A country's national currency is widely considered a symbol of its sovereignty. For Bangladesh, it is the Taka and Friday marks the golden jubilee of its inception.
On Mar 4, 1972, the first 1 Taka note -- the country's first banknote -- portraying the map of independent Bangladesh went into circulation, according to bdnews24.com.
On the same day, the 5 and 100 Taka notes also hit the market, followed by the 10 Taka note two months later in May.
The anniversary of the introduction of Bangladesh's first paper currency has been unofficially celebrated since 2021 as 'Taka Day'.
The country's first banknote and currency magazine collector has organised a two-day festival on Dhaka's Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue to commemorate the occasion. The event will include a collectors' rally, mega auction and prize-giving ceremony.
As a newly-independent Bangladesh emerged from the ravages of the Liberation War, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took the initiative to launch the country's own banknote in the shortest possible time in the face of numerous adversities.
The first notes were printed by India's Security Printing Press.
"After independence, there was a crisis in the overall financial system due to lack of a national currency. Shortly afterwards, paper money was introduced in Bangladesh just 2 months and 19 days after the country won the war of independence," said Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Sirajul Islam.
Prior to the Liberation War in 1971, the Pakistani 'rupee' was prevalent in the country. The rupee contained a portait of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and its denomination was written in Bangla, English and Urdu.
However, after the Language Movement of 1952, people in Bangladesh began referring to money as Taka instead of the rupee. And within 10 days of the victory in the Liberation War, the Taka was declared the national currency of Bangladesh alongside the passage of a law to establish Bangladesh Bank as the country's central bank.
During the war of liberation, Pakistan's efforts were focused on depriving Bangladesh of its place on the world map. In addition to war crimes such as murder, genocide and rape, Pakistani forces burned cash money to cripple the country financially.
