8/3/2019 bongal

1/5

Bengal PresidencyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation,search

Bengal Presidency

British India

1765 1919

TheBengal Presidency at its greatest extent in 1858

Historical era New Imperialism

- Battle of Buxar 1765

- Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919

The Bengal Presidency (Bengali: ) originally comprising east and west

Bengal, was a colonial region ofBritish India, which comprised undivided Bengal, whichis present day Bangladesh andWest Bengal, as well as the states Assam,Bihar,

Meghalaya,Orissa and Tripura. Later at its height, gradually added, were the annexed

princely states ofUttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, PunjabinIndia,Haryana, and HimachalPradesh and portions ofChhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtrain present day

India, including the provinces ofNorth West Frontierand Punjabin Pakistan, and Burma

(present day Myanmar). Penang andSingapore were also considered to be

administratively a part of the Presidency until they were incorporated into the CrownColony of the Straits Settlements in 1867. Calcutta was declared a Presidency Town of

the East India Company in 1699, but the beginnings of the Bengal Presidency proper canbe dated from the treaties of 1765 between theEast India Company and theMughalEmperor andNawab of Oudh which placedBengal,Meghalaya, Biharand Orissa under

the administration of the Company. The Presidency of Bengal, in contradistinction to

those ofMadras and Bombay, eventually included all the British territories North of theCentral Provinces (Madhya Pradesh), from the mouths of the Ganges and Brahmaputra to

the Himalayas and the Punjab. In 1831 the North-Western Provinces were created, which

were subsequently included withOudhin the United Provinces(Uttar Pradesh); Just

http://l/http://l/http://l/http://wiki/British_Indiahttp://wiki/New_Imperialismhttp://wiki/Battle_of_Buxarhttp://wiki/Montagu-Chelmsford_Reformshttp://wiki/Bengali_languagehttp://wiki/Bengalhttp://wiki/British_Indiahttp://wiki/Bangladeshhttp://wiki/West_Bengalhttp://wiki/West_Bengalhttp://wiki/Assamhttp://wiki/Biharhttp://wiki/Biharhttp://wiki/Biharhttp://wiki/Meghalayahttp://wiki/Meghalayahttp://wiki/Orissahttp://wiki/Tripurahttp://wiki/Tripurahttp://wiki/Uttar_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Uttarakhandhttp://wiki/Uttarakhandhttp://wiki/Punjab_(British_India)http://wiki/Punjab_(British_India)http://wiki/Indiahttp://wiki/Indiahttp://wiki/Indiahttp://wiki/Haryanahttp://wiki/Himachal_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Himachal_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Chhatisgarhhttp://wiki/Madhya_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Maharashtrahttp://wiki/Maharashtrahttp://wiki/North-West_Frontier_Provincehttp://wiki/Punjab,_Pakistanhttp://wiki/Punjab,_Pakistanhttp://wiki/Pakistanhttp://wiki/Pakistanhttp://wiki/Burmahttp://wiki/Penanghttp://wiki/Singaporehttp://wiki/Singaporehttp://wiki/Crown_Colonyhttp://wiki/Crown_Colonyhttp://wiki/Straits_Settlementshttp://wiki/British_East_India_Companyhttp://wiki/British_East_India_Companyhttp://wiki/Mughal_Empirehttp://wiki/Mughal_Empirehttp://wiki/Nawab_of_Oudhhttp://wiki/Bengalhttp://wiki/Bengalhttp://wiki/Meghalayahttp://wiki/Meghalayahttp://wiki/Biharhttp://wiki/Orissahttp://wiki/Madras_Presidencyhttp://wiki/Madras_Presidencyhttp://wiki/Bombay_Presidencyhttp://wiki/Central_Provinceshttp://wiki/Gangeshttp://wiki/Brahmaputrahttp://wiki/Himalayashttp://wiki/Oudhhttp://wiki/Oudhhttp://wiki/Oudhhttp://wiki/United_Provinces_of_Agra_and_Oudhhttp://wiki/United_Provinces_of_Agra_and_Oudhhttp://l/http://wiki/British_Indiahttp://wiki/New_Imperialismhttp://wiki/Battle_of_Buxarhttp://wiki/Montagu-Chelmsford_Reformshttp://wiki/Bengali_languagehttp://wiki/Bengalhttp://wiki/British_Indiahttp://wiki/Bangladeshhttp://wiki/West_Bengalhttp://wiki/Assamhttp://wiki/Biharhttp://wiki/Meghalayahttp://wiki/Orissahttp://wiki/Tripurahttp://wiki/Uttar_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Uttarakhandhttp://wiki/Punjab_(British_India)http://wiki/Indiahttp://wiki/Haryanahttp://wiki/Himachal_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Himachal_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Chhatisgarhhttp://wiki/Madhya_Pradeshhttp://wiki/Maharashtrahttp://wiki/North-West_Frontier_Provincehttp://wiki/Punjab,_Pakistanhttp://wiki/Pakistanhttp://wiki/Burmahttp://wiki/Penanghttp://wiki/Singaporehttp://wiki/Crown_Colonyhttp://wiki/Crown_Colonyhttp://wiki/Straits_Settlementshttp://wiki/British_East_India_Companyhttp://wiki/Mughal_Empirehttp://wiki/Nawab_of_Oudhhttp://wiki/Bengalhttp://wiki/Meghalayahttp://wiki/Biharhttp://wiki/Orissahttp://wiki/Madras_Presidencyhttp://wiki/Bombay_Presidencyhttp://wiki/Central_Provinceshttp://wiki/Gangeshttp://wiki/Brahmaputrahttp://wiki/Himalayashttp://wiki/Oudhhttp://wiki/United_Provinces_of_Agra_and_Oudhhttp://l/

