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Activity Discussion History ‘Partition of Bengal’

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  • Darshna

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    June 22, 2023 at 5:49 pm
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    On 16th October 1905, Lord Curzon Viceroy and Governor-General of India implemented the scheme for the partition of Bengal. He divides the province of Bengal into two provisions:

    a. Bengal with Calcutta as capital.

    b. Eastern Bengal and Assam with Dacca as the capital.

    Some of the main reasons behind this partition are:

    1) Crush the unity of Bengal Politicians and leaders: Through the partition of Bengal, Lord Curzon wanted to reduce the power of eminent leaders who supported the independence movement. His main motive was to crush Congress by crushing the nationalist solidarity in Bengal.

    Herbert Risley remarked that “Bengal united is a force, Bengal divided will go in different ways. That the Partition Plan is opposed by Congress is its merit for us. Our principle motive is to weaken a united party against the government.”

    2) Cripple the middle-class Bengali: By dividing the provinces religiously, Lord Curzon crippled the educated middle-class nationalists of Bengal. He attempted to hurt the sentiments of Bengalees who participated in national movements. This would ultimately weaken the nationalism in Bengal.

    3) Physical as well as Mental division: The unjust territorial readjustments were a deliberate approach to reduce the significance of Calcutta.

    Calcutta was regarded as a ‘nerve center of anti-British nationalism’, while Calcutta leaders like Surendranath Banerjee organized anti-British movements all around the country.

    The Bengalees were proud of their Vernacular literature and the University of Calcutta, but such a division of province led to a mortal blow to the political radicalism of the Bengalees.

    Despite the blatant reasons the Cambridge School of Historians hold opposite views regarding the reason behind the partition of Bengal. These are:

    1) Administrative Reasons: According to Cambridge’s view, Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal solely for Administrative purposes rather than political.

    Accordingly, Bengal was a large province consisting of Bihar and Orissa. The large province along with its population created hurdles in the appropriate administration of the region.

    • This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by  Darshna Kaur.
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