Province of India
The
Bengal Presidency
, officially the
Presidency of Fort William in Bengal
and later
Bengal Province
, was a
province of British India
and the largest of all the three Presidencies.
[5]
At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and Southeast Asia. Bengal proper covered the ethno-linguistic region of
Bengal
(present-day
Bangladesh
and the
Indian state of West Bengal
).
Calcutta
, the city which grew around
Fort William
, was the capital of the Bengal Presidency. For many years, the
Governor of Bengal
was concurrently the
Governor-General of India
and Calcutta was the
capital of India
until 1911.
The Bengal Presidency emerged from trading posts established in the
Bengal province
during the reign of Emperor
Jahangir
in 1612. The East India Company (HEIC), a British monopoly with a Royal Charter, competed with other European companies to gain influence in Bengal. In 1757 and 1764, the Company defeated the
Nawab of Bengal
, who acted on Mughal sovereignty, at the
Battle of Plassey
and the
Battle of Buxar
, and Bengal came under British influence. In 1765, Emperor
Shah Alam II
granted revenue rights over Bengal to the Company and the judicial rights in 1793. After this, the Bengal province was later merged with the Presidency of Fort William but under the suzerainty of the Emperor until 1835.
[6]
In 1836, the upper territories of the Bengal Presidency were organised into the Agra Division or North-Western Provinces and administered by a lieutenant-governor within the Presidency. The lower territories were organised into the Bengal Division and put in charge of lieutenant-governor as well in 1853. The office of the governor of the Presidency was abolished and the Presidency existed as only a nominal entity under the dual government of the two lieutenant-governors at
Agra
and
Calcutta
. The 1887, the Agra Division was separated from the Presidency and merged with the Oudh province, ending the dual government. In 1912, the Governor was restored. In the early 20th century, Bengal emerged as a hotbed of the
Indian independence movement
and the
Bengali Renaissance
.
[7]
as well as education, politics, law, science and
the arts
. It was home to the largest city in India and the second-largest city in the
British Empire
.
[8]
At its territorial height in the mid nineteenth century, the Bengal Presidency extended from the
Khyber Pass
to Singapore.
[9]
[10]
[11]
In 1853,
the Punjab
was separated from the Presidency into province. In 1861, the
Saugor and Nerbudda Territories
of the North-Western Provinces (which was then a division of the Bengal Presidency) were separated from the Presidency and merged with the
Nagpur Province
to created the
Central Provinces
. In 1871, the Ajmer and Merwara which were also administered as a part of the North-Western Provinces were separated from the Presidency to form the
Ajmer-Merwara Province
. In 1874,
Assam
was separated from Bengal.
[11]
In 1862,
Burma
became a separate province. The
Straits Settlements
became a
Crown Colony
in 1867.
[12]
In 1877, the
North Western Provinces
were finally separated from Bengal and merged with Oudh. Thus, by 1877, the Bengal Presidency included only modern-day
Bihar
,
Jharkhand
,
Orissa
and
Bengal
. In 1905, the
first partition of Bengal
resulted in the short-lived province of
Eastern Bengal and Assam
which existed alongside the Bengal Presidency. In 1912, the province was merged back with the Bengal Presidency while
Bihar and Orissa
became a separate province.
In 1862, the
Bengal Legislative Council
became the first
legislature in British India
with native representation, after a petition from the
British Indian Association
of Calcutta.
[13]
[14]
As part of efforts towards
home rule
, the
Government of India Act 1935
created a
bicameral legislature
, with the
Bengal Legislative Assembly
becoming the largest provincial assembly in India in 1937. The office of the
Prime Minister of Bengal
was established as part of growing provincial autonomy. After the 1946 election, rising Hindu-Muslim divisions across India forced the Bengal Assembly to decide on partition, despite calls for a
United Bengal
. The
Partition of British India
in 1947 resulted in the
second partition of Bengal
on religious grounds into
East Bengal
(present-day Bangladesh) and West Bengal.
History
[
edit
]
Background
[
edit
]
In 1599, a
Royal Charter
was granted by
Queen Elizabeth I
to allow the creation of a trading company in London for the purposes of trade with the East Indies. The governance of the company was placed in the hands of a governor and a 24-member Court of Directors. The corporation became known as the Honourable East India Company (HEIC). It became the most powerful corporation of its time, with control over half of
world trade
.
Edmund Burke
described the company as "a state in the guise of a merchant".
[15]
It was described as a "state within a state", and even "an empire within an empire".
[16]
The company was given a monopoly for British trade in the Indian Ocean.
[17]
In 1608,
Mughal Emperor
Jahangir
allowed the English East India Company to establish a small trading post on the west coast of India. It was followed in 1611 by a
factory
on the
Coromandel Coast
in South India, and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies to trade in the wealthy
Bengal Subah
in the east.
[18]
However, the power of the Mughal Empire declined from 1707, as the Nawab of Bengal in
Murshidabad
became financially independent with the help of bankers such as the
Jagat Seth
. The Nawabs began entering into treaties with numerous European companies, including the
French East India Company
, the
Dutch East India Company
, and the
Danish East India Company
.
The Mughal court in Delhi was weakened by
Nader Shah
's invasion from Persia (1739) and
Ahmed Shah Durrani
's invasion from Afghanistan (1761). While the Bengal Subah suffered a decade of
Maratha raids
, through bands of
Bargir-giri
light cavalry, directed to pillage the territory, between 1741 and 1751.
[19]
In 1742 the Company chooses to spend Rs. 25 thousand on the construction of a 3 km Maratha ditch around Calcutta, to protect its facilities from the raiders.
[20]
The Nawab of Bengal later signed a peace treaty with the Marathas in 1751, and ceded
Orrisa
and paid Rs. 1.2 million annually as the
chauth
.
[21]
The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of
chauth
for the preceding years.
[22]
In June 1756 the company's factories at
Cossimbazar
[23]
and
Calcutta
were besieged and captured by the forces of the Nawab of Bengal, with the company's goods, treasure and weapons seized.
[24]
[
unreliable source?
]
Calcutta being renamed Alinagar in honour of the
Siraj ud-Daulah's
predecessor. A Company force, led by Watson and
Robert Clive
, recaptured Fort William in January 1757, with the Nawab, Siraj ud-Daulah, agreeing the
Treaty of Alinagar
, reestablishing the company's right to trade in Bengal, and fortify Fort William. In parallel Robert Clive conspired with Jagat Seth, Omichand and
Mir Jafar
to install the latter on the musnud of Bengal, a plan that they would implement in June 1757.
