The partition of the Bengal Presidency (for it was not Bengal Province until 1937) was a cynical ploy by the British government to maintain their power in Bengal – which was simultaneously the seat of their power and the hotbed of Indian nationalism. In December 1903, the intention of the government had become publicly known. By 1911, after mass public unrest, the announcement for the reversal of the policy was made by King George V at the Delhi Durbar. The stated intention for the partition was to make the Presidency more governable, but by statements made by Lord Curzon and others, we can see there was a more nefarious agenda behind the plan. The split would see to it that there would be a Hindu-majority West Bengal and a Muslim-majority East Bengal. The government wanted to ingratiate itself to the Muslims who would no longer be the minority. Furthermore, the attempt at dividing was also made on linguistic lines. Numerically, Bengalis under this scheme could no longer dominate Bengal numerically. Muslim elites largely supported the partition, which allowed them to later go on and establish the All-India Muslim League. The wealthy, English-educated, and high-status Hindus (Bhadralok) were outraged at this political maneuvering and launched Swadeshi.
Bengal served as the administrative head of British India. Until 1911, Calcutta was the capital. In large part due to this fact, Bengal and especially Calcutta had the largest concentration of English-educated elites in India. Many missionary schools had been established, and colleges had been established in the area. The reasons for this were multifaceted, but the English-educated elites came to be the ones who defined the nationalist movement in India. In particular, Lord Curzon had in mind to curb the influence of the Bhadralok. The Bhadralok were a new class of elites in Bengal that possessed administrative skills and economic potential. They mostly came from the upper castes and had been the first ones to adopt English education – and this made them useful to the British for lower and middle posts in the administrative apparatus. They had jobs such as lawyers, teachers, journalists, clerks, and several other professions in a similar vein. This was the class that dominated the early Congress and this was the class that began the Swadeshi movement.
A primary reason for the partition was to split the Muslim and Hindu populations. In 1901, the population of Bengal was a combined 78,493,410 (Census of India, 1901, 26). The Hindu population was 49,687,362. The Muslim population was 25,495,416. To put that into percentages, the Hindus made up 63% and the Muslims 32%. After the partition, East Bengal contained 18 million Muslims and 12 million Hindus (Chandra 125). The population in West Bengal (Bengal Proper) became 54,662,529 (The Imperial Gazetteer 222). Hindus became 78% and Muslims 17% (The Imperial Gazetteer 233). Officially, justifications for Bengal being too big and too difficult to administer were put forward as reasons for the partition. There was also a very direct appeal by making the case that since Muslims were on average less well off than the Hindus, if they were given a province of their own, they would have more resources directed towards them and thus more ability to develop their own communities.
The split was not simply along religious lines, but numerically and linguistically. It is an important point of the partition of 1905; the partition was not simply between East and West Bengal. If you look at a map, the Presidency encompassed modern-day West Bengal, Bangladesh, much of Bihar, and much of Odisha. Throughout Bengal, Bengali was the language spoken by a majority. The political life was focused around Calcutta. There were various languages that existed, including Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, and Odia. Eastern Bengal was placed most of Modern Bangladesh and Assam, with the capital at Dhaka. Western Bengal included the Bengali-speaking districts, the Oriya-speaking districts (Odisha), and the Hindi-speaking districts (Bihar). In other words, Curzon took the minority districts and mostly attached them to West Bengal in an effort to dilute the influence of the former Bengali majority. Through this scheme, Bengali speakers suddenly found themselves outnumbered 2:1 in their new province. The capital of West Bengal was kept at Calcutta, but Hindu nationalists were severely weakened. To put it simply, Eastern Bengal was primarily Muslim and Bengali-speaking; Western Bengal was made minority Bengali-speaking.
