Celebrating Eid: Thousand years of history in three embraces
21 March 2026, 10:00 AM
In Focus
Historical glimpses of Eid processions in Dhaka
20 March 2026, 10:00 AM
In Focus
The Biryani excavation
19 March 2026, 10:00 AM
In Focus
My mother’s letter during the Liberation War
16 March 2026, 11:10 AM
In Focus
In Focus / A journey through Bangladesh’s Islamic inscriptions
28 December 2025, 18:00 PM
In Focus
Barisal, beyond, and the making of Bengali literary modernity
2 March 2026, 00:00 AM
In Focus
How does Pakistan write 1971?
17 March 2026, 06:03 AM
In Focus
Leela Nag: A lone tigress who waged war against the status quo
10 March 2026, 17:04 PM
In Focus
The Australian doctor who witnessed what Bangladesh wanted to forget
3 March 2026, 10:01 AM
In Focus
Why is there so little discussion on books?
1 March 2026, 10:00 AM
In Focus
Re-discovering the goddess in medieval bengali poetry
The Medieval period in Bengal was noteworthy for its amazing religious syncretism, with the fusion of Shaiva, Shakta, and Vaishnava cults with regional folk traditions.
22 October 2023, 18:00 PM
Dutch perspectives on early-modern Bengal
The riverine area of Bengal has held a significant position in Indian Ocean trade for centuries and has also given rise to different narratives about the region in European accounts.
15 October 2023, 18:00 PM
The Weeping King: How Hindustani Music flourished in colonial Bengal
In 1870, a song collector from Calcutta called Nanda Lal Sharma flicked through the pages of his newly published book, Sangit Sutra. In the central pages was a thumri lyric, set to the rag Alhaiya Khamaj.
8 October 2023, 18:00 PM
Tea-Tokens: A forgotten chapter in the history of tea plantations
The emergence of tea as a beverage in India is a unique social event in history. Sylhet, Assam, Cachar, Dooars, and Darjeeling were preferred for tea production, considering the hill climate favorable for tea production.
1 October 2023, 18:00 PM
The political origin of hunger in Bangladesh
Historical evidence suggests that almost every year before independence in 1971, present-day Bangladesh consistently grappled with a widespread shortage of food grains.
24 September 2023, 18:00 PM
SOULS: Through the eyes of its founder, Sazed Ul Alam
I returned to Chattogram from the Liberation War on December 20, 1971 with my nephew,
17 September 2023, 18:00 PM
Syed Mujtaba Ali between Bengal and Afghanistan
We have to ask an important question about Mujtaba Ali's Kabul adventures - what did this experience mean to this young Bengali man?
10 September 2023, 18:00 PM
Reflecting on ‘Amar Dekha Rajnitir Ponchash Bochor’
As I delved into the autobiographical works of Abul Mansur Ahmad, it became evident that he had a penchant for plain speaking, avoiding embellishments.
3 September 2023, 18:00 PM
The Portrayal and Relevance of Women in Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Novels
Kazi Nazrul Islam is our National Poet, but, in addition to writing poetry and composing songs, he also wrote fiction. In fact, Nazrul’s first publication was not poetry, but the short story “Baundeler Atmakahini” (The Autobiography of a Vagabond), published in Saogat in May 1919.
27 August 2023, 18:00 PM
The many meanings of Partition 1947 and beyond
My memory is again in the way of your history. Agha Shahid Ali
20 August 2023, 18:00 PM
My heart doesn’t desire to speak about Sultan
I had once written extensively about S.M. Sultan. Why? Because it felt essential to make our ‘art authorities’ aware that he was a rare talent, although many were unwilling to accept it. Thus, the pen became my last resort.
13 August 2023, 18:00 PM
“The Ever-Falling Darkness of History”
In the opening years of the twentieth century, Abanindranath Tagore (1871– 1951), Rabindranath’s nephew and a prominent artist living at the Tagore palazzo in Calcutta, Jorasanko, made a trio of paintings depicting the Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58) at different stages of his life, together with his great monument to love, the Taj Mahal.
6 August 2023, 18:00 PM
As I Remember Syed Waliullah, My Papa
Thinking of Syed Waliullah and being his son always triggers contrasting feelings of joy and pride, melancholy and pain. Regrettably, neither my elder sister Simine nor I am able to remember much about our father, as we were both very young when he passed away.
30 July 2023, 18:00 PM
'Be more attentive to the workings of nature around us and through us'
Congratulations on your new book, “River Life and the Upspring of Nature.” With your academic background in religious studies and social life in Pakistan, what prompted you to shift your focus towards studying the river life and char communities in Bangladesh?
23 July 2023, 18:00 PM
Laughter and Thrills: A History of Circus in East Bengal
The circus industry in Bengal experienced a significant boost during the 19th century, thanks to the arrival of Russian and European performers, as well as contributions from Africans, Mongolians, and other Asians in the 20th century.
16 July 2023, 18:00 PM
Bagh Bidhoba
Sonamoni! No prefix, no suffix, that is her name. It signifies the golden pearl of the eye.
9 July 2023, 18:00 PM
Souls at 50: The many incarnations of a band
Souls is not the first band in Bangladesh to reach the milestone of 50 years.
2 July 2023, 18:00 PM
The battle of plassey: A Tale of Triumph and Betrayal
On the afternoon of July 2, 1757, at the hour they were going to kill Siraj in a sodden dungeon of the Jaffarganj Palace—along the east bank of the ebbing Hooghly,
25 June 2023, 18:00 PM
Lest we forget: The pioneering educationists from East Bengal
We would like to recall with gratitude some harbingers of education from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in the 19th century, who have ‘illumined’ the lives of generations by founding modern educational institutions at the primary, secondary and university levels in British India.
11 June 2023, 18:00 PM
Churchill and India Manipulation or Betrayal?
Winston Churchill spent three years in British India, a freshly minted cavalry subaltern,
5 June 2023, 18:00 PM