারShombarSom/ShombárCómbar
মঙ্গলবারMônggôlbar/MongolbárMongolbar
বুধবারBudhbar/MercuryBudbárBuidbar
বৃহস্পতিবারBrihôspôtibar/BishudbárBicíbbar
শুক্রবারShukrôbar/ShukkurbárCúkkurbar
শনিবারShônibar/ShonibárCónibar


Traditional and revised versions
The current Bengali calendar in the Indian states is based on the Sanskrit text Surya Siddhanta. It retains the historic Sanskrit names of the months, with the first month as Baishakh. Their calendar remains tied to the system and is used to set the various Bengali Hindu festivals.

In Bangladesh, however, the old Bengali calendar was modified in 1966 by a committee headed by Muhammad Shahidullah, making the first five months 31 days long, the rest 30 days each, with the month of Falgun adjusted to 31 days in every leap year. This was officially adopted by Bangladesh in 1987.


Festivals
The following lists major festivals on the Bangladeshi calendar.


Pohela Boishakh
The first day of the month of ushers the Bengali New Year and is known as . The festival is similar to New Year's Day, and . In , the cultural organization hosts a notable concert in , starting at dawn on 14 April. The Mangal Shobhajatra parades are brought out in many Bangladeshi cities during the festival and is regarded by as an intangible cultural heritage.

The Bengali New Year's Day is a in Bangladesh and of , observed on 14 and 15 April on each region, respectively.


Haal Khata
Traders start a new book on Pohela Boishakh to keep financial records and settle debts.


Boishakhi Mela
The are fairs organized on Pohela Boishakh.


Spring festival
and is the first day of spring in the Bengali calendar celebrated in Bangladesh and India, respectively.


Boli Khela
In the region of Bangladesh, the wrestling matches are organized during the month of Boishakh.


Cattle racing
Cattle races are a popular activity in and districts of Bangladesh during Boishakh.


See also


Bibliography

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