Abstract
The lines that appear above are typical of the Bengali
mystical verses found in a genre of early Muslim Bengali
literature known as puthi, which was popular among the rural
masses until the late nineteenth century. Like this folk poetry,
the early history of the spread of Islam in Bengal is still
shrouded in myth and mystery due to the intricate nature of its
history, complexities of its social evolution and the diversities of
its religious traditions and popular beliefs.
