Knowing history is crucial
I came to Bangladesh just over a week ago and, in the weeks prior to arriving, had a pathetically inadequate knowledge of its history. Exhibiting an unfortunately characteristic American blindness to external histories, I could recite in only the broadest of detail Bengal's journey from Partition, to a turbulent period as East Pakistan, to liberation in 1971, to the challenges of being a modern developing nation. It was only after discovering Willem Van Schendel's A History of Bangladesh at my local library that the history of the region came to life.
The strength of Van Schendel's account lay in his approach to history which rejects the Wikipedia-style historiographical method of artlessly barraging the reader with decontextualized facts. Instead, Van Schendel writes in the style of a talented novelist, following a single narrative thread in the history of Bengal to its logical conclusion before examining a different thread, weaving it in with the others and giving the reader a comprehensive view of the subject without being bogged down in minutiae or frozen in a particular perspective. The historical tapestry A History of Bangladesh thus creates brings the environmental, political, economic, and social/cultural histories of the region into clearer focus.
As a foreigner, A History of Bangladesh was a good introductory text that has helped me greatly as I continue to grow accustomed to the country. However, the book is also valuable reading for locals. Even those that are old enough to remember the events of the last half-century or more will certainly benefit from the author's discussion of Bengal's ancient and pre-modern history. Van Schendel tells the story of the Bengal Delta's role as a meeting place between geographies, religions, languages, economic systems and forms of rule. The interaction of all of these factors has played a part in determining the history of the region up to the present.
At a time when Bangladesh's future seems uncertain and political strife threatens the foundations of democracy, knowledge of history is crucial to the preservation of an effective civil society. And while that history is filled with both triumphs and failures, it is important to seize hold of history and live in it; to grow from it rather than run from it or neglect it. For as the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore said, “Emancipation from the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree.”
Patrick de Sutter is an intern at The Daily Star
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