Middle Bengali (), is a historical form of 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. ...

that covers the period from the approximately 1200 CE to the 1800 CE. In this period, Middle Bengali became distinguished from the Old Bengali. Although this variety of Bengali language is primarily associated with the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, but its spread extends from a vast area of eastern

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

to the western frontier of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

History

Middle Bengali is a form of the Bengali language that was spoken across Bengal region roughly from 1200 to the end of the 18th century. Following the conquest of Nadia by the Turks in 1204 and subsequent centuries of Islamic rule, the Bengali language was influenced by the languages of the Middle East. Of whom the Persian was the most influential. Due to Islamic invasion in Bengal, there are no examples of Bengali literature between 1200 and 1350, which is known as the Dark Age in

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

. Some scholars believe that the period from 1200 AD to 1350 AD is the amalgamation era between Old Bengali and Middle Bengali. Therefore, the Bengali language of this stage exhibits characteristics of both eras. According to linguist ''Dr. Rameswar Shaw'', Middle Bengali language can be divided into two parts. One is ''Early Middle Bengali'' (1350 AD - 1500 AD) and the other is ''Late Middle Bengali'' (1500 AD - 1760 AD). The period from the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company, under the leadership of Robert Clive, over the Nawab of Bengal and his French Indies Company, French allies on 23 June 1757. The victory was made possible by the de ...

to 1800 AD is seen as a transitional phase between Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali.

Literature

Phonology

References

{{reflist Eastern Indo-Aryan languages Subject–object–verb languages Languages written in Brahmic scripts Classical Language in India

History

Literature

Phonology

See also

References