Banglapedia, the national encyclopedia of Bangladesh, is a ten-volume reference work took up by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in 1998. The goal of this reference tool is to inquire, interpret and integrate the lived experiences and achievements of the people of Bangladesh from ancient times to date.More than 6000 entries, contributed by over twelve hundred writers and specialists, explore all aspects of Bangladesh’s past and present. The contributors are mostly university teachers and academicians both at home and abroad, specialists in districts and upazilas for locality inputs, and people from professions and occupations. Conceptually and territorially, the term `Bangladesh’ for the present work will mean successively ancient Eastern India, medieval Suba Bangla, Turko-Afghan Shahi Bangalah, Mughal Suba Bangla, British Bengal, East Bengal and East Pakistan of the Pakistan period and finally, today’s Bangladesh. Represented in this work are such natural changes as the rise of the Bengal Delta, and its evolution to date. On the human plane, attention has been given to the changing features of the formation of the delta’s janapadas or human settlements, the rise and fall of kingdoms, invasions from within and beyond and their implications, dynastic rules and administration and so on. Extensive coverage has been given to political geography, religion, literature, art and architecture (mostly supported with Ground Plans), folk practices and institutions, indigenous and colonial administration, politics, society, economy, ethnicity, and the sciences. Over 2000 single and four-colour illustrations depict Bangladesh art and architecture, everyday life, cities and villages, personages and so on. It has about 2100 cross-references, cartographic information, tables and statistics and the like. All its entries are compiled and edited in six different editorial categories, namely, arts and humanities, history and heritage, state and governance, society and economy, natural sciences and biological sciences, in addition to a gazetteer group focusing on districts and upazilas. District and upazila cartography has been processed at the GIS and cartographic laboratory set up for the Banglapedia. Banglapedia users are sure to find something or the other in this vast book of knowledge that will interest them, give them clues to further investigations, and promise depth and clarity in their idea and expression. Extensive cross-referencing, bibliographical aids, informative illustrations, cartographic features make this production an indispensable guide to this old civilisation and culture of 130 million people.
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