History of West Bengal

8/7/2019 History of West Bengal

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History of West Bengal


The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be

derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang/Banga that settled in the area aroundthe year 1000 BCE.[2][3] Other accounts speculate that the name is derived from Vanga(bngo), which came from the Austric word "Bonga" meaning the Sun-god. Accordingto the Mahabharata, a number ofPuranas and the Harivamsha Vanga was one of theadopted sons of king Vali who founded the Vanga kingdom. The Muslim Accountsrefer that "Bong", a son of Hind (son of Hm who was a son of Prophet Noah/Nooh)colonized the area for the first time.[4] The earliest reference to "Vangala" (Bngal)has been traced in the Nesari plates (805 AD) ofRashtrakutaGovinda III which speakofDharmapala as the king of Vangala. Shams-ud-din Ilyas Shah took the title "Shah-e-Bangla" and united the whole region under one government.

Ancient history

See also: Gangaridai, Magadha, Pundra Kingdom, Suhma Kingdom, Anga Kingdom,Vanga Kingdom, and Harikela

Pre-historic Bengal

Stone age tools dating back 20,000 years have been excavated in the state.[5]

Remnants of Copper Age settlements in the Bengal region date back 4,000 years. [6]

Stone tools provide the earliest evidence of human settlements. Prehistoric stone

implements have been discovered in various parts of West Bengal in the districts ofMidnapur, Bankura and Burdwan, and also at Sagardighi. But it is difficult todetermine, even approximately, the time when people using them first settled inBengal. It might have taken place ten thousand years (or even more) ago. Theoriginal settlers spoke non-Aryan languages they may have spoken Austric orAustro-Asiatic languages like the languages of the present-day Kola, Bhil, Santal,Shabara, and Pulinda peoples. At a subsequent age, peoples speaking languages fromtwo other language families Dravidian and Tibeto-Burmanseem to have settled inBengal. Archaeological discoveries during the 1960s furnished evidence of a degreeof civilisation in certain parts of Bengal as far back as the beginning of the firstmillennium BC, perhaps even earlier. The discoveries at Pandu Rajar Dhibi in the

valley of the Ajay river (near Bolpur) in Birbhum district and in several other sites onthe Ajay, Kunur and Kopai rivers have thrown fresh light on Bengal's prehistory. PanduRajar Dhibi represents the ruins of a trading township, which carried on trade not onlywith the interior regions of India, but alsopossibly indirectlywith the countries ofthe Mediterranean.

Bengal in early literature

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Some references indicate that the primitive people in Bengal were different inethnicity and culture from the Vedic people beyond the boundary of Aryandom andwho were classed as "Dasyus". The Bhagavata Purana classes them as sinful peoplewhile Dharmasutra ofBaudhayana prescribes expiatory rites after a journey amongthe Pundras and Vangas. Mahabharata speaks ofPaundraka Vasudeva who was lord

of the Pundras and who allied himself with Jarasandha against Krishna. TheMahabharata also speaks of Bengali kings called Chitrasena and Sanudrasena whowere defeated by Bhima and Kalidasa mentions Raghu defeating a coalition ofVangakings.

Proto-History

Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh. It dates back to 700BCE and was the ancient capital of the Pundra Kingdom.

Hindu scriptures such as the Mahabharata suggest that ancient Bengal was dividedamong various tribes or kingdoms, including the Nishadas and kingdoms known asthe Janapadas: Vanga (southern Bengal), Pundra (northern Bengal), and Suhma

(western Bengal) according to their respective totems. These Hindu sources, writtenby Indo-Aryans in what is now Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, suggest that the peoples ofBengal were not Indo-Aryans. However, Jain scriptures identify Vanga and Anga inBengal as Indo-Aryan. While western Bengal, as part ofMagadha, became part of theIndo-Aryan civilization by the 7th century BCE, the Nanda Dynasty was the firsthistorical state to unify all of Bengal under Indo-Aryan rule.

Overseas Colonization

The Vanga Kingdom was a powerful seafaring nation of Ancient India. They hadoverseas trade relations with Java, Sumatra and Siam (modern day Thailand).

According to Mahavamsa, the Vanga prince Vijaya Simha conquered Lanka (modernday Sri Lanka) in 544 BC and gave the name "Sinhala" to the country. Bengali peoplemigrated to the Malay Archipelago and Siam (in modern Thailand), establishing theirown colonies there.[7]

Gangaridai Empire

Main article: Gangaridai

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Asia in 323BC, the Nanda Empire and Gangaridai Empire in relation to Alexander'sEmpire and neighbors.

