This book is the third in the series of Marg studies in the regional cultures of the subcontinent – the first two being on the arts of Kutch and Orissa. The book focuses on both West Bengal and Bangladesh which, though parts of the subcontinent, are politically separate entities. However, until 1947, the two formed a single political unit known as Bengal. In a sense therefore the two “Bengals†are being united again in this volume through discourses on the common heritage. The volume is also distinguished by the fact that all the contributors are Bengalis from both halves of the divided state or sub-nation. The purpose of the book is to provide an overview of the material culture of Bengal through a selection of nine sites, three of which are now in Bengladesh and six in West Bengal. While some such as Chandraketugarh, Mahasthangarh, and Mangalkot are archaeological sites, others are still thriving and sprawling settlements possessing rich remains of their glorious heritage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Enamul Haque
Professor Enamul Haque had his M.A. in History (Archaeology Group) from Dhaka (1960), Diploma in Museology from London (1964) and Doctorate in South Asian Art from Oxford (1973). For three decades since 1962 he served the Dhaka Museum and rose to be the Founder Director General of the Bangladesh National Museum, developing it to be the largest Museum in the Third World. He was for a year (1990) Secretary-in-charge of the Ministry of Culture of Bangladesh. He also taught Art History, Museology and National Heritage in the universities of Dhaka and Jahangirnagar, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, and the Independent University at Dhaka. An organizer of exceptional ability, he is the Founder Chairman (since 1995) and Academic Director of The International Centre for Study of Bengal Art (ICSBA) at Dhaka, convened four International Congresses on Bengal Art (1976, 1997, 1999 and 2001) and edits the Journal of Bengal Art. He was honoured by the Asiatic Society of Calcutta with the award of the Rama Prasad Chanda Birth Centenary Medal (1993) for his "conspicuous contribution in art and archaeology of Bengal". Earlier, the Asia Society of New York honoured him by electing as their Honorary International Councilor (1986-92). He served as the President of the International Council of Museum (ICOM) Asia Pacific Organization (1983-86). Among his publications, notables are Islamic Art Heritage of Bangladesh (1983) and Bengal Sculptures: Hindu Iconography (1992), the latter being a quantitative assessment of nearly two thousand sculptures now preserved in different parts of the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pratapaditya Pal
Pratapaditya Pal is currently Fellow for Research at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, and General Editor of Marg Publications in Mumbai. For twenty-five years (1970-95) he was Senior Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art and from 1996 to 2003 Visiting Curator for Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he most recently organized the much acclaimed exhibition Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure (2003).
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