History of West Bengal

The history of the region now comprising West Bengal, from ancient Bengal through colonial rule, Partition in 1947, and its development as an Indian state.

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Vanga: An ancient region and kingdom associated with the lower Ganges delta and the history of Bengal. Vanga is among the earliest named polities associated with the region.
Battle of Plassey: A 1757 battle in which the East India Company defeated the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies. The Company's victory opened the way to its political dominance in Bengal.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy: A Bengali reformer and intellectual who campaigned against social practices including sati and helped found the Brahmo Sabha. His reform work exemplifies the social debates that emerged in colonial Bengal.
Partition of Bengal (1947): The 1947 division of Bengal into West Bengal, which joined India, and East Bengal, which joined Pakistan. It created the territorial basis of West Bengal and separated families and communities.
History of Bangladesh: The history of the region that became Bangladesh, from ancient Bengal through its independence in 1971. Its account follows the eastern half of Bengal after the 1947 partition.
Pala Empire: A Buddhist dynasty that ruled much of Bengal and Bihar from the eighth to the twelfth centuries. Pala rule made Bengal a major center of Buddhist learning and power.
Permanent Settlement: A land-revenue system introduced in Bengal in 1793 that fixed the revenue owed by zamindars to the colonial state. It reshaped agrarian property and power across colonial Bengal.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: A nineteenth-century Bengali educator and reformer who advocated widow remarriage and expanded women's education. His campaigns influenced education and social reform in the region.
Bengal famine of 1943: A catastrophic famine in Bengal during the Second World War that killed millions of people. The famine devastated Bengal shortly before independence and exposed colonial wartime failures.
History of Bihar: The history of the eastern Indian region now comprising Bihar, from ancient kingdoms to the modern state. Bihar shared imperial and administrative histories with Bengal but developed as a separate state.