What was the British motive behind the partition of bengal in july, 1905 ?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
Lord Curzon's intention was to divide Bengalis, not Hindus from Muslims. The Western districts formed the other province with Orissa and Bihar. The union of western Bengal with Orissa and Bihar reduced the speakers of the Bengali language to a minority
Background
The Bengal Presidency encompassed Bengal, Bihar, parts of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Assam.[4] With a population of 78.5 million it was British India's largest province.[5] For decades British officialdom had maintained that the huge size created difficulties in effective management[6][7] and had caused neglect of the poorer eastern region.[8] The idea of the partition had been brought up only for administrative reasons.[9] Therefore,[10] Curzon planned to split Orissa and Bihar and join fifteen eastern districts of Bengal with Assam. The eastern province held a population of 31 million, most of which was Muslim, with its centre at Dhaka.[
Partition
See also: Bengal Presidency § 1905 Partition of Bengal
The middle class of Bengal saw this as the rupture of their dear motherland as well as a tactic to diminish their authority.[17] In the six-month period before the partition was to be effected the Congress arranged meetings where petitions against the partition were collected and given to impassive authorities. Surendranath Banerjee had suggested that the non-Bengali states of Orissa and Bihar be separated from Bengal rather than dividing two parts of the Bengali speaking community, but Lord Curzon did not agree to this[18].Banerjee admitted that the petitions were ineffective and as the date for the partition drew closer began advocating tougher approaches such as boycotting British goods. He preferred to label this move as "swadeshi" instead of boycott.
Political crisis
The partition triggered radical nationalism.
Bengali Hindus were upset with their minority status in the new province. They began an angry agitation freedom, featuring terrorism as younger members adopted the use bombingsngs, shootings[22] and assassinations in a blend of religious and political feelings.[23] Vande Mataram (meaning 'I bow to thee Mother'), praising the goddess who represented Bengal & Kali was a rallying cry. Bengal was interpreted as the goddess which had been victimised by the British.[24] Although there were prominent Muslim speakers the Muslims were indifferent to the movement.[25] The British would have been spared from many complications had they not split Bengal. With each case of suppression, assertive nationalism increased in Bengal
Nationalists all over India supported the Bengali cause and were shocked at the British disregard for opinion and ostensible divide and rule strategy. The protest spread to Bombay, Poona and Punjab. Lord Curzon had believed that the Congress was no longer an effective force but provided it with a cause to rally the public around and gain fresh strength from.[27] The partition also caused embarrassment to the Indian National Congress.[28] Gokhale had earlier met prominent British Liberals, hoping to obtain constitutional reforms for India.[29] The radicalisation of Indian nationalism because of the partition would drastically lower the chances for the reforms. However, Gokhale successfully steered the more moderate approach in a Congress meeting and gained support for continuing talks with the government
Re-unification
The authorities not able to end the protest, assented to reversing the partition and did so in 1911.[32] King George announced in December 1911 that eastern Bengal would be assimilated into the Bengal Presidency.[33] Districts where Bengali was spoken were once again unified, and Assam, Bihar and Orissa were separated. The capital was shifted to New Delhi, clearly intended to provide the British Empire with a stronger base.
The partition had not initially been supported by Muslim leaders.[36] After the Muslim majority province of Eastern Bengal and Assam had been created prominent Muslims started seeing it as advantageous. Muslims, especially in Eastern Bengal, had been backward in the period of United Bengal. The Hindu protest against the partition was seen as interference in a Muslim province.[37] With the move of the capital to a Mughal site, the British tried to satisfy Bengali Muslims who were disappointed with losing hold of eastern Bengal.[38]
Aftermath
The uproar that had greeted Curzon's contentious move of splitting Bengal, as well as the emergence of the 'Extremist' faction in the Congress, became the final motive for separatist Muslim politics.[39] In 1909, separate elections were established for Muslims and Hindus. Before this, many members of both communities had advocated national solidarity of all Bengalis. With separate electorates, distinctive political communities developed, with their own political agendas. Muslims, too, dominated the Legislature, due to their overall numerical strength of roughly twenty two to twenty eight million.
In 1947, Bengal was partitioned for the second time, solely on religious grounds, as part of the Partition of India following the formation of the nations India and Pakistan.[41] In 1955, East Bengal became East Pakistan, and in 1971 became the independent state of Bangladesh.