Partition of Bengal (1905)

The British Indian government divided Bengal in 1905, separating its eastern districts from the western region. The measure triggered mass protests and became a major focus of the Swadeshi movement.

Lord Curzon: British statesman who served as viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905. As viceroy, Curzon’s government announced and implemented the partition.
Eastern Bengal and Assam: A British Indian province created in 1905 from eastern Bengal and Assam, with Dacca as its capital. It was the new province formed by separating eastern districts from Bengal.
Swadeshi movement: An Indian movement promoting indigenous goods and institutions, especially through boycott of foreign products. The partition sparked the movement’s mass boycott and promotion of Indian-made goods.
Surendranath Banerjee: Indian nationalist politician and orator who campaigned against British rule and the partition of Bengal. Banerjee helped lead public meetings and petition campaigns opposing the division.
Bengal Presidency: A British Indian administrative unit that encompassed Bengal and, at various times, neighboring territories. Its vast size was the official administrative problem cited to justify redrawing Bengal.
West Bengal: A state in eastern India whose present territory includes part of the former western region of Bengal. The partition placed western Bengal districts in the province centered on Calcutta.
Boycott movement in India: A tactic of refusing to buy or use goods to exert political pressure in colonial India. Boycotts of British goods became a prominent form of protest against the partition.
Abanindranath Tagore: Indian painter who helped shape the Bengal School of Art and modern Indian nationalist imagery. His painting Bharat Mata became associated with cultural nationalism during the Swadeshi era.
Indian National Congress: A political organization founded in 1885 that became a leading force in India’s independence movement. Congress gave organized political expression to opposition against the division.
Dacca: The historic English name for Dhaka, a city in present-day Bangladesh. Dacca became the capital of the newly created Eastern Bengal and Assam province.

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