Politics and Literary Activities in the Bengali Language during the Independent Sultanate of Bengal

Abstract

The development and decline of a language must ultimately have political, cultural, social and economic causes. The political establishment of the Muslim rule in Bengal in the early 13th century is one of the most crucial events for the development of vernacular languages in Bengal. The Bengali language passed its developing stage during the period of the independent sultanate of Bengal. This article evaluates the activities of Muslim rulers of the independent sultanate of Bengal to the development of Bengali language. It concludes that the Muslim rulers of Bengal purposefully patronized and cultivated the development of the Bengali language through the literary activities to establish their political dominance and to check the supremacy of the Sanskrit language. In this regard, they were partially successful.

Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics Vol.1(1) 2008, 151-166