Title:-

Partition of Bengal (1905-1911):

Introduction:-
The partition of Bengal was the most important event
during the rule of Lord Curzon. It was carried out mainly for the
convenience of administration. Bengal in those days was the biggest
province of India extending over 1, 89, 000 square miles with a population
of 80 million. It was comprising of Bengal, Behar and Orissa and was under
the control of one Lieutenant Governor.

Therefore, he thought of a partition. Taking the eastern

half of Bengal namely the Dacca, Chittagong division and uniting
those areas with Assam.Curzon formed a new province named as
“Eastern Bengal and Assam”. Dacca became the capital of the
Province. The western half of Bengal with Bihar and Orissa remained
as another province. Calcutta remained its capital.

Lord Curzon justified the partition on administrative

grounds. To him it was impossible for one Lt. Governor to bear the
burden of a province which contained 80,000,000 people. He also saw
how the administration of the eastern part of Bengal was thoroughly
neglected. He therefore decided to have two provinces instead of one,
with two Lt. Governors to rule. So he added Eastern Bengal to Assam
created a new province and placed it under a Lt. Governor. The
partition was announced in 1905.

Curzon’s justification might be valid. But the partition of

Bengal resulted in one serious thing. The Bengal proper with Bengali
speaking population got broken into two parts and passed under two
different provincial administrations. That is to say the Bengalis of
eastern Bengal were separated from the Bengalis of Westeren
Bengal. The way in which Curzon partitioned Bengal appeared to
many people as a politically motivated affair.

● Firstly, as it appeared Curzon had a deep hatred towards

Bengalis therefore, he wanted to break their solidarity as a
people.
● Secondly, he divided Bengal in such a manner that the new
province of Eastern Bengal and Assam became a Muslim
majority Province. Thus, the Bengali Muslims were separated
from the Bengali Hindus.

Proposal for the partition of Bengal:-

There were further proposals to separate Chittagong and
the districts of Dhaka (then Dacca) and Mymensigh from Bengal and
attach them to Assam. Similarly Chhota Nagpur was to be taken away
from Bengal and incorporated with’ the Central Provinces.
The government’s proposals were officially published in
January 1904. In February 1904, Curzon made an official tour of the
districts of eastern Bengal with a view to assessing public opinion on the
government proposals. He consulted the leading personalities of the
different districts and delivered speeches at Dhaka, Chittagong explaining
the governments stand on partition. It was during this visit that the
decision to push through an expanded scheme took hold of his mind. This
would involve the creation of a self-contained new province under a
Lieutenant Governor with a Legislative Council, an independent revenue
authority and transfer of so much territory as would justify a fully equipped
administration.

Main Causes of Partition of Bengal:-

1) Governor of British in India observed that it was the vast territory, so
administration didn’t function properly. It needs a fragmentation or division of
British-India in its territorial boundary. 
2) Muslims were in favor of this partition relieving them from lower condition
under the Hindu hegemony. So, partition of Bengal was held under the
auspicious of Lord Curzon, British viceroy of India in 1905. 
3) Vastness of Province:-
The Province was spread over the area of 1, 89, 000 square
miles with the population of 80 million, which was too vast to be
managed by one lieutenant Governor. He could not make a tour for
the whole province due to its vastness once in his tenure.
4) Limited Sources of Communication:-
The sources of communication in the provinces were limited
due to rivers and forests. The law and order condition of the provinces
was also worst due to insufficient police and in-efficient management.
Therefore the need of partition of province was felt severally.
5) Difference of Language: -
There was also the difference of Languages and civilization of
the natives of West Bengal and East Bengal. The natives of West
Bengal considered themselves superior in civilization to the resident of
East Bengal. The Condition demanded for the division of Provinces.
5) Need of the time:- 

The division of Bengal was the need of the time to develop trade
in East Bengal and to promote the Port of Chittagong, which could be
done only by division of the Provinces.

Why the partition of Bengal was failed:-

Anti-Partition Movement of Bengal:-
● The people of Bengal understood the real motive
behind the partition. On 16th October 1905, the partition
became effective people observed this day as a day of
mourning.
 ● People fastened and walked barefoot to the Ganges
and sang patriotic songs.
● Rabindranath Tagore suggeted to observe 16th
October as Raksh Bandhan day between people of west and
east Bengal.
POLITICAL CRISIS:-
Partition sparked a major political crisis along
religious lines. Hindu resistance exploded as the Indian National Congress
began the swadeshi movement that included boycotting British goods,
terrorism, and diplomatic pressure. The Muslims in East Bengal hoped that
a separate region would give them more control over for education and
employment, but they instead lost ground. In 1906, Rabindranath Tagore
wrote Amar Shonar Bangla as a rallying cry for proponents of annulment of
Partition; in 1972, it became the national anthem of Bangladesh.

Opposition was supported by Sir Henry John Stedman

Cotton who had been Chief Commissioner of Assam, but Curzon was not
to be moved. Later Cotton now Liberal MP for Nottingham East
coordinated the successful campaign to oust the first lieutenant-governor
of East Bengal, Sir Bampfylde Fuller.

Due to these political protests, the two parts of Bengal

were reunited in 1911. A new partition which divided the province on linguistic,
rather than religious, grounds followed, with the Hindi, Oriya and Assamese
areas separated to form separate administrative units. The administrative
capital of British India was moved from Calcutta to New Delhi as well.

Finally in what the British Government felt as a

goodwill gesture, the arrival of King George V in 1911 was marked as a
major change in the country. The King held a durbar in Calcutta and
announced the reversal of partition move and also announced the transfer
of capital of British India to the newly build city near Delhi, which is
currently known as New Delhi.