Bengal

Bengal, (Bengali, Bangla) region of the north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It has a total area of about 214,450 sq km (82,800 sq mi). The western part of the region is occupied by the Indian State of West Bengal and 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 Cooch Behar and Tripura.

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), West Bengal, is the chief city of the region; other important cities include Haora, West Bengal, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Although the population of Bengal is predominantly rural, the average density (1993) is nearly 800 people per sq km, with about 193 million people living in a region of approximately 242,240 sq km (93,530 sq mi). In Bangladesh the majority of the people are Muslims; in West Bengal most people are Hindus. Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, and Parsees are the other chief religious groups. The principal language, Bangla (or Bengali), is spoken by more than 90 per cent of the people (see Bengali (people)); however, more than 75 other languages are also spoken throughout the area.

Except for the mountainous north, which is part of the Himalaya, and the hill ranges along the east and west, Bengal is a fertile alluvial plain intersected by many rivers. In their course through Bengal, the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers bear the names Padma and Jamuna, respectively.

The climate of Bengal is humid and tropical. The mean annual temperature is about 25° C (77° F). Rainfall is heavy, ranging from about 1,270 mm (50 in) to more than 3,050 mm (120 in) annually. During the rainy season, from June to October, cyclones from the Bay of Bengal and floods are common.

Most people in Bengal work in agriculture. The chief crop is rice, the principal food of the people. Other important crops include jute, tea, sugar cane, and cotton. Jute and cotton processing are the main industrial activities; other industrial development is limited.

The Bengal region was first united in the 8th century ad under the Buddhist Pāla dynasty. It was subjugated by Muslim rulers after 1200. From 1576 until the 18th century it was part of the Mughal empire. When Mughal 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 almost all of the region (except Cooch Behar and Tripura) became a presidency (division) of British India in 1699. In 1937, after a series of changes in territorial and political structure, Bengal became an autonomous province with a bicameral (two-house) 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 Behar became part of West Bengal in 1947. Tripura became a separate state of India in 1972; it was previously a union territory.