[25]
The East India Company's victories at the
Battle of Plassey
(1757) and the
Battle of Buxar
(against the Nawabs of Bengal and
Oudh
in 1764) led to the abolition of local rule (Nizamat) in Bengal in 1793. The Company gradually began to formally expand its territories across India and Southeast Asia.
[26]
By the mid-19th century, the East India Company had become the paramount political and military power in the
Indian subcontinent
. Its territory was held in
trust
for the
British Crown
.
[27]
The company also issued coins in the name of the nominal Mughal Emperor (who was exiled in 1857).
Administrative changes and the Permanent Settlement
[
edit
]
Under
Warren Hastings
, the consolidation of British imperial rule over Bengal was solidified, with the conversion of a trade area into an occupied territory under a military-civil government, while the formation of a regularised system of legislation was brought in under
John Shore
. Acting through
Lord Cornwallis
, then Governor-General, he ascertained and defined the rights of the landholders over the soil. These landholders under the previous system had started, for the most part, as collectors of the revenues, and gradually acquired certain prescriptive rights as quasi-proprietors of the estates entrusted to them by the government. In 1793 Lord Cornwallis declared their rights perpetual, and gave over the land of Bengal to the previous quasi-proprietors or
zamindars
, on condition of the payment of a fixed land tax. This piece of legislation is known as the
Permanent Settlement
of the Land Revenue. It was designed to "introduce" ideas of property rights to India, and stimulate a market in land. The former aim misunderstood the nature of landholding in India, and the latter was an abject failure.
The
Cornwallis Code
, while defining the rights of the proprietors, failed to give adequate recognition to the rights of the under-tenants and the cultivators. This remained a serious problem for the duration of British Rule, as throughout the Bengal Presidency
ryots
(peasants) found themselves oppressed by rack-renting landlords, who knew that every rupee they could squeeze from their tenants over and above the fixed revenue demanded from the Government represented pure profit. Furthermore, the Permanent Settlement took no account of inflation, meaning that the value of the revenue to Government declined year by year, whilst the heavy burden on the peasantry grew no less. This was compounded in the early 19th century by compulsory schemes for the cultivation of
opium
and
indigo
, the former by the state, and the latter by British planters. Peasants were forced to grow a certain area of these crops, which were then purchased at below market rates for export. This added greatly to rural poverty.
Government of India Acts of 1833 and 1853
[
edit
]
In 1833, the British Parliament enacted the
Government of India Act 1833
abolishing the monopoly rights of the Company and converting it into a purely governing body holding its territories in India in trust of the Crown. The Act relieved the Governor-in-Councils of Bombay and Madras of their legislative duties and consolidated all legislative functions to the Governor-General-in-Council of India at Calcutta and created a Supreme Government of India at Calcutta with the office of Governor-General of India replacing the Governor-General of Fort William. The Act also created for the establishment of a new
Presidency of Agra
with its own Governor-in-council from the ceded and conquered territories of the Presidency of Fort William and also sought to separate the functions of the Presidency of Fort William from the Government of India and Governor-General of India in Council. This was however never fully implemented and instead another Act of Parliament in 1835 created the
North-Western Provinces
with a Lieutenant-Governor at Agra and also provided for the creation of a similar arrangement with a Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. All four provinces, i.e., North-Western Provinces, Bengal Presidency, Madras Presidency and Bombay Presidency were equal in status and independent of each other, subordinate only to the Government of India.
[28]
New conquests in Punjab (1849), Burma (1826) and Oudh (1856) were constituted as Chief Commissioner's Provinces directly administered by the Government of India. The
Government of India Act 1853
finally allocated a Lieutenant-Governor to Bengal, which until now had been administered by the Governor-General of India. The act also allocated Lieutenant-Governors to Punjab and Burma. The
Bengal Army
and the Bengal Civil Service continued to operate in the three lieutenant governorships, however they were under the control of the Government of India rather than the Bengal Government. The Bengal Civil Service was merged into the Indian Civil Service later along with the other two civil services and the Bengal Army was finally amalgamated into the new
Indian Army
in 1904?5, after a lengthy struggle over its reform between
Lord Kitchener
, the Commander-in-Chief, and
Lord Curzon
, the Viceroy.
Straits Settlements
[
edit
]
In 1830, the British Straits Settlements on the coast of the
Malacca Straits
was made a residency of the Presidency of Bengal in Calcutta. The area included the erstwhile
Prince of Wales Island
and
Province Wellesley
, as well as the ports of
Malacca
and Singapore.
[12]
Under the administration of the East India Company, the Settlements were used as
penal settlements
for Indian civilian and military prisoners,
[29]
earning them the title of the "Botany Bays of India".
[30]
: 29
The years 1852 and 1853 saw minor uprisings by convicts in Singapore and Penang.
[31]
: 91
Upset with East India Company rule, in 1857 the European population of the Settlements sent a petition to the British Parliament
[32]
asking for direct rule.
Victorian Era
[
edit
]
In 1859, under the terms of the Queen's Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bengal Presidency, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British Crown.
[33]
1905 Partition of Bengal
[
edit
]
The partition of the large province of Bengal, which was decided upon by Lord Curzon, and Cayan Uddin Ahmet, the Chief Secretary of Bengal carried into execution in October 1905. The
Chittagong
,
Dhaka
and
Rajshahi
divisions, the
Malda District
and the States of
Hill Tripura
,
Sylhet
and
Comilla
were transferred from Bengal to a new province,
Eastern Bengal and Assam
; the five Hindi-speaking states of
Chota Nagpur
, namely
Changbhakar
,
Korea
,
Surguja
,
Udaipur
and
Jashpur State
, were transferred from Bengal to the Central Provinces; and
Sambalpur State
and the five Oriya states of
Bamra
,
Rairakhol
,
Sonepur
,
Patna
and
Kalahandi
were transferred from the
Central Provinces
to Bengal.
The remaining province of Bengal then consisted of the thirty-three districts of
Burdwan
,
Birbhum
,
Bankura
,
Midnapur
,
Hughli
,
Howrah
,
Twenty-four Parganas
,
Calcutta
,
Nadia
,
Murshidabad
,
Jessore
,
Khulna
,
Patna
,
Gaya
,
Shahabad
,
Saran
,
Champaran
,
Muzaffarpur
,
Darbhanga
,
Monghyr
,
Bhagalpur
,
Purnea
,
Santhal Parganas
,
Cuttack
,
Balasore
,
Angul
and
Kandhmal
,
Puri
,
Sambalpur
,
Singhbhum
,
Hazaribagh
,
Ranchi
,
Palamau
, and
Manbhum
. The
princely states
of
Sikkim
and the
tributary states
of
Odisha
and
Chhota Nagpur
were not part of Bengal, but British relations with them were managed by its government.
