Partition of Bengal took place on 16th Oct 1905 (Lord Curzin), cancelled on 12th Dec 1911 by visiting Royal Majesty George V during Delhi Darbar due to pressure by Swadeshi movement (Lord Charles Hardinge, 1910-1916)
Causes
- Population 80m, Large area, around 6 lac km.
- The eastern part of Bengal was backwards and far from Calcutta.
- Efficient administration was difficult – famines
- Besides, there was also the need to develop trade and commerce in East Bengal and promote the Port of Chittagong (Hindus unhappy)
Partition
- Eastern Bengal and Assam were merged with Dhaka as capital – Muslim more than Hindus
- The old province consisted of Western Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
Reactions
- Muslims were happy as rich Eastern Bengal was more autonomous now (whole tea industry, majority jute plantations)
- Hindus angry on becoming a minority in East
- Extremist Hindu leaders started Swadeshi movement (1905-1911) to boycott British goods to get swaraj ‘self-rule’ (Bal Gangadhar Tilak ‘Lokmanya’ in Bengal, Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab, Bipin Chandra Pal)
- Hindus from all spheres, from traders to layers to students and journalists joined in for own reasons… e.g. Dhaka had been a centre of academics and journalism (Hindus feared Muslims’ voice would now dominate the press)
- Riots… attempts were made on the lives of everyone, including Lord Minto
