History
The
Bengali calendar is closely tied with the
Hindu Vedic solar calendar, based on the
Surya Siddhanta.
As with many other variants of the Hindu solar calendar, the Bengali
calendar commences in mid-April of the Gregorian year. The first day of
the
Bengali year therefore coincides with the mid-April new year in
Mithila,
Assam,
Burma,
Cambodia,
Kerala,
Manipur,
Nepal,
Odisha,
Punjab,
Sri Lanka,
Tamil Nadu and
Thailand .
King Shoshangko of
ancient Bengal, who ruled approximately between 590 CE and 625 CE, is credited with starting the Bengali era.
[2] His kingdom encompassed
West Bengal,
Bangladesh and parts of
Bihar,
Orissa and
Assam. The starting point of the Bengali era is estimated to be on Monday, 12 April 594 in the
Julian Calendar and Monday, 14 April 594 in the
proleptic Gregorian calendar. The Bengali calendar is derived from the Hindu solar calendar, which is itself based on the
Surya Siddhanta.
Under the
Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a purely
lunar calendar,
it does not coincide with the harvest. As a result, 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 Bengali year on the
basis of the Hijri lunar and Hindu solar calendars. The new Fasli San
(agricultural year) was introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated
from Akbar's ascension to the throne in 1556. The new year subsequently
became known as
Bônggabdo or
Bengali year.
Celebrations
of Pohela Boishakh started from Akbar's reign. It was customary to
clear up all dues on the last day of the year . On the next day, or the
first day of the new year, landlords would entertain their tenants with
sweets. On this occasion there used to be fairs and other festivities.
In due course the occasion became part of domestic and social life, and
turned into a day of merriment. The main event of the day was to open a
halkhata or new book of accounts . (eadit)
