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CRONOLOGY
OF IMPORTANT EVENTS
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PERIOD |
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DESCRIPTION |
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ANCIENT
EMPIRES |
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| ca. 1000 B.C. |
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Settlement of Bengal
(see Glossary) by Dravidian-speaking peoples. |
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| ca. 550 - 486 B.C. |
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Life of Siddartha Gautama--the
Buddha; founding of Buddhism. |
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| ca. 320 - 180 B.C. |
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Mauryan Empire; reign
of Asoka (273-232 B.C.); spread of Buddhism. |
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| A.D. ca. 319 - ca. 540 |
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Gupta Empire; Classical
Age in northern India. |
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606 - 47
North Indian empire of Harsha. |
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750 - 1150
Pala Dynasty. |
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1150 - 1202
Sena Dynasty. |
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COMING
OF ISLAM |
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| 1001 - 1030 |
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Turkish armies led by
Mahmud of Ghazni raid into Indian subcontinent. |
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| 1202 |
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Turkish conquerors defeat
Sena Dynasty and overrun Bengal. |
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| 1206 |
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Establishment of Delhi
Sultanate. |
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| 1341 |
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Bengal achieves independence
from Delhi; Dhaka established as capital. |
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THE
MUGHAL PERIOD |
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| 1526 - 30 |
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Babur lays foundation
of Mughal Empire. |
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| 1556 - 1605 |
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Akbar the Great expands
and reforms the empire. |
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| 1576 |
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Bengal conquered by Mughals. |
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| 1605 - 27 |
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Reign of Jahangir; British
East India Company opens first trading post in 1612. |
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| 1658 - 1707 |
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Reign of Aurangzeb, last
great Mughal ruler. |
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| 1704 |
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Capital of Bengal moved
from Dhaka to Murshidabad. |
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| 1707 - 1858 |
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Lesser emperors; decline
of the Mughal Empire. |
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BRITISH
PERIOD |
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Company Rule
1757 |
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Battle of Plassey--British
victory over Mughal forces in Bengal; British rule
in India begins. |
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| 1793 |
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Britain imposes Permanent
Settlement (Landlease) Act on Bengal, establishing
a new landlord system, which turns out to be disastrous
for farmers. |
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| 1835 |
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Institution of British
education and other reform measures. |
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| 1857 - 58 |
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Revolt of Indian sepoys
(soldiers) against British East India Company. |
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| 1858 |
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British East India Company
dissolved; rule of India under the British crown--the
British Raj--begins; marks formal end of Mughal
Empire. |
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Empire to Independence
1885 |
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Indian National Congress
(Congress) formed. |
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| 1905 |
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Partition of Bengal into
separate provinces of East Bengal (including Assam)
and West Bengal. |
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| 1906 |
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All-India Muslim League
(Muslim League) founded. |
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| 1909 |
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Morley-Minto reforms:
separate electorates for Muslims. |
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| 1912 |
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Partition of Bengal annulled. |
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| 1916 |
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Congress-Muslim League
Pact (often referred to as Lucknow Pact) signed. |
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| 1919 |
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India Act. |
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| 1935 |
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Government of India Act. |
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| 1940 |
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Muslim League adopts
Lahore Resolution; "Two Nations" theory articulated
by Muslim League leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah and
others. |
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| 1946 |
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"Direct action day" of
Muslim League, August 16. |
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INDEPENDENT
PAKISTAN |
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| August 15, 1947 |
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Partition of British
India; India achieves independence and incorporates
West Bengal and Assam; Pakistan is created and incorporates
East Bengal (the East Wing, or East Pakistan) and
territory in the northwest (the West Wing, or West
Pakistan); Jinnah becomes governor general of Pakistan;
Liaquat Ali Khan becomes prime minister. |
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| October 27, 1947 |
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Undeclared war with India
begins. |
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| September 11, 1948 |
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Jinnah dies; Khwaja Nazimuddin
becomes governor general. |
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| January 1, 1949 |
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United Nations-arranged
ceasefire between Pakistan and India takes effect. |
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| October 16, 1951 |
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Liaquat assassinated;
Nazimuddin becomes prime minister; Ghulam Mohammad
becomes governor general. |
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| October 6, 1955 |
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Iskander Mirza sworn
in as governor general, succeeding Ghulam Mohammad,
who had retired in ill health the previous month. |
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| March 23, 1956 |
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Constitution adopted;
Mirza becomes president |
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| August 8, 1956 |
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Muslim League leader
Choudhry Mohammad Ali tenders resignation as prime
minister and is succeeded the following month by
Awami League (People's League) leader Hussain Shaheed
Suhrawardy. |
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| October 7, 1958 |
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President Mirza abrogates
constitution and declares martial law. |
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| October 27, 1958 |
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Mirza sent into exile;
General Mohammad Ayub Khan begins rule August-September
1965 War with India. |
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| March 25, 1969 |
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Ayub resigns as result
of public pressure; General Agha Mohammad Yahya
Khan assumes power; East Pakistani Awami League
leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib) arrested and
jailed in West Pakistan. |
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| December 7, 1970 |
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First general elections;
Awami League under Mujib secures absolute majority
in new Constituent Assembly; West Pakistan-dominated
government declines to convene assembly. |
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| March 26 - 28, 1971 |
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East Pakistan attempts
to secede, beginning civil war; Mujib, imprisoned
in West Pakistan, declared provisional president. |
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| April 17, 1971 |
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Formal declaration of
independence of Bangladesh issued; Mujib named president. |
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| December 3, 1971 |
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Pakistan launches preemptive
air strikes against India. |
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| December 4, 1971 |
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India invades East Pakistan |
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| December 6, 1971 |
