2019 – Posted in: STATE SERIES

WEST BENGAL

Background

In the ancient period, this region (present-day Bangladesh and West Bengal) was called Gangaridai. The word Gangaridai means the wealth of the Ganges. Megasthenes, the Greek traveler described Gangaridai in his work INDICA.

Pre-historic Period

The original people of this region spoke non-Aryan languages and they may have spoken Austric or Astro-Asiatic languages.
West Bengal as part of Magadha, became part of the Indo-Aryan civilization by the 7th century BCE.
The Nanda Dynasty was the first historical state to unify all of Bengal under Indo-Aryan rule.
Stone age tools dating back 20000 years have been excavated in the state.

Medieval Bengal

During the 12th century, Sufi Missionaries arrived in Bengal. Thus Islam came here.
Beginning in the 13th century a military command from Delhi Sultanate, Bakhtiar Khilji overran Bihar and Bengal as far east as Rangpur, Bogra, and the Brahamaputra river.
However, he failed to bring Bengal completely under his control.
During the 14th century, the former kingdom became known as the Sultanate of Bengal.

Modern Bengal (East India Company)

The agent of the East India Company first visited the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha for trade during the period of Ibrahim Khan (1617-1624).
In 1682 the East India Company got a special firman from Aurangzeb through the then Governor Shaesta Khan to do business permanently in Bengal.
In 1690, Kolkata was formed by purchasing three villages—Kolkata, Gobindapur and Sutanuti.
The Fort William was established in Kolkata in 1701.
Siraj-ud-doula, the last independent Nawab of Bengal attacked Fort William in 1757.
This attack was the starting point of colonialism.
The Company obtained the power of Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha on 12th August 1765.
The Nawab of Bengal lost financial power. It was called a Diarchy.
In 1779 the company took the responsibility of Dewany. Thus the Diarchy was ended.
To control the East India Company ‘The Regulating Act of 1773′ was passed in the British Parliament.
In the 19th century Bengal, a socio-cultural awakening was happening.
Many famous personalities like Raja Rammohan Roy, Dwarakanath Tagore, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Keshab Chandra Sen, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Sahitya Samrat Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Kaji Najrul Islam, Girish Ghosh, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Roy, Satyendranath Bose, Meghnad Saha as well as Surendranath Banerjee, Ananda Mohan Basu, Shibnath Shastri, Umeschandra Bandyapadhyay—created a new history.
The declaration of a partition of Bengal in 1905 gave an impetus to the freedom struggle of Bengal vis-à-vis India.
Bihar, Odisha, and Assam separated from the United eastern and western parts of Bengal.
In 1911, the capital of India was shifted to Delhi from Calcutta (present Kolkata) and Kolkata became the capital of Bengal.
The revolutionary thought and activities were spread all over India from Bengal.
When India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned. The western part went to India and was named West Bengal. The eastern part joined Pakistan as a province. In 1971, this province became independent Bangladesh.

