The Church of Bangladesh is a united church with a similar background to other united churches on the Indian subcontinent, i.e.,Church of Pakistan and the Churches of North and South India. The Anglican roots go back to the 17th century when Church of England chaplains came to the area to minister to traders with the East India Company. Mission work in the area started in the first decades of the 19th century. Presb came to East Bengal in 1817 when Church of Scotland missionaries, based in Calcutta, began to work in Rajshahi. In the 1920s a Christian Mission Hospital was established there; it is still operating today. In 1924 Presb churches in East Bengal, along with the Congreg churches, joined the United Church of North India. In 1930 the Anglican Church in India became independent; after partition in 1947 it was known as the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon. In 1970 the two churches united to form the Church of Pakistan. Following the war with Pakistan and the independence of Bangladesh, the former diocese of Dhaka became independent and was named the Church of Bangladesh.
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