Bengali language: Difference between revisions

During the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterised by the [[elision]] of word-final {{lang|bn|অ}} ''ô'', the spread of compound verbs, and influence from the [[Arabic]], [[Farsi|Persian]] and [[Turkic languages]]. The arrival of merchants and traders from the [[Middle East]] and [[Turkestan]] into the [[Buddhist]]-ruling [[Pala Empire]], from as early as the 7th century, gave birth to Islamic influence in the region. Starting with [[Bakhtiyar Khalji]]'s conquest in the 13th century, the subsequent Muslim expeditions to Bengal greatly encouraged the migratory movements of [[Arab Muslims]] and [[Turco-Persian tradition|Turco-Persian]]s, who heavily influenced the local vernacular by settling among the native population. Bengali acquired prominence, over Persian, in the court of the [[Sultans of Bengal]] with the ascent of [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]].<ref>"What is more significant, a contemporary Chinese traveler reported that although Persian was understood by some in the court, the language in universal use there was Bengali. This points to the waning, although certainly not yet the disappearance, of the sort of foreign mentality that the Muslim ruling class in Bengal had exhibited since its arrival over two centuries earlier. It also points to the survival, and now the triumph, of local Bengali culture at the highest level of official society." {{harvcol|Eaton|1993|p=60}}</ref> Subsequent Muslim rulers actively promoted the literary development of Bengali,<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/DUJL/article/view/3344|title=Politics and Literary Activities in the Bengali Language during the Independent Sultanate of Bengal|first=AKM Golam|last=Rabbani|date=7 November 2017|journal=Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics|volume=1|issue=1|pages=151–166|access-date=7 November 2017|via=www.banglajol.info|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011123110/https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/DUJL/article/view/3344|archive-date=11 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> allowing it to become the most spoken [[vernacular]] language in the Sultanate.{{sfn|Eaton|1993}} Bengali gained many vocabulary from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]], which cultivated a manifestation of [[Islamic culture]] on the language. Major texts of Middle Bengali (1400–1800) include [[Yusuf-Zulekha]] by [[Shah Muhammad Sagir]] and [[Shreekrishna Kirtana]] by the [[Chandidas]] poets. Court support for Bengali culture and language waned when the [[Mughal Empire]] colonised Bengal in the late 16th and early 17th century.<ref>{{harvcol|Eaton|1993|pp=167–174}}</ref>