Capital	Kolkata
Date of Formation	26, January 1950
No. of districts	23
State boundaries	Sikkim, Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand
International boundaries	Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan
State Animal	Fishing Cat
State Bird	White-throated Kingfisher
State Flower	Night-flowering Jasmine
State Tree	Alstonia scholaris – Chatim tree
State Fruit	Jackfruit
Official Language	Bengali, English
Landforms	Mountains, Plateaus, Hills, Plains, Sandy Coastal
Climate	Dry Summer, Monsoon, Autumn, Winter
Agricultural Crops	Boro, Jute, Maize, Wheat, Potato, Mustard, Rice, Jute, Pulse, Sugarcane, Oil-seeds, Cardamom, Ginger, Cinchona, Jowar, Maskalai, Gram, Musur, Khesari, Sugarcane, Til, Mung, Ground Nut, Vegetables and Tea
Forest Trees	Sundari, Pussur, Rhododendron, Camelia, Magnolia, Goran, Gewa, Keora, Kusum, Hetal, Hogla, Bamboo, Sal, Teak, Mahogany, Shirish, Arjun, Mulberry, Tall grass, Shimul, Palash, Mahua, Jarul, Gamar, Garjan, Chaplash, Toon, Pine
Geographical Regions	The Himalayas in the North. The Bay of Bengal in the South. Broad regions are the Himalayan region, Terai Region, Rarth Region, Western Plateau, and Highlands. Ganges Delta in the South having Sundarban Mangrove Forest Coastal Area
Beaches	Digha, Shankarpur, Bakkhali, Tajpur, and Mandarmani
National Park	Sundarbans National Park, Singalila National Park, Gorumara National Park, Neora Valley National Park
Tiger Reserves	Sunderbans, Buxa Tiger reserve
Wildlife Sanctuaries	Jaldapara, Ballavpur, Senchal, Bibhutibushan, Jorepamari, Chapramari, Raiganj, Lothian Island, Mahananda, Ramnabagan
Islands	New Moore, Ghoramara Island, Henry Island, Jambudwip, Lohachaua Island, Nayachar Island, Sagar Island
Tribes	Kora, Ho, Meu, Tamang, Lohara, Chero, Mahli, Malpahariya
Important Institutions	Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science Indian Statistical Institute Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres Zoological Survey of India Botanical Survey of India Marine Engineering and Research Institute Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute

Art and Culture

West Bengal is often termed as the hub for all cultural traits, with its capital Kolkata termed as the cultural capital of India.
In West Bengal, almost every child is into some kind of extra-curricular activity like literature, music, dance or art and cinema.

Art

Bengal has its own unique style of painting and sculpture, which originated during the colonial occupation of the country, and the roots of this origination lie in Kolkata and Shantiniketan.
This art style or movement as it is often termed as was a result of the Swadeshi movement, which was pioneered by Rabindranath Tagore.
Later on, many other artists came and went, each adding their own unique style to the vast pool of Bengali art and painting.
This includes the works and styles of various notable luminaries such as Kalipada Ghosal, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, and Ramkinkar Baij.

Literature

Bengali, which is the dominant language of West Bengal, is one of the most profound and intricate languages ever formulated.
Since childhood, Bengalis are flooded with literary works such as Charyapada, Mangalkavya, Thakumar Jhuli and other works, which start off a wonderful tryst with the language at a very tender age.
West Bengal has been home to many great literary maestros such as Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Michael Madhusudan Dutta, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.

Music and Dance

West Bengal is the birthplace of Rabindra Sangeet, which is a style of music that was hugely popularised by the late poet and lyricist Rabindranath Tagore.
The Baul music culture can be found in various parts of the Birbhum district, where Baul fakirs go around, singing with minimalistic instruments, songs about nature and other topics.
The Kirtan or Gajan music style, practiced in almost every household.
The Chau dance style of Purulia is a must-watch, performers wear colorful masks and follow various age-old traditions and rituals.

Festivals

Durga Puja is the biggest religious festival in the state.
Other festivals include Poush Mela, Eid, Doljatra, or the festival of colors, Nabanna, Buddha Purnima and Poila Boisakh, which is the Bengali New Year.
Melas: Gangasagar Mela, Kendui Mela, Jalpesh Mela, Naba Barsha

The Mangrove Forests

The Sundarbans form the largest mangrove forest in the world and are most notably known for housing the majestic and highly endangered species of Royal Bengal tigers.

The Dooars

These are the floodplains and few foothills of the eastern Himalayas, which are home to many forests and woods, and make for some great tourist destinations.
Most of the locals here are of Mongoloid descent and the most notable thing of interest here are the vast expansive tea gardens which cover almost every available side of the foothills.

Shantiniketan

Located in Birbhum district, this small town got worldwide recognition after Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore popularised it through his innumerable works.
The most notable fact about Shantiniketan is that one enjoys Baul music here. Baul is a folk form of music that is practiced here widely by Baul fakirs or saints.

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