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India recognizes Bangladesh |
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| December 16, 1971 |
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Pakistani military forces
in East Pakistan surrender to Indian armed forces,
marking Bangladeshi independence. |
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INDEPENDENT
BANGLADESH |
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| January 10 - 12, 1972 |
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Mujib returns from prison
in West Pakistan; promulgates interim constitution
and is sworn in first as president, then as prime
minister. |
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| November 4, 1972 |
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Parliamentary Constitution
adopted. |
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| March 7, 1973 |
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Mujib's Awami League
wins overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections. |
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| February 22, 1974 |
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Pakistan recognizes Bangladesh. |
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| September 17, 1974 |
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Bangladesh admitted to
United Nations. |
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| December 28, 1974 |
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State of emergency declared
as political situation deteriorates; fundamental
rights under Constitution suspended. |
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| January 25, 1975 |
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Constitution amended,
abolishing parliamentary system and establishing
presidential system with de facto one-man rule under
Mujib. |
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| February 25, 1975 |
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Mujib abolishes all parties
but one--the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League
(Bangladesh Peasants, Workers, and People's League),
the new name of the Awami League--which is under
his direct control. |
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| August 15, 1975 |
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Mujib assassinated in
"majors' plot"; Khondakar Mushtaque Ahmed assigned
as president. |
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| November 3 - 7, 1975 |
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Major General Khaled
Musharraf killed in coup; Mushtaque resigns; Supreme
Court chief justice Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem becomes
president and chief martial law administrator on
November 7. |
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| November 30, 1976 |
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Army chief of staff Ziaur
Rahman (Zia) becomes chief martial law administrator. |
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| April 21, 1977 |
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Sayem forced to resign
because of "ill health"; Zia becomes president. |
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| May 30, 1977 |
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Zia wins 98.9 percent
of votes in referendum on his continuance as president. |
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| June 3, 1977 |
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Supreme Court justice
Abdus Sattar named vice president. |
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| April 1978 |
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Zia announces new elections
and independent judiciary; lifts ban on political
parties. |
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| June 3, 1978 |
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Zia elected president |
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| February 18, 1979 |
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Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist
Party wins 207 out of 300 seats in parliamentary
election. |
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| April 6, 1979 |
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Martial law revoked;
Constitution restored in full; Fifth Amendment ratifies
all actions of Zia's martial law administration. |
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| May 30, 1981 |
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Zia assassinated; Sattar
becomes acting president. |
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| November 15, 1981 |
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Sattar elected president. |
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| March 24, 1982 |
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Sattar ousted in coup
engineered by Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad
Ershad; Constitution suspended, Parliament dissolved,
and political parties abolished; Ershad assumes
full powers as chief martial law administrator. |
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| February 14 - 15, 1983 |
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Student riots mark first
major expression of public opposition to Ershad's
martial law administration. |
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| March 1982 - December
1983 |
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Interim presidency of
Abdul Fazal Muhammad Ahsanuddin Chowdhury. |
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| December 1983 |
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Ershad assumes presidency |
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| March 21, 1985 |
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General referendum supports
Ershad's administration |
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| May 7, 1986 |
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Parliamentary elections
give pro-Ershad Jatiyo Party (National Party) majority
in Parliament. |
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| October 15, 1986 |
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Ershad elected president. |
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| November 10, 1986 |
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Parliament passes Seventh
Amendment to Constitution, ratifying all actions
of Ershad's martial law administration; martial
law withdrawn; Constitution restored in full. |
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| November 10 - 12, 1987 |
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"Siege of Dhaka," mass
demonstrations by united opposition parties against
Ershad's government. |
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| December 6, 1987 |
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Ershad dissolves Parliament
and holds fresh elections that both AL and BNP boycott.
Ershad’s Jatiyo Party wins 251 of the 300
seats.
The parliament, while still regarded by the opposition
as an illegitimate body, passes a large number of
bills. |
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| March 3, 1988 |
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Parliamentary elections
reaffirm Jatiyo Party control of Parliament. |
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| June 7, 1988 |
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Eighth Amendment establishes
Islam as state religion. |
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| 1989 - 1990 |
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Domestic
political opposition to Ershad's rule regains
momentum, escalating to frequent general strikes,
increased campus protests, public rallies and
a general disintegration of law and order by the
end of 1990. |
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| December 6, 1990 |
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Ershad
offers his resignation and goes on to serve a
prison sentence on corruption charges. |
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| February 27, 1991 |
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An interim government
oversees what most observers believed to be the
most free and fair elections to date.
The center-right BNP won a plurality of seats and
formed a coalition government with the Islamic fundamentalist
party Jamaat-I-Islami, with Khaleda Zia, widow of
Ziaur Rahman, as prime minister.
More changes to the constitution, recreating a parliamentary
system and returning governing power to the office
of the prime minister, as in Bangladesh's original
1972 constitution. |
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| December 1994 |
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The opposition resigned
en masse from parliament. The opposition then continued
a campaign of marches, demonstrations and strikes,
in an effort to force the government to resign. |
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| February 15, 1996 |
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National elections, but
the opposition, including the Awami League's Sheikh
Hasina Wajed, boycotts these. Khaleda Zia was re-elected
by a landslide in voting boycotted and denounced
as unfair by the three main opposition parties.
Escalating political turmoil. |
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| June 1996 |
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New parliamentary elections;
won by the Awami League; party leader Sheikh Hasina
became prime minister. |
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| 1999 |
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Khaleda Zia forms 4-party
alliance of opposition parties. |
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| October 2001 |
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Khaleda Zia’s alliance
wins majority. She becomes PM again (continues until
now). |
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Copyright
© Library of Congress - Country Studies:
Bangladesh
[ http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+bd0004)
] |
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