The present book, ‘The Cultural Heritage of Bangladesh’is a study of Bangladesh and her people both past and present for ages. The work was very challenging for me. The book has three parts or volumes in it. The first part presents the quest for the roots, the origin of the present Bangladesh and her people and their unity in diversity. There had been various linguistic groups such as Austric, dravidians and Tibeto- Burman or Mongoloid. Although the land in those days had rivers in evry nook and corner and these made temporary separation, however, people gradually came close to each other and the land and rivers they belonged to in course of time helped them grow with an identity as a nation. The country thus was known as vanga or Bango and people became Bangal or Bengali. These people became known as Hindu Buddhist and Muslims. The original settlers were pre-Aryan or non-Aryan. These people who came to Bengal from other places, had their religious belief and practices. Agriculture became their mother occupation and it shaped their civilization along the Ganges in Bengal in eastern India and the Indus in Harappa and Mohenjo Daro in the north-western part of India. The Southern part of India had almost the similar type of occupation. Agriculture is an activity of growing crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers and rearing of livestock. It is a primary activity since it directly involves in natural resources. In India, a huge number of people derive the activity from their ancestors. A large portion of India is full of highly fertile land. Moreover, India is a densely populated country and hence needs food grain production on a large scale. The monsoon climate of India is highly favourable for farming. Hence, agriculture is the main economic activity in India. The Cultural Heritage of Bangladesh 21 As the Archaeologists could discover the lost civilization along the Ganges and the Indus, these reveled that Agriculture was the mainstay in the economic and the social well-being. The first part of my book, The Cultural Heritage of Bangladesh makes detailed analysis of all these. This part includes the gradual urbanization of civilization also. But in all cases, folklore and folkoloric heritage played the role in the making of civilization. In order to build a house or any thing oneeds for day today life, we go for the service of a mason, the potters, the word-cutters and the carpenters and other folks, a weaver, a tailor, farmer, fishermen who finally give it a shape.
