For many thousands of years a long list of regional empires and European traders fought for control of the waterlogged land now called Bangladesh (formerly called East Pakistan).

Prior to the 6th century AD, the Gupta Empire commanded much of the Indian subcontinent, before being divided between the Gauda kings in the west and the Vanga Kingdom in the east.

Following a small rush of power, Bangladesh fell into an era of conflict and foreign invasion.

In 750, Gopala became the first ruler of the Pala Dynasty, the first independent Buddhist dynasty of Bangladesh. It prevailed for four centuries, providing an era of stability and prosperity.

Vijay Sen annihilated the final Pala emperor during the 12th century, and re-introduced Hinduism to the region; Sufi missionaries arrived a short time thereafter, introducing Islam.

Numerous dynasties fought for control through the next several hundred years including the Turks, Hussain Shahis and Mughals, and then Murshid Quli Khan abolished the Mughal's in 1717, opening the door for Islamic dynasties to gain control.

In 1757, the British East India Company took over following the Battle of Plassey, and transformed the region into a trading post for bamboo, tea, sugar cane, spices, cotton, muslin and jute. Power was transferred completely to the British crown after the bloody Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, and Bangladesh fell into a downward spiral.

Adding to the increasingly weakened state, famine struck South Asia hard in the following decades, with the Great Bengal famine in 1943 - claiming the lives of more than three million.

Bangladesh was ruled by Britain throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1947 the country was partitioned along religious lines after the British retreated. Western territory was relinquished to the newly created India, while the eastern side became a province of Pakistan.

It wasn't long before dissatisfaction of Pakistan's ruling emerged, and throughout the 1950s and 1960s Bangladesh pushed for autonomy.