Historians believe that Bengal, the area comprising present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, was settled in about 1000 BCE by Dravidian-speaking peoples who were later known as the Bang.

Their homeland bears various titles that reflect earlier tribal names, such as Vanga, Banga, Bangala, Bangal, and Bengal.

The area known as Bangladesh will, for most of its history, be a political backwater—an observer rather than a participant in the great political and military events of the Indian subcontinent.