A Brief History of Bengal Partition 1905
The partition of Bengal is a very important chapter in the history of Bengal. The partition of Bengal Act was passed on 16 October 1905 by order of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of the Indian subcontinent.
In 1905 Lord Curzon divided all Bengal into two provinces. Before partition,
Bangla Presidency was formed with some parts of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam (Sarker, 2013). The plan of partition of Bengal had started long ago. The size of the Bengali presidency was much larger. This huge province was ruled by a lieutenant governor. But it was very difficult for a governor to lead the entire province because of poor communication. So in 1905 Bengal was divided.
There are several reasons behind the partition of Bengal, among them administrative, economic, and political were main of them.
The Bengali presidency was very big. One-Third of the people of the subcontinent lived here (Sarker, 2013). And It wasn’t easy to lead the huge area of the Indian subcontinent by a governor. So, Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal to facilitate administrative activities.
Economic reasons were another major reason for the partition of Bengal. At that time Calcutta was the heart of economic activity in the subcontinent. Improvement, progress, everything was confined to the center of Calcutta. As a result, the development of East Bengal was being hampered. The education and communication system of East Bengal was very poor. As a result, East Bengal was economically backward. The number of unemployed people among the people here is also increasing day by day. So, the partition of Bengal was necessary for the improvement of this economic condition (Sarker, 2013).
There were also political reasons behind the partition of Bengal. Lord Curzon didn’t divide Bengal only for the welfare of the people of Bengal. At that time, the political consciousness of the Bengali educated people increased and the nationalist movement began to develop. The center of these movements was Calcutta. So the British government tried to stop the Movement by dividing Bengal (Hassan, 2019).
Also at that time, there was a need for two separate states for the two Hindu-Muslim communities. Because in the eastern part of undivided Bengal the Muslims were in the majority and in the western part the Hindus were in the majority. At that time people of the Hindu community got more government jobs than Muslims. So, the decision was taken to partition Bengal so that the Muslims could get equal government jobs (Hassan, 2019).
After the partition of Bengal in 1905, Muslims welcomed the new Act. They thought that due to the partition of Bengal, they would get various educational, administrative, and economic opportunities. But the people of the Hindu community could not accept the partition of Bengal. As a result, there was a mixed reaction among the people about the partition of Bengal. One group welcomed the partition of Bengal, on the other hand, another group of people started a movement against the partition of Bengal (Asad, 2019).
West Bengal caught fire in protest of the partition of Bengal. Thinking that the national unity of the Bengalis would be ruined due to the partition of Bengal, many Hindu leaders like Surendranath Bandyopadhyay, Bipin Chandra Pal, Ashwini Kumar Dutt formed a movement against it. Eventually, the Indian National Congress became involved in the movement and the movement took the form of a national movement. The Swadeshi movement started. The main program of the movement was two- Boycott and Swadeshi. The main purpose of the boycott movement was to boycott British goods (Sarker, 2013). The Swadeshi movement gradually spread to different parts of Bengal. Congress leaders continue to openly burn British goods in villages and towns and encourage people to use local products. To increase the support for the movement, various organizations called ‘Anushilan’ in Dhaka, ‘Jugantor Samiti’ in Calcutta, ‘Barti’ in Faridpur, etc were Started (Sarker, 2013). To encourage the people, poets and writers used to write various patriotic poems, stories, and songs in newspapers. Among them, Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Roy, Rajinikanth Sen, and others played significant roles (Asad, 2019).
Although the Hindu community formed a movement to protest the partition of Bengal, the Muslim community supported the partition of Bengal and congratulated the government. However, some Muslim leaders supported it at an early stage. But they did not join the Swadeshi and boycott movement later. Moreover, Muslims stay away from the Swadeshi movement as it is influenced by Hindu ideology (Sarker, 2013).
The positive aspect of the Swadeshi movement is the economic aspect. As a result of the movement, people’s interest in setting up local industries and factories increased (“বঙ্গà¦à¦™্গ বিরোধী আন্দোলনের সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরন”, 2018). Rich people set up mills. Besides, people’s interest in science, education, language-literature, and culture increases. However, the most frustrating aspect of the movement is that it has ruined the Hindu-Muslim relationship. This bitterness continues to grow through various incidents. In this case, the purpose of the British was successful.
On the other hand, Hindus became angrier as Muslims supported the partition of Bengal. They started a nationwide movement identified as an all-India problem. Secret killings, riots, and sabotage activities started all over the country. The revolutionaries continued arson, looting, and Political assassination in various places (Sarker, 2013). Attempts were made to assassinate Magistrate Kingsford. Khudiram Basu, who was caught unsuccessfully in an assassination attempt, was hanged (“ক্ষুদিরামের ফাঁসি কার্যকর হয়”, 2019). Yet the revolutionaries continued the movement.
Although the Swadeshi movement did not have immediate success, mass consciousness was created through this movement. There was a storm of movement all over the country. Due to the intense movement, the British government was forced to cancel the partition of Bengal. The partition of Bengal was canceled by Lord Haddinge on 12 December 1911.
References:
Sarker, J. M. B. H. (2013). History 1st paper, Class 11-12. Dhaka, Hasan Book House
Hasan, M. H. (2019, October 16). বঙ্গà¦à¦™্গ বিরোধী আন্দোলনের সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ. 24bdnewsupdate. Retrieved from https://partition-of-bangla.blogspot.com/2019/10/partition-of-bangla.html?m=1
Asad, A (2019, February 11). বঙ্গà¦à¦™্গ রদ আন্দোলন নিয়ে কথা. The Daily Sangram. Retrieved from https://www.dailysangram.com/post/364734
বঙ্গà¦à¦™্গ বিরোধী আন্দোলনের সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরন (2018, August 11). Retrieved from https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/bangla/sob+khobor-epaper-sobkhobr/banggabhangg+birodhi+aandolaner+sankshipt+bibaran-newsid-94410705
ক্ষুদিরামের ফাঁসি কার্যকর হয় (2019, August 12). Retrieved from https://m.banglanews24.com/cat/news/bd/733448.details