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Bengal : is the anglicised form of Bānglā evolved from the Bengali Baṇga of the Sanskrit Vaṇga which denoted Eastern & Central Bengal in the age of the Dharma sutras & the Epics. Western & north-western Bengal was then known as Gauḍa. Vaṇga & Gauḍa were both included in the empires of the Mauryas & the Guptās (q.v.). In the middle of 6th century Gauḍa became quite a powerful state. The Sena dynasty that ruled in Bengal in the 11th & 12th centuries built a powerful kingdom, promoted Sanskrit learning & patronised poets like Jayadeva. Vidyāpati’s “five Bengals’ stood for the five divisions of Gauḍa made by Vallalasena, Gaudesh (the king of Gauḍa), who ruled from 1159 to 1179, & whose father Vijayasena (ruled 1095-1158) had brought west & north Bengal under his control. The five divisions were: Bāgdī (q.v.), Rarha, Varendra, Vaṇga, & Mithila. In British India, Bengal proper, Bihar, & Orissa formed a single province from 1765 up to 1905, when it was divided by Lord Curzon: fifteen districts of eastern Bengal were separated & united with Assam to form a new province called “East Bengal & Assam”. The capital of this new province was Dacca; its people were mainly Muslims. The purpose of the division of the large province of Bengal, announced in July 1905, was to increase the conflicts between nationalist Hindus & Muslims in Bengal. The plan was approved by the Secretary of State without consulting the Parliament. The Bengal Legislative Council strongly denounced the plan on July 8, & the Indian press in Bengal & other provinces condemned the proposal. The weekly Sanjivani suggested a boycott of British goods on July 13, & a public meeting at Bagerhat adopted it three days later. The boycott idea spread as two thousand public meetings were organized in the cities & in hundreds of villages. In the town of Barisal students & even teachers went to school barefoot & were threatened with expulsion. On 16 Oct. 1905, Ananda Mohan Bose (q.v.) laid the Foundation Stone of the Akhanda Buṇga Bhavan, Hall of Indivisible Bengal, or Milan Mandir, Temple where East & West Bengal unite; – later known as Federation Hall. In 1911 because of continuing public agitation the British Govt. reunited East & West Bengal. Assam again became a chief commissionership, & Bihar & Orissa were separated to form a new province. The 1922 Gaya session of the Congress was followed by the resignation of C.R. Das as the President of the organisation. He then formed within the Congress a party called the Swaraj Party (q.v.). In the election to the Bengal Legislative Council held in 1923, the Swaraj Party led by C.R. Das became the largest single party capturing 46 seats out of its 139 seats but Das declined the offer made by Lord Lytton, the Governor of Bengal, to form a new ministry. He held discussions with prominent Muslim leaders of Bengal & early in December 1923 came to an agreement with them. The terms of the Bengal Pact, were passed in the meeting of the Swaraj Party Councillors held on 16 December 1923 & also passed in the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee meeting held on 18 December 1923. Chitta Ranjan Misra: The Terms of the Bengal Pact of 1923 included: (a) Representation in the Bengal Legislative Council would be on population basis with separate electorates; (b) Representation in the local bodies would be on the proportion of 60 per cent to the majority community & 40 per cent to the minority community; (c) Regarding Government appointments, it was decided that fifty five per cent of the appointments should go to the Muslims. Till the above percentage was attained, 80 per cent of posts would go to the Muslims & the remaining 20 per cent should go to the Hindus; (d) No resolution or enactment would be allowed to be moved without the consent of 75 per cent of the elected members of the affected community; (e) Music in processions would not be allowed in front of the mosques; (f) No legislation in respect of cow killing for food would be taken up in the Council & endeavour should be made outside the Council to bring about an understanding between the two communities. Cow killing should be taken up in such a manner as not to wound the religious feelings of the Hindus & cow killing for religious purpose should not be interfered with…. S.N. Bannerjea & B.C. Pal were among the Hindu leaders who stood up against the Pact…. Emphasising the necessity of the Pact, Das remarked that Swaraj would not come without Hindu-Muslim unity. He was supported in his stance by a considerable number of Congressmen in Bengal [&] got whole-hearted support for his scheme from the majority of the Muslims of Bengal. The latter welcomed the Pact wholeheartedly because in their opinion it was the sensible solution to their problems. The Muslim leaders of Bengal held that, if implemented, the Pact would strike at the root of communal strife. The Muslim press thanked those Hindu leaders for their greatness in meeting the just demands of the Muslims through formulating the Pact in consultation with them. But the Muslims were very disheartened when the Bengal Pact was rejected by the Cocānada (q.v.) Session of the Indian National Congress held in December 1923. The decision