Partition of Bengal (1947)

The 1947 division of Bengal split the province between India and Pakistan, creating West Bengal in India and East Bengal in Pakistan, later Bangladesh.

Lahore Resolution: A 1940 Muslim League resolution called for independent states in Muslim-majority regions of British India. It strengthened the political demand that Bengal’s Muslim-majority areas join Pakistan.
Radcliffe Line: The boundary drawn in 1947 to divide Punjab and Bengal between India and Pakistan. Its Bengal section determined which districts went to each new country.
East Bengal: The eastern part of Bengal that became a province of Pakistan in 1947. It was the territory assigned to Pakistan by the partition.
Chittagong Hill Tracts: A hilly, Indigenous-majority region in southeastern Bengal, now within Bangladesh. Despite its non-Muslim majority, the region was assigned to East Pakistan.
Bengal famine of 1943: A catastrophic famine in Bengal under British rule that killed millions during the Second World War. Its recent devastation shaped the social conditions inherited by the partitioned province.
Direct Action Day: A Muslim League protest on 16 August 1946 that triggered severe communal violence in Calcutta. The killings intensified demands to divide Bengal along communal lines.
Bengal Boundary Commission: A commission chaired by Cyril Radcliffe to recommend the boundary between the Indian and Pakistani parts of Bengal. It converted the assembly’s partition decision into a territorial boundary.
West Bengal: The western part of Bengal that became a state of India in 1947. It was the territory retained by India after Bengal’s division.
Khulna District: A district in southwestern Bengal, now part of Bangladesh. Its allocation to East Pakistan shaped the border in the Ganges delta.
Noakhali riots: Communal violence in Bengal’s Noakhali district in October 1946, involving attacks on Hindu communities. The violence became part of the escalating crisis surrounding Bengal’s future.

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