Nathaniel B. Halhead of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

published a Bengali grammar for British officials in 1776 to aid interaction with the local Bengali population. William Carey of

Serampore Serampore (also called Serampur, Srirampur, Srirampore, Shreerampur, Shreerampore, Shrirampur or Shrirampore) is a city in Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Srirampore subdivision. It is a part ...

translated the Bible into the

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

and published it in 1793 and 1801. The high language Bengali translation in use in Bangladesh is derived from Carey's version, while "common language" versions are newer translations. Fr. Christian Mignon, a Belgian

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, finished a revised version of the Bible in Bengali, named ''Mangalbarta'', which has copious footnotes. Missionaries have also translated the Bible into " Musalmani Bangla", as well as the Chittagonian and Sylheti

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

Christian Bengali

William Carey's translation of the Bible into Bengali was peculiar to mainstream Bengali. It came to be known as "Christian Bengali" and intelligibility of this new dialect was somewhat restricted to educated Bengali Christians. The Bengali converts to Christianity during the British rule were mainly Upper Caste

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and this translation of the Bible to "Christian Bengali" was prohibited to be revised in fear of Sanskritisation and subsequent Hinduisation of the converts. The dialect has become the language of

Christian worship In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is ("to worship") which means to bow down to God or kings. Worship in the N ...

and Bengali Christian literature, but restricted to this small community; and therefore not allowing non-Christian Bengalis to understand. It is said to have been influenced by the works of the earlier Portuguese missionaries in Bengal who also established a Christianised Bengali dialect which lasted for roughly 150 years, before the establishment of

Fort William College Fort William College (also known as the College of Fort William) was an academy of Orientalism, oriental studies and a centre of learning, founded on 18 August 1800 by Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, Lord Wellesley, then Governor-Gener ...

and rise of Anglo-Christian Bengali. The Portuguese settlers also inspired the use of a Portuguese dialect, known as Bengali Portuguese creole, which is no longer extant.

Versions

Pobitro Baibel The Bible in Bengali (Holy Bible) (SBCL)
: Copyrigh
Bible Society of Bangladesh
2001 Formerly called Re-edit Cary Version.
Text versionAudio of New Testament (Select Bengali, then Re-edit Bangla Version)Mobile Apps

Kitabul Mukkadas (MCBI)
: Copyrigh
Bible Society of Bangladesh
198
Audio (Select Bengali, then Mussalmani Version)Android

: Copyright WBTC India 200
Audio (Select Bengali, then Easy-to-Read Version)Mobile Apps

: Copyright The Bible Society of India 1999
Jubilee Bible
: Copyright

Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh is the episcopal conference of Bangladesh. History The CBCB was founded in 1971. The purpose of this Conference is to facilitate common policy and action in matters that affect or are liable to affec ...

, 2000
The Holy Bible in Bengali : containing the Old and New Testaments
Calcutta, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society (Calcutta Auxiliary) in 1909: in

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

References

{{reflist

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Christianity in Bangladesh Christianity in West Bengal