The Indian Councils Act 1909 expanded the legislative councils of Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam provinces to include up to 50 nominated and elected members, in addition to three
ex officio
members from the executive council.
[34]
Bengal's legislative council included 22 nominated members, of which not more than 17 could be officials, and two nominated experts. Of the 26 elected members, one was elected by the
Corporation of Calcutta
, six by municipalities, six by district boards, one by the
University of Calcutta
, five by landholders, four by Muslims, two by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce, and one by the Calcutta Trades Association. Eastern Bengal and Assam's legislative council included 22 nominated members, of which not more than 17 be officials and one representing Indian commerce, and two nominated experts. Of the 18 elected members, three were elected by municipalities, five by district and local boards, two by landowners, four by Muslims, two by the tea interest, one by the jute interest, and one by the Commissioners of the
Port of Chittagong
.
[35]
The partition of Bengal proved highly controversial, as it resulted in a largely Hindu West Bengal and a largely Muslim East. Serious popular agitation followed the step, partly on the grounds that this was part of a cynical policy of divide and rule, and partly that the Bengali population, the centre of whose interests and prosperity was Calcutta, would now be divided under two governments, instead of being concentrated and numerically dominant under the one, while the bulk would be in the new division. In 1906?1909 the unrest developed to a considerable extent, requiring special attention from the Indian and Home governments, and this led to the decision being reversed in 1911.
Reorganisation of Bengal, 1912
[
edit
]
At the
Delhi Durbar
on 12 December 1911, Emperor George V announced the transfer of the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to Delhi, the reunification of the five predominantly Bengali-speaking divisions into a unified province of Bengal under a Governor, the creation of a new province of
Bihar and Orissa
under a lieutenant-governor, and that
Assam Province
would be reconstituted under a chief commissioner. On 21 March 1912
Thomas Gibson-Carmichael
was appointed Governor of Bengal. On 22 March the provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and Assam were constituted.
[36]
The Government of India Act 1919 increased the number of nominated and elected members of the legislative council from 50 to 125, and the franchise was expanded.
[37]
Bihar
and
Orissa
became separate provinces in 1936. Bengal remained in its 1912 boundaries until Independence in 1947, when it was again partitioned between the dominions of India and Pakistan.
1947 Partition of Bengal
[
edit
]
On 8 May 1947, Viceroy
Earl Mountbatten
cabled the British government with a partition plan that made an exception for Bengal. It was the only province that would be allowed to remain independent should it choose to do so. On 23 May, the British Cabinet meeting also hoped that Bengal would remain united. British Prime Minister
Clement Attlee
informed the
US Ambassador to the United Kingdom
on 2 June 1947 that there was a "distinct possibility that Bengal might decide against partition and against joining either India or Pakistan".
[38]
On 6 July 1947, the
Sylhet referendum
gave a mandate for the
District of Sylhet
to be re-united into Bengal. However, Hindu nationalist leaders in West Bengal and conservative East Bengali Muslim leaders were against the prospect.
On 20 June 1947, the Bengal Legislative Assembly met to vote on partition plans. At the preliminary joint session, the assembly decided by 126 votes to 90 that if it remained united it should join the new Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. Later, a separate meeting of legislators from West Bengal decided by 58 votes to 21 that the province should be partitioned and that West Bengal should join the existing Constituent Assembly of India. In another separate meeting of legislators from East Bengal, it was decided by 106 votes to 35 that the province should not be partitioned and 107 votes to 34 that East Bengal should join Pakistan in the event of partition.
[39]
There was no vote held on the proposal for an independent United Bengal.
Government
[
edit
]
Initially, Bengal was under the administration of the East India Company, which appointed chief agents/presidents/governors/lieutenant governors in Fort William. The governor of Bengal was concurrently the governor-general of India for many years. The East India Company maintained control with its private armies and administrative machinery. Nevertheless, the East India Company was a quasi-official entity, having received a
Royal Charter
from
Queen Elizabeth I
in 1600. The
Indian Rebellion of 1857
caused the British government to assume direct control of India's administration under the
Government of India Act 1858
. The head of state became the
British monarch
, who was also given the title of
Emperor of India
/
Empress of India
. The monarch was represented through a viceroy. The
Viceroy of India
was based in the Bengal Presidency until 1911. The
Secretary of State for India
was also an important official. The Bengal Civil Service managed the provincial government. Modern scholars decry the colonial system as bureaucratic authoritarianism.
[40]
Executive councils
[
edit
]
Established by
Charter Act of 1833
, the
Governor-General in Council
was subordinate to the Court of Directors of the East India Company and the British Crown. The Governor-General in Council in Fort William enacted legislation, such as the prohibition of Persian as an official language under Act no. XXIX of 1837 passed by the President of the Council of India in Council on 20 November 1837.
Judiciary
[
edit
]
The
Calcutta High Court
was set up in 1862. The building was designed on the model of
Ypres Cloth Hall
in Belgium. The
Dacca High Court
building was built during the early 20th century, with elements of a Roman
pantheon
. District courts were established in all district headquarters of the Bengal Presidency. At the district level, tax collectors and revenue officers acted with the power of
magistrates
. In 1829, magisterial power was given to all Collectors and Revenue Officers. The controversy regarding the lack of
separation of powers
continued until 1921.
[41]
Bengal Legislative Council (1862?1947)
[
edit
]
The British government began to appoint legislative councils under the
Indian Councils Act 1861
. The Bengal Legislative Council was established in 1862. It was one of the largest and most important legislative councils in British India. Over the years, the council's powers were gradually expanded from an advisory role to debating government policies and enacting legislation. Under the
Government of India Act 1935
, the council became the
upper chamber
of the Bengali legislature.
Dyarchy (1920?1937)
[
edit
]
British India's
Montagu?Chelmsford Reforms
of 1919, enacted in 1921, expanded the Bengal Legislative Council to 140 members to include more elected Indian members. The reforms also introduced the principle of
dyarchy
, whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. However, the important portfolios like finance, police and irrigation were reserved with members of the Governor's Executive Council. Some of the prominent ministers were
Surendranath Banerjee
(Local Self-government and Public Health 1921?1923), Sir Provash Chunder Mitter (Education 1921?1924, Local Self-government, Public Health, Agriculture and Public Works 1927?1928), Nawab Saiyid Nawab Ali Chaudhuri (Agriculture and Public Works) and
A. K. Fazlul Huq
(Education 1924).
Bhupendra Nath Bose
and Sir
Abdur Rahim
were Executive Members in the Governor's Council.