of the Congress was characterised by Muslim leaders of Bengal short-sighted & aggressively selfish. In their opinion the Cocānada Congress had committed the worst blunder in the history of the Congress movement for it dealt a serious blow to the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity, the cause for which the INC stood. But C.R. Das…criticised the stand of the INC & declared: “You may delete the Bengal Pact from the resolutions but you cannot delete Bengal from the Indian National Congress….” And he succeeded in getting the terms of his Bengal Pact ratified by the Bengal Provincial Congress Conference, held at Sirajganj in June 1924. Unfortunately his premature death in 1925 came as a blow to the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity. His death was followed by the repudiation of the Pact, even by some of his own followers. A large number of Bengali Muslim politicians became shocked at this act & began to move away from the Congress as well as the Swarājya Party. The defection of the Muslims was marked by the formation of the Independent Muslim Party in 1926 by some prominent Muslim leaders of the province like Maulvi Abdul Karim, Maulānā Abdur Rauf, Khan Bahadur Azizul Huq, Maulvi Abdullahil Baqi, Maulvi Ashraf ud-din Ahmed, Dr A. Suhrawardy, A.K. Fazlul Huq, & others. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy became the Provisional Secretary of the Party. Indeed, from this time on, the Muslims of Bengal began to reconsider their stand in Bengal politics. The result of all these manoeuvrings was a revival of communal politics in the province.” [“Bengal Pact”, Banglapedia] Abinash Bhattacharya: I was the first to return from the Andamans. Almost four years later, Hem-da & Ullāskar came back. I met Aurobindo-babu again for the first time in fourteen years in Pondicherry [in 1923]. I was with him for a month. Every day we used to talk on various subjects. I have brought out excerpts of these talks in the monthly Bāsumati. I mention one or two things here. When I first saw him he told me: “Chitta has made a big mistake.” – What has Chitta done this time? – “Signed this pact – this pact means admitting that there are two races in India, the Hindus & Muslims. Now we will have to face the virulent consequences.” – You are engaged in the discipline of yoga & have become a sadhu, why do you have to concern yourself with all this? – “I am not doing this yoga for my personal liberation; my sādhanā is for the good of the whole world. To lift man to a higher state of progress is my endeavour. – In that case you shouldn’t make a distinction between the Hindus & the Muslims. – “That is just what I say. In India there will be no Hindus & no Muslims, All will be one Indian.” – How are Europe & America to blame? – “I do not reproach or hate them. But I still want our fallen Mother India to rise once again, resplendent & glorious. I also want – without the others being diminished – that my Mother should stand out as the foremost among them – my mother Bengal. Let the Bengali be the foremost – this is my heartfelt desire.” I was fortunate enough to have lived together with Sri Aurobindo for a few days. I called him Sejda & addressed him as tumi [familiar form of the second person.] I had the opportunity to observe him at close range at his daily work…. He gave me affection & sometimes scolded me for my childish conduct. [Original published in Golpo-Bharati, Vol.6, 1950-51, pp. 829-50; its translation from the Bengali in Srinvantu, November 1984, was reproduced under title “Sri Aurobindo” in Mother India, July 2012, pp.528-39] Sri Aurobindo on 19 October 1946: “…the conditions of the Hindus [in Bengal] are terrible & they may even get worse in spite of the interim mariage de convenance at Delhi. But we must not let our reaction to it become excessive or suggest despair. There must be at least 20 million Hindus in Bengal & they are not going to be exterminated, – even Hitler with his scientific methods of massacre could not exterminate the Jews who are still showing themselves very much alive &, as for Hindu culture, it is not such a weak & fluffy thing as to be easily stamped out; it has lasted through something like 5 millenniums at least & is going to carry on much longer & has accumulated quite enough power to survive. What is happening did not come to me as a surprise. I foresaw it when I was in Bengal & warned people that it was probable & almost inevitable & that they should be prepared for it. At that time no one attached any value to what I said although some afterwards remembered & admitted, when the trouble first began, that I have been right; only C.R. Das had grave apprehensions & he even told me when he came to Pondicherry that he would not like the British to go out until this dangerous problem had been settled.” [CWSA 36:208] S. Bhattacharya: In 1947, Bengal was partitioned into West Bengal & East Pakistan with the consent of the Indian National Congress resulting in the uprooting of millions of people, mostly Hindus of East Bengal. The truncated West Bengal is only one-third of its old self & is confronted with many problems of which the resettlement of the Hindu refugees is the most tremendous & at the same time the most baffling.