In Indian history, Bengal is the only province to have been partitioned twice, in 1905 and again in 1947. The partition was announced in July 1905 by the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, and officially came into effect on 16 October that year.
\n\nTo understand how Bengal came to be such a vast province, one has to go back to the Battle of Buxar, fought on 22 and 23 October 1764. In its aftermath, the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 gave the British East India Company the Diwani, the right to collect revenue, over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
\n\nBy the early 20th century, the province had a population of nearly 80 million. Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) was the capital of both Bengal and British India. Curzon gave the reason that the province was too large to be governed well, and that dividing it would make administration more efficient. Most Indians weren't in favour of it, and saw it differently.
\n\nThe province was split in two. Western Bengal took in present-day West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar, while Eastern Bengal was merged with Assam. The result was a Hindu-majority west, governed from Calcutta, and a Muslim-majority east, governed from Dacca (now Dhaka). Most saw it…
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