The Bengali Calendar or Bangla Calendar or Bangabda is a Solar Calendar used in the Bengal region of the Indian Subcontinent. The Bengali era is called Bengali Sambat (BS) has a zero year that starts in 593/594 CE. It is 594 less than the AD or CE year in the Gregorian calendar if it is before Pôhela Bôishakh, or 593 less if after Pôhela Bôishakh . The Bengali calendar was founded by 7th century Hindu king Shashanka, whose reign covered the Bengali era of 594 CE. This Bengali calendar in use by Bengali people in the Indian states such as West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Jharkhand is based on the Sanskrit text Surya Siddhanta. It retains the historic Sanskrit names of the months, with the first month as Baishakh. This calendar remains tied to the Hindu calendar system and is used to set the various Bengali Hindu festivals. Shashanka was the first independent king of a unified polity in the Bengal region, called the Gauda Kingdom and is a major figure in Bengali history. He reigned in the 7th century, some historians place his rule between circa 600 CE and 636/7 CE, whereas other sources place his reign between 590 and 625 CE. He is said to be a Shaiva brahmin. Historian D K Ganguly is reported to have concluded that he was a native of Magadha. The same source reports that the historian Padmanath Bhattacharya took Shashanka to be a son of Mahasenagupta. Name of Shashanka appears in multiple forms, including Śaśānka and Śaśānka-deva. The name is derived from Sanskrit, as another name for the Moon. Śaśānka-deva therefore loosely translates to Moon god. The Hindu god Shiva is also known as Shashank Sekhar as He holds the moon on his head. The Chinese monk Xuanzang's writings, he is mentioned as She-Shang-Kia. (Credit: Shashanka and Bengali_calendars, Wikipedia) (Image:1. Representative Image 2. Coin of Śaśānka-deva, Shiva seated facing on bull seated left / Lakshmi seated facing on lotus; 3. Map of the Shashankas Kingdom 4. Royal Seal of Shashanka)
Indian History
