40 Facts About Bengal Presidency

1.

Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India.

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2.

For many years, the Governor of Bengal Presidency was concurrently the Viceroy of India and Calcutta was the de facto capital of India until 1911.

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3.

Bengal Presidency emerged from trading posts established in Mughal Bengal during the reign of Emperor Jahangir in 1612.

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4.

Bengal Presidency was the economic, cultural and educational hub of the British Raj.

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5.

When Bengal Presidency was reorganized, Penang, Singapore and Malacca were separated into the Straits Settlements in 1867.

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6.

Bengal Presidency was given a monopoly for British trade in the Indian Ocean.

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7.

The Nawab of Bengal Presidency later electing to end the plunder of his territory, in 1751, though conceding the administration of Orrisa and agreeing to make Bengal Presidency a tributary state of the Marathas, paying Rs.

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8.

Bengal Presidency issued coins in the name of the nominal Mughal Emperor .

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9.

Under Warren Hastings, the consolidation of British imperial rule over Bengal Presidency was solidified, with the conversion of a trade area into an occupied territory under a military-civil government, while the formation of a regularised system of legislation was brought in under John Shore.

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10.

Partition of the large province of Bengal Presidency, which was decided upon by Lord Curzon, and Cayan Uddin Ahmet, the Chief Secretary of Bengal Presidency carried into execution in October 1905.

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11.

Province of West Bengal Presidency then consisted of the thirty-three districts of Burdwan, 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 Kandhmal, Puri, Sambalpur, Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Palamau, and Manbhum.

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12.

Partition of Bengal Presidency proved highly controversial, as it resulted in a largely Hindu West Bengal Presidency and a largely Muslim East.

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13.

Bengal Presidency remained in its 1912 boundaries until Independence in 1947, when it was again partitioned between the dominions of India and Pakistan.

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14.

British Prime Minister Clement Attlee informed the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom on 2 June 1947 that there was a "distinct possibility that Bengal Presidency might decide against partition and against joining either India or Pakistan".

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15.

Later, a separate meeting of legislators from West Bengal Presidency decided by 58 votes to 21 that the province should be partitioned and that West Bengal Presidency should join the existing Constituent Assembly of India.

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16.

The governor of Bengal Presidency was concurrently the governor-general of India for many years.

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17.

The Prime Minister of Bengal Presidency was a member of the assembly.

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18.

Bengal Presidency introduced the Primary Education Bill to make primary education free and compulsory.

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19.

Bengal Presidency established schools such as the Lady Brabourne College.

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20.

Bengal Presidency envisaged Bengal as one of the "independent states" outlined by the resolution.

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21.

Bengal Presidency advocated a plan for a Bengali sovereign state with a multiconfessionalist political system.

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22.

Many laws enacted in British Bengal Presidency are still in use today, including the Indian Penal Code.

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23.

Bengal Presidency was strategically important for the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim.

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24.

Each district of Bengal Presidency had a district school, which were the leading secondary institutions.

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25.

Bengal Presidency was plugged into the market-driven economy and trade networks of the British Empire.

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26.

Bengal Presidency had the largest gross domestic product in British India.

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27.

Bengal Presidency accounted for the bulk of the world's jute production and export.

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28.

The Bay of Bengal Presidency became one of the busiest shipping hubs in the world, rivaling the traffic of ports on the Atlantic.

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29.

Northwestern Bengal Presidency became the center of Darjeeling tea cultivation in the foothills of the Himalayas.

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30.

However, Bengal Presidency received little attention for industrialization due to the entrenched peasant-zamindar relationship under the Permanent Settlement.

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31.

The Zamindars of Bengal Presidency built mansions, lodges, modern bungalows, townhouses, and palaces on their estates.

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32.

Bengal Presidency required the road for commercial and administrative purposes.

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33.

An early attempt at manned flight in Bengal Presidency was by a young female balloonist named Jennette Rumary who at the time was associated with Park Van Tassel and took the stage name Jennette Van Tassell.

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34.

Bengal Presidency played an important role for the air operations of the Allied forces of World War II.

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35.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal Army was concurrently the Commander-in-Chief, India from 1853 to 1895, as the Bengal Army was the largest of the Presidency Armies.

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36.

Major military engagements affecting British Bengal Presidency included the First Anglo-Burmese War, the Anglo-Nepalese War, the First Afghan War, the Opium Wars, the Bhutan War, the Second Anglo-Afghan War, World War I, and the Burma Campaign of World War II.

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37.

Colonial India as well as the Bengal Presidency suffered from the numerous famines and epidemics throughout the British Rule.

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38.

Bengal Presidency renaissance refers to social reform movements during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the region of Bengal Presidency in undivided India during the period of British rule.

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39.

Bengal Presidency played a major role in the Indian independence movement and the Pakistan movement.

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40.

Bengal Presidency'storians have argued that the British used a policy of divide and rule among Hindus and Muslims.

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