Bengal Partition and Swadeshi Movement
Sir John Brodrick was the secretary of state for India during that period, and impressed by the partition proposal he stamped his approval. The British administration was aware of the vastness of the Bengal presidency and knew that it was difficult for one governor to administer it effectively. In June, Sir John Brodrick, the secretary approved the partition proposal.
On 16th October 1905, the Partition of Bengal came into force and the proposal was legally implemented. The British Governance decided to redraw the boundaries and geographically split the areas into two parts. The overall district of Assam and Bengal was subjected to partition into two provinces of feasible size. The province of West Bengal consists of proper Bengal along with parts of Orissa and Bihar with a multitude population of 54 million of which 42 million were Hindus and 18 million were Muslims. It was basically Bengali speaking-dominated area. The new province of Eastern Bengal had a population of 31 million among which 18 million were Muslims and 12 million were Hindus. The new province had almost 30 districts namely Dacca, Assam, Chittagong, Rangpur, Rajshahi area excluding Darjeeling, Malda, and Bogra, and many more. The eastern province had Dhaka (Dacca) as its capital and subsidiary headquarters at Chittagong.
The new province of East Bengal would have its own Legislative Council, furthermore, a Board of Revenue consisting of two members under the jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court. The government mentioned that the new province would have a well-defined demarcated boundary that unified geographical, ethnological, linguistic, and social culturing multitude under one area. The most highlighting feature of the new province was that it would focus Muslim population of Bengal which was mainly ignored or neglected in the past. Furthermore, this new geographically demarcated area brought all the jute growing areas and the whole of the tea industry (except Darjeeling) under a single administration.
Partition of Bengal 1905
During British Rule, Bengal was one of the largest areas covering provinces with a huge population of 78 million. This wide expanding area was making its administration problematic to govern. This huge province was under the Lieutenant Governor who could not look after the administrative needs, governance, and efficiency. The vastness of the province hindered the development of the backward areas as the Lieutenant Governor could not travel or take tours overall effectively. Owing to the vastness of the area and huge population density, it was suggested that province boundaries should be redrawn and parted into two landmasses for its effective administrative purpose and needs and this led to the Partition of Bengal, 1905.