Naturally, this made the elite Hindus rather angry, but Muslim elites were quite content with this new arrangement. Lord Curzon attempted to court the Muslims by making such claims as the partition would invest “the Mohammedans of Eastern Bengal with a unity which they had not enjoyed since the days of the old Mussulman Viceroys and Kings.” (Hardy 150) The Muslim response to the partition is often confused because of the way in which the information was made known. In 1903 most Muslims disapproved of the plan because they thought that East Bengal would be ruled by a chief commissioner rather than by a governor. This would mean that they would receive fewer benefits, such as reduced educational and social development. Yet, it is important to note that their support was never behind Swadeshi, which they thought of as a Hindu movement. The Muslim public did not care for nationalist Hindu-led anticolonialism struggles. In 1905, the full plan was revealed that the provinces would be split up as described in the previous paragraph. Quickly, public opinion changed because they realized that it would bring about economic and political benefits for Bengali Muslims. Immediately Muslims began to form organizations to present a united front for the interests of their own community. One such organization was the Mohammedan Provincial Union (MPU). Other organizations and societies dotted around the new province were invited to partake in the MPU. A man named Khwaja Salimullah was made patron of the MPU. Salimullah was the sponsor of the conference at which the All India Muslim League was founded and made the vice-president.
Particularly, Bengali-speaking, English-educated, elite Hindus were outraged at their loss of political power, which in turn they launched a campaign deemed “Swadeshi” (Chandra 156). The core objective of the movement was for the reunification of Bengal. The primary strategy they employed was boycotting British goods and furthermore promoting the domestic Indian industry. The gesture was as much practical as it was symbolic; rejecting British-made goods, if successful, had the potential to rob Britain of a very significant market and thus loss of enough revenue which would be difficult to ignore. The movement adopted very outwardly Hindu slogans and imagery. That is not to say there were no Muslims who supported Swadeshi, but the narrative of Hindus and Muslims united against an evil colonial oppressor is a convenient narrative for legitimizing the current Indian state, but, as we have seen, the events that played out and the motivations behind them were a bit more complicated. The Swadeshi movement managed to mobilize, at least the urban classes, for a nationalist movement on a scale which had not been seen in India up until that point. Swadeshi provided a newfound national consciousness, which went on to provide fertile ground for calls for a completely independent Indian state.
The partition of Bengal was an important moment in the history of India and especially important for the formation of Bangladesh. Although the partition was reversed, today Bengal is again separated into West Bengal, which joined India, and East Bengal, which joined Pakistan and later became Bangladesh. From 1905 to 1911, the Muslim elites in Eastern Bengal were front-and-center of the government’s attention. That means they got more jobs, received more education, and gained experience in governance. Naturally, power once gained is seldom returned with enthusiasm. This is the class that would demand separate electorates, engage in Muslim League politics, demand the establishment of Pakistan, and then eventually press for independence. The “identity” of Bangladesh was formed during this time. Even after reversing the policy, the idea of there being two Bengals was never lost. If the partition had not occurred, it is likely that the Hindus would have continued to dominate the politics of Bengal, and Muslims would never have come to the forefront in the manner which they did.
Works Cited 🔗
Metcalf, Barbara, and Thomas R. Metcalf. A Concise History of Modern India. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Chandra, Bipan, et al. India’s Struggle for Independence. Penguin Books, 2016.
Hardy, Peter. The Muslims of British India by P. Hardy. Cambridge University Press, 1972.
“Partition of Bengal, 1905.” Banglapedia, en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Partition_of_Bengal%2C_1905. Accessed 28 Nov. 2025.
“Salimullah, Khwaja.” Banglapedia, en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Salimullah,_Khwaja. Accessed 28 Nov. 2025.
Census of India, 1901. Volume VI, the Lower Provinces of Bengal and Their Feudatories. Bengal Secretariat Press, 1902.
Hunter, Great Britain. India Office; “The Imperial Gazetteer of India : Great Britain. India Office : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, Oxford :, archive.org/details/imperialgazettee07greauoft/page/n7/mode/2up. Accessed 28 Nov. 2025.