Bengal

Situation

The Bengal is the north-eastern area of the Indian Sous-continent framed by the Sikkim, the Bhutan, the Assam, the Bay of Bengal and the Bihâr. The old definition of Bengal, before the Partition of 1905 , included Assam, Bihâr and the Orissâ.

It is sprinkled by the common delta of the Gange and the Brahmapoutra. It is a rich person producing agricultural area of rice and jute. One also produced the there. Its climate is tropical and he knows strong precipitations. Its two important cities are Kolkata and Dhâkâ.

History

The old period

Bengal becomes a political entity under the Buddhist kings Pâlâ who reign of. It is one period of development of the language and of the literature Bengali, the Agriculture is flourishing, the encouraged trade. They are replaced soon by the Hindu dynasty of the Sena, come from the Karnataka. Under their reign, the influence of Buddhism is reduced, the system of the castes becomes more rigid, the bureaucracy, feudality strongly develop, the country however is closed again on itself and the trade does not enjoy there a great prestige. It is also the period when the Islam reaches the North-East of the sub-continent and settles in the Magadha. At the end of this old period, Bengal has its clean language and writing, its own styles cultural and artistic, it is self-sufficing from the food point of view.

The medieval period

Although present in India since the 7th century, the Musulman S slowly descend the valley from Gange and arrive to India of the east only at the 12th century. Bengal is conquered by Muhammad Ghûrî towards 1199. It then becomes depend on the capacity in place with Delhi, its independence growing when the central capacity weakens.

Under the dynasty Ilyâs Shâhî (1339 - 1415 then 1437 - 1487), Bengal is a strong and linked power, stopped by the bracket of the Hindu dynasty Ganesha, of the landowners who seize the capacity carried by the dissatisfaction due to the setting with the variation with the Hindus by the capacity Moslems. The short dynasty of the Abyssins (1487 - 1493) is reversed by its minister Husain shâh Hussain which installs its own dynasty (1493 - 1538) and extends its territory with portions of Bihâr and Assam. The Portuguese settle in Bengal (Chittagong, 1537) during this period. After the fight to be able it between Humâyûn and Sher Shâh Sûrî, Bengal ends up becoming a province of the Empire moghol, with at their head of the governors enjoying a certain independence.

The modern period

Having been looked after by the British surgeon Hamilton, the emperor Farrukhsiyâr concedes, in 1717, with his compatriots of the important commercial advantages. In 1764, the moghol Shâh Âlam II grants the diwani (trading income) of Bengal, of Bihâr and the Orissa to the English Compagnie of the Eastern Indies against the payment of 3.200.000 rupees per annum. In 1769, the British restrict the rights of the Bengali to market certain products, the same year and the following one, a terrible famine kills 10 million people, that is to say a third of the population. As from this period, the history of Bengal merges with that of the British administration and its General governors (1773 - 1833).

The Partitions

In 1905, Bengal, considered as too wide being able to be managed correctly knows a partition initiated by Lord Curzon, which leads to the creation of a Western Bengal comprising the current Indian state grouped with the Bihâr and the Orissa, of Eastern Bengal, corresponding coarsely to current Bangladesh and the Assam. This partition generated an important dissatisfaction at the Bengali, feeling reached in the integrity of their nation and involving a wave of terrorism against the British administration. Then, in 1915, the capital of the Empire passed from Calcutta to Delhi.

In 1943, Bengal knows a désatreuse famine whose assessment is estimated between 1,5 and 3 million deaths.

Bengal knew a last partition at the time of the independence which brought the constitution of the Eastern Pakistan, which will obtain its independence in 1971 under the name of Bangladesh.

See too

Western Bengal
School of Bengal

External bond

Images of Bengal by Gerard Busquet, on the site of Clio

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