Script Identity Region (হার্ডকভার)

Some parts of the book

Introduction
ANURADHA CHANDA
Sylhet, Cachar and the adjoining trans-Meghna region of Northeast India forms a distinct 'culture zone' where Bengali emerged as a predominant language. The region lay at the frontier of the Ganges plain reaching out from Bengal. It also lay in the borderlands from the east i.e. Burma and Southeast Asia as well as from Yunnan in southwestern China. Throughout history, human migrations took place from both sides resulting in a remark- able demographic and cultural diversity. Thus, the Nagara Brahmaņas mi- grating from Gujarat in western India and settling in Sylhet in the seventh century AD, introduced the Aryan culture. The Austrics, the Dravidians and the Mongoloids came from the north, south and the east respectively, mak- ing the region a home for tribal culture. Indeed the region as a borderland was a field for intermingling and amalgamation of diverse cultural ele- ments and provides an ideal ground for studying the complex historical processes of acculturation, adaptation, accommodation, assimilation and identity formation. Since the early days the culture was predominantly Bengali but not quite the same as the other Bengal that lay on the western side.