Bengali Muslims (Bengali: বাঙালি মুসলমান; pronounced[baŋalimusɔlman])[17][18] are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ethnic group among Muslims after Arabs.[19][20] Bengali Muslims make up the majority of Bangladesh's citizens, and are the largest minority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam.[21]
The Bengal region was a supreme power of the medieval Islamic East.[22] European traders identified the Bengal Sultanate as "the richest country to trade with".[23] Bengal viceroy Muhammad Azam Shah assumed the imperial throne. Mughal Bengal became increasingly independent under the Nawabs of Bengal in the 18th century.[24]
The Bengali Muslim population emerged as a synthesis of Islamic and Bengali cultures. After the Partition of India in 1947, they comprised the demographic majority of Pakistan until the independence of East Pakistan (historic East Bengal) as Bangladesh in 1971.
^Khan, Mojlum (2013). The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal. Kube Publishing Ltd. p. 2. ISBN978-1-84774-052-6. Bengali-speaking Muslims as a group consists of around 200 million people.
^Nanda, J. N (2005). Bengal: the unique state. Concept Publishing Company. p. 10. ISBN978-81-8069-149-2. Bengal [...] was rich in the production and export of grain, salt, fruit, liquors and wines, precious metals, and ornaments besides the output of its handlooms in silk and cotton. Europe referred to Bengal as the richest country to trade with.
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