lord curzon was working as the viceroy of india at the time of bengal’s separation in 1905.
lord curzon was working as the viceroy of india at the time of bengal’s separation in 1905.
who was working as the viceroy of india at the time of bengal’s separation in 1905?
lord curzon
in 1905, the viceroy, lord curzon, in his second term, divided the largest administrative subdivision in british india, the bengal presidency, into the muslim-majority province of "east bengal and assam" and the hindu-majority "province" of "bengal" (present-day indian states of west bengal, bihar, jharkhand and odisha). curzon's act, the partition of bengal—which some considered administratively felicitous, and, which had been contemplated by various colonial administrations since the time of lord william bentinck, but never acted upon—was to transform nationalist politics as nothing else before it. the hindu elite of bengal, among them many who owned land in east bengal that was leased out to muslim peasants, protested fervidly. the large bengali hindu middle-class (the "bhadralok"), upset at the prospect of bengalis being outnumbered in the new bengal province by biharis and oriyas, felt that curzon's act was punishment for their political assertiveness. the pervasive protests against curzon's decision took the form predominantly of the "swadeshi" ("buy indian") campaign and involved a boycott of british goods. sporadically—but flagrantly—the protesters also took to political violence that involved attacks on civilians. the violence, however, was not effective, as most planned attacks were either preempted by the british or failed. the rallying cry for both types of protest was the slogan "bande mataram" (bengali, lit: "hail to the mother"), the title of a song by bankim chandra chatterjee, which invoked a mother goddess, who stood variously for bengal, india, and the hindu goddess kali. the unrest spread from calcutta to the surrounding regions of bengal when calcutta's english-educated students returned home to their villages and towns. the religious stirrings of the slogan and the political outrage over the partition were combined as young men, in groups such as jugantar, took to bombing public buildings, staging armed robberies, and assassinating british officials. since calcutta was the imperial capital, both the outrage and the slogan soon became nationally known.
partition of india
between 1576 and 1717, bengal was ruled by a mughal subedar (imperial governor). members of the imperial family were often appointed to the position. viceroy prince shah shuja was the son of emperor shah jahan. during the struggle for succession with his brothers prince aurangazeb, prince dara shikoh and prince murad baksh, prince shuja proclaimed himself as the mughal emperor in bengal. he was eventually defeated by the armies of aurangazeb. shuja fled to the kingdom of arakan, where he and his family were killed on the orders of the king at mrauk u. shaista khan was an influential viceroy during the reign of aurangazeb. he consolidated mughal control of eastern bengal. prince muhammad azam shah, who served as one of bengal's viceroys, was installed on the mughal throne for four months in 1707. viceroy ibrahim khan ii gave permits to english and french traders for commercial activities in bengal. the last viceroy prince azim-us-shan gave permits for the establishment of the british east india company's fort william in calcutta, the french east india company's fort orleans in chandernagore and the dutch east india company's fort in chinsura. during azim-us-shan's tenure, his prime minister murshid quli khan emerged as a powerful figure in bengal. khan gained control of imperial finances. azim-us-shan was transferred to bihar. in 1717, the mughal court upgraded the prime minister's position to the hereditary nawab of bengal. khan founded a new capital in murshidabad. his descendants formed the nasiri dynasty. alivardi khan founded a new dynasty in 1740. the nawabs ruled over a territory which included bengal proper, bihar and orissa.
bengal subah