Names of Bengal

Bengal (Bengali: বাংলা, romanized: Bangla) is an ethnolinguistic, cultural, and geographic region and historical country located in eastern South Asia, politically split between the sovereign country of Bangladesh and the federal republic of India as the state of West Bengal and Tripura. Despite prospering as sovereign under many native polities in the past, due to its history and complicated internal socio-political divisions, various names have been used to refer to the region and its subsections. The name Bangla is used by both Bangladesh and West Bengal in both global international and cross-border intra-regional contexts. In the Bengali language, the two Bengals each use two different terms interchangeably to refer to the nominally identified ethnic nation: Bānglā (বাংলা) and Baṅga (বঙ্গ. pronounced natively as 'Bongo'), often using the terms epar Bangla/opar Bangla (this Bengal/that Bengal) to contextualize the geopolitical border from each perspective. Prior to the 1947 partition of Bengal, the term Bangladesh (or 'Bangla desh') was by the natives of then undivided Bengal (under the British Raj) used to refer to their entire homeland since late 19th to early 20th century, often in efforts against British imperialism-colonialism. During the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, the Bengalis of then East Bengal under Pakistan, used the name 'Swadhin Bangla' (lit. 'Sovereign Bengal' in Bengali) alongside the historical endonym 'Bangladesh' which they continued using alongside 'Purba Bangla' (lit. 'East Bengal' in Bengali) after the partition of their country into India and Pakistan in 1947 in patriotic contexts and struggles for nationalism against Pakistan, all the way to the independence of Bangladesh. While the Bengalis in the state of West Bengal call the region 'Paschim Bangla' (lit. 'West Bengal' in Bengali).

Terminology in detail

Geographical distinctions

East Bengal

West Bengal
West Bengal
East Bengal
East Bengal
Maps of West Bengal (India) and East Bengal (Bangladesh)
West Bengal
West Bengal
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Maps of West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh, showing  North Bengal in green and  South Bengal in red

East Bengal (Bengali: পূর্ববঙ্গ Purbô Bangla) was the name used during two different periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal which made one half East Bengal or Bangladesh.

Historically, it referred to the fertile Bhati region of the Bengal delta, which corresponds to the modern-day Dhaka Division.

North Bengal

North Bengal (Bengali: উত্তরবঙ্গ) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part includes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Generally, it is the area lying west of Jamuna River and north of Padma River and includes the Barind Tract. The West Bengal part denotes the Jalpaiguri Division (Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda). The Bihar parts include the Kishanganj district. It also includes parts of Darjeeling Hills. Traditionally, the Hooghly River divides West Bengal into South and North Bengal, divided again into Terai and Dooars regions.

South Bengal

South Bengal (Bengali: দক্ষিণবঙ্গ) is a term used for the southwestern part of Bangladesh and the southern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part includes the Khulna, Faridpur, and Barisal Divisions. The Bay of Bengal is located at the end of the southern part of Bangladesh. The West Bengal part includes 12 districts in the southern part of West Bengal; Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Burdwan, East Midnapur, West Midnapur, Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas.[citation needed]

West Bengal

West Bengal (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ) comprises roughly one-third of the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. When India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The western part went to the Dominion of India (and was named West Bengal).[further explanation needed]

Hilly Bengal

Hilly Bengal (Bengali: পার্বত্যবঙ্গ) is a term used for the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The area consists of Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban.[citation needed]

Historical names

Historical names for Bengal include (in chronological order):

The Bengal Sultanate in 1500, during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah

Adjectives

Other names

Sobriquets for Bengal

In traditional Bengali culture, as well as in the Bengali Media, the land of Bengal has assumed a number of sobriquets over the centuries, including:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 বঙ্গদেশ (in Bengali), 1908
  2. ↑ "West Bengal Assembly passes resolution for State's name change". The Hindu. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Venkata Siddharthacharry, Jambudwipa, a blueprint for a South Asian community, page 256, Radiant Publishers, 1985, ISBN 81-7027-088-X
  4. ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot (2004). A History of Pakistan and Its Origins. Anthem Press. p. 42. ISBN 9781843311492.
  5. ↑ "Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy : His Life". The Daily New Nation. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Bangladesh: early history, 1000 B.C.–A.D. 1202". Bangladesh: A country study. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. September 1988. Retrieved 1 December 2014. Historians believe that Bengal, the area comprising present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, was settled in about 1000 B.C. by Dravidian-speaking peoples who were later known as the Bang. Their homeland bore various titles that reflected earlier tribal names, such as Vanga, Banga, Bangala, Bangal, and Bengal.
  7. ↑ Friedberg, Arthur L.; Friedberg, Ira S. (14 April 2024). Gold coins of the World. Coin & Currency Institute. ISBN 978-0-87184-308-1.
  8. ↑ "Copperplates, Banglapedia".
  9. ↑ "Vangala, Banglapedia".
  10. ↑ Keay, John (2000). India: A History. Atlantic Monthly Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-87113-800-2. In C1020 ... launched Rajendra's great northern escapade ... peoples he defeated have been tentatively identified ... 'Vangala-desa where the rain water never stopped' sounds like a fair description of Bengal in the monsoon.
  11. ↑ Allan, J.; Haig, T. Wolseley; Dodwell, H. H. (1934). Dodwell, H. H. (ed.). The Cambridge Shorter History of India. Cambridge University Press. p. 145.
  12. ↑ Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999) [First published 1988]. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. p. 281. ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0.
  13. 1 2 Majumdar, R. C. (1971). History of Ancient Bengal. Calcutta: G. Bhardwaj & Co. pp. 6–8. OCLC 96115784.
  14. ↑ Ghosh, Suchandra (2012). "Gauda, Janapada". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  15. ↑ Sukumar Sen. "Itihas". p. 19.
  16. 1 2 Ahmed, Salahuddin (2004). Bangladesh: Past and Present. APH Publishing. pp. 23–. ISBN 978-81-7648-469-5.
  17. ↑ "Islam, Bengal". Banglapedia. But the most important development of this period was that the country for the first time received a name, ie Bangalah.
  18. ↑ Basu, Riju (4 October 2024). "The classical recognition for the Bengali language came only after tracing the ancient roots of the Bengali people" (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. Retrieved 12 June 2026. In the case of Bengal, an inscription was found in Mahasthangarh (now Bogra in Bangladesh) in the third century BC. Researchers believe that the word Saṃvangiya (properly Vangiya or Bengalis) in the Brahmi script is significant
  19. ↑ "Did you know why Alexander did not proceed to conquer ancient Bengal?". The Daily Star. 12 August 2015.
  20. ↑ Dasgupta, Biplab (2005). European Trade and Colonial Conquest. Anthem. ISBN 9781843310297.