[42]
Bengal Legislative Assembly (1935?1947)
[
edit
]
The Government of India Act 1935 established the Bengal Legislative Assembly as the lower chamber of the Bengali legislature. It was a 250-seat assembly where most members were elected by either the General Electorate or the Muslim Electorate (under the
Communal Award
). Other members were nominated. The separate electorate dividing Muslims from the general electorate was deeply controversial. The
Prime Minister of Bengal
was a member of the assembly.
In the
1937 election
, the
Congress
emerged as the single largest party but short of an absolute majority. The second-largest party was the
Bengal Provincial Muslim League
(BPML), followed in third place by the
Krishak Praja Party
. The BPML, Krishak Praja Party and independent legislators formed a coalition government.
[43]
[44]
A. K. Fazlul Huq
, a founder of the BPML who later broke away to form the Krishak Praja Party, was elected as parliamentary leader and prime minister. Huq pursued a policy of
Hindu?Muslim unity
. His cabinet included leading Hindu and Muslim figures, including
Nalini Ranjan Sarkar
(finance), Bijoy Prasad Singha Roy (revenue), Maharaja
Srish Chandra Nandy
(communications and public works), Prasanna Deb Raikut (forest and excise), Mukunda Behari Mallick (cooperative credit and rural indebtedness), Sir Khwaja Nazimuddin (home), Nawab
Khwaja Habibullah
(agriculture and industry), Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (commerce and labour),
Nawab Musharraf Hussain
(judicial and legislative affairs), and
Syed Nausher Ali
(public health and local self-government).
[45]
Huq promoted financial and
land reforms
with the Bengal Agricultural Debtors' Act (1938), The Money Lenders' Act (1938), and the Bengal Tenancy (Amendment) Act (1938). He introduced the Primary Education Bill to make primary education free and compulsory. He established schools such as the
Lady Brabourne College
. In 1941, Prime Minister Huq joined the
Viceroy's
Defence Council in support of
Allied
war efforts. In a letter to Governor
John Herbert
, Huq called for the resurrection of a Bengal Army. He wrote "I want you to consent to the formation of a Bengali Army of a hundred thousand young Bengalis consisting of Hindu and Muslim youths on a fifty-fifty basis. There is an insistent demand for such a step being taken at once, and the people of Bengal will not be satisfied with any excuses. It is a national demand which must be immediately conceded".
[46]
Huq supported the adoption of the
Lahore Resolution
in 1940. He envisaged Bengal as one of the "independent states" outlined by the resolution.
The first Huq cabinet dissolved after the BPML withdrew from his government. Huq then formed a second coalition with the
Hindu Mahasabha
led by
Syama Prasad Mukherjee
. This cabinet was known as the Shyama-Huq Coalition.
[45]
The cabinet included Nawab Bahabur Khwaja Habibullah, Khan Bahadur Abdul Karim, Khan Bahadur Hashem Ali Khan, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Syama Prasad Mukherjee, Santosh Kumar Bose and Upendranath Barman. Huq's government fell in 1943 and a BPML government under
Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin
as
Prime Minister
was formed. Nazimuddin's tenure coincided with the Bengal famine of 1943. His government was replaced by
Governor's rule
. After the end of World War II,
elections were held in 1946
in which the BPML won an overwhelming majority of 113 seats in the 250-seat assembly. A government under
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
was formed.
[47]
Prime Minister Suhrawardy continued with the policy of power-sharing between Hindus and Muslims. He also advocated a plan for a Bengali sovereign state with a
multiconfessionalist
political system. The breakdown of Hindu-Muslim unity across India eventually upended Bengali power-sharing. Religious violence, including the
Noakhali riots
and
Direct Action Day
riots, contributed to the polarization. When the Bengal Assembly met to vote on Partition, most West Bengali legislators held a separate meeting and resolved to partition the province and join the Indian union. Most East Bengali legislators favored an undivided Bengal.
The Bengal Assembly was divided into the
West Bengal Legislative Assembly
and
East Bengal Legislative Assembly
during the Partition of British India.
Civil liberties
[
edit
]
English common law
was applied to Bengal. Local legislation was enacted by the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly.
Case law
was also an important source of law. Many laws enacted in British Bengal are still in use today, including the
Indian Penal Code
. In 1919, the
Rowlatt Act
extended wartime powers under the Defence of India Act 1915, including arbitrary arrests and trial without juries. Press freedom was muzzled by the Indian Press Act 1910. The Seditious Meetings Act 1908 curtailed freedom of assembly. Regulation III of 1818 was also considered draconian. King
George V
granted a royal amnesty to free political prisoners. Some draconian laws were repealed, including the Rowlatt Act.
[48]
Despite being a common law jurisdiction, British India did not enjoy the same level of protection for civil liberties as in the United Kingdom. It was only after independence in 1947 and the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in 1948, that human rights were clearly enshrined in law.
Princely states
[
edit
]
Princely states
were autonomous principalities under the
suzerainty
of the British Crown in India. Initially, the Bengal Presidency managed the British government's relations with most princely states in the northern subcontinent, extending from
Jammu and Kashmir
in the north to
Manipur
in the northeast. An
Agency
was often formed to be the liaison between the government and the princely states. The largest of these agencies under Bengal once included the
Rajputana Agency
. Other agencies covered the
Chota Nagpur Tributary States
and the
Orissa Tributary States
. Agents were also appointed to deal with tribal chiefs, such as the three tribal kings in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts
. At the time of the partition of India in 1947, the jurisdiction of the
Bengal States Agency
included
Cooch Behar State
and
Hill Tipperah
.
Himalayan kingdoms
[
edit
]
Bengal was strategically important for the Himalayan regions of Nepal,
Tibet
, Bhutan and Sikkim. The
Anglo-Nepalese War
between the East India Company and the
Kingdom of Nepal
was concluded with the
Treaty of Sugauli
, which ended
Gorkha
territorial expansion. The
Treaty of Titalia
was signed in 1817 between the HEIC and the
Kingdom of Sikkim
to establish British hegemony over Sikkim. The
Bhutan War
in the 1860s saw the
Kingdom of Bhutan
lose control of the
Bengal Duars
to the British. The
British expedition to Tibet
took place between 1903 and 1904. It resulted in the
Treaty of Lhasa
which acknowledged
Qing China
's supremacy over Tibet.
Foreign relations
[
edit
]
The United States of America began sending envoys to Fort William in the 18th century. President
George Washington
nominated Benjamin Joy as the first Consul to Fort William on 19 November 1792. The nomination was supported by the erstwhile Secretary of State
Thomas Jefferson
and approved by the U. S. Senate on 21 November 1792. Benjamin Joy reached Calcutta in 1794. The HEIC did not recognize Joy as an official consul but allowed him to be a Commercial Agent.
