The Sedition Committee , usually known as the Rowlatt Committee , was a committee of inquiry appointed in 1917 by the British Indian Government with Sidney Rowlatt , an Anglo-Egyptian judge, as its president, charged with evaluating the threat posed to British rule by the revolutionary movement and determining the legal changes necessary to deal with it.
126-1125: The purpose of the Rowlatt Committee was to evaluate political terrorism in India , especially in the Bengal and Punjab Provinces , its impact, and the links with the German government and the Bolsheviks in Russia. It was instituted towards the end of World War I when the Indian revolutionary movement had been especially active and had achieved considerable success, potency and momentum and massive assistance had been received from Germany , which planned to destabilise British India. These included supporting and financing Indian seditionist organisations in Germany and in United States as well as
252-502: A mlecha , and one who eats the flesh of cows. Three thousand Madrasees have taken a vow to kill George V as soon as he lands in our country. In order to make others know our intention, I who am the least in the company, have done this deed this day. This is what everyone in Hindustan should consider it as his duty. I will kill Ashe, whose arrival here is to celebrate the crowning of cow-eater King George V in this glorious land which
378-513: A ban. A total of 1,650 rounds were fired, killing 379 people (as according to an official British commission; Indian estimates ranged as high as 1,500.) Citations Bibliography Revolutionary movement for Indian independence The Revolutionary movement for Indian Independence was part of the Indian independence movement comprising the actions of violent underground revolutionary factions. Groups believing in armed revolution against
504-561: A combined religious school and bomb factory at a garden house in the Maniktala suburb of Calcutta . However, the attempted murder of district Judge Kingsford of Muzaffarpur by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki on 30 April 1908 initiated a police investigation that led to the arrest of many of the revolutionaries. Bagha Jatin was one of the top leaders in Jugantar. He was arrested, along with several other leaders, in connection with
630-629: A destabilisation in the political situation in neighbouring Afghanistan following a diplomatic mission that had attempted to rally the Amir of Afghanistan against British India. Attempts were also made by the Provisional Government of India established in Afghanistan following the mission to establish contacts with the Bolsheviks . A further reason for institution of the committee was emerging civil and labour unrest in India around
756-465: A famous part of this plot while mutinies in other smaller units and garrisons within India were also crushed. Bengal Bengal ( / b ɛ n ˈ ɡ ɔː l / ben- GAWL ) is a historical geographical , ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal . The region of Bengal proper is divided between
882-516: A few assassinations of British officials, after which the Savarkar brothers were convicted and imprisoned. The society was formally disbanded in 1952. Savarkar's revolutionary propaganda led to the assassination of Lt. Col. William Curzon-Wyllie , the political aide-de-camp to the Secretary of State for India, by Madanlal Dhingra on the evening of 1 July 1909, at a meeting of Indian students in
1008-769: A former prime minister of the Bengal Sultanate. By the 17th century, the Mughals were able to fully absorb the region to their empire. Mughal Bengal had the richest elite and was the wealthiest region in the subcontinent. Bengal's trade and wealth impressed the Mughals so much that it was described as the Paradise of the Nations by the Mughal Emperors . A new provincial capital was built in Dhaka . Members of
1134-581: A number of plots planned to foment unrest and trigger a Pan-Indian mutiny in February 1915, in the British Indian Army from Punjab to Singapore, to overthrow The Raj in the Indian subcontinent . This conspiracy was ultimately thwarted at the last moment as British intelligence successfully infiltrated the Ghadarite movement and arrested key figures. The failed Singapore mutiny remains
1260-605: A parallel government in the Karjat taluka of Thane district. They were about 50 in numbers including farmers and voluntary school teachers. They decided to cut down the electric pylons supplying electricity to Mumbai city. From September 1942 through November 1942 they felled 11 pylons, paralyzing the industries and railways. The uprising against the British was evidenced at Halagali (Mudhol taluk of Bagalkot district). The prince of Mudhol, Ghorpade, had accepted British overlordship. But
1386-921: A part of it. There are four World Heritage Sites in the region, including the Sundarbans , the Somapura Mahavihara , the Mosque City of Bagerhat and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway . Other prominent places include the Bishnupur, Bankura temple city, the Adina Mosque , the Caravanserai Mosque , numerous zamindar palaces (like Ahsan Manzil and Cooch Behar Palace ), the Lalbagh Fort ,
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#17327730635271512-517: A residence in Highgate, North London , for Indian students to promote nationalist views and work, the house became a centre for intellectual political activities, and rapidly developed into a meeting ground for radical nationalists among Indian students in Britain at the time, and of the most prominent centers for revolutionary Indian nationalism outside India. The Indian Sociologist , published by
1638-637: A revolutionary in South India. The mlechas of England having captured our country, tread over the Sanatana Dharma of the Hindus and destroy them. Every Indian is trying to drive out the English and get swarajyam and restore Sanatana Dharma. Our Raman, Sivaji, Krishnan, Guru Govindan, Arjuna ruled our land protecting all dharmas, but in this land, they are making arrangements to crown George V,
1764-656: A tributary state. The ruler of the Jaunpur Sultanate also sought refuge in Bengal. The vassal states of Bengal included Arakan, Tripura, Chandradwip and Pratapgarh . At its peak, the Bengal Sultanate's territory included parts of Arakan, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, and Tripura. The Bengal Sultanate experienced its greatest military success under Alauddin Hussain Shah , who was proclaimed as the conqueror of Assam after his forces led by Shah Ismail Ghazi overthrew
1890-596: Is divided into Terai and Dooars regions. North Bengal is also noted for its rich cultural heritage, including two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Aside from the Bengali majority, North Bengal is home to many other communities including Nepalis, Santhal people , Lepchas and Rajbongshis. Northeast Bengal refers to the Sylhet region, which today comprises the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh and Karimganj district in
