1947–71

After the Partition of Bengal in 1947, East Bengal became the eastern wing of Pakistan and was renamed to East Pakistan in 1956. The Pakistani rupee also bore the word taka on official notes and coins. Bangla was one of the two national languages of the Pakistan union between 1956 and 1971 (the other being Urdu). The Bangladeshi taka came into existence since 1972, a year after the independence of the eastern wing of the union, as the independent nation of Bangladesh.

Prior to the Liberation war in 1971, banknotes of the State Bank of Pakistan circulated throughout Bangladesh, and continued to be used in Bangladesh even after independence for only about three months until the official introduction of the taka on 4 March 1972. During the war, it was an unofficial practice of some Bengali nationalists to protest Pakistani rule by stamping banknotes with "বাংলা দেশ" and "BANGLA DESH" as two words in either Bangla or English. These locally produced stamps are known to exist in several varieties, as are forgeries. On 8 June 1971, the Pakistani government declared that all banknotes bearing such stamps ceased to be legal tender. Furthermore, to prevent looted high-denomination notes from disrupting the Pakistani economy, the government also withdrew the legal tender status of all 100- and 500-rupee notes.^[4]

Some foreign publications mention that there were rubber stamp "BANGLA DESH" overprints on different denominations of Pakistani bank notes during the a.m. period^{[clarification needed]}. Pakistani postage stamps were rubber-stamped and used all over Bangladesh until 30 March 1973, but Bangladesh Bank or the Ministry of Finance never issued an order to overprint or rubber-stamp Pakistani currency.^[5]

Since 1972

The taka was introduced in Bangladesh in 1972, replacing the Pakistani rupee at par.

Previous issues

First Series

Bangladesh introduced its first banknotes on 4 March 1972. At first 1 taka and 100 taka banknotes were introduced. Later 10 and 5 taka notes were added. This first issued series is commonly known as "Map Series". These banknotes are considered as emergency issue banknotes to replace the Pakistan rupee banknotes both with and without rubber stamp overprints.^[12]

Second Series

After issuing the first banknotes, there were many conspiracy theories, counterfeiting problems and rumours, so the government issued the second series. These second series banknotes were printed by Thomas De La Rue of England. First-issued banknotes were subsequently withdrawn from circulation by 30 April 1974 after having ceased to hold legal tender status from 30 March 1974.^[13]

Third Series

Bangladesh Government signed agreements with Thomas De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson at the same time. Both of them printed same denominations with different design almost at the same time. As a result, two different series were circulating at the same time.^[13]

Fourth Series

During 1976 a completely new series of notes was introduced, with the exception of the 1-taka note, which was released as the second variety of the third issue during 1976. The notes of this issue are notable for the absence of the portrait of Sheikh Mujib, whose portrait had dominated all issues of the Bangladesh Bank until this issue. Instead of the familiar portrait, each note has an illustration of the Star Mosque on its front. 50 and 500 taka denomination was added in this series. 5,10,50 and 100 taka denominations were printed by Thomas De La Rue. 500 taka notes were printed by Giesecke and Devrient of Germany.^[14]

Fifth Series

The fifth issue of banknotes was introduced over a two-year period from December 1977 to September 1979. The notes of this issue are very similar to those of the fourth issue; except the ‘Star Mosque’ was replaced on most notes by a new vignette and the colours of the notes are a little darker. There was no 500-taka note released in this issue, but a new denomination note of 20 taka was introduced on 20 August 1979, being the last note of this issue prepared by the Bangladesh Bank.^[14]

Sixth Series

During the 1980s, some designs of taka notes were introduced, but most of the designs were the same. A new denomination of taka 2 note was also introduced. 10 and 50 takas were redesigned. Other denominations were the same as the previous series.

Seventh Series

During the 90s newly designed banknotes of 10,50 and 500 taka were printed. 10 taka note had a portrait of Bangabandhu.

Eighth Series

This series was printed between 2000 and 2001. A polymer banknote of denomination 10 was added, but later withdrawn due to lack of popularity. Paper notes of denomination 100 and 500 were printed with new designs. A portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was added on each new note replacing the National Martyrs’ Memorial Monument.

Ninth Series

After a change in government new series of banknotes were introduced in 2002–2003. The portrait of Bangabandhu was absent in this series. In 2008, 1000 taka note was introduced for the first time.

Current circulating banknotes

The Bangladesh Bank has issued a new series of banknotes, phasing out the older designs for new, more secure ones. All banknotes other than the 1 taka feature a portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the obverse along with the watermark of the National Martyrs’ Memorial.^[15]

Commemorative banknotes

The folder of the banknote for the 40th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh had a spelling error of the name of the country. It was inserted as Bangldesh instead of Bangladesh.^[18]

Historic exchange rates

Upon Bangladesh's independence, the value of the Bangladeshi taka was set between ৳7.5 and ৳8.0 to US$1. Except for fiscal year 1978, the taka's value relative to the US dollar declined every year from 1971 through the end of 1987. To help offset this phenomenon, Bangladesh first used the compensatory financing facility of the International Monetary Fund in fiscal year 1974. Despite the increasing need for assistance, the Mujib government was initially unwilling to meet the IMF's conditions on monetary and fiscal policy. By fiscal year 1975, however, the government revised its stance, declaring a devaluation of the taka by 56 percent and agreeing to establishing the Bangladesh Aid Group by the World Bank.^[20]

Between 1980 and 1983, the taka sustained a decline of some 50 percent because of a deterioration in Bangladesh's balance of payments.^[20] Between 1985 and 1987, the taka was adjusted in frequent incremental steps, stabilising again around 12 percent lower in real terms against the US dollar, but at the same time narrowing the difference between the official rate and the preferential secondary rate from 15 percent to 7.5 percent.^[20] Accompanying this structural adjustment was an expansion in trade conducted at the secondary rate, to 53 percent of total exports and 28 percent of total imports.^[20] In mid-1987, the official rate was relatively stable, approaching less than ৳31 to US$1.^[20] In January 2011, US$1 was equivalent to approximately ৳72,^[21] as of 21 April 2012, US$1 was worth close to ৳82, and as of 9 September 2015 US$1 valued ৳77.