[49]
The American
Consulate General
was established during formal British rule. A consular agency for Chittagong was created in the 1860s. Many other countries also set up consulates in Calcutta.
Education
[
edit
]
British rule saw the establishment of
liberal arts colleges
in many districts of Bengal. There were only two full-fledged universities in Bengal during British rule, including the University of Calcutta and the University of Dacca. Both universities were represented in the Bengal Legislative Assembly under the Government of India Act 1935.
Primary education was mandatory under the Compulsory Education Acts.
[50]
Despite significant advances and the emergence of a large educated middle class, most of the population did not have access to a proper education. Some of the leading schools included the
Oriental Seminary
in Calcutta, the
St. Gregory's High School
in Dacca, the
Rajshahi Collegiate School
in Rajshahi and the
Chittagong Collegiate School
in Chittagong. European missionaries, Hindu philanthropists and Muslim aristocrats were influential promoters of education. Ethnic minorities maintained their own institutions, such as the Armenian
Pogose School
.
Each district of Bengal had a
district school
, which were the leading secondary institutions. Due to Calcutta being the colonial capital, the city had a large concentration of educational institutions. It was followed by Dacca, which served as a provincial capital between 1905 and 1912. Libraries were established in each district of Bengal by the colonial government and the
Zamindars
. In 1854, four major public libraries were opened, including the Bogra Woodburn Library, the Rangpur Public Library, the
Jessore Institute Public Library
and the Barisal Public Library.
Northbrook Hall
was established in 1882 in honor of Governor-General
Lord Northbrook
. Other libraries built include the Victoria Public Library, Natore (1901), the Sirajganj Public Library (1882), the
Rajshahi Public Library
(1884), the Comilla Birchandra Library (1885), the Shah Makhdum Institute Public Library, Rajshahi (1891), the Noakhali Town Hall Public Library (1896), the Prize Memorial Library, Sylhet (1897), the Chittagong Municipality Public Library (1904) and the Varendra Research Library (1910). In 1925, the Great Bengal Library Association was established.
[51]
Europeans played an important role in modernizing the Bengali language. The first book on
Bengali grammar
was compiled by a Portuguese missionary.
[52]
English was the official language. The use of Persian as an official language was discontinued by Act no. XXIX of 1837 passed by the President of the Council of India in Council on 20 November 1837. However, Persian continued to be taught in some institutions. Several institutions had Sanskrit and Arabic faculties.
[53]
The following includes a partial list of notable colleges, universities and learned societies in the Bengal Presidency.
Economy
[
edit
]
In Bengal, the British inherited from the Mughals the biggest revenue earnings in the Indian subcontinent. For example, the revenue of pre-colonial Dhaka alone was 1 million rupees in the 18th century (a high amount in that era).
[54]
Mughal Bengal
accounted for 12% of the world's GDP
[
citation needed
]
and was a major exporter of raw silk, cotton, and rice.
[55]
With its proto-industrial economy, Bengal contributed to the first
Industrial Revolution
in Britain (particularly in
textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
). After 1757, the British placed Bengal under
company rule
(which led to Bengali
deindustrialization
).
[56]
Other European powers in the region included the
French East India Company
, the
Dutch East India Company
, the
Ostend Company
and the
Danish East India Company
. Initially, the English East India Company promoted opium cultivation which caused the
Opium Wars
with
Qing China
. The East India Company's promotion of indigo farming caused the
Indigo revolt
. The British were much criticized for favoring textile imports and suppressing local
muslin
production. The chaos of the Company rule period culminated in the
Indian Mutiny
in 1857. In 1858, the British government gained direct control of Indian administration. Bengal was plugged into the market-driven economy and trade networks of the
British Empire
.
The Bengal Presidency had the largest gross domestic product in British India.
[57]
The first British colonial banks in the Indian subcontinent were founded in Bengal. These included the General Bank of Bengal and Bihar (1733);
Bank of Hindostan
(1770), Bank of Bengal (1784); and the General Bank of India (1786). Other banks in Bengal included the
Bank of Calcutta
(1806), Union Bank (1829); Government Savings Bank (1833); The Bank of Mirzapore (
c.
1835
); Dacca Bank (1846); Kurigram Bank (1887), Kumarkhali Bank (1896), Mahaluxmi Bank, Chittagong (1910), Dinajpur Bank (1914), Comilla Banking Corporation (1914),
Bengal Central Bank
(1918), and Comilla Union Bank (1922).
[58]
Loan offices were established in Faridpur (1865), Bogra (1872), Barisal (1873), Mymensingh (1873), Nasirabad (1875), Jessore (1876), Munshiganj (1876), Dacca (1878), Sylhet (1881), Pabna (1882), Kishoreganj (1883), Noakhali (1885), Khulna (1887), Madaripur (1887), Tangail (1887), Nilphamari (1894) and Rangpur (1894).
[58]
The earliest records of securities dealings are the loan securities of the
British East India Company
. In 1830, bourse activities in Calcutta were conducted in the open air under a tree.
[59]
The
Calcutta Stock Exchange
was incorporated in 1908. Some of the leading companies in British Bengal included Messrs. Alexander and Co,
Waldies
,
Martin Burn
,
M. M. Ispahani Limited
,
James Finlay and Co.
,
A K Khan & Company
, the
Calcutta Chemical Company
,
Bourne & Shepherd
, the Indo-Burmah Petroleum Company,
Orient Airways
,
Shaw Wallace
,
Carew & Co
,
Aditya Birla Group
,
Tata Group
,
Balmer Lawrie
,
Biecco Lawrie
,
Braithwaite, Burn & Jessop Construction Company
,
Braithwaite & Co.
,
Bridge and Roof Company
,
Britannia Industries
,
Burn Standard Company
and
Andrew Yule and Company
. Some of these enterprises were nationalized after the Partition of India.
Agricultural products included rice, sugarcane and vegetables. The main cash crops were
jute
and tea. The
jute trade
was central to the British Bengali economy. Bengal accounted for the bulk of the world's jute production and export. Raw jute was sourced from the hinterland of Eastern Bengal. The British government declared the
Port of Narayanganj
as a "Tax Free Port" in 1878. Rally Brothers & Co. was one of the earliest British companies in the jute business of Narayanganj. British firms used middlemen, called
beparis
, to source raw jute from the hinterland. In 1907, 20 firms were engaged in the jute trade of Narayanganj, including 18 European firms.
[60]
Hindu merchants opened several cotton mills in the 1920s, including the Dhakeshwari Cotton Mill, the Chittaranjan Cotton Mill and the Laxmi Narayan Cotton Mill.
