1971: East Pakistan Proclaimed Its Independence, Taking The Name Bangladesh

26 March 1971: What is now called Bangladesh is part of the historic region of Bengal, The north-east portion of the Indian subcontinent.Buddhists ruled for centuries, but by the 10th century Bengal was primarily Hindu. In 1576, Bengal became part of the Mogul Empire, and the majority of East Bengalis converted to Islam. Bengal was ruled by British India from 1757 until Britain withdrew in 1947, and Pakistan was founded out of two predominantly Muslim regions of the Indian subcontinent. For almost 25 years after independence from Britain, its history was part of Pakistan's. West and East Pakistan were united by religion (Islam), but teh people were separated by culture, physical features, and 1,000 miles of Indian Territory.

Tension between East and west Pakistan developed from the outset because if their vast geographic, economic, and cultural differences. East Pakistan's Awami League, a political party founded by the Bengali nationalist Sheik Mujibur Rahman in 1949, sought independence from West Pakistan. Althought 56% of the population resided in East Pakistan, the West jeld the lion's share pf political and economic power. In the 1970 East Pakistanis secured a majority of the seats in the national assembly. President Yahya Khan postponed the opening of the national assembly in the attempt to circumvent East Pakistan's demand for greater autonomy. As a consequence East Pakistan seceded, and the independent state of Bangladesh, or Bengali nation, was proclaimed on 26 March 1971.