SYLHETI 25NoVeMbEr2021 DAY069

Shagatam! … Heeeeeeeeeeeeeelloooooo!!!! Sylheti is spoken BY 11 MiLliOn People! Wow, that’s cool… and a lot right? Guess what? Sylheti is also spoken in Bangladesh, the Barak Valley, the Hojai district of Assam, North Tripura, the Unakoti district of Tripura, and India… that. Is. a. Lot. of. Places. 🙂 Well anyway Sylhet is also one of the richest cities in Bangladesh… which is the city  the language Sylheti received its name from. Ohhhhh!! and also Sylheti is a dialect so it is hard to teach because it is not a written language. Cool huh?

Some Words in Sylheti
Yes -Oy
No – Naa
Welcome – Shagatam
Awesome – Fatafati
Too cool – Ghyama
Please – Doya khori
Goodbye – Allah hafiz
Thank you – Dhoinnobad

Some Phrases in Sylheti
Good morning – Biantubala Mubarak
Favorite person – Noyoner moni
No pain, no gain – Kaṣṭa nā karalē kēṣṭa mēlē nā
A friend in need is a friend indeed. – Asamaẏēra bandhu’i prakr̥ta bandhu
A thing of beauty is a joy forever. – Sundara sabasamaẏa’i ānandadāẏaka
Happy times go faster – Sukhēra samaẏagulō druta calē yāẏa
Nice to meet you. – Afnar loge forisito oiya khushi oilam
I am good – Ami Bhala asi

The ancient name of Syhlet was Srihattawhich which in Sanskrit means – a prosperous center of trading.  This region of India/Bangladesh was well travelled because of the Surma-Barak river and the ancient road which enters into Assam through Khasi-Jayantia Hills. This region is south of the much bigger Bramhaputra River, whose river valley is the Eastern extension of India. Before Muslim influence, Sylhet was mostly Hindu or Buddhism. 700 years ago Islamic influence began. Sufi disciples arrived. Shah Jalal was one of them. Many people converted to Islam and began spreading the religion to other parts of the country. Sylhet was often referred to as Jalalabad during the era of the Muslim rule.

300 years ago the British came to colonize and rule.

150 years ago (1874), while under British rule, the British politically arranged that Sylhet would be joined with Assam and be included in the Assam Province. The British did this because of tea and money and without thinking of the people of Sylhet. The people of Sylhet spoke Sylheti (more like Bengali) and the people of Amman spoke Ammanese. Here is what happened. The Hindus of Sylhet wanted to return and be included with Bengal but the Muslims of Sylhet wanted to remain in Assam. The indigenous people of Amman were not happy to be competing against Sylhetis for jobs.

75 years ago (1947), another big change happened to Sylhet. Sylhet province was erased from the maps. After World War II, in 1947, India gained its Independence from the British and Pakistan was created. Pakistan was composed of West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Bengalis, Punjabis and Sylhetis woke up one day and they were now not living in India, but were living in Pakistan. Not good.

50 years ago (1971), yet another big change happened to Sylhet. After almost a year of fighting, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. One of the main reasons for this war was language. Pakistan never accepted the Bengali/Sylheti language of Bangladesh and this led to many problems resulting in a war for independence for Bangladesh. Many atrocities to men and women and children happened during this war. Muslim Sylhetis in East Pakistan earned a homeland in 1971 with the creation of Bangladesh, but Sylheti Hindus still have no home. They have been displaced too many times.

Sylhetis now are spread throughout the region and the world. They are known for their ability to sail, manning ships for Indian and foreign traders. They are also known for their cooking of curry. Cooks and Sailors. They might not all live near the Surma river in East Bangladesh, but they have the bond of language and curry and a link to an ancient land. One video we watched told the story of a Sylheti whose grandfather died somewhere else besides Silhatta/Sylhet/India/East Pakistan/East Bangladesh. In his pocket was a bag with some soil/dirt from the land where he was born. Dirt from Srihattawhich. Ancient dirt from an ancient land.

Poems from Rabindranath Tagore

Aamar mon kande-re Padma-r chorer laigya.
Aamar obhagya-r ontor kande-re pora desher laigya.
My heart cries for the islands on the river Padma,
My unlucky heart cries out for my poor country.
– Hemanga Biswas

There are many rivers in Bangladesh and this poem/song could be written about about the Padma, the Surma, or any one of them.