[60]
Other goods traded in Narayanganj included timber, salt, textiles, oil, cotton, tobacco, pottery, seeds and betel nut. Raw goods were processed by factories in Calcutta, especially jute mills. The
Port of Chittagong
was re-organized in 1887 under the Port Commissioners Act. Its busiest trade links were with
British Burma
, including the ports of
Akyab
and
Rangoon
;
[61]
and other Bengali ports, including Calcutta,
Dhaka
and Narayanganj.
[62]
In the fiscal year 1889?90, Chittagong handled exports totalling 125,000 tons.
[63]
The
Strand Road
was built beside the port. In 1928, the British government declared Chittagong as a "Major Port" of British India.
[64]
Chittagong's port was used by
Allied Forces of World War II
during the
Burma Campaign
.
The
Port of Calcutta
was the largest seaport of British India. The port was constructed by the British East India Company. It was one of the busiest ports in the world during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Calcutta was a major trading port with links to ports across the British Empire. Its local hinterland spanned beyond Bengal to include north and northeast India, the Himalayan kingdoms and Tibet. The Bay of Bengal became one of the busiest shipping hubs in the world, rivaling the traffic of ports on the
Atlantic
.
[65]
Calcutta was also an important naval base in
World War II
and was bombed by the Japanese.
Chambers of commerce
were established. The
Bengal Chamber of Commerce
was established in 1853. The Narayanganj Chamber of Commerce was set up in 1904.
[66]
The textile trade of Bengal enriched many merchants. For example,
Panam City
in
Sonargaon
saw many
townhouses
built for wealthy textile merchants.
Tea became a major export of Bengal. Northwestern Bengal became the center of
Darjeeling tea
cultivation in the foothills of the Himalayas. Darjeeling tea became one of the most reputed tea varieties in the world. The
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
was constructed in the tea plantation zone.
[67]
In eastern Bengal, the
Sylhet
and
Chittagong
hilly regions became hubs of
tea production
.
Assam tea
was produced in the northeastern part of the Bengal Presidency.
Aside from the British, the chief beneficiaries of the colonial economy were the Zamindars (landed gentry). The Permanent Settlement enforced a system in which peasants were indebted to the Zamindars. The peasants rented land from the Zamindars and became tenant farmers. Strong control of land by the Zamindars meant the British had few headaches in exploiting trade and business. However, Bengal received little attention for industrialization due to the entrenched peasant-zamindar relationship under the Permanent Settlement.
[68]
The
Zamindars of Bengal
built mansions, lodges, modern bungalows, townhouses, and palaces on their estates. Some of the largest mansions include the
Hazarduari Palace
in
Murshidabad
, the
Ahsan Manzil
on the
Nawab of Dhaka
's estate, the
Marble Palace
in Calcutta, and the
Cooch Behar Palace
.
Infrastructure and transport
[
edit
]
Railways
[
edit
]
After the invention of railways in Britain, British India became the first region in Asia to have a railway. The
East Indian Railway Company
introduced railways to Bengal. The company was established on 1 June 1845 in London by a deed of settlement with a capital of £4,000,000. Its first line connected Calcutta with towns in northern India. By 1859, there were 77 engines, 228 coaches and 848 freight wagons. Large quantities of
sal tree
wood were imported from
Nepal
to design the sleepers.
[69]
[70]
In 1862, railways were introduced to eastern Bengal with the
Eastern Bengal Railway
. The first line connected Calcutta and
Kushtia
. By 1865, the railway was extended to
Rajbari
on the banks of the
Padma River
. By 1902, the railway was extended to Assam. The
Assam Bengal Railway
was established to serve the northeastern part of the Bengal Presidency, with its terminus in Chittagong.
[71]
The
Bengal and North Western Railway
was set up in 1882 to link towns in the
Oudh
region with Calcutta. Several railway bridges, such as the
Hardinge Bridge
, were built over rivers in Bengal. In 1999,
UNESCO
recognized the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as a
World Heritage Site
.
Roads and highways
[
edit
]
In the 1830s the East India Company began to rebuild the ancient
Grand Trunk Road
into a paved highway. The company required the road for commercial and administrative purposes. It linked Calcutta to
Peshawar
in the North-West Frontier Province. For the project, the company founded a college to train and employ local surveyors, engineers, and overseers.
[72]
[73]
In the east, the road extended to Sonargaon, Comilla and Chittagong. After the first partition of Bengal in 1905, newly built highways connected the inaccessible areas of Assam and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. All district towns were connected by an inter-district road network.
[74]
Waterways
[
edit
]
A
ghat
in Bengal refers to a
river port
. The busiest river ports included the
Port of Calcutta
, the
Port of Dhaka
, the
Port of Narayanganj
and
Goalundo Ghat
.
After the first partition of Bengal in 1905, a number of new ferry services were introduced connecting Chittagong, Dhaka, Bogra, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Jalpaiguri, Maldah and Rajshahi. This improved communication network boosted trade and commerce.
[74]
Aviation
[
edit
]
An early attempt at manned flight in Bengal was by a young female
balloonist
named Jennette Rumary who at the time was associated with
Park Van Tassel
and took the stage name
Jennette Van Tassell
. Invited to perform by the
Nawab of Dhaka
, at 6.20 pm on 16 March 1892, Jennette set off to fly from the southern bank of the River
Buriganga
. But a gusting wind carried her off to the gardens of
Shahbag
, where her balloon became stuck in a tree. During her rescue from the tree she fell and died two days later. Jennette is interred in the Christian graveyard at Narinda in Old Dhaka.
[75]
An airfield opened next to a
Royal Artillery
station on the outskirts of Calcutta.
[76]
The Governor of Bengal Sir
Stanley Jackson
opened the Bengal Flying Club in Calcutta's aerodrome in February 1929.
[77]
In 1930, the airfield was upgraded into a full-fledged airport.
[78]
It was popularly known as
Dum Dum Airport
.
Imperial Airways
began flights from London to Australia via Calcutta in 1933.
[79]
Air Orient
began scheduled stops as part of its Paris to
Saigon
route.
[80]
KLM
operated a route from
Amsterdam
to
Batavia
(Jakarta) via Calcutta.
[81]
Calcutta emerged as a stopover for many airlines operating routes between Europe, Indochina and Australasia.
[82]
The flight of
Amelia Earhart
and
Fred Noonan
, who attempted to circumnavigate the world, made a stopover in Calcutta in 1937.