2016-553: Is estimated to have caused the deaths of between 1 million and 10 million people. In 1862, the Bengal Legislative Council was set up as the first modern legislature in India . Elected representation was gradually introduced during the early 20th century, including with the Morley-Minto reforms and the system of dyarchy . In 1937, the council became the upper chamber of the Bengali legislature while
2142-420: Is home to the longest natural sea beach in the world with an unbroken length of 120 km (75 mi). It is also a growing surfing destination. St. Martin's Island , off the coast of Chittagong Division, is home to the sole coral reef in Bengal. Bengal was a regional power of the Indian subcontinent. The administrative jurisdiction of Bengal historically extended beyond the territory of Bengal proper. In
2268-700: Is not known to this day. The Indo-German movement, also referred to as the Hindu–German Conspiracy or the Ghadar movement (or Ghadr conspiracy), was formulated during World War I between Indian Nationalists in India, the United States and Germany, the Irish Republicans , and the German Foreign office to initiate a Pan-Indian rebellion against The Raj with German support between 1914 and 1917, during World War I. The most famous amongst
2394-672: Is noted for its thalassocratic and seafaring heritage. The area was dominated by the Bengali Harikela and Samatata kingdoms in antiquity. It was known to Arab traders as Samandar in the 9th century. During the medieval period, the region was ruled by the Chandra dynasty , the sultanate of Bengal , the kingdom of Tripura , the kingdom of Mrauk U , the Portuguese Empire and the Mughal Empire , prior to
2520-778: Is on the extreme south, while the Sundarbans mangrove forests form a remarkable geographical landmark at the Ganges delta. At least nine districts in West Bengal and 42 districts in Bangladesh have arsenic levels in groundwater above the World Health Organization maximum permissible limit of 50 μg/L or 50 parts per billion and the untreated water is unfit for human consumption. The water causes arsenicosis, skin cancer and various other complications in
2646-681: Is present in an inscription in the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur , which is one of the oldest references to Bengal. The term Vangaladesa is used to describe the region in 11th-century South Indian records. The modern term Bangla is prominent from the 14th century, which saw the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal , whose first ruler Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was known as the Shah of Bangala . The Portuguese referred to
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#17327730635272772-405: The ryotwari system and other attempts to maximize revenue, impacted lower-status cultivators by depleting their crops and leaving them impoverished. Alluri Sitarama Raju (4 July 1897 or 1898 – 7 May 1924) was an Indian revolutionary who waged an armed rebellion against the British colonial rule in India. Born in present-day Andhra Pradesh, he was involved in opposing the British in response to
2898-573: The Anushilan Samiti , which was already present in Bengal , mainly as a fitness club. The notion of self-improvement of the public along lines of physical, intellectual and spiritual development followed from ideas propagated by thinkers such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay , Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo who were rooted in Shakta Hinduism. Post-independence and Cold War Contemporary history Communist Consolidation
3024-1076: The Austrian East India Company , the Ostend Company , and the Dutch East India Company . The Nawabs were also suspicious of the growing influence of these companies. Under Mughal rule, Bengal was a centre of the worldwide muslin and silk trades. During the Mughal era, the most important centre of cotton production was Bengal, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka, leading to muslin being called "daka" in distant markets such as Central Asia. Domestically, much of India depended on Bengali products such as rice, silks and cotton textiles. Overseas, Europeans depended on Bengali products such as cotton textiles, silks and opium; Bengal accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia, for example, including more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks. From Bengal, saltpetre
3150-555: The Bay of Bengal allowed for maritime trade with distant lands in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. The ancient geopolitical divisions of Bengal included Varendra , Suhma , Anga , Vanga , Samatata and Harikela . These regions were often independent or under the rule of larger empires. The Mahasthan Brahmi Inscription indicates that Bengal was ruled by the Mauryan Empire in the 3rd century BCE. The inscription
3276-686: The Bengal Legislative Assembly was created. Between 1937 and 1947, the chief executive of the government was the Prime Minister of Bengal . The Bengal Presidency was the largest administrative unit in the British Empire . At its height, it covered large parts of present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore. In 1830, the British Straits Settlements on the coast of
3402-486: The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan . At a separate meeting of legislators from West Bengal , it was decided (58 votes to 21) that the province should be partitioned and West Bengal should join the Constituent Assembly of India . At another meeting of legislators from East Bengal , it was decided (106 votes to 35) that the province should not be partitioned and (107 votes to 34) that East Bengal should join
3528-945: The Defence of India Act 1915 , was enforced in response to the threat in Punjab and Bengal. The agitation unleashed by the acts culminated on 13 April 1919, in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar , Punjab when the Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer , blocked the main entrance to the Jallianwallah Bagh , a walled-in courtyard in Amritsar, and ordered his British Indian Army soldiers to fire into an unarmed and unsuspecting crowd of some 6,000 people who had assembled there in defiance of
3654-613: The Ghadar Party . Barin Ghosh was the main leader. Along with 21 revolutionaries including Bagha Jatin , he started to collect arms and explosives and manufactured bombs. The headquarters of Jugantar was located at 93/a Bowbazar Street, Kolkata . Some senior members of the group were sent abroad for political and military training. One of them, Hemchandra Kanungo , obtained his training in Paris. After returning to Kolkata he set up
3780-525: The Ghadar conspiracy before it was uncovered, and fleeing to Japan in 1916. The investigations in the aftermath of the assassination attempt led to the Delhi Conspiracy Trial . Although Basanta Kumar Biswas was convicted of having thrown the bomb and executed, along with Amir Chand and Avadh Behari for their roles in the conspiracy, the true identity of the person who threw the bomb
3906-597: The Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 in the Barisal region. About 50 million were killed in Bengal due to massive plague outbreaks and famines which happened in 1895 to 1920, mostly in western Bengal. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was initiated on the outskirts of Calcutta, and spread to Dhaka, Chittagong, Jalpaiguri, Sylhet and Agartala, in solidarity with revolts in North India. The failure of
