The Partition of Bengal, 1905

Partition Plan

In 1903, the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, proposed that Bengal should be partitioned into West Bengal and East Bengal. The eastern province would include Assam and three districts previously considered to be part of West Bengal, Dhaka Chittagong and Mymensingh. Dhaka would be the capital of East Bengal with a predominantly Muslim population. The western province would include Bihar and Orissa. It was two years before the proposal was put into effect, but, in 1905, the British partitioned Bengal as Curzon had suggested. It was announced on 19 July 1905 by Lord Curzon and implemented on 16 October 1905. The most immediate effect of partition was to cause conflict between the Muslims and the Hindus.

Reasons for Partition

Hindus’ Call for Freedom:

During the later 1870s, many secret societies sprang up and aimed at ridding India of the British. In the late nineteenth century, a form of radical nationalism began to develop. Leaders, such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Poona, made impassioned speeches calling for freedom for the Indian people. In 1897, he was imprisoned for writing a provocative newspaper article. In the same year, a British officer and his companion were assassinated. These activities worried the British, who were forced to take measures to clamp down. One way in which they did this was to partition Bengal.

High Population:

Bengal was the largest of the provinces of India. At the end of the nineteenth century, it included Western Bengal with a population of 54 million (42 million Hindus and 12 million Muslims) and East Bengal with a population of 31 million (12 million Hindus and 18 million Muslims). There were ten times as many people in Bengal as there were in the whole of Britain at this time! This was a huge population to govern as one unit and it seemed sensible to divide up the province on religious grounds.

Administrative Efficiency:

The British claimed that Bengal was too large to govern as one province and that it would be more efficient to govern it as two smaller provinces. It was difficult for them to maintain law and order because of its dense population. More problems were created for them in the time of emergencies, like when flood or cyclones generated. The collection of taxes was difficult as well. At the time of a new British government in power, it became more necessary to make sure that India was administered more easily.

‘Divide and Rule’ Policy:

The Hindu community believed that the partition had nothing to do with administrative efficiency. They believed there were much more sinister reasons. They believed that the British had divided Bengal as part of their traditional ‘Divide and Rule’ policy. The Hindus had dominated Congress and they had begun to call for reform. They believed that the British had tried to weaken Hindu unity by dividing Bengal and establishing East Bengal with a Muslim majority. This meant that the, so-called, Hindu threat would be reduced.

Developing East Bengal:

According to the British, partition will result in equal development throughout Bengal. There were great differences between East Bengal and West Bengal. The Eastern being the more neglected and the Western being developed and was using the resources of East Bengal to develop itself. Therefore, it was decided to partition Bengal to allow for development in education and employment to be generated throughout East Bengal which would improve Bengal, overall, economically for future.

Improve Condition of the Muslims:

The British wanted to give more relaxations and power to the Muslims due to the role played by the reformers, like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, to remove misunderstandings between the Muslims and the British. They had realized that the Muslims were victimized after the War of Independence 1857 so they should be given advance in this new province. In the earlier combined province of Bengal, the Muslims were suppressed by the Hindus in all aspects. The Hindus had monopolized trade and commerce. By virtue of their better standards of literacy, the Hindus had also been more prominent in government positions. The British thought that, since the Muslims were in majority in the new province, partition would allow the Muslims to prosper and dominate in different sectors which would help to improve relations between the Muslims and the British.

Muslims’ Reaction

The Muslims were delighted with the partition of Bengal. Their position improved overnight. For them, the partition meant that a Muslim majority province had been created where their interests were safeguarded. Since 1857, the British had mistreated the Muslims and they had denied them proper education. The Hindus had gained all the advantages and they had even tried to replace Urdu with Hindi. Now, at last, the Muslims had true recognition, a province in which they were in the majority. The partition would enable millions of Muslims to escape from the oppression of Hindu rule.

Since competition was lessened, the Muslims could now hope to have access to government positions as well. On 22 October 1905, a large Muslim gathering in Dhaka openly welcomed the creation of the new province. Another meeting was held on 24 October 1905 to offer thanks to God for the division of Bengal. It was declared at this meeting that the Muslims would be spared of much oppression which they had to endure from the Hindus. Muslims also realized that the British have started trusting them again and their position will improve in the subcontinent.

Muslims of India realized that they could no longer live with the Hindus, and they should organize themselves to have their own political party to safeguard their political rights and interests. Muslims of India had organized to put forward their demands against the British government for approval through Simla Deputation.

Hindus’ Reaction

The partition of Bengal aroused fury amongst the Hindus. They rejected the decision and launched a series of violent protests and demonstrations against the partition. They proclaimed 16 October 1905; the day partition was put into effect, as a day of mourning. Hindus kept fast on the day of partition as symbolic hunger strike and wore threads on their arms to convey message of solidarity and unity. Moderate and liberal Hindus protested through constitutional methods, passed resolutions, sent petitions to the government and to the Secretary of State, wrote in print media, met with English politicians in India and conveyed them the Indian grievances. The Hindus’ anger was so strong that it gave birth to the development of extremism. A number of small extremist groups came into existence that launched attacks on the British officials. Later, there was an assassination attempt on the future Viceroy, Lord Minto.

The Swadeshi Movement

The Swadeshi Movement formed in response to partition of Bengal by the Hindus between 1903 and 1905. Hindus were furious with the partition as they saw it as part of the British ‘Divide and Rule’ policy. The Swadeshi Movement was a boycott of British goods and bought only Indian produced goods. British sugar, salt and cloth especially suffered and cotton in particular. British cloth was burnt on bonfires and it became a matter of honor to wear locally produced goods. People picketed the shops selling foreign goods. Soon, imports from Britain had fallen off significantly and the sale of British goods in Indian markets dropped dramatically. At the same time, there were a series of strikes by Indian workers, such as those in Calcutta.

British Reaction to Hindu Protest

• Newspapers and public meetings had restrictions placed upon them and, between 1906 and 1908, editors of newspapers and journalists were prosecuted and imprisoned

• The Press Act of 1908 placed further restrictions on newspapers and gave the government greater control over them.

• One organizer of Hindu-led demonstrations, Tilak of Poona was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment in June 1908. Other radical leaders were deported or left the country of their own accord rather than face imprisonment. Soon local prisons were filled with those the British considered to be revolutionaries.

• The British realized that using tough measures to crush the Hindus would not be sufficient in themselves. Another approach would be to win support of the more moderate Hindus by making reforms. In 1905, Lord Minto, the new Viceroy, worked with John Morley, the Secretary of State for India, in London on reforms that became the Morley-Minto reforms in 1909. These reforms were intended to win the support of the Hindus.