Some key dates in the history of Bangladesh:
1204 – Muslim conquest of Bengal.
14th Century – Bengal sees the rise of three city-states; Sonargaon, Satgaon and Lakhnauti.
1352 – Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah unites the three city-states into the Bengal Sultanate, which dominates the area for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th Centuries.
17th Century – Mughal Empire controls Bengal.
18th Century – Nawabs of Bengal, within the Mughal Empire, become the de facto independent rulers of the area.
1757 – After the Battle of Plassey, Bengal is the first region of the Indian subcontinent to be conquered by the British East India Company.
1947 – British colonial rule over India ends. A largely Muslim state comprising East and West Pakistan is established, either side of India. The two provinces are separated from each other by more than 1,500km of Indian territory.
1971 – Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) becomes independent after a war with West Pakistan – now just Pakistan – with India backing the Bengali nationalists against Pakistan.
1973 – First parliamentary elections give the Awami League a landslide victory.
1975 – A military coup sees founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members killed, putting an end to civilian rule.
1979 – Second parliamentary elections brings former army chief Ziaur Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party to power.
1981 – President Ziaur Rahman assassinated during abortive military coup.
1982 – General Hussain Muhammad Ershad assumes power in coup. He suspends the constitution and political parties.
1991 – The country returns to a parliamentary system of government.
2006-2008 – Political crisis sees leaders of both major parties briefly detained.
2014-17 – Bangladesh faces a campaign of violence by Islamists against bloggers, atheists and secular intellectuals.