The Story Behind Hilsa a commodity of Bangladesh

A geographical indication (GI) is a name or distinctive sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location like a town, region, or country, where its quality, reputation or other characteristic is linked to its geographical origin.

Our national fish Hilsa rightly fulfill all those criteria. From time immemorial, Hilsa is strongly associated with the socio-cultural, socio-economic, and socio-religious believe and practices of the people of Bangladesh. Since 1822, Hilsa has been playing an extremely important role in supplying most palatable fish protein and economic benefit for the people of Bangladesh.

In the ancient Bangla and Sanskrit literature, the taste, flavor, cooking style, tradition of guest entertainment, and importance of Hilsa in everyday life were described with great importance.

Bengali people used to believe from the ancient time that, if Hilsa catch could be stopped starting from the Durga Puja (the greatest Hindu festival, peak Hilsa breeding season start from this occasion) during the Bengali months of Ashwin-Kartik (September-October) till the Sawrasati Puja (another Puja festival of the Hindu community) during the Bengali months of Magh-Falgun (February-March, end of peak nursery period) then increased Hilsa production and prosperity would be ensured.

A famous Bengali author, Mr. Manik Bandapadhya stated a nice picture of Hilsa abundance in the Padma River and its roles in the socio-economic activities in the 19th century. Cultural values during Jamai Shasti (new son-in-law entertaining), guest entertainment, presenting as a gift, and recent trend in Bengali New Year festival still remains in practice remarkably.