Though north and west Bengal were part of the Magadhan empire southern Bengalthrived and became powerful with her overseas trades. In 326 BCE, with the invasionofAlexander the Great the region again came to prominence. The Greek and Latin

historians suggested that Alexander the Great withdrew from India anticipating thevaliant counter attack of the mighty Gangaridai empire that was located in the Bengalregion. Alexander, after the meeting with his officer, Coenus, was convinced that itwas better to return. Diodorus Siculus mentions Gangaridai to be the most powerfulempire in India whose king possessed an army of 20,000 horses, 200,000 infantry,2,000 chariots and 4,000 elephants trained and equipped for war. The allied forces ofGangaridai Empire and Nanda Empire (Prasii) were preparing a massive counterattack against the forces of Alexander on the banks of Ganges. Gangaridai accordingto the Greek accounts kept on flourishing at least up to the 1st century AD.

Early Middle Ages

The pre-Gupta period of Bengal is shrouded with obscurity. Before the conquest ofSamudragupta Bengal was divided into two kingdoms: Pushkarana and Samatata. Aninscription of Pushkaranadhipa (the ruler of Pushkarana) Chandravarman has beenfound in a cave in the Shushunia hills. Chandragupta II had defeated a confederacy ofVanga kings resulting in Bengal becoming part of the Gupta Empire.

Gauda Kingdom

Main article: Shashanka

By the 6th century, the Gupta Empire, which ruled over the northern Indiansubcontinent had largely broken up. Eastern Bengal splintered into the kingdoms ofVanga, Samatata and Harikela while the Gauda kings rose in the west with theircapital at Karnasuvarna (near modern Murshidabad). Shashanka, a vassal of the lastGupta Empire proclaimed independent and unified the smaller principalities of Bengal(Gaur, Vanga, Samatata) and vied for regional power with Harshavardhana innorthern India. But this burst of Bengali power did not last very long beyond his

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death, as with the overthrow of Manava (his son)Bengal descended into a periodmarked by disunity and foreign invasion once more.

Pala dynasty

Main article: Pala Empire

Pala Empire underDharmapala

Pala Empire underDevapala

Pala Empire was the first independent Buddhist dynasty of Bengal. The name Pala(ModernBengali: pal) meansprotectorand was used as an ending to the names ofall Pala monarchs. The Palas were followers of the Mahayana andTantric schools ofBuddhism. Gopala was the first ruler from the dynasty. He came to power in 750 inGaur by a democraticelection. This event is recognized as one of the first democraticelections in South Asia since the time of the Mah Janapadas. He reigned from 750-770 and consolidated his position by extending his control over all of Bengal. The

Buddhistdynasty lasted for four centuries (750-1120 AD) and ushered in a period ofstability and prosperity in Bengal. They created many temples and works of art aswell as supported the Universities of Nalanda and Vikramashila. SomapuraMahavihara built by Dharmapala is the greatest Buddhist Vihara in the IndianSubcontinent.

Somapura Mahavihara is the greatest BuddhistVihara in the Indian Subcontinent builtby Dharmapala.

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The empire reached its peak under Dharmapala and Devapala. Dharmapala extendedthe empire into the northern parts of the Indian Subcontinent. This triggered onceagain the power struggle for the control of the subcontinent. Devapala, successor ofDharmapala, expanded the empire to cover much of South Asia and beyond. Hisempire stretched from Assam and Utkala in the east, Kamboja (modern day

Afghanistan) in the north-west and Deccan in the south. According to Palacopperplate inscription Devapala exterminated the Utkalas, conquered thePragjyotisha (Assam), shattered the pride of the Huna, and humbled the lords ofPratiharas, Gurjara and the Dravidas.

Buddha and Bodhisattvas, 11th century, Pala Empire

The death of Devapala ended the period of ascendancy of the Pala Empire andseveral independent dynasties and kingdoms emerged during this time. However,Mahipala I rejuvenated the reign of the Palas. He recovered control over all of Bengaland expanded the empire. He survived the invasions of Rajendra Chola and theChalukyas. After Mahipala I the Pala dynasty again saw its decline until Ramapala, thelast great ruler of the dynasty, managed to retrieve the position of the dynasty tosome extent. He crushed the Varendra rebellion and extended his empire farther toKamarupa, Orissa and Northern India.