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4032-1079: The Great Caravanserai ruins , the Shaista Khan Caravanserai ruins , the Kolkata Victoria Memorial , the Dhaka Parliament Building, archaeologically excavated ancient fort cities in Mahasthangarh , Mainamati , Chandraketugarh and Wari-Bateshwar , the Jaldapara National Park , the Lawachara National Park , the Teknaf Game Reserve and the Chittagong Hill Tracts . Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh
4158-447: The Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case . They were tried for treason, the charge being that they had incited various regiments of the army against the ruler. Jugantar, along with other revolutionary groups, aided by Indians abroad, planned an armed revolt against the British rulers during the First World War. This plan largely depended on the clandestine landing of German arms and ammunitions on the Indian coast. This plan came to be known as
4284-413: The Indo-German Plot. However, the planned revolt did not materialise. After the First World War, Jugantar supported Gandhi in the Non-Cooperation Movement and many of their leaders were in the Congress . Still, the group continued its revolutionary activities, a notable event being the Chittagong armoury raid . Benoy Basu , Badal Gupta and Dinesh Gupta , who are noted for launching an attack on
4410-400: The Karrani dynasty . The Battle of Raj Mahal and the capture of Daud Khan Karrani marked the end of the Bengal Sultanate during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar . In the late 16th-century, a confederation called the Baro-Bhuyan resisted Mughal invasions in eastern Bengal. The Baro-Bhuyan included twelve Muslim and Hindu leaders of the Zamindars of Bengal . They were led by Isa Khan ,
4536-539: The Khen dynasty and annexed large parts of Assam. In maritime trade, the Bengal Sultanate benefited from Indian Ocean trade networks and emerged as a hub of re-exports . A giraffe was brought by African envoys from Malindi to Bengal's court and was later gifted to Imperial China . Ship-owing merchants acted as envoys of the Sultan while travelling to different regions in Asia and Africa. Many rich Bengali merchants lived in Malacca. Bengali ships transported embassies from Brunei , Aceh and Malacca to China. Bengal and
4662-401: The Kingdom of Mrauk U was heavily influenced by Bengal. Bengali Muslims served in the royal court as ministers and military commanders. Bengali Hindus and Bengali Buddhists served as priests. Some of the most important poets of medieval Bengali literature lived in Arakan, including Alaol and Daulat Qazi . In 1660, Prince Shah Shuja , the governor of Mughal Bengal and a pretender of
4788-551: The Malacca Straits was made a residency of Bengal. The area included the erstwhile Prince of Wales Island , Province Wellesley , Malacca and Singapore . In 1867, Penang , Singapore and Malacca were separated from Bengal into the Straits Settlements . British Burma became a province of India and a later a Crown colony in itself. Western areas, including the Ceded and Conquered Provinces and The Punjab , were further reorganised. Northeastern areas became Colonial Assam . In 1876, about 200,000 people were killed in Bengal by
4914-402: The Maldives had a vast trade in shell currency . The Sultan of Bengal donated funds to build schools in the Hejaz region of Arabia. The five dynastic periods of the Bengal Sultanate spanned from the Ilyas Shahi dynasty , to a period of rule by Bengali converts, to the Hussain Shahi dynasty , to a period of rule by Abyssinian usurpers; an interruption by the Suri dynasty ; and ended with
5040-425: The Meghna River . Bengal was probably used as a transit route to China by the earliest Muslims. Abbasid coins have been discovered in the archaeological ruins of Paharpur and Mainamati . A collection of Sasanian, Umayyad and Abbasid coins are preserved in the Bangladesh National Museum . In 1204, the Ghurid general Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji began the Islamic conquest of Bengal. The fall of Lakhnauti
5166-444: The Nawab of Bengal from 1757 after the Battle of Plassey, thus signalling the start of British influence in India. British control of Bengal increased between 1757 and 1793 while the Nawab was reduced to a puppet figure. with the Presidency of Fort William asserting greater control over the entire province of Bengal and neighbouring territories. Calcutta was named the capital of British territories in India in 1772. The presidency
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5292-517: The Pala Empire . The first Pala emperor Gopala I was chosen by an assembly of chieftains in Gauda. The Pala kingdom grew into one of the largest empires in the Indian subcontinent. The Pala period saw advances in linguistics, sculpture, painting, and education. The empire achieved its greatest territorial extent under Dharmapala and Devapala . The Palas vied for control of Kannauj with the rival Gurjara-Pratihara and Rashtrakuta dynasties. Pala influence also extended to Tibet and Sumatra due to
5418-523: The Peacock Throne of India, was forced to seek asylum in Arakan. Bengali influence in the Arakanese royal court persisted until Burmese annexation in the 18th-century. The modern-day Rohingya population is a legacy of Bengal's influence on Arakan. The Rohingya genocide resulted in the displacement of over a million people between 2016 and 2017, with many being uprooted from their homes in Rakhine State. The Indian state of Assam shares many cultural similarities with Bengal. The Assamese language uses
5544-406: The Sylhet referendum and votes by the Bengal Legislative Council and Bengal Legislative Assembly , the region was again divided along religious lines in 1947 . Bengali culture, particularly its literature , music , art and cinema, are well known in South Asia and beyond. The region is also notable for its economic and social scientists, which includes several Nobel laureates . Once home to
5670-436: The deindustrialisation of its pre-colonial economy. Company policies led to the deindustrialisation of Bengal's textile industry. The capital amassed by the East India Company in Bengal was invested in the emerging Industrial Revolution in Great Britain , in industries such as textile manufacturing . Economic mismanagement, alongside drought and a smallpox epidemic, directly led to the Great Bengal famine of 1770, which
5796-439: The mountains in Bangladesh . Most parts of Bangladesh are within 10 metres (33 feet) above the sea level, and it is believed that about 10% of the land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by 1 metre (3.3 feet). Because of this low elevation, much of this region is exceptionally vulnerable to seasonal flooding due to monsoons. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 metres (3,451 feet). A major part of
