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In 1765 the Mughal Emperor and the Nawab of Awadh (Oudh)
ceded Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the E.I.C., which administrated
the area as the Bengal Presidency. The latter expanded fast; a centralized was facing the
problem of dealing with an ethnically and culturally diverse population, with a wide range of different environments, with a host
of challenges. In order to deal with these efficiently, the administration of Bengal Presidency gradually was decentralized by
the establishment of provinces. When such provinces were established, the British had "practical" considerations foremost in their mind. In 1905 the Province of East Bengal and Assam was established, thus splitting ethnic Bengal in two. This act hurt the sentiment of the Bengali population and brought about a campaign for the reunification of Bengal. In 1912, the Province of Bihar and Orissa was split of the part of Bengal Presidency hitherto not organized as a province, while the Province of Assam was split off Eastern Bengal and Assam. The remainder of Bengal Presidency hitherto not organized as a province, and of Eastern Bengal and Assam, was formed into the new Province of Bengal. The vast majority of the population of Bengal had a language in common - Bengali. Just over half of the population was Muslim, just under half of the population was Hindu. In the 1920es the campaign of the Indian National Congress, first for Home Rule, then with the ultimate goal of independence, captivated the attention of the public on the Indian subcontinent and abroad. In the 1930es it turned into a competition of two political concepts : independence for a multicultural, secular, unpartitioned India (Congress) and the partition into two states, one Muslim, one Hindu (or non-Muslim), propagated by the Muslim League. Since 1937 Bengal had a parliament of its own, a government headed by a Chief Minister. During World War II, Bengal (dependent on rice imported from Burma's Irawaddy Delta, now under Japanese occupation) experienced a major famine. When British India was released into independence, the (secular multicultural) Republic of India and (Muslim, multilingual) Pakistan emerged. In the process, Bengal broke in two : West Bengal, capital Calcutta (Kolkata), joining the Republic of India, and East Pakistan (since 1971 Bangladesh), capital Dacca, which joined Pakistan. 1948 saw a massive exchange of population, as millions of Hindus left East Pakistan for the Republic of India, millions of Muslims left West Bengal, Bihar or Assam for East Pakistan. Historical Atlas, Bangladesh, India since 1947, Pakistan, South Asia Pages |
