Formation of West Bengal
By: Maulika Zala
Capital: Kolkata
Date of Formation:
26, January
1950
No. of districts: 23
State boundaries:
Sikkim, Assam, Bihar,
Odisha, Jharkhand
International
boundaries: Nepal,
Bangladesh, Bhutan
• BACKGROUND
• In the ancient period, this region (present-day Bangladesh and West Bengal)
was called Gangaridai. The word Gangaridai means the wealth of the Ganges.
Megasthenes, the Greek traveler described Gangaridai in his work INDICA.
• PRE-HISTORIC PERID
• The original people of this region spoke non-Aryan languages and they may
have spoken Austric or Astro-Asiatic languages.
• West Bengal as part of Magadha, became part of the Indo-Aryan civilization by
the 7th century BCE.
• The Nanda Dynasty was the first historical state to unify all of Bengal under
Indo-Aryan rule.
• Stone age tools dating back 20000 years have been excavated in the state.
• MEDIEVAL BENGAL
• During the 12th century, Sufi Missionaries arrived in Bengal. Thus Islam came
here.
• Beginning in the 13th century a military command from Delhi Sultanate,
Bakhtiar Khilji overran Bihar and Bengal as far east as Rangpur, Bogra, and the
Brahamaputra river.
• However, he failed to bring Bengal completely under his control.
• During the 14th century, the former kingdom became known as the Sultanate
of Bengal.
• MODERN BENGAL (EAST INDIA COMPANY)
• The agent of the East India Company first visited the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha for
trade during the period of Ibrahim Khan (1617-1624).
• In 1682 the East India Company got a special firman from Aurangzeb through the then Governor
Shaesta Khan to do business permanently in Bengal.
• In 1690, Kolkata was formed by purchasing three villages—Kolkata, Gobindapur and Sutanuti.
• The Fort William was established in Kolkata in 1701.
• Siraj-Ud-doula, the last independent Nawab of Bengal attacked Fort William in 1757.
• This attack was the starting point of colonialism.
• The Company obtained the power of Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha on 12th August 1765.
• The Nawab of Bengal lost financial power. It was called a Diarchy.
• In 1779 the company took the responsibility of Dewany. Thus the Diarchy was ended.
• To control the East India Company ‘The Regulating Act of 1773′ was passed in the British
Parliament.
• In the 19th century Bengal, a socio-cultural awakening was happening.
• Bihar, Odisha, and Assam separated from the United eastern and western parts of Bengal.
• In 1911, the capital of India was shifted to Delhi from Calcutta (present Kolkata) and Kolkata
became the capital of Bengal.
• The revolutionary thought and activities were spread all over India from Bengal.
• Many famous personalities like Raja Rammohan Roy, Dwarakanath Tagore,
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Keshab Chandra Sen, Ramakrishna Paramahansa,
Swami Vivekananda, Sahitya Samrat Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay,
Rabindranath Tagore, Kaji Najrul Islam, Girish Ghosh, Jagadish Chandra Bose,
Prafulla Chandra Roy, Satyendranath Bose, Meghnad Saha as well as
Surendranath Banerjee, Ananda Mohan Basu, Shibnath Shastri, Umeschandra
Bandyapadhyay—created a new history.
• The declaration of a partition of Bengal in 1905 gave an impetus to the
freedom struggle of Bengal vis-à-vis India.
• When India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned. The
western part went to India and was named West Bengal in 26,January 1950.
The eastern part joined Pakistan as a province. In 1971, this province became
independent Bangladesh.
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