8/3/2019 bongal

2/5

before the First World War the whole of Northern India was divided into the four

lieutenant-governorships of the Punjab, the United Provinces, Bengal, and Eastern

Bengal and Assam, and theNorth-West Frontier Province under a Commissioner.

Contents

[hide]

1 Origin of the name and reasons for its use

2

3

4 1905

5

[edit] Origin of the name and reasons for its use

The name "Bengal" is derived from Sanskrit "Vanga", and, strictly speaking, applies to

the country stretching southwards from Bhagalpurto the sea. The ancient Bangla formedone of the five outlying kingdoms of Aryan India, and was practically coterminous with

the delta of Bengal. It derived its name, according to the etymology of the Pundits, from a

prince of the Mahabharata, to whose portion it fell on the partition of the country amongthe Lunar race of Delhi. But a city called Bangala, nearChittagong, which, although now

washed away, is supposed to have existed in the Muslim period, appears to have given

the name to the European world. The wordBangala was first used by the Muslim rulers;

and under their rule, like the Bangla pre-Muslim times, it applied specifically to theGangetic delta, although the later conquests to the east of the Brahmaputra were

eventually included within it. In their distribution of the country for fiscal purposes, it

formed the central province of a governorship, with Bihar on the north-west, and Orissaon the south-west, jointly ruled by one deputy of the Delhi emperor. Under the English

the name has at different periods borne very different significations. Francis Fernandez

applies it to the country from the extreme east of Chittagong to Point Palmyras in Orissa,with a coast line which Purchas estimates at 600 m., running inland for the same distance

and watered by the Ganges. This territory would include the Muslim province of Bengal,

with parts of Bihar and Orissa. The loose idea thus derived from old voyagers became

stereotyped in the archives of the East India Company. All its north-eastern factories,from Balasore, on the Orissa coast, to Patna, in the heart of Bihar, belonged to the Bengal

Establishment, and as British conquests crept higher up the rivers, the term came to be

applied to the whole of Northern India.

[edit] Early history

The East India Company formed its earliest settlements in Bengal in the first half of the

17th century. These settlements were of a purely commercial character. In 1620 one of

http://wiki/Eastern_Bengal_and_Assamhttp://wiki/Eastern_Bengal_and_Assamhttp://wiki/North-West_Frontier_Provincehttp://l/http://l/http://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=1http://wiki/Bhagalpurhttp://wiki/Mahabharatahttp://wiki/Mahabharatahttp://wiki/Chittagonghttp://wiki/Brahmaputrahttp://wiki/Gangeshttp://wiki/Balasorehttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=2http://wiki/Eastern_Bengal_and_Assamhttp://wiki/Eastern_Bengal_and_Assamhttp://wiki/North-West_Frontier_Provincehttp://l/http://l/http://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://opt/scribd/conversion/tmp/scratch6202/?/lhttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=1http://wiki/Bhagalpurhttp://wiki/Mahabharatahttp://wiki/Chittagonghttp://wiki/Brahmaputrahttp://wiki/Gangeshttp://wiki/Balasorehttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=2

