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The Bangladeshi calendar (Bengali: বাংলা সাল, also called the Bangla Year) is a civil calendar used in Bangladesh, alongside the Gregorian calendar and the Islamic calendar. With roots in the ancient calendars of the region,[1][2][3] it is based on Tarikh-e-Ilahi (Divine Era),[4] introduced by the Mughal Emperor Akbar on 10/11 March 1584. Amartya Sen states that only traces of Akbar's influence survive.[5] The calendar is important for Bangladeshi agriculture, as well as festivals and traditional record keeping for revenue and taxation.
Bangladeshi land revenues are still collected by the government in line with this calendar.[6] The calendar's new year day, Pohela Boishakh, is a national holiday.
Some historians attribute it [the Bengali calendar] to King Sasanka of Gaur (C 606-637) ... Whether this was started by Sasanka or whether it was a modification of the Hijra calendar ... and came to Bengal along with the Turkish conquest is difficult to answer. But clearly this is the calendar starting around AD 595, which was given recognition as the standard Bengali calendar either by Hussain Shah or by Akbar.