Pohela Boishakh's celebration must not be dwindled

We usually use two words in case of referring Bengali New Year--'Son' and 'Sal' (year). 'Sal' is a 'Persian' word while 'Son' is 'Arabic'. Bengali vocabulary contains numerous words borrowed from Arabic and Persian. The name Bangladesh is not even Bengali, Bangla and Desh are Persian words.

The origin of Bengali Son or Sal is a topic of debate. Some claim that Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo is the originator of the Bengali year. The argument over this matter is that in ancient times, Bengal, especially North Bengal, was under the control of Tibetan kings for quite some time. Tibet was a very large empire at that time. Even many historians believe that the word 'Bangla' or 'Bangala' was derived from the Tibetan word 'Bonso'. The word 'Bonso' means 'land of wet soil'. Bangladesh is a country of rivers and canals. Therefore, it is a country of wet soil.

Another opinion is that the first independent Bengali kingdom in Bengal was established by Shashanka in 594 AD. Shashanka is said to have introduced the 'Shokabdo'. Again, many historians say that Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah - who was the Sultan of independent Bengal from 1493 to 1519, introduced the Bengali year. The latest opinion was that Emperor Akbar did it which has been cemented finally. In 1954, the chief scientist of the Calendar Reform Committee in India, Dr. Meghnad Saha, calculated the formula and proved that Akbar was the initiator of the Bengali year and the famous historian of Orissa, Kashiprasad Jayaswal and the latest Dr. Amartya Sen commented in the favour of this theory. We also think that Akbar introduced this Bengali year.

Akbar saw that Bengali farmers followed a solar calendar for their agricultural practices. However, during Akbar's time, the Hijri year and the lunar year were in use, creating difficulty in collecting crop taxes. Akbar then requested his court astronomer, Fatehullah Shirazi, to find a solution. All 9 people in Akbar's court were gems in knowledge and scholarship. He calculated that Akbar came to the throne in 1556 and that year was Hijri year 963. He made 963 in the first Bengali year. It was issued in 1585, the 29th year of Akbar's reign. However, its effectiveness was determined in 1556. Akbar named it 'Fasli year'. He introduced this year for the convenience of revenue collection. We know that almost all communities in the world celebrate the first day of their year. Due to that, the celebration came to us too.

The history of the celebration of Pohela Boishakh in the life of Bengalis shows that this celebration started from the time of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan of Murshidabad. However, the celebration in Bangladesh started in the Pakistan period. In Bangladesh, the Pakistani government and pro-Pakistan Bengali intellectuals were angry and had a very difficult position against the celebration of Rabindra's birth centenary in 1961. In protest against it, Bengalis held a Rabindra Sangeet conference at the Engineers Institution. In the context of that protest, Chhayanaut was born to popularize Rabindra Sangeet.

Chhayanaut started the first Pohela Boishakh celebration in Baldha Garden in 1964; But as the crowd increases every year, the Baldha Garden is no longer able to accommodate the large numbers of participants. In 1967, the celebration on a larger scale began at the Ramna Batamul. Even though it is an Ashwath tree, Batamul has become popular among the people. The wealthy class started having pantabhat and hilsa fish in the early eighties. To me, this culture of having pantabhat mocks the poor, who take it regularly before going to work. The working class people eat pantabhat with green chillies and onions early in the morning as it is healthy. Hilsa does not go with pantabhat - it is an unhealthy food; but for our rich people, pantabhat and hilsa have become a part of the culture of Boishakh celebration.

In 1985, the celebration of Pohela Boishakh was started on a larger scale. The Mongol Shobhajatra originated in 1985 in Jashore and was later adopted by the Dhaka University Faculty of Fine Arts in 1989. Everyone started the procession by making different types of masks. When the Mongol Shobhajatra started, Ershad's tyranny was weighing down on the Bangladeshis like a rock. As a protest against him, this Shobhajatra started with the spirit of good against evil; democracy against tyranny. On November 30, 2016, UNESCO made this Mongol Shobhajatra part of the world's cultural heritage.

Pohela Boishakh is not only a day of celebration for Bengalis; it is non-communal and a day of celebration for everyone regardless of religion, caste, or tribe. This celebration contains treachery and consciousness.

Dr. Syed Anwar Husain: Professor, researcher and historian.