The Pala Empire can be considered as the golden era of Bengal. Never had theBengali people reached such height of power and glory to that extent. Palas were

responsible for the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism in Tibet, Bhutan andMyanmar.It was during the Pala period Bengal became the main centre of Buddhist aswell as secular learning.Universities like Nalanda, Vikramshila and Paharpur flourishedand prospered under the patronage of the Pala kings. Dharmapal and Devapal weretwo great patrons of Buddhism, secular education and culture.But such culturalRenaissance as virtually took place in Bengal under the Palas came across of awithering phase under the Sena rulers who were not only Hindu revivalists ratherneglected the Budddhist centres of learning including the universities.The Sena ruler

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Ballal Sen even forced the reconversion of the Buddhists and Yogis to caste-basedHinduism.[8] The Palas had extensive trade as well as influence in south-east Asia. Thiscan be seen in the sculptures and architectural style of the Sailendra Empire (present-day Malaya,Java, Sumatra).

Sena dynasty

Main article: Sena Empire

The Palas were followed by the Sena dynasty who brought Bengal under one rulerduring the 12th century. Vijay Sen the second ruler of this dynasty defeated the lastPala emperor Madanapala and established his reign. Ballal Sena introduced castesystem in Bengal and made Nabadwip the capital. The fourth king of this dynastyLakshman Sen expanded the empire beyond Bengal to Bihar, Assam, Orissa andprobably to Varanasi. Lakshman was later defeated by the Muslims and fled toeastern Bengal were he ruled few more years. The Sena dynasty brought a revival of

Hinduism and cultivated Sanskrit literature in India. It is believed by some Bengaliauthors thatJayadeva, the famous Sanskrit poet and author ofGita Govinda, was oneof the Pancharatnas (meaning 5 gems) in the court of Lakshman Sen.

Medieval Bengal

Murshidabad Palace

The Muslim invasion of India (including Bengal) came in the early 13th century. Theinvaders under the leadership of Ikhtiar Uddin Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji,defeated the Sena king Lakshman Sena at his capital, Nabadwip in 1203 or 1204. TheDeva dynasty the last Hindu dynasty to rule in Bengal ruled briefly in easternBengal, although they were suppressed by the mid-14th century. Hindu bengalikingdoms continued to exist in the eastern and southern parts of bengal till the1450s.After the 1450s, they were overwhelmed by the Turkish attacks.Only Kochkingdom in Northern Bengal could resist the Turkish and the Afghan attacks throughthe 16th and the 17th centuries and could also weather the Mughals till the advent ofthe British.Hindu political power was thus ,henceforth ,limited to chieftainships andbaronships under Muslim kings-especially in the present-day areas of West Bengaland Western Bangladesh.

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During the early Muslim period, the former kingdom became known as the Sultanateof Bengal, ruled intermittently from the Sultanate of Delhi. The chaotic shifts in powerbetween the Pashtun andTurkic rulers of that sultanate came to an end when Mughalrule became established in Bengal during the 16th century.There were severalindependent Hindu states established in Bengal in the Mughal period as Bengalis tried

to assert their independence time and again.Some important ones were those of RajaPratapaditya Ray of Jessore and Raja Sitaram Ray of Naldi and Satair areas.Thesekingdoms contributed a lot to the economic and cultural landscape ofBengal.Extensive land reclamations in forested and marshy areas were carried outand intra-state trade and commerce were highly encouraged.These kingdoms alsohelped introduce new music,painting,dancing and sculpture into bengali art-forms.Lots of temple construction was also carried out.Militarily,these served asbulwarks against Portugese and Burmese attacks and staved off lots of depredationsfrom bands of Pathans also.Unfortunately for Bengal,the political stage was not yetset for the emergence of nationalism.As such due to mutual rivalry and jealousyamong the Bengali chiefs themselves,the Mughal state destroyed these

kingdoms.However their ideological outlooks lived on as the notions of Bengalinationhood took shape.The last of these kingdoms is recorded to have fallen as lateas 1714.

In 1534, the Pashtun Sher Shah Suri, or Farid Khan a man of incredible military andpolitical skill succeeded in defeating the superior forces of the Mughals underHumayun at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540). Sher Shah fought back and capturedboth Delhi and Agra and established a kingdom stretching far into Punjab. Sher Shah'sadministrative skill showed in his public works, including the Grand Trunk Roadconnecting Sonargaon in Bengal with Peshawar in the Hindu Kush. Sher Shah's ruleended with his death in 1545, although even in those five years his reign would have

a powerful influence on Indian society, politics, and economics.

