|
Bengal region of the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent, It has a total area of about 214,450 sq. km. The western part of the region is occupied by the Indian state of West Bengal, the larger eastern section is occupied almost entirely by Bangladesh, before 1947 the region of Bengal was almost entirely coextensive with the British Indian province of Bengal. The remainder was occupied by the princely states of Couch Bihar and Tripura. In West Bengal most people are Hindus. Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jain and Parsees are the other chief religious groups.
The principal language, Bengali is spoken by more than 90 per cent of the people, however, more than 75 other languages are also spoken throughout the area. The climate of West Bengal is humid and tropical. Rainfall is heavy, ranging from about 1,270 mm to more than 3,050 mm annually During the rainy season from June to October, cyclones from the Bay of Bengal and floods are common. The Bengal was a part of the Mauryan Empire, during the third century B. C. from the forth to sixth century A.D.; Bengal was under the Gupta Empire and this region was first united in the 8th century A.D. under the Buddhist Pala dynasty It was subjugated by Muslim rulers after 1200. From 1576 until the l8th century it was part of the Mughal empire. When mugyal power declined a separate dynasty emerged in & Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, ruled by the Nawabs of Bengal. The nawabs quickly came into conflict with the British and all most all of the region (except Cooch Bihar and Tripura) became a presidency of British India in 1699. In 1937, after a series of changes in territorial and political structure, Bengal became and autonomous provide with a bicameral legislature. In 1945, however, administration was taken over by the British governor.
In 1947, with the achievement of Indian independence and the concurrent division of the country into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, the western portion of former Bengal Province became part of India as West Bengal and the eastern portion became East Pakistan. In 1971 East Pakistan became the separate state of Bangladesh. Cooch Bihar became part of West Bengal in 1947, Tripura became a separate state of India in 1972, it was previously a union territory. West Bengal now is bordered on the north by Bhutan and Sikkim, on the east by Bangladesh and Assam. On South by Bay of Bengal, on the southwest by Orissa and on the west by Nepal and Bihar. Most people in Bengal work in agriculture . The chief crop is rice, the principal food of the people. Other important crops include jute, tea, sugarcane and cotton. Jute and cotton precessing are the main industrial activities, other industrial development is limited. |
