Blackwell Reference Online

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  The state of Bangladesh came into existence only in 1971. Before August 15, 1947, present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were known as one country, India. Bengal was in the eastern part of India. East Bengal was the part of Bengal including a sizable part of Bangla-speaking north Bengal (i.e., excluding areas like Darjeeling, where the inhabitants more often speak Nepalese dialects), along with east and south Bengal. The territory of the old East Bengal is more or less the same area that is known as Bangladesh today. Bengal was a Suba (a province administered by a Subadar , with a Diwan , collecting revenues) in the Mughal Empire. But after the death of Aurangzeb, de facto power passed to the Subadars , now styling themselves Nawabs (Emperor). In 1757 the British East India Company's Robert Clive conspired with certain local notables to wage war against and defeat the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah. Between 1757 and 1765 the powers of the East India Company grew until in 1765, after defeating another Nawab , Mir Qasim, it forced the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II to grant the company Diwani , or the right to collect the revenue. By 1772 it emerged as the all-powerful ruler of Bengal, and Calcutta (Kolkata) was established as the capital. Beginning that year, the consolidation of British rule took place when Warren Hastings, governor of Bengal, declared the British ... log in or subscribe to read full text