5922-410: The 14th century, Bengal was absorbed by Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent . An independent Bengal Sultanate was formed and became the eastern frontier of the Islamic world . During this period, Bengal's rule and influence spread to Assam, Arakan , Tripura, Bihar, and Orissa. Bengal Subah later emerged as a prosperous part of the Mughal Empire . The last independent Nawab of Bengal
6048-466: The 1882 Madras Forest Act that effectively restricted the free movement of adivasis in their forest habitats and prevented them from practicing their traditional form of agriculture called 'podu', which threatened their very way of life. The Greatest Influential Indian Freedom Fighters from Bengal during Indian Independence Movement (1758–1947) Established by Pramathanath Mitra , it became one of
6174-408: The 9th century, the Pala Empire of Bengal ruled large parts of northern India. The Bengal Sultanate controlled Bengal, Assam, Arakan, Bihar and Orissa at different periods in history. In Mughal Bengal, the Nawab of Bengal had a jurisdiction covering Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Bengal's administrative jurisdiction reached its greatest extent under the British Empire, when the Bengal Presidency extended from
6300-454: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands; as well as in Myanmar's Rakhine State. Arakan (now Rakhine State , Myanmar ) has historically been under strong Bengali influence. Since antiquity, Bengal has influenced the culture of Arakan. The ancient Bengali script was used in Arakan. An Arakanese inscription recorded the reign of the Bengali Candra dynasty . Paul Wheatley described the "Indianization" of Arakan. According to Pamela Gutman , "Arakan
6426-399: The Bedas (hunters), a martial community, were seething with dissatisfaction under the new dispensation. The British proclaimed the Disarming Act of 1857 whereby men possessing firearms had to register them and secure a license before 10 November 1857. Babaji Nimbalkar, a soldier thrown out of job from Satara Court, had advised these people not to lose their hereditary right to own arms. One of
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#17327730635276552-433: The British Raj began with the rebellion of Titumir , and reached a climax when Subhas Chandra Bose led the Indian National Army against the British. Bengal was also central in the rising political awareness of the Muslim population—the All-India Muslim League was established in Dhaka in 1906. The Muslim homeland movement pushed for a sovereign state in eastern India with the Lahore Resolution in 1943. Hindu nationalism
6678-460: The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan if Bengal was partitioned. On 6 July, the Sylhet district of Assam voted in a referendum to join East Bengal . The English barrister Cyril Radcliffe was instructed to draw the borders of Pakistan and India. The Radcliffe Line created the boundary between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan , which later became the Bangladesh-India border . The Radcliffe Line awarded two-thirds of Bengal as
6804-415: The Delhi–Lahore Conspiracy, hatched in 1912, planned to assassinate the then Viceroy of India , Lord Hardinge , on the occasion of transferring the capital of British India from Calcutta to New Delhi. Involving revolutionary underground in Bengal and headed by Rash Behari Bose along with Sachin Sanyal , the conspiracy culminated on the attempted assassination on 23 December 1912 when a home-made bomb
6930-483: The Great was deterred by the accounts of Gangaridai's power in 325 BCE, including a cavalry of war elephants . Later Roman accounts noted maritime trade routes with Bengal. 1st century Roman coins with images of Hercules were found in the region and point to trade links with Roman Egypt through the Red Sea . The Wari-Bateshwar ruins are believed to be the emporium (trading centre) of Sounagoura mentioned by Roman geographer Claudius Ptolemy . A Roman amphora
7056-413: The Imperial Institute in London. Dhingra was arrested and later tried and executed. A. M. T. Jackson , the district magistrate of Nasik, was assassinated in India by Anant Laxman Kanhare in 1909 in the historic "Nasik Conspiracy Case". The investigation into the Jackson assassination revealed the existence of the Abhinav Bharat Society and the role of the Savarkar brothers in leading it. Vinayak Savarkar
7182-411: The Indian state of Assam . The region is famous for its fertile land terrain, many rivers, extensive tea plantations, rainforests and wetlands. The Brahmaputra and Barak river are the geographic markers of the area. The city of Sylhet is its largest urban centre, and the region is known for its unique regional Sylheti language . The ancient name of the region is Srihatta and Nasratshahi. The region
7308-425: The Mauryans and the Gupta Empire . The region was a centre of artistic, political, social, spiritual and scientific thinking, including the invention of chess , Indian numerals , and the concept of zero . The region was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Gangaridai . The Greek ambassador Megasthenes chronicled its military strength and dominance of the Ganges delta . The invasion army of Alexander
7434-426: The Mughal emperor. The wealth of Bengal was vital for the Mughal court because Delhi received its biggest share of revenue from the Nawab's court. The Nawabs presided over a period of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, including an era of growing organisation in textiles, banking, a military-industrial complex, the production of fine quality handicrafts , and other trades. A process of proto-industrialisation
7560-468: The Mughals in 1666. In the 18th-century, the Mughal Court rapidly disintegrated due to Nader Shah's invasion and internal rebellions, allowing European colonial powers to set up trading posts across the territory. The British East India Company eventually emerged as the foremost military power in the region; and defeated the last independent Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The British East India Company began influencing and controlling
7686-415: The Secretariat Building – the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie Square in Kolkata , were Jugantar members. The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was established in October 1924 in Kanpur , Uttar Pradesh by revolutionaries like Ramprasad Bismil , Jogesh Chatterjee , Chandrashekhar Azad , Yogendra Shukla and Sachindranath Sanyal . The aim of the party was to organise armed revolution to end
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#17327730635277812-429: The Straits of Malacca in the east to the Khyber Pass in the west. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, administrative reorganisation drastically reduced the territory of Bengal. Several regions bordering Bengal proper continue to have high levels of Bengali influence. The Indian state of Tripura has a Bengali majority population. Bengali influence is also prevalent in the Indian regions of Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and
7938-401: The United States. The network that the House founded was key in the nationalist revolutionary conspiracy in India during World War I. Gadar party was a predominantly Sikh organization that started operating abroad in 1913 "with the view to do-away with the British rule in India". The party collaborated with revolutionaries inside India and helped them get arms and ammunition. Lala Hardayal
