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Until 1765, Bengal was part of the domains of the Nawab of Awadh (Oudh), nominally a
vassall of the Mughal Emperor. In 1765 the latter two ceded Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
to the E.I.C. which formed these territories into the Bengal Presidency.
In 1905 the Province of East Bengal and Assam was carved out of Bengal Presidency. This
partition of Bengal met strong opposition. In 1912 the combined territory of Bengal Presidency and East Bengal and
Assam was reorganized in three provinces, Assam, Bengal,
and the third being Bihar and Orissa. When British India was released into independence in 1947, the Province of Bengal was torn into two parts, East Bengal (with Sylhet District, hitherto part of Assam) which joined Pakistan as East Pakistan, and West Bengal, which joined the Republic of India. Pakistan had a peculiar structure, consisting of two parts separated by over 1000 km. The political centre lay in West Pakistan; the Bengali soon regarded themselves ill-represented, as most of the state revenue was spent on constructing an infrastructure in West Pakistan and to finance the armed forces. Democratic rule episodically being interrupted by military dictatorship made political opposition only more difficult. In 1971 the suppression of oppositional protest in East Pakistan by state authorities resulted in the Third Indo-Pakistani War, and in the independence of Bangladesh. Bangla Desh since 1990 Bangla Desh 1971-1990 East Pakistan 1958-1971 East Pakistan 1947-1958 Historical Atlas, Bangladesh Page; Historical Atlas, South Asia Page Students' Paper : Lee, Seung Heon, History of Transportation in South Asia (2009) |
