Bengali is one of the most spoken languages on earth, with over 230 million native speakers. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-European, descending from Sanskrit through Pali and Apabhraṃśa. The Bengali script — Bangla lipi — evolved from the Brahmi script and has been in use since at least the 10th century. The language reached its literary peak in the 19th and early 20th centuries through Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote the national anthems of both Bangladesh and India in Bengali. The Language Movement of 1952 was a defining moment for Bangladeshi identity: students took to the streets demanding recognition of Bengali as an official language of Pakistan, and police opened fire, killing several demonstrators. February 21st — the day of those killings — is now International Mother Language Day, recognised by UNESCO worldwide.