8064-417: The activists were deported to the Andaman Cellular Jail . Most of the eminent Jugantar leaders including Bagha Jatin alias Jatindra Nath Mukherjee who were not arrested earlier, were arrested in 1910, in connection with the murder of Shamsul Alam. Thanks to Bagha Jatin's new policy of a decentralised federated action, most of the accused were released in 1911. The Delhi Conspiracy case, also known as
8190-412: The advent of British rule. The Chittagonian language , a sister of Bengali is prevalent in coastal areas of southeast Bengal. Along with its Bengali population, it is also home to Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups, including the Chakma , Marma , Tanchangya and Bawm peoples. Southeast Bengal is considered a bridge to Southeast Asia and the northern parts of Arakan are also historically considered to be
8316-514: The advent of the Iron Age , people in Bengal adopted iron-based weapons, tools and irrigation equipment. From 600 BCE, the second wave of urbanisation engulfed the north Indian subcontinent as part of the Northern Black Polished Ware culture. Ancient archaeological sites and cities in Dihar , Pandu Rajar Dhibi , Mahasthangarh , Chandraketugarh and Wari-Bateshwar emerged. The Ganges , Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers were natural arteries for communication and transportation. Estuaries on
8442-404: The annual output of Bengal at 223,250 tons, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771. Since the 16th century, European traders traversed the sea routes to Bengal, following the Portuguese conquests of Malacca and Goa. The Portuguese established a settlement in Chittagong with permission from the Bengal Sultanate in 1528 but were later expelled by
8568-428: The beginning of the 20th century. The revolutionary philosophies and movement made their presence felt during the 1905 partition of Bengal . Arguably, the initial steps to organise the revolutionaries were taken by Aurobindo Ghosh , his brother Barin Ghosh , Bhupendranath Datta , Lal Bal Pal and Subodh Chandra Mullick , when they formed the Jugantar party in April 1906. Jugantar was created as an inner circle of
8694-652: The body. North Bengal is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladeshi part comprises Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division . Generally, it is the area lying west of Jamuna River and north of Padma River , and includes the Barind Tract . Politically, West Bengal's part comprises Jalpaiguri Division and most of Malda division (except Murshidabad district ) together and Bihar's parts include Kishanganj district . Darjeeling Hilly are also part of North Bengal. The people of Jaipaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar usually identify themselves as North Bengali. North Bengal
8820-428: The city with the highest per capita income level in British India, the region is today a leader in South Asia in terms of gender parity , the gender pay gap and other indices of human development . The name of Bengal is derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga (pronounced Bôngô), the earliest records of which date back to the Mahabharata epic in the first millennium BCE . The reference to 'Vangalam'
8946-473: The coastline comprises a marshy jungle , the Sundarbans , the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to diverse flora and fauna, including the royal Bengal tiger . In 1997, this region was declared endangered. West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The state has a total area of 88,752 km (34,267 sq mi). The Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in
9072-502: The colonial rule and establish a Federal Republic of the United States of India . The Kakori train robbery was a notable act of this group. The Kakori case led to the hanging of Ashfaqullah Khan , Ramprasad Bismil , Roshan Singh , Rajendra Lahiri . The Kakori case was a major setback for the group. However, the group was soon reorganised under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Azad and with members like Bhagat Singh , Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Sukhdev on 8 and 9 September 1928– and
9198-468: The eastern wing of Pakistan, although the historic Bengali capitals of Gaur , Pandua , Murshidabad and Calcutta fell on the Indian side close to the border with Pakistan. Dhaka's status as a capital was also restored. Most of the Bengal region lies in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta , but there are highlands in its north, northeast and southeast. The Ganges Delta arises from the confluence of
9324-410: The elevated Madhupur tract with a large Sal tree forest . The Padma River cuts through the southern part of the region, separating the greater Faridpur region. In the north lies the greater Mymensingh and Tangail regions. South Bengal covers the southwestern Bangladesh and the southern part of the Indian state of West Bengal.The Bangladeshi part includes Khulna Division , Barisal Division and
9450-511: The first Muslim army enter Nepal and stretched from Varanasi in the west to Orissa in the south to Assam in the east. The Delhi army continued to fend off the new Bengali army. The Bengal-Delhi War ended in 1359 when Delhi recognised the independence of Bengal. Ilyas Shah's son Sikandar Shah defeated Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq during the Siege of Ekdala Fort. A subsequent peace treaty recognised Bengal's independence and Sikandar Shah
9576-638: The focus of work for the nascent Indian Political Intelligence Office . India House ceased to be a potent organisation after its liquidation in the wake of the assassination of William Hutt Curzon Wyllie by an India House member named Madan Lal Dhingra . This event marked the beginnings of the London Police's crackdown on the activities of the house and a number of its activists and patrons, including Shyamji Krishna Varma and Bhikaiji Cama moved to Europe to carry on works in support of Indian nationalism. Some Indian students, including Har Dayal , moved to
9702-529: The forest with his followers. The overthrow of the Sena king has been described as a coup d'état, which "inaugurated an era, lasting over five centuries, during which most of Bengal was dominated by rulers professing the Islamic faith. In itself this was not exceptional, since from about this time until the eighteenth century, Muslim sovereigns ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent. What was exceptional, however,
9828-529: The fullest height of their stature, a land that will truly be plentiful. It will be rich in agriculture, rich in industry and commerce and in course of time it will be one of the powerful and progressive states of the world. If Bengal remains united this will be no dream, no fantasy". On 2 June 1947, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee told the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom that there
