Sylhet Nagri Script and Literature: Documentation and Textual Study

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a distinct script was widely used by the rural Muslim population of the Barak-Surma region in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Over the years the script came to be known as Sylhet Nagri Script and formed the creative expression of the distinctive culture of the region.

The Region: The region was partitioned in 1947 and is presently under two nation states of India and Bangladesh. It includes the three districts of Assam in India - Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj - and four districts of Sylhet in Bangladesh – Sadar Sylhet, Maulabi Bazar, Habiganj and Sunamganj. This is an ancient region the political cartography of which changed again again, though cultural frontier remained porous. The region can be seen as a distinctive ‘cultural zone’ closely linked with Bengal but not quite the same. It formed a frontier zone – not only the eastern edge of Gangetic Valley and hence eastern frontier of Bengal but also western border land of South-western China and Burma. Historically,if from the east came Brahmanism and later Islam, from the west poured in the tribals, Austrics as well as Mongoloids of Tibeto-Burman origin. The region was marked by a continuous process of acculturation-accommodation and assimilation displayed a spirit of innovation. Sylhet Nagri script is an expression of this creativity and the literature written in this script embodies the cultural history of the region.

The Script: The Script emerged as an alternative script for Bengali as spoken in the Sylhet-Cachar or Surma Valley region. It was a simple alphabetical system with thirty two letters in all and was based on the principle of one letter one sound. Originally there were no conjuncts, though a few were introduced subsequently. The exact date of the origin of the script is not known. Some scholars think that the script originated between fourteenth and seventeenth centuries when Islam emerged as a social force in the region.  That Islam acted as a catalytic agent in the emergence of the script is a well established fact. By the eighteenth century this easy-to-learn script became very popular among the rural Muslim masses and was used for religious composition and social exchange. There seems to be an element of secrecy associated with the use of the script at least till the sixties of the nineteenth century when the script was standardized and put to print for more general use. However, some users of the script proscribed their writings from being put to print.  

The Literature: There is a fairly large corpus of Sylhet Nagri literature.  All the writings in the script are in verse. Most of it deals with Islam in Sufi form though in the nineteenth century some reflected reformist ideology. A number of texts are in the form of debates on Islamic theology at a very popular level. Others include advice manuals, hagiography and social commentaries. The book-production combine both Semitic and non-Semitic traditions. The binding is done on the right so that, as per Semitic system, pages open from left to right. But within the texts lines run from left to right as in the non-Semitic practice.

The material has not yet come under serious academic scrutiny primarily because of its  inaccessibility. So far the texts lay scattered in the remote villages of Assam and Sylhet.  Since 2004 the School of Cultural Texts and Records of Jadavpur University  has taken up the initiative to retrieve this important but endangered literature from extinction. So far 55 distinct works in a total of 103 versions have been located, accessed and digitally copied from the institutions and individuals in Kolkata, West Bengal, in Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj of Assam, India and in Sylhet, Bangladesh. 

The material is of immense significance. It throws light on the socio-cultural history of the region at a time when Islam emerged as a social force. The script and the literature form creative expressions of the acculturation  process emerging out of the confrontation of indigenous culture with Perso- Islamic civilization. The stages in Muslim identity formation can be studied through sociological insights into these texts. The texts may also yield significant socio-linguistic information on the social, economic, cultural and religious factors that gave rise to the need for a distinct script and hence a distinct identity for its users.