8/3/2019 bongal

3/5

the Companys factors was based in Patna; in 16241636 the Company established itself,

by the favour of the emperor, on the ruins of the ancient Portuguese settlement of Pippli,

in the north of Orissa; in 16401642 an English surgeon, Gabriel Boughton, obtainedestablishments at Balasore, also in Orissa, and at Hughli, some miles above Calcutta,

where the Portuguese already had a settlement. The difficulties which the Companys

early agents encountered more than once almost induced them to abandon the trade, andin 16771678 they threatened to withdraw from Bengal altogether. In 1685, the Bengal

factors, seeking greater security for their trade purchased from the grandson of

Aurangzeb, in 1696, the villages which have since grown up into Calcutta, the metropolisof India, namely Kalikata, Sutanuti and Govindpur. They were given exemption from

trade duties and exactions in part of Bengal in 1717 by the EmperorFarrukhsiyar. During

the next forty years the British had a long and hazardous struggle alike with the Mughal

governors of the province and theMaratha armies which invaded it. In 1756 this struggleculminated in the fall of Calcutta to NawabSiraj Ud Daulah followed by Clivesbattle of

Plassey and recapture of the city. The Battle of Buxarestablished British military

supremacy in Bengal, and procured the treaties of 1765, by which the provinces of

Bengal, Bihar and Orissa passed under British administration. The other importantinstitution which emerged in this period was the Bengal Army.

[edit] Administrative reform and the Permanent

Settlement

See also: Cornwallis in India

UnderWarren Hastings (British Governorships 1772-1785) the consolidation of Britishimperial rule over Bengal, and the conversion of mere trade into an entire military

occupied territory under a military backed civil government got solidified. To another

member of the civil service, John Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth, was due theformation of a regular system of legislation. Acting through Lord Cornwallis, then

Governor-General, he ascertained and defined the rights of the landholders in the soil.

These landholders under the previous system had started, for the most part, as collectorsof the revenues, and gradually acquired certain prescriptive rights as quasi-proprietors of

the estates entrusted to them by the government. In 1793 Lord Cornwallis declared their

rights perpetual, and made over the land of Bengal to the previous quasi-proprietors orzamindars, on condition of the payment of a fixed land tax. This piece of legislation isknown as the Permanent Settlement of the Land Revenue. It was designed to "introduce"

ideas of property rights to India, and stimulate a market in land. The former aim

misunderstood the nature of landholding in India, and the latter was an abject failure. The

Cornwallis code, while defining the rights of the proprietors, failed to give adequaterecognition to the rights of the under-tenants and the cultivators. This remained a serious

problem for the duration of British Rule, as throughout the Bengal Presidency ryots

(peasants) found themselves oppressed by rack-renting landlords, who knew that every

rupee they could squeeze from their tenants over and above the fixed revenue demand

from the Government represented pure profit. Furthermore the Permanent Settlement

took no account of inflation, meaning that the value of the revenue to Governmentdeclined year by year, whilst the heavy burden on the peasantry grew no less. This was

http://wiki/Balasorehttp://wiki/Balasorehttp://wiki/Portugalhttp://wiki/Aurangzebhttp://wiki/Farrukhsiyarhttp://wiki/Marathahttp://wiki/Marathahttp://wiki/Siraj_Ud_Daulahhttp://wiki/Siraj_Ud_Daulahhttp://wiki/Robert_Clivehttp://wiki/Battle_of_Plasseyhttp://wiki/Battle_of_Plasseyhttp://wiki/Battle_of_Buxarhttp://wiki/Battle_of_Buxarhttp://wiki/Bengal_Armyhttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=3http://wiki/Cornwallis_in_Indiahttp://wiki/Warren_Hastingshttp://wiki/Lord_Cornwallishttp://wiki/Permanent_Settlementhttp://wiki/Balasorehttp://wiki/Portugalhttp://wiki/Aurangzebhttp://wiki/Farrukhsiyarhttp://wiki/Marathahttp://wiki/Siraj_Ud_Daulahhttp://wiki/Robert_Clivehttp://wiki/Battle_of_Plasseyhttp://wiki/Battle_of_Plasseyhttp://wiki/Battle_of_Buxarhttp://wiki/Bengal_Armyhttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=3http://wiki/Cornwallis_in_Indiahttp://wiki/Warren_Hastingshttp://wiki/Lord_Cornwallishttp://wiki/Permanent_Settlement

8/3/2019 bongal

4/5

compounded in the early 19th century by compulsory schemes for the cultivation of

Opium and Indigo, the former by the state, and the latter by British planters (most

especially in the district ofTirhutin Bihar). Peasants were forced to grow a certain areaof these crops, which were then purchased at below market rates for export. This added

greatly to rural poverty.

