Bangladesh: Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna
Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna, Bogra, Jessore, Kushtia. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.
Whose archive this ground was
| Years | Who held it | Whose archive that means |
|---|---|---|
| 1500–1576 | Bengal Sultanate | no registers survive The Bengal Sultanate is dated 1352-1576, and the dynasty was founded by Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah in the 14th century. |
| 1576–1757 | Mughal Empire - the Bengal Subah | no registers survive Akbar's victory over the Sultanate is dated 1576 (the same account elsewhere says 1590), and the Bengal Subah is dated 1576-1717. |
| 1757–1858 | East India Company: Bengal after Plassey | National Archives of India · FIBIS — Families in British India Society · FamilySearch The Battle of Plassey was fought in 1757. |
| 1858–1905 | British Raj: Bengal Presidency | National Archives of India · FIBIS — Families in British India Society · Findmypast · FamilySearch Crown rule replaced Company rule under the Government of India Act 1858, which took effect on 2 August 1858. |
| 1905–1912 | Eastern Bengal and Assam | National Archives of India · FIBIS — Families in British India Society · Findmypast · FamilySearch The Partition of Bengal in 1905 created the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam, which existed from 1905 to 1912. |
| 1912–1947 | British Raj: Bengal | National Archives of India · FIBIS — Families in British India Society · Findmypast · FamilySearch The Radcliffe award, published on 17 August 1947, gave Khulna to East Pakistan (a marginal 51 percent Hindu majority) and Murshidabad to India despite a 70 percent Muslim majority. Most of Malda district, including Malda town, also went to India. |
| 1947–1971 | Pakistan - East Bengal, East Pakistan from 1956 | FamilySearch · The 1947 Partition Archive The 1956 Constitution renamed East Bengal as East Pakistan. The Bengali language movement is dated 1948-1956. |
| 1971–2026 | People's Republic of Bangladesh | FamilySearch · Muktijuddho e-Archive Independence was proclaimed on 26 March 1971 and Pakistani forces surrendered on 16 December 1971. |
The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.
See the whole span, 1500–2026, on the map →
The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.