9954-584: The group was now christened Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). In Lahore on 17 December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru assassinated Saunders, a police official involved in deadly lathi-charge on Lala Lajpat Rai. Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly . The Assembly Bomb Case trial followed. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were hanged on 23 March 1931. The Abhinav Bharat Society (Young India Society)
10080-422: The house, was a noted platform for anti-colonial work and was banned in India as "seditious literature". The India House was the beginning of a number of noted Indian revolutionaries and nationalists, most famously V. D. Savarkar , as well as others of the like of V.N. Chatterjee , Lala Har Dayal , V. V. S. Iyer , The house came to the attention of Scotland Yard 's work against Indian seditionists, as well as
10206-477: The imperial family were appointed to positions in Mughal Bengal, including the position of governor ( subedar ). Dhaka became a centre of palace intrigue and politics. Some of the most prominent governors included Rajput general Man Singh I , Emperor Shah Jahan 's son Prince Shah Shuja , Emperor Aurangzeb 's son and later Mughal emperor Azam Shah , and the influential aristocrat Shaista Khan . During
10332-493: The last Prime Minister of Bengal Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy held a press conference in New Delhi where he outlined his vision for an independent Bengal. Suhrawardy said "Let us pause for a moment to consider what Bengal can be if it remains united. It will be a great country, indeed the richest and the most prosperous in India capable of giving to its people a high standard of living, where a great people will be able to rise to
10458-570: The leaders of the Bedas, Jadgia, was invited by the administrator at Mudhol and was persuaded to secure a license on 11 November, though Jadgia had not asked for it. The administrator's expectation that others would follow Jadgia was belied. So he sent his agents to Halagali on 15 and 20 November and again on 21. But the entreaties of the agents did not succeed, and the agents sent on 21 November were attacked by Jadgia and Baalya, another leader, and they were forced to return. Another agent sent on 25 November
10584-659: The main successor of the Palas by the 11th century. The Senas were a resurgent Hindu dynasty which ruled much of Bengal. The smaller Deva dynasty also ruled parts of the region. Ancient Chinese visitors like Xuanzang provided elaborate accounts of Bengal's cities and monastic institutions. Muslim trade with Bengal flourished after the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the Arab takeover of Persian trade routes. Much of this trade occurred with southeastern Bengal in areas east of
10710-409: The modern-day sovereign nation of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal . The ancient Vanga Kingdom is widely regarded as the namesake of the Bengal region. The Bengali calendar dates back to the reign of Shashanka in the 7th century CE. The Pala Empire was founded in Bengal during the 8th century. The Sena dynasty and Deva dynasty ruled between the 11th and 13th centuries. By
10836-893: The most organised revolutionary associations, especially in eastern Bengal , where the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti had several branches and carried out major activities. Jugantar was initially formed by an inner circle of the Kolkata Anushilan Samiti . In the 1920s, the Kolkata faction supported Gandhi in the Non-Cooperation Movement and many of the leaders held high posts in Congress . The Anushilan Samati had over five hundred branches. Indians living in America and Canada had established
10962-425: The northern extreme of the state belongs to the eastern Himalaya. This region contains Sandakfu (3,636 m (11,929 ft))—the highest peak of the state. The narrow Terai region separates this region from the plains, which in turn transitions into the Ganges delta towards the south. The Rarh region intervenes between the Ganges delta in the east and the western plateau and high lands . A small coastal region
11088-597: The post-war recession - such as the Bombay mill worker's strikes and unrest in Punjab - and the 1918 flu pandemic that killed nearly 13 million people in the country. The evidence produced before the committee substantiated the German link, although no conclusive evidence was found for a significant contribution or threat from the Bolsheviks. On the recommendations of the committee, the Rowlatt Act , an extension of
11214-532: The proposed Faridpur Division The part of South Bengal of West Bengal includes Presidency division , Burdwan division and Medinipur division . The Sundarbans , a major biodiversity hotspot , is located in South Bengal. Bangladesh hosts 60% of the forest, with the remainder in India. Southeast Bengal refers to the hilly-coastal Chittagonian -speaking and coastal Bengali-speaking areas of Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh. The region
11340-520: The rebellion led to the abolition of the Company Rule in India and establishment of direct rule over India by the British, commonly referred to as the British Raj . The late 19th and early 20th century Bengal Renaissance had a great impact on the cultural and economic life of Bengal and started a great advance in the literature and science of Bengal. Between 1905 and 1911, an abortive attempt
11466-459: The region as Bengala in the Age of Discovery . Neolithic sites have been found in several parts of the region. In the second millennium BCE, rice-cultivating communities dotted the region. By the eleventh century BCE, people in Bengal lived in systematically aligned homes, produced copper objects, and crafted black and red pottery. Remnants of Copper Age settlements are located in the region. At
11592-432: The rivers Ganges , Brahmaputra , and Meghna rivers and their respective tributaries. The total area of Bengal is 237,212 square kilometres (91,588 sq mi)—West Bengal is 88,752 km (34,267 sq mi) and Bangladesh 148,460 km (57,321 sq mi). The flat and fertile Bangladesh Plain dominates the geography of Bangladesh . The Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet region are home to most of
11718-576: The ruler of Satgaon, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah , unified the region into an independent state. Ilyas Shah established his capital in Pandua . The new breakaway state emerged as the Bengal Sultanate , which developed into a territorial, mercantile and maritime empire. At the time, the Islamic world stretched from Muslim Spain in the west to Bengal in the east. The initial raids of Ilyas Shah saw
11844-481: The ruling British fall into this category, as opposed to the generally peaceful civil disobedience movement spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi . The revolutionary groups were mainly concentrated in Bengal , Bombay , Bihar , the United Provinces and Punjab . More groups were scattered across India . Apart from a few stray incidents, the armed rebellion against the British rulers was not organised before