So unsuccessful was the Permanent Settlement that it was not introduced in the North-

Western Provinces (taken from the Marathas during the campaigns ofLord Lake and

Arthur Wellesley) after 1831, in Punjab after its conquest in 1849, or in Oudh which wasannexed in 1856. These regions were nominally part of the Bengal Presidency, but

remained administratively distinct. Officially Punjab, Agra and Allahabad had

Lieutenant-Governors subject to the authority of the Governor of Bengal in Calcutta, but

in practice they were more or less independent. The only all-Presidency institutionswhich remained were the Bengal Army and the Civil Service. The Bengal Army was

finally amalgamated into the newIndian Armyin 1904-5, after a lengthy struggle over its

reform between Lord Kitchener, the Commander-in-Chief, andLord Curzon, theViceroy.

[edit] The 1905 Partition of Bengal

Main article: Partition of Bengal (1905)

The partition of the large province of Bengal, which was decided upon by Lord Curzon,

was carried into execution in October 1905. The Chittagong,Dhaka and Rajshahi

divisions, the Malda District and the States of Hill Tripura, Sylhet and Comilla weretransferred from Bengal to a new province, Eastern Bengal and Assam; the five Hindi-

speaking states ofChota Nagpur, namely Chang Bhakar, Korea, Sirguja, Udaipur and

Jashpur, were transferred from Bengal to the Central Provinces; and Sambalpur and the

five Oriya states of Bamra, Rairakhol, Sonepur, Patna and Kalahandi were transferredfrom the Central Provinces to Bengal. The province of West Bengal then consisted of the

thirty-three districts ofBurdwan, Birbhum, Bankura,Midnapur, Hughli, Howrah,

Twenty-four Parganas, Calcutta,Nadia, Murshidabad, Jessore,Khulna, Patna,Gaya,Shahabad, Saran, Champaran,Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga,Monghyr,Bhagalpur,Purnea,

Santhal Parganas, Cuttack,Balasore, Angul and Khondmals, Pun, Hazaribagh, Ranchi,

Palamau, Manbhum, Singhbum and Sambalpur, and theprincely statesofSikkim and thetributary states of Orissa and Chota Nagpur.

This decision proved highly controversial, as it resulted in a largely Hindu West Bengal

and a largely Muslim East. Serious popular agitation followed this step, partly on the

grounds that this was part of a cynical policy of divide and rule, and partly that theBengali population, the centre of whose interests and prosperity was Calcutta, would now

be divided under two governments, instead of being concentrated and numericallydominant under the one, while the bulk would be in the new division. In 19061909 the

unrest developed to a considerable extent, requiring special attention from the Indian and

Home governments, and this led to the decision being reversed in 1912. The same yearsaw the separation from Bengal ofBihar and Orissa, later itself subdivided into the

Province of Bihar and the Province of Orissa, the former with its capital at Patna, the