Shah Suri's successors lacked his administrative skill, and quarrelled over thedomains of his empire. Humayun, who then ruled a rump Mughal state, saw anopportunity and in 1554 seized Lahore and Delhi. When Humayun died in Jan.1556,Hemu the then Hindu Prime Minister-cum- Chief of Army, of Afghans of Suri dynastyhad already won Bengal in the battle at Chapperghatta, killing Muhammad Shah thethen ruler of Bengal. This was Hemu's 20th continuous win in North India. Knowing ofHumanyun's death, Hemu rushed to Delhi to win Agra and later on Delhi andestablished 'Hindu Raj' in North India on 6th Oct. 1556, after 300 years of foreign rule,leaving Bengal to his Governor Shahbaz Khan. Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal

emperors, who defeated the Karani rulers of Bengal in 1576. Bengal became a Mughalsubah and ruled through subahdars (governors). Akbar exercised progressive rule andoversaw a period of prosperity (through trade and development) in Bengal andnorthern India.

Bengal's trade and wealth impressed the Mughals that they called the region the"Paradise of the Nations". Administration by governors appointed by the court of theMughal Empire court (15751717) gave way to four decades of semi-independence

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under the Nawabs of Murshidabad, who respected the nominal sovereignty of theMughals in Delhi. The Nawabs granted permission to the French East India Companyto establish a trading post at Chandernagore in 1673, and the British East IndiaCompany at Calcutta in 1690.

Kantaji Temple

When the British East India Company began strengthening the defences at Fort

William (Calcutta), the Nawab, Siraj Ud Daulah, at the encouragement of the French,attacked. Under the leadership of Robert Clive, British troops and their local alliescaptured Chandernagore in March 1757 and seriously defeated the Nawab on June 23,1757 at the Battle of Plassey, when the Nawab's soldiers betrayed him. The Nawabwas assassinated in Murshidabad, and the British installed their own Nawab forBengal and extended their direct control in the south. Chandernagore was restored tothe French in 1763. The Bengalis attempted to regain their territories in 1765 inalliance with the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, but were defeated again at the Battleof Buxar (1765). The centre of Indian culture and trade shifted from Delhi to Calcuttawhen the Mughal Empire fell.

British ruleSee also: Bengal Presidency

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Map of the Bengal province, 1893

During British rule, two devastating famines were instigated costing millions of lives in1770 and 1943. Scarcely five years into the British East India Company's rule, thecatastrophic Bengal famine of 1770, one of the greatest famines of history occurred.

Up to a third of the population died in 1770 and subsequent years. The Indian Mutinyof 1857 replaced rule by the Company with the direct control of Bengal by the Britishcrown.

A centre ofrice cultivation as well as fine cotton called muslin and the world's mainsource ofjute fibre, Bengal, from the 1850s became one of India's principal centres ofindustry, concentrated in the capital Kolkata (known as Calcutta under the British,always called 'Kolkata' in the native tongue of Bengali) and its emerging cluster ofsuburbs. Most of the population nevertheless remained dependent on agriculture, anddespite its leading role in Indian political and intellectual activity, the provinceincluded some very undeveloped districts, especially in the east. In 1877, when

Victoria took the title of "Empress of India", the British declared Calcutta the capital ofthe British Raj.

India's most popular province (and one of the most active provinces in freedomfighting), in 1905 Bengal was divided by the British rulers for administrative purposesinto an overwhelmingly Hindu west (including present-day Bihar and Orissa) and apredominantly Muslim east (including Assam) (1905 Partition of Bengal). Hindu -Muslim conflict became stronger through this partition. While Hindu Indians disagreedwith the partition saying it was a way of dividing a Bengal which is united by languageand history, Muslims supported it by saying it was a big step forward for Muslimsociety where Muslims will be majority and they can freely practice their religion as

well as their culture. But owing to strong Hindu agitation, the British reunited East andWest Bengal in 1912, and made Bihar and Orissa a separate province. Another majorfamine occurred during the second world war, the Bengal famine of 1943, in which anestimated 3 million people died.

Bengal Renaissance

Main article: Bengal Renaissance

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Raja Ram MohanRoy is regardedas the "Father of

the BengalRenaissance."

RabindranathTagore is Asia'sfirst Nobellaureate andcomposer of Jana Gana Manathe nationalanthem of India

as well as AmarShonar Banglathe nationalanthem ofBangladesh.

SwamiVivekananda isconsidered a keyfigure in theintroduction ofVedanta andYoga in Europeand America[9]and is alsocredited withraising interfaith

awareness,bringingHinduism to thestatus of a worldreligion duringthe end of the19th century.[10]

JagadishChandra Bosewas a Bengalipolymath: aphysicist,biologist,botanist,archaeologist,and writer of

science fiction.[11] He pioneeredthe investigationof radio andmicrowaveoptics, madevery significantcontributions toplant science,and laid thefoundations of

experimentalscience in theIndiansubcontinent.[12]

He is consideredone of thefathers of radioscience,[13] and isalso consideredthe father ofBengali science

fiction.