11970-538: The same script as the Bengali language. The Barak Valley has a Bengali-speaking majority population. During the Partition of India , Assam was also partitioned along with Bengal. The Sylhet Division joined East Bengal in Pakistan, with the exception of Karimganj which joined Indian Assam. Previously, East Bengal and Assam were part of a single province called Eastern Bengal and Assam between 1905 and 1912 under
12096-558: The tenure of Shaista Khan, the Portuguese and Arakanese were expelled from the port of Chittagong in 1666. Bengal became the eastern frontier of the Mughal administration. By the 18th century, Bengal became home to a semi-independent aristocracy led by the Nawabs of Bengal . Bengal premier Murshid Quli Khan managed to curtail the influence of the governor due to his rivalry with Prince Azam Shah. Khan controlled Bengal's finances since he
12222-412: The travels and preachings of Atisa . The university of Nalanda was established by the Palas. They also built the Somapura Mahavihara , which was the largest monastic institution in the subcontinent. The rule of the Palas eventually disintegrated. The Chandra dynasty ruled southeastern Bengal and Arakan . The Varman dynasty ruled parts of northeastern Bengal and Assam . The Sena dynasty emerged as
12348-589: The war starts they should get back to mainland country to be with their people and take an active part in the upheaval that was imminent, so the prisoners started hunger strike against the British government and this hunger strike was led by the founder of Communist Consolidation Hare Krishna Konar, some notable strikers were Batukeshwar Dutt (associated with Bhagat Singh ), Sachindra Nath Sanyal (founder of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association ), Ganesh Ghosh (member of Chittagong armoury raid ) and many others. Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy (died 22 February 1847)
12474-427: Was a secret society founded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar in 1904. Initially founded at Nasik as "Mitra Mela" when Vinayak Savarkar was still a student of Fergusson College at Pune , the society grew to include several hundred revolutionaries and political activists with branches in various parts of India, extending to London after Savarkar went to study law. It carried out
12600-554: Was a "distinct possibility Bengal might decide against partition and against joining either Hindustan or Pakistan". On 3 June 1947, the Mountbatten Plan outlined the partition of British India . On 20 June, the Bengal Legislative Assembly met to decide on the partition of Bengal. At the preliminary joint meeting, it was decided (126 votes to 90) that if the province remained united, it should join
12726-445: Was a fight during the night. On 30 November, Major Malcolm came with 29th Regiment from Bagalkot. They set fire to the village and many insurgents died, including Babaji Nimbalkar. The British, who had a bigger army and better arms, arrested 290 insurgents; and of those 29 were tried and 11 were hanged at Mudhol on 11 December, and six others, including Jadagia and Baalya, were hanged at Halagali on 14 December 1857. No prince or jagirdar
12852-541: Was a prominent leader of the party and promoter of the Gadar newspaper. The Komagata Maru incident in 1914 inspired several thousand Indians residing in the USA to sell their businesses and rush home to participate in the anti- British activities in India. The party had active members in India, Mexico, Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand , Philippines , Malaya , Indo-China and Eastern and Southern Africa. During World War I, it
12978-484: Was also mounted by Bakhtiyar. Bengal was under the formal rule of the Delhi Sultanate for approximately 150 years. Delhi struggled to consolidate control over Bengal. Rebel governors often sought to assert autonomy or independence. Sultan Iltutmish re-established control over Bengal in 1225 after suppressing the rebels. Due to the considerable overland distance, Delhi's authority in Bengal was relatively weak. It
13104-637: Was also shipped to Europe, opium was sold in Indonesia , raw silk was exported to Japan and the Netherlands, cotton and silk textiles were exported to Europe, Indonesia, and Japan, cotton cloth was exported to the Americas and the Indian Ocean. Bengal also had a large shipbuilding industry. In terms of shipbuilding tonnage during the 16th–18th centuries, economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates
13230-663: Was also strong in Bengal, which was home to groups like the Hindu Mahasabha . In spite of a last-ditch effort by politicians Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy , Sarat Chandra Bose to form a United Bengal , when India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The western joined India (and was named West Bengal) while the eastern part joined Pakistan as a province called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan , giving rise to Bangladesh in 1971). The circumstances of partition were bloody, with widespread religious riots in Bengal. On 27 April 1947,
13356-685: Was among the chief participants of the Hindu–German Conspiracy . The " Berlin committee for Indian independence" was established in 1915 by Virendra Nath Chattopadhya, including Bhupendra Nath Dutt & Lala Hardayal under "Zimmerman plan" with the full backing of German foreign office. Their goal was mainly to achieve the following four objectives: Several leaders of the Jugantar party including Aurobindo Ghosh were arrested in connection with bomb-making activities in Kolkata . Several of
13482-566: Was an administrative order instructing relief for a distressed segment of the population. Punch-marked coins found in the region indicate that coins were used as currency during the Iron Age. The namesake of Bengal is the ancient Vanga Kingdom which was reputed as a naval power with overseas colonies. A prince from Bengal named Vijaya founded the first kingdom in Sri Lanka . The two most prominent pan-Indian empires of this period included
13608-557: Was an organization formed in Cellular Jail and was founded by Hare Krishna Konar with other 39 intimate in the jail this organization was formed after the freedom fighters started studying about Communism , Socialism and Marxism and in 1937 the political prisoners and the members of the Communist Consolidation of Cellular Jail started feeling that the atmosphere for a World War II and they though before
13734-559: Was defeated in 1757 at the Battle of Plassey by the East India Company . The company's Bengal Presidency grew into the largest administrative unit of British India with Calcutta as the capital of both Bengal and India until 1911. As a result of the first partition of Bengal , a short-lived province called Eastern Bengal and Assam existed between 1905 and 1911 with its capital in the former Mughal capital Dhaka . Following
13860-703: Was found in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal which was made in Aelana (present-day Aqaba, Jordan ) between the 4th and 7th centuries AD. The first unified Bengali polity can be traced to the reign of Shashanka . The origins of the Bengali calendar can be traced to his reign. Shashanka founded the Gauda Kingdom . After Shashanka's death, Bengal experienced a period of civil war known as Matsyanyayam. The ancient city of Gauda later gave birth to