[83]
Local airlines included
Tata Air Services
and
Orient Airways
. Bengal played an important role for the air operations of the
Allied forces of World War II
. The
Royal Air Force
operated airfields across Bengal during the
Burma Campaign
. Aircraft of the
United States Army Air Forces
were also stationed in Bengal.
The following includes a partial list of airports and airfields established during British rule in Bengal. Airfields were used by Allied Forces during World War II.
Military
[
edit
]
The
Bengal Army
was one of the Presidency Armies of British India. It was formed by the East India Company. The Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal Army was concurrently the
Commander-in-Chief, India
from 1853 to 1895, as the Bengal Army was the largest of the Presidency Armies.
[84]
The
Gurkhas
were also recruited under the Bengal Army. In 1895, the Bengal Army was merged into the
British Indian Army
. The British Indian Army had a Bengal Command between 1895 and 1908.
[
citation needed
]
Major military engagements affecting British Bengal included the
First Anglo-Burmese War
, the
Anglo-Nepalese War
, the
First Afghan War
, the Opium Wars, the
Bhutan War
, the
Second Anglo-Afghan War
,
World War I
, and the
Burma Campaign
of
World War II
. The chief British base in Bengal was
Fort William
. Across the subcontinent, the British often converted Mughal forts into military bases, such as in Delhi and Dhaka. The British also built
cantonments
, including
Dhaka Cantonment
and
Chittagong Cantonment
. Many Allied soldiers killed in Burma were buried in cemeteries in Chittagong and Comilla. The graveyards include the
Commonwealth War Cemetery, Chittagong
and
Mainamati War Cemetery
, which are maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
.
Famines and other natural disasters
[
edit
]
Colonial India as well as the Bengal Presidency suffered from the
numerous famines and epidemics
throughout the
British Rule
. The
Great Bengal famine of 1770
lasted until 1773 and killed approximately 10 million Bengalis. The East India Company was heavily criticized for neglecting the population's food security. The repeated bouts of
famine in India
, coupled with other abuses against the population, caused the
British Parliament
to gradually remove the monopoly of the East India Company, curtail the company's powers and eventually replace it with
crown rule
.
Warren Hastings
, Governor of Bengal, was
censured
for the abuses of the company. Ironically, Hastings had set about to reform the company's practices and was later acquitted of any wrongdoing.
[
citation needed
]
During the trial of Hastings,
Edmund Burke
delivered a scathing indictment of malpractice by the company, condemning it for "injustice and treachery against the faith of nations". Burke stated:
[85]
With various instances of extortion and other deeds of maladministration ... With impoverishing and depopulating the whole country ... with a wanton and unjust, and pernicious, exercise of his powers ... in overturning the ancient establishments of the country ... With cruelties unheard of and devastations almost without name ... Crimes which have their rise in the wicked dispositions of men ? in avarice, rapacity, pride, cruelty, malignity, haughtiness, insolence, ferocity, treachery, cruelty, malignity of temper ? in short, nothing that does not argue a total extinction of all moral principle, that does not manifest an inveterate blackness of heart, a heart blackened to the very blackest, a heart corrupted, gangrened to the core ... We have brought before you the head [Hastings] ... one in whom all the frauds, all the peculations, all the violence, all the tyranny in India are embodied.
In 1876, about 200,000 Bengalis were killed in
Barisal
as a result of the
1876 Bengal cyclone
.
[86]
The Bengal Presidency endured a vast famine between
1873 and 1874
. The
Bengal famine of 1943
killed an estimated 3 million people during
World War II
. People died of starvation, malaria, or other diseases aggravated by malnutrition, population displacement, and lack of healthcare. Britain's wartime Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
has been held responsible for the famine by prominent Indians, including politician
Shashi Tharoor
.
[87]
[88]
When British civil servants sent letters to London regarding the famine situation, Churchill once responded by saying "Why hasn't
Gandhi
died yet?".
[89]
[87]
Many scholars, however, argue that it is an exaggeration to blame him for the wartime hunger crisis. The real cause was the fall of Burma to the Japanese, which cut off India's major supply of rice imports when domestic sources fell short, which they did in Eastern Bengal following a devastating cyclone in mid-October 1942.
[90]
Lizzie Collingham holds the massive global dislocations of supplies caused by World War II virtually guaranteed that hunger would occur somewhere in the world, yet Churchill's racism toward the Indians decided the exact location where famine would fall.
[91]
Culture
[
edit
]
Literary development
[
edit
]
The English language replaced Persian as the official language of administration. The use of Persian was prohibited by Act no. XXIX of 1837 passed by the President of the
Council of India
in Council on 20 November 1837,
[53]
[92]
bringing an end to six centuries of
Indo-Persian culture
in Bengal. The
Bengali language
received increased attention. European missionaries produced the first modern books on
Bengali grammar
. In pre-colonial times, Hindus and Muslims would be highly attached to their liturgical languages, including Sanskrit and Arabic. Under British rule, the use of Bengali widened and it was strengthened as the
lingua franca
of the native population. Novels began to be written in Bengali. The literary polymath
Rabindranath Tagore
was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1913. The cultural activist
Kazi Nazrul Islam
gained popularity as British India's
Rebel Poet
.
Jagadish Chandra Bose
pioneered Bengali science fiction.
Begum Rokeya
, author of
Sultana's Dream
, became an early feminist science fiction author.
Media
[
edit
]
Numerous newspapers were published in British Bengal since the 18th century. Many were in English.
Hicky's Bengal Gazette
was a major weekly publication. The first Bengali periodicals appeared in the 19th century. The
Calcutta Journal
became the first daily newspaper in British India.
[93]
Other newspapers included the
Dacca News
and
The Bengal Times
. Radio channels began transmitting in 1927.
[94]
Visual arts
[
edit
]
The Company School of Painting in Calcutta, Murshidabad, and Patna saw Mughal miniatures absorb images of British colonial officials in place of Mughal officials.
[95]
European painters produced numerous works in Bengal since the 18th century. European photographers also worked in the region. The modernist
Bengal school
of painting evolved in the province. European sculptures were widely imported by wealthy Zamindars. In the 1940s,
Zainul Abedin
emerged as a modernist painter depicting poverty and the Bengal famine.
Calcutta Time
[
edit
]
Calcutta Time
was the
time zone
of the Bengal Presidency. It was established in 1884. It was one of the two time zones of British India. In the latter part of the 19th century, Calcutta Time was the most prevalent time used in the Indian part of the British Empire with records of astronomical and geological events recorded in it.
[96]
[97]
Cinema
[
edit
]
The
Royal Bioscope Company
began producing
Bengali cinema
in 1898, producing scenes from the stage productions of a number of popular shows
[98]
at the Crown Theatre in Dacca and the
Star Theater
,
Minerva Theater
, and Classic Theater in Calcutta.
