Bangla Calendar

The Bangla Calendar is the traditional calendar used in Bangladesh and Bangla (Bengali)-speaking regions of India. The calendar is based on the solar year. New Year's Day falls between 13 April and 15 April.

History

Under the Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar, the agricultural year did not coincide with the fiscal year. Therefore, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. In order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal Emperor Akbar ordered a reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi, a renowned scholar and astronomer, formulated the Bangla year on the basis of the lunar Hijri and Bangla solar calendars. The new Fasli San (agricultural year) was introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from Akbar's accession to the throne in 1556. The new year subsequently became known as Bôngabdo, or Bengali year.

Related Topics:
Mughal - Hijri - Lunar calendar - Akbar - Bangla - 1556

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