http://wiki/Opiumhttp://wiki/Tirhuthttp://wiki/Tirhuthttp://wiki/Lord_Lakehttp://wiki/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellingtonhttp://wiki/Oudhhttp://wiki/Indian_Armyhttp://wiki/Indian_Armyhttp://wiki/Indian_Armyhttp://wiki/Herbert_Kitchener,_1st_Earl_Kitchenerhttp://wiki/Herbert_Kitchener,_1st_Earl_Kitchenerhttp://wiki/Lord_Curzonhttp://wiki/Lord_Curzonhttp://wiki/Lord_Curzonhttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=4http://wiki/Partition_of_Bengal_(1905)http://wiki/Chittagong_Divisionhttp://wiki/Chittagong_Divisionhttp://wiki/Dhaka_Divisionhttp://wiki/Rajshahi_Divisionhttp://wiki/Malda_Districthttp://wiki/Tripurahttp://wiki/Sylhethttp://wiki/Comillahttp://wiki/Eastern_Bengal_and_Assamhttp://wiki/Chota_Nagpurhttp://wiki/Burdwan_Districthttp://wiki/Birbhum_Districthttp://wiki/Bankurahttp://wiki/Bankurahttp://wiki/Midnapurhttp://wiki/Hooghly_Districthttp://wiki/Howrahhttp://wiki/Calcuttahttp://wiki/Nadia_Districthttp://wiki/Murshidabadhttp://wiki/Jessorehttp://wiki/Khulnahttp://wiki/Khulnahttp://wiki/Patnahttp://wiki/Gaya,_Indiahttp://wiki/Gaya,_Indiahttp://wiki/Champaran_Districthttp://wiki/Champaran_Districthttp://wiki/Muzaffarpur_Districthttp://wiki/Monghyrhttp://wiki/Monghyrhttp://wiki/Monghyrhttp://wiki/Bhagalpurhttp://wiki/Bhagalpurhttp://wiki/Purneahttp://wiki/Santhalhttp://wiki/Cuttackhttp://wiki/Balasorehttp://wiki/Balasorehttp://wiki/Ranchihttp://wiki/Ranchihttp://wiki/Princely_stateshttp://wiki/Princely_stateshttp://wiki/Sikkimhttp://wiki/Chota_Nagpurhttp://wiki/Bihar_and_Orissahttp://wiki/Patnahttp://wiki/Opiumhttp://wiki/Tirhuthttp://wiki/Lord_Lakehttp://wiki/Arthur_Wellesley,_1st_Duke_of_Wellingtonhttp://wiki/Oudhhttp://wiki/Indian_Armyhttp://wiki/Herbert_Kitchener,_1st_Earl_Kitchenerhttp://wiki/Lord_Curzonhttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=4http://wiki/Partition_of_Bengal_(1905)http://wiki/Chittagong_Divisionhttp://wiki/Dhaka_Divisionhttp://wiki/Rajshahi_Divisionhttp://wiki/Malda_Districthttp://wiki/Tripurahttp://wiki/Sylhethttp://wiki/Comillahttp://wiki/Eastern_Bengal_and_Assamhttp://wiki/Chota_Nagpurhttp://wiki/Burdwan_Districthttp://wiki/Birbhum_Districthttp://wiki/Bankurahttp://wiki/Midnapurhttp://wiki/Hooghly_Districthttp://wiki/Howrahhttp://wiki/Calcuttahttp://wiki/Nadia_Districthttp://wiki/Murshidabadhttp://wiki/Jessorehttp://wiki/Khulnahttp://wiki/Patnahttp://wiki/Gaya,_Indiahttp://wiki/Champaran_Districthttp://wiki/Muzaffarpur_Districthttp://wiki/Monghyrhttp://wiki/Bhagalpurhttp://wiki/Purneahttp://wiki/Santhalhttp://wiki/Cuttackhttp://wiki/Balasorehttp://wiki/Ranchihttp://wiki/Princely_stateshttp://wiki/Sikkimhttp://wiki/Chota_Nagpurhttp://wiki/Bihar_and_Orissahttp://wiki/Patna

8/3/2019 bongal

5/5

latter administered from Cuttack. This change proved a popular and lasting one.

With this final partition, the Bengal Presidency ceased to exist in all but name, and eventhis disappeared after the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1919 reconstituted Indian

Provincial Government.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from theEncyclopdia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, apublication now in thepublic domain.

C.A. BaylyIndian Society and the Making of the British Empire (Cambridge)1988

C. E. BucklandBengal under the Lieutenant-Governors (London) 1901

Sir James Bourdillon The Partition of Bengal(London: Society of Arts) 1905

Susil ChaudhuryFrom Prosperity to Decline. Eighteenth Century Bengal(Delhi)1995

Sir William Wilson HunterAnnals of Rural Bengal(London) 1868, and Orissa(London) 1872

P.J. MarshallBengal, the British Bridgehead 1740-1828 (Cambridge) 1987

John R. McLaneLand and Local Kingship in eighteenth

http://wiki/Cuttackhttp://wiki/Cuttackhttp://wiki/Montagu-Chelmsford_reformshttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=5http://wiki/Encyclop?dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Editionhttp://wiki/Public_domainhttp://wiki/Cuttackhttp://wiki/Montagu-Chelmsford_reformshttp://w/index.php?title=Bengal_Presidency&action=edit&section=5http://wiki/Encyclop?dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Editionhttp://wiki/Public_domain