Question

Why did the British partition Bengal? How did the people react to it?​ (In short and simple words please)

Answer 1

Answer:

They clearly saw the aim of the Britishers to break the unity of the Bengali people on communal lines and thus weaken the nationalist movement. III. The division of Bengal provoked an agitation and angry reaction of Bengali people. It created widespread indignation all over the country.

Answer 2

Explanation:

The ‘Partition of Bengal’ was the first manifestation of the British Raj’s ‘Divide and Rule’ policy.

The reason behind the partition that was officially announced was that the Bengal province was too large to be administered by a single governor and so it would be partitioned on administrative purpose.

The real reason behind the partition was political and not administrative. The provincial state of Bengal had an area of 189,000 square miles and a population of nearly 78.5 million. It comprised to West Bengal with a Hindu majority and East Bengal and Assam with a Muslim majority. It included the Hindi-speaking regions of Bihar, the Odia-speaking regions of Odisha as well as the Assamese-speaking region of Assam, making it a huge administrative entity. Moreover, the capital, Calcutta, was also the capital of the entire British India. With the growing efforts of the Indian freedom fighters to secure the independence of India, Lord Curzon decided to address both these problems by partitioning Bengal into two entities, which would result in a Muslim-majority in the eastern half, and a Hindu-majority in the western half. This he hoped would reduce the administrative pressures and divide the population on religious grounds, quelling the Indian Independence Movement.

The partition was generally supported by the Muslims of East Bengal by both their poor economic conditions in East Bengal and the perceived dominance of the Hindu businessmen and landlords in West Bengal over the governance of Bengal. Most of the factories and mills in Bengal were established in and around Calcutta, while many sources of raw materials for these factories were in East Bengal. Furthermore, most of the educational institutions of the Province were in Calcutta, including the lone university in Bengal at the time.

Partition sparked an extremely major political crisis along religious lines. Hindu resistance exploded as the Indian National Congress began the Swadeshi movement that included boycotting British goods and public institutions, meetings and processions, forming committees, propaganda through press, and diplomatic pressure. Hitherto untouched sections of Indian society participated in these movements, providing base for later movements. Richness of the movement extended to culture, science and literature. Masses were educated for a bolder form of politics and colonial hegemony was undermined. Songs were written by Rabindranth Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam calling for Hindu-Muslim unification.

Due to these political protests, the two parts of Bengal were reunited on 12 December 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: Bihar and Orissa Province was created to the west, and Assam Province to the east. The administrative capital of British India was moved from Calcutta to New Delhi as well.