13986-534: Was found to have dispatched twenty Browning pistols to India, one of which was used in the Jackson assassination. He was charged in the Jackson murder and sentenced to "transportation" for life. Savarkar was imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands in 1910. Veer Bhai Kotwal alias Veer Bhai Kotwal during Quit India Movement formed group of underground mercenaries called "Kotwal Dasta",
14112-735: Was gifted a golden crown by the Sultan of Delhi. The ruler of Arakan sought refuge in Bengal during the reign of Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah . Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah later helped the Arakanese king to regain control of his throne in exchange for becoming a tributary state of the Bengal Sultanate. Bengali influence in Arakan persisted for 300 years. Bengal also helped the king of Tripura to regain control of his throne in exchange for becoming
14238-531: Was in charge of the treasury. He shifted the provincial capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad . In 1717, the Mughal court in Delhi recognised the hereditary monarchy of the Nawab of Bengal. The ruler was officially titled as the "Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa ", as the Nawab ruled over the three regions in the eastern subcontinent. The Nawabs began issuing their own coins but continued to pledge nominal allegiance to
14364-498: Was involved in this uprising, but it was the common soldiers. Violent revolutionary activities never took firm root in South India. The only violent act attributed to the revolutionaries was the assassination of the Collector of Tirunelveli (Tinnevelly). On 17 June 1911, the Collector of Tirunelveli, Robert Ashe, was killed by Vanchinathan , who subsequently committed suicide, which was the only instance of political assassination by
14490-586: Was left to local governors to expand territory and bring new areas under Muslim rule, such as through the Conquest of Sylhet in 1303. In 1338, new rebellions sprung up in Bengal's three main towns. Governors in Lakhnauti, Satgaon and Sonargaon declared independence from Delhi. This allowed the ruler of Sonargaon, Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah , to annexe Chittagong to the Islamic administration. By 1352,
14616-653: Was made to divide the province of Bengal into two: Bengal proper and the short-lived province of Eastern Bengal and Assam where the All India Muslim League was founded. In 1911, the Bengali poet and polymath Rabindranath Tagore became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature . Bengal played a major role in the Indian independence movement , in which revolutionary groups were dominant. Armed attempts to overthrow
14742-463: Was not allowed to enter the village. Meanwhile, the Bedas and other armed men from the neighbouring villages of Mantur, Boodni, and Alagundi assembled at Halagali. The administrator reported the matter to Major Malcolm, the Commander at the nearby army headquarters, who sent Col. Seton Karr to Halagali on 29 November. The insurgents, numbering 500, did not allow the British to enter Halagali. There
14868-467: Was once ruled by great Samrats . This I do to make them understand the fate of those who cherish the thought of enslaving this sacred land. I, as the least of them, wish to warn George by killing Ashe. Vande Mataram . Vande Mataram. Vande Mataram The India House was an informal Indian nationalist organization that existed in London between 1905 and 1910. Initially begun by Shyamji Krishna Varma as
14994-475: Was recounted by historians circa 1243. Lakhnauti was the capital of the Sena dynasty. According to historical accounts, Ghurid cavalry swept across the Gangetic plains towards Bengal. They entered the Bengali capital disguised as horse traders. Once inside the royal compound, Bakhtiyar and his horsemen swiftly overpowered the guards of the Sena king who had just sat down to eat a meal. The king then hastily fled to
15120-485: Was ruled by kings who adopted Indian titles and traditions to suit their own environment. Indian Brahmins conducted royal ceremonies, Buddhist monks spread their teachings, traders came and went and artists and architects used Indian models for inspiration. In the later period, there was also influence from the Islamic courts of Bengal and Delhi". Arakan emerged as a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate . It later became an independent kingdom. The royal court and culture of
15246-526: Was ruled by the Kamarupa and Harikela kingdoms as well as the Bengal Sultanate . It later became a district of the Mughal Empire . Alongside the predominant Bengali population resides a small Garo , Bishnupriya Manipuri , Khasia and other tribal minorities. The region is the crossroads of Bengal and northeast India . Central Bengal refers to the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. It includes
15372-656: Was run by a military-civil administration, including the Bengal Army , and had the world's sixth earliest railway network. Between 1833 and 1854, the Governor of Bengal was concurrently the Governor-General of India for many years. Great Bengal famines struck several times during colonial rule (notably the Great Bengal famine of 1770 and Bengal famine of 1943 ). Under British rule, Bengal experienced
15498-655: Was that among India's interior provinces only in Bengal—a region approximately the size of England and Scotland combined—did a majority of the indigenous population adopt the religion of the ruling class, Islam". Bengal became a province of the Delhi Sultanate . A coin featuring a horseman was issued to celebrate the Muslim conquest of Lakhnauti with inscriptions in Sanskrit and Arabic. An abortive Islamic invasion of Tibet
15624-551: Was the son of a former Indian Telugu polygar who was at the heart of a rebellion in 1846, when 5000 peasants rose up against the British East India Company (EIC) in Kurnool district, Rayalaseema Region of Andhra Pradesh . They were protesting changes to the traditional agrarian system the British introduced in the first half of the nineteenth century. Those changes, which included the introduction of
15750-647: Was thrown into the Viceroys's Howdah when the ceremonial procession moved through the Chandni Chowk suburb of Delhi . The Viceroy escaped with his injuries, along with Lady Hardinge, although the Mahout was killed. In the aftermath of the event, efforts were made to destroy the Bengali and Punjabi revolutionary underground, which came under intense pressure for sometime. Rash Behari successfully evaded capture for nearly three years, becoming actively involved in
15876-708: Was underway. Under the Nawabs, the streets of Bengali cities were filled with brokers, workers, peons, naibs, wakils, and ordinary traders. The Nawab's state was a major exporter of Bengal muslin , silk, gunpowder and saltpetre . The Nawabs also permitted European trading companies to operate in Bengal, including the British East India Company , the French East India Company , the Danish East India Company ,
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