The
Madan Theatre
started making silent films in Calcutta in 1916. The first Bengali feature film,
Billwamangal
, was produced and released in 1919 under the banner of the Madan Theatre. The movie was directed by Rustomji Dhotiwala and produced by Priyonath Ganguli. A Bengali film company called the
Indo British Film Co
was soon formed in Calcutta by
Dhirendra Nath Ganguly
. Ganguly directed and wrote
Bilat Ferat
in 1921, which was the first production of the Indo British Film Co.
Jamai Shashthi
(1931) was one of the earliest Bengali
talkies
.
In 1927?28, the
Dhaka Nawab Family
produced a short film named
Sukumary
(The Good Girl).
[99]
After the success of
Sukumary
, the Nawab's family went for a bigger venture.
[100]
To make a full-length silent film, a temporary studio was made in the gardens of the family's estate, and they produced a full-length silent film titled
The Last Kiss
, released in 1931.
[101]
[102]
The "East Bengal Cinematograph Society" was later established in Dacca.
Sports
[
edit
]
Cricket
started being played in the 1790s. The
Calcutta Cricket Club
was set up in 1792. For
horse racing
, the
Royal Calcutta Turf Club
was set up in 1847. It became British India's equivalent of the
Jockey Club
in England in terms of arbitrating matters related to racing. In addition to horse races, the club also launched
polo
matches among natives and colonialists. Races at the
Calcutta Race Course
were once among the most important social events of the calendar, opened by the Viceroy of India. During the 1930s the Calcutta Derby Sweeps was a leading
sweepstake
game in the world. A
racecourse
was also set up in Ramna by the Dacca Club.
[103]
The Bengal Public Gaming (Amendment) Act (Act No. IV of 1913) excluded horse racing from the gambling law.
[104]
Bengal renaissance
[
edit
]
The Bengal renaissance refers to social reform movements during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the region of Bengal in
undivided India
during the period of British rule. Historian
Nitish Sengupta
describes it as having started with reformer and humanitarian
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
(1775?1833), and ended with Asia's first Nobel laureate
Rabindranath Tagore
(1861?1941).
[105]
This flowering of religious and social reformers, scholars, and writers is described by historian
David Kopf
as "one of the most creative periods in Indian history".
[106]
These movements were most prevalent in
Bengali Hindu
society, such as through the
Brahmo Samaj
. There was a growing cultural awakening in
Bengali Muslim
society, including the emergence of
Mir Mosharraf Hossain
as the first Muslim novelist of Bengal;
Kazi Nazrul Islam
as a celebrated poet who merged Bengali and Hindustani influences;
Begum Rokeya
and
Nawab Faizunnesa
as feminist educators;
Kaykobad
as an epic poet; and members of the
Freedom of Intellect Movement
.
Bengal played a major role in the
Indian independence movement
and the
Pakistan movement
. The earliest organized anti-colonial groups appeared in Bengal. The region produced many of the subcontinent's political leaders during the early 20th century. Political parties and rebel groups were formed across the region.
Architecture
[
edit
]
Civic architecture began following European styles after the advent of the East India Company's authority. The
Indo-Saracenic
style, merging
Gothic
and
Indo-Islamic architecture
, was started by British architects in the late 19th-century. While cities such as Calcutta and Dacca featured more civic architecture,
country houses
were built in many towns and villages across Bengal.
Art deco
influences began in the 1930s. Wealthy Bengali families (especially
zamindar
estates) employed European firms to design houses and palaces.
- Architecture in British Bengal
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Dacca Madrasa, 1904
-
Nawab's
Shahbagh
Garden, 1904
Society
[
edit
]
Bengali society remained deeply conservative during the colonial period with the exception of social reform movements. Historians have argued that the British used a policy of
divide and rule
among Hindus and Muslims. This meant favoring Hindus over Muslims and vice versa in certain sectors. For example, after the
Permanent Settlement
, Hindu merchants such as the
Tagore family
were awarded large land grants that previously belonged to the Mughal aristocracy. In Calcutta, where Hindus formed a majority, wealthy Muslims were often given favors over Hindus. One aspect that benefitted the Hindu community was increased literacy rates. Many Muslims, however, remained alienated from English education after the abolition of Persian. Bengali society continued to experience religious nationalism which led to the partition of Bengal in 1947.
[
citation needed
]
British Bengali cities included a cosmopolitan population, including Armenians and Jews.
Anglo-Indians
formed a prominent part of the urban population. Several
Gentlemen's clubs
were established, including the
Bengal Club
,
Calcutta Club
,
Dacca Club
,
Chittagong Club
,
Tollygunge Club
and
Saturday Club
.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Government of India Act 1833
(38). Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 28 August 1833.
- ^
Government of India Act 1935
(PDF)
(269?2). Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 2 August 1935. p. 166.
- ^
"Battle of Plassey | National Army Museum"
.
Nam.ac.uk
.
- ^
Visaria, Leela; Visaria, Praveen (1983), "Population (1757?1947)", in Dharma Kumar (ed.),
The Cambridge Economic History of India:
Volume 2, C.1757-c.1970. Appendix Table 5.2.
- ^
"Economic History of Bengal Presidency"
(PDF)
.
International Growth Centre
.
- ^
The Bengalis
. p. 143.
- ^
Dutta, Sutapa (2022).
"Colonial textbooks and national consciousness in British India"
.
History of Education
.
51
(6): 827?845.
doi
:
10.1080/0046760X.2022.2050304
.
S2CID
248603349
.
- ^
Marshall, P. J. (2 August 2001).
The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire
. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
9780521002547
.
- ^
Llewellyn-Jones, Rosie (2023).
Empire Building: The Construction of British India, 1690?1860
. Hurst Publishers.
ISBN
978-1-80526-026-4
. Retrieved
3 August
2023
.
- ^
Tan Tai Yong.
"A Tale of Two Cities: Singapore and Kolkata Past and Present"
(PDF)
. National University of Singapore. p. 3.
- ^
a
b
"The Commonwealth and Dhaka"
. 15 September 2023.
- ^
a
b
"The Straits Settlements becomes a residency - Singapore History"
. Eresources.nlb.gov.sg
. Retrieved
30 March
2020
.
- ^
"English Releases"
.
- ^
"Bengal Legislative Council"
.
Banglapedia
.
- ^
"Before the East India Company"
. 27 September 2019.
- ^
"East India Company"
.
- ^
Dalrymple, William
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Works cited
[
edit
]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Bengal
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links
[
edit
]
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Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
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22.5660; 88.3464