South AsiaSouth Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualised, South Asia consists of the countries predominantly Afghanistan Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian subcontinent and defined largely by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir mountains in the north. The Amu Darya, which rises north of the Hindu Kush, forms a part of the northwestern border.
Bengal PresidencyThe Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of British India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and Southeast Asia. Bengal proper covered the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal (present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). Calcutta, the city which grew around Fort William, was the capital of the Bengal Presidency.
Islam in PakistanIslam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the second largest Muslim country in the world, with over 240 Million adherents. As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions. According to some estimates, the Barelvi and Deobandi are major school of thought followed by the Muslim population of Pakistan, some sources state Barelvis to be in majority and there are more populations (according to survey) of the Barelvi doctrine than of the Deobandi.
Partition of IndiaThe Partition of India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent and the creation of two independent dominions in South Asia: India and Pakistan. The Dominion of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Pakistan—which at the time comprised two regions lying on either side of India—is now the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Bengali languageBengali (bɛnˈɡɔːli ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (বাংলা, ˈbaŋla), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With approximately 300 million native speakers and another 50 million as second language speakers, Bengali is the sixth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. Bengali is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language. Bengali is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh, with 98% of Bangladeshis using Bengali as their first language.
Islamic cultureIslamic culture or Muslim culture refers to the historic cultural practices that developed among the various peoples living in the Muslim world. These practices, while not always religious in nature, are generally influenced by aspects of Islam, particularly due to the religion serving as a effective conduit for the inter-mingling of people from different ethnic/national backgrounds in a way that enabled their cultures to come together on the basis of a common Muslim identity.
LahoreLahore (ləˈhɔr ; ˈlɔ̀ːɾə̆; laːˈɦɔːɾ) is the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th largest in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is situated in the north-east of the country with River Ravi flowing north-west of the city. It is the capital of the province of Punjab, where it is the largest city. Lahore is one of Pakistan's major industrial and economic hubs. It has been the historic capital and cultural centre of the wider Punjab region, and is one of Pakistan's most socially liberal, progressive, and cosmopolitan cities.
