Partition of Bengal (1905)

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The Partition of Bengal in 1905, also known as the First Partition of Bengal, was a territorial reorganization of the Bengal Presidency in British India, implemented by the authorities of the British Raj. Announced on 16 October 1905 by Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, the reorganization separated the largely Muslim eastern areas from the largely Hindu western areas, creating West Bengal for Hindus and East Bengal for Muslims. The reorganization was undone a mere six years later. The Partition was undertaken primarily for administration purposes but in fact was treated as a divide and rule policy and further agitated people, who perceived that it was a deliberate attempt to divide the Bengal Presidency on religious grounds, with a Muslim majority in the east and a Hindu majority in the west, thereby weakening the nationalist cause. The Hindus of West Bengal, who dominated Bengal's business and rural life, complained that the division would make them a minority in a province that would...

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