Satyendra NathBose was a

Bengaliphysicist,specializing inmathematicalphysics. He isbest known forhis work onquantummechanics in theearly 1920s,providing the

foundation forBose-Einsteinstatistics and thetheory of theBose-Einsteincondensate. Heis honoured asthe namesake ofthe boson.

The Bengal Renaissance refers to a social reform movement during the nineteenthand early 20th centuries in the region ofBengal in undivided India during the periodof British rule. The Bengal renaissance can be said to have started with Raja RamMohan Roy (17751833) and ended with Rabindranath Tagore (18611941), althoughthere have been many stalwarts thereafter embodying particular aspects of theunique intellectual and creative output.[14] 19th century Bengal was a unique blend of

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religious and social reformers, scholars, literary giants, journalists, patriotic oratorsand scientists, all merging to form the image of a renaissance, and marked thetransition from the 'medieval' to the 'modern'.[15]

Independence movement

See also: Freedom fighters from Bengal

Subhash Chandra Bose is one of the most prominent leader and highly respectedfreedom fighter from Bengal in the Indian independence movement against the

British Raj.

Bengal played a major role in the Indian independence movement, in whichrevolutionary groups such as Anushilan Samiti andJugantar were dominant. Bengalisalso played a notable role in the Indian independence movement. Many of the earlyproponents of the freedom struggle, and subsequent leaders in movement wereBengalis such as Chittaranjan Das, Surendranath Banerjea, Netaji Subhash ChandraBose, Prafulla Chaki, Bagha Jatin, Khudiram Bose, Surya Sen, Binoy-Badal-Dinesh,Sarojini Naidu, Aurobindo Ghosh, Rashbehari Bose and many more. Some of theseleaders, such as Netaji, did not subscribe to the view that non-violent civildisobedience was the only way to achieve Indian Independence, and were

instrumental in armed resistance against the British force. During the Second WorldWar Netaji escaped to Germany from house arrest in India and there he founded theIndian Legion an army to fight against the British Government, but the turning of thewar compelled him to come to South-East Asia and there he became the co-founderand leader of the Indian National Army (distinct from the army of British India) thatchallenged British forces in several parts of India. He was also the head of state of aparallel regime named 'The Provisional Governmeent of Free India' or Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind, that was recognized and supported by the Axis powers. Bengal was also

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the fostering ground for several prominent revolutionary organisations, the mostnotable of which was Anushilan Samiti. A large number of Bengalis were martyred inthe freedom struggle and many were exiled in Cellular Jail, the much dreaded prisonlocated in Andaman.

Partitions of BengalMain article: Partition of BengalFurther information: History of Bangladesh and History of West Bengal

Bengal region: West Bengal and Bangladesh.

In the 20th century, the partitions of Bengal, occurring twice, has left great marks onthe history and psyche of the people of Bengal. The first partition occurred in 1905and the second partition was in 1947. As partition of British India into Hindu andMuslim dominions approached in 1947, Bengal again split into the state of WestBengal of secular India and a Muslim region ofEast Bengal under Pakistan, renamedEast Pakistan in 1958. East Pakistan (East Bengal) later rebelled against Pakistanimilitary rule to become independent republic of Bangladesh, literally "Land ofBengal", after a war of independence against the Pakistani army in 1971. West Bengalremains a part of India. However, culturally and sociologically, the two segments of

Bengal share considerably more than just a single language. Bengal (both WestBengal and Bangladesh) is now one of the most densely populated regions of theworld. The partition of Bengal entailed the greatest exodus of people in HumanHistory. Millions of Hindus migrated from East Pakistan to India and thousands ofMuslims too went across the borders to East Pakistan. Because of the coming of therefugees, there occurred the crisis of land and food in West Bengal; and suchcondition remained in long duration for more than three decades.The politics of WestBengal since the partition in 1947 developed round the nucleus of refugee problem.Both the Rightists and the Leftists in the Politics of West Bengal have not yet becomefree from the socio-economic conditions created by the partition of Bengal. Theseconditions as have remained unresolved in some twisted forms have given birth to

local socio-economic, political and ethnic movements.(Ref. Dr.Sailen Debnath, 'WestBengal in Doldrums' ISBN 978-81-86860-34-2; & Dr.Sailen Debnath, ed. Social andPolitical Tensions In North Bengal since 1947, ISBN 81-86860-23-1)

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Documents

History of West Bengal