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Obverse of 1997 Bangladesh Taka
Obverse of 1997 Bangladesh Taka

Reverse of 1997 Bangladesh Taka
Reverse of 1997 Bangladesh Taka

A Brief History of Bangladesh

Bengal
The area that now constitutes Bangladesh was once the wealthiest area of the Indian subcontinent, and part of many powerful kingdoms and Empires, including the Gupta, Harsha and Mughal Empires. Following the collapse of Mughal power in the 18th Century, Bengal was subject to raiding and conquest by the Marathas Confederacy until British East India Company Forces, under Robert Clive, defeated the Marathas at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Bengal was made into a presidency for administrative purposes by the East India Company in 1765. This presidency lasted until the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919. In 1947, Indian independence saw the partition of Bengal, and East Bengal became East Pakistan, an integrated part of Pakistan despite being separated from the main part of Pakistan by thousands of miles.

East Pakistan
Problems between the two regions stemmed from the arrogant dominance of Western Pakistan economic and military elites. The attempt to make Urdu the sole official language of Pakistan, excluding the Bengali language, led to violent protests until the Pakistani Government relented and made Bengal an official language in East Pakistan in 1956.
In 1958, Pakistan degenerated into military dictatorship, and despite being responsible for as much as 70% of Pakistan’s foreign export earnings, East Pakistani’s standard of living remained abysmal compared to those who enjoyed the West. Foreign aid given to Pakistan was used primarily to benefit the West. These facts contributed to demands for federalism, and later, outright independence.
Throughout the 1960s, East Pakistan suffered economically from Western neglect and military government, but in 1970, a Pakistani general election was held, in which the Awami League, led by Mujib Rahman, a Bangladeshi nationalist, won all but two of the parliamentary seats allocated to East Pakistan, and this was enough to form a majority in the Pakistani Parliament and thus form a government. This was not considered acceptable by the authorities in West Pakistan, and Rahman was blocked from forming a government.

War of Independence
Fighting broke out between the Pakistani military and the Bangladeshi Mukti Bahini (Liberation Army) in March 1971. The brutal crackdown backfired on the Pakistanis, and the two sides engaged in a prolonged struggle. Mukti Bahini and defected military units fought a lone battle against Pakistani troops until 2nd December 1971, when Pakistan foolishly decided to launch a pre-emptive strike on Indian airfields. However, India retaliated by invading both East and West Pakistan.
India completely overran East Pakistan in less than a fortnight, and Pakistan forces were compelled to surrender. In July 1972, Pakistan formally recognised Bangladesh’s independence.

Post-Independence Turmoil
Mujib Rahman became the first Prime minister of an Independent Bangladesh. However, the new country was poor and a famine in 1973-74 devastated the country and its population. Rahman tried to impose a one-party state, but he was assassinated along with most of his family in a coup by disaffected army officers in 1975. The country was then ruled as a military dictatorship by Ziaur Rahman, until his own assassination in 1981. Following a coup in 1982 another general, Hossain Ershad came to power, ruling until 1990. Bangladesh was then returned to democracy.

Bangladeshi Coins
As part of the British Indian Empire, Bangladesh initially used the Indian Rupee, divided into 16 Annas or 64 Pice (Paise). Following the Indian Partition and the end of the British Raj, Bangladesh used the Pakistani Rupee, which was decimalised in 1961, the subunit being 100 Paise to the Rupee.
In 1972, the Pakistani Rupee was replaced by the Bangladeshi Taka (subdivided into 100 Poisha) at par. Although coins for as little as 1 Poisha were struck (in aluminium) they are not frequently found in circulation, and 1 Taka coins are the lowest value coin typically seen in circulation. 1, 5 and 10 Taka coins are typically used in everyday transactions, with banknotes used for higher value cash transactions.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from Bangladesh please see our product index:-
Bangladeshi Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from Bangladesh on our taxfreegold website:-
Bangladeshi Gold Coins



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