[4][5] Banglapedia has over 5,700 entries in six editorial categories,[2] each of which is overseen by an expert editor,[4][5][8] as well as over 2,000 single and four-colour illustrations and 2,100 cross-references.
[1][4][9] Despite controversies over entries on the Bangladesh Liberation War and indigenous people, both the Bengali and English versions became popular upon publication.
The editors felt the need for a standard desk reference, as that project progressed laboriously, culling facts from various libraries.
The idea finally led to a concept paper prepared by Sirajul Islam and his colleagues and submitted to the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in early 1994.
Banglapedia raised further contributions from universities, banks, multinational companies, international organisations and even private individuals.
[5] For an additional run of 10,000 prints people waited in queues outside the Asiatic Society office on the day of the release, and sales continued until 9:30 in the evening.
Next was Rajkrishna Ray (1849–1894) and Saratchandra Dev's (1858-unknown) joint work Bharatkosh, the first Bengali encyclopedia laid-out in alphabetical order (1880–1892) published in three volumes.
The first was a project to produce a Bengali adaptation of Columbia Viking Desk Encyclopedia by Franklin Book Programs Inc., undertaken in 1959 and aborted ten years later.
The unfinished papers were compiled into four unequal volumes as Bangla Vishvakosh (1972) with Khan Bahadur Abdul Hakim as the chief editor.
The latter includes the rise and fall of kingdoms, invasions from within and beyond and their implications, dynastic rules and administration, as well as other aspects of Bangladesh's past and present.
[7][13] All 64 districts of Bangladesh, as well as 451 upazilas, have been described in details ranging from topographical accounts to the number of dairy farms and hatcheries.
[7] Over 2,000 single and four-colour illustrations depict Bangladeshi art and architecture, everyday life, cities and villages and personages.
There is a section explaining how to use the Banglapedia, which clarifies issues such as date systems, contributors, cross references, and headings.
[8][14] According to the publisher, the goal of this reference tool is to inquire, interpret and integrate the lived experiences and achievements of the people of Bangladesh from ancient times to the present.
It may be noted here that the term Bangalah or Bengala, from which Bangla and Bengal originated, was coined and circulated by Muslim rulers whose seats of administration were located mostly within the present territory of Bangladesh.
District and upazila cartography has been processed at the Geographic information system (GIS) and cartographic laboratory set up for the Banglapedia.
The fact that around 400 local intellectuals were charged with writing about their respective zilas and upazilas was described as a unique approach to information gathering.
Controversy over Banglapedia broke out even before publication, when the Inqilab group, a major Bangladeshi newspaper publishing house, got hold of a few entries on religion and related issues.
[19] The encyclopedia is also reported to have used derogatory coinage such as Mogh for Marma and Rakhine, Tipra for Tripuri and Murang for Mros, as well as upajati (literally "sub-nation", used to mean "tribal") to define them all.