West Bengal
.jpg)
.svg)
West Bengal (/bɛnˈɡɔːl/; Bengali: Poshchim Bongo, pronounced [ˈpoʃtʃim ˈbɔŋɡo] , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi) as of 2011. The population estimate as of 2023 is 102,552,787.[12] West Bengal is the fourth-most populous and thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.
The area's early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Ancient Bengal was the site of several major Janapadas, while the earliest cities date back to the Vedic period. The region was part of several ancient pan−Indian empires, including the Vangas, Mauryans, and the Guptas. The citadel of Gauḍa served as the capital of the Gauda kingdom, the Pala Empire, and the Sena Empire. Islam was introduced through trade with the Abbasid Caliphate, but following the Ghurid conquests led by Bakhtiyar Khalji and the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, the Muslim faith spread across the entire Bengal region. During the Bengal Sultanate, the territory was a major trading nation in the world, and was often referred by the Europeans as the "richest country to trade with". It was absorbed into the Mughal Empire in 1576. Simultaneously, some parts of the region were ruled by several Hindu states, and Baro-Bhuyan landlords, and part of it was briefly overrun by the Suri Empire. Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in the early 1700s, the proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal, and showed signs of the first Industrial Revolution.[13][14] The region was later annexed into the Bengal Presidency by the British East India Company after the Battle of Buxar in 1764.[15][16] From 1772 to 1911, Calcutta was the capital of all of East India Company's territories and then the capital of the entirety of India after the establishment of the Viceroyalty.[17] From 1912 to India's Independence in 1947, it was the capital of the Bengal Province.[18]
The region was a hotbed of the Indian independence movement and has remained one of India's great artistic and intellectual centres.[19] Following widespread religious violence, the Bengal Legislative Council and the Bengal Legislative Assembly voted on the Partition of Bengal in 1947 along religious lines into two independent dominions: West Bengal, a Hindu-majority Indian state, and East Bengal, a Muslim-majority province of Pakistan which later became the independent Bangladesh. The state was also flooded with Hindu refugees from East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) in the decades following the 1947 partition of India, transforming its landscape and shaping its politics.[20][21] The early and prolonged exposure to British administration resulted in an expansion of Western education, culminating in developments in science, institutional education, and social reforms in the region, including what became known as the Bengali Renaissance. Several regional and pan−Indian empires throughout Bengal's history have shaped its culture, cuisine, and architecture.
Post-Indian independence, as a welfare state, West Bengal's economy is based on agricultural production and small and medium-sized enterprises.[22] The state's cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. For several decades, the state underwent political violence and economic stagnation after the beginning of communist rule in 1977 before it rebounded.[23] In 2023–24, the economy of West Bengal is the sixth-largest state economy in India with a gross state domestic product (GSDP) of ₹17.19 lakh crore (US$210 billion),[5] and has the country's 20th-highest GSDP per capita of ₹121,267 (US$1,500)[24] as of 2020–21. Despite being one of the fastest-growing major economies, West Bengal has struggled to attract foreign direct investment due to adverse land acquisition policies, poor infrastructure, and red tape.[25][26] It also has the 26th-highest ranking among Indian states in human development index, with the index value being lower than the Indian average.[8][22] The state government debt of ₹6.47 lakh crore (US$78 billion), or 37.67% of GSDP, has dropped from 40.65% since 2010–11.[27][5] West Bengal has three World Heritage sites and ranks as the eight-most visited tourist destination in India and third-most visited state of India globally.[28][29]
Etymology
The origin of the name Bengal (Bangla and Bongo in Bengali) is unknown. One theory suggests the word derives from "Bang", the name of a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BCE.[30] The Bengali word Bongo might have been derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga (or Banga). Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name Vanga, the region's early history is obscure.[31]
In 1947, at the end of British rule over the Indian subcontinent the Bengal Legislative Council and the Bengal Legislative Assembly voted on the Partition of Bengal along religious lines into two separate entities: West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state and East Bengal, a province of Pakistan, which came to be known be as East Pakistan and later became the independent Bangladesh.[11][32]
In 2011 the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the official name of the state to Paschim Banga (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Pôshchimbônggô).[33] This is the native name of the state, literally meaning "western Bengal" in the native Bengali language. In August 2016 the West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed another resolution to change the name of West Bengal to "Bengal" in English and "Bangla" in Bengali. Despite the Trinamool Congress government's efforts to forge a consensus on the name change resolution, the Indian National Congress, the Left Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party opposed the resolution.[34] However, the central government has turned down the proposal maintaining the state should have one single name for all languages instead of three and it should not be the same as that of any other territory (pointing out that the name 'Bangla' may create confusion with neighbouring Bangladesh).[34][35][36]
History
Ancient and classical period
Stone Age tools dating back 20,000 years have been excavated in the state, showing human occupation 8,000 years earlier than scholars had thought.[37] According to the Indian epic Mahabharata the region was part of the Vanga kingdom.[38] Several Vedic realms were present in the Bengal region, including Vanga, Rarh, Pundravardhana and the Suhma kingdom. One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is a mention by the Ancient Greeks around 100 BCE of a land named Gangaridai located at the mouths of the Ganges.[39] Bengal had overseas trade relations with Suvarnabhumi (Burma, Lower Thailand, the Lower Malay Peninsula and Sumatra).[40] According to the Sri Lankan chronicle Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya (c. 543 – c. 505 BCE), a Vanga kingdom prince, conquered Lanka (modern-day Sri Lanka) and named the country Sinhala kingdom.[41]
The kingdom of Magadha was formed in the 7th century BCE, consisting of the regions now comprising Bihar and Bengal. It was one of the four main kingdoms of India at the time of the lives of Mahavira, the principal figure of Jainism and Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism. It consisted of several janapadas, or kingdoms.[42] Under Ashoka, the Maurya Empire of Magadha in the 3rd century BCE extended over nearly all of South Asia, including Afghanistan and parts of Balochistan. From the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE, the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the Gupta Empire.[43]
Two kingdoms—Vanga or Samatata, and Gauda—are said in some texts to have appeared after the end of the Gupta Empire although details of their ascendancy are uncertain.[44] The first recorded independent king of Bengal was Shashanka, who reigned in the early 7th century.[45] Shashanka is often recorded in Buddhist annals as an intolerant Hindu ruler noted for his persecution of the Buddhists. He murdered Rajyavardhana, the Buddhist king of Thanesar, and is noted for destroying the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, and replacing Buddha statues with Shiva lingams.[46] After a period of anarchy,[47]: 36 the Pala dynasty ruled the region for four hundred years beginning in the 8th century. A shorter reign of the Hindu Sena dynasty followed.[48]
Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty invaded some areas of Bengal between 1021 and 1023.[49]
Islam was introduced through trade with the Abbasid Caliphate.[50] Following the Ghurid conquests led by Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji and the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, it spread across the entire Bengal region. Mosques, madrasas and khanqahs were built throughout these stages. During the Islamic Bengal Sultanate, founded in 1352, Bengal was a major world trading nation and was often referred by the Europeans as the richest country with which to trade.[51] Later, in 1576, it was absorbed into the Mughal Empire.[52]
Medieval and early modern periods
Subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region.[53] It was ruled by dynasties of the Bengal Sultanate and feudal lords under the Delhi Sultanate for the next few hundred years. The Bengal Sultanate was interrupted for twenty years by a Hindu uprising under Raja Ganesha. In the 16th century, Mughal general Islam Khan conquered Bengal. Administration by governors appointed by the court of the Mughal Empire gave way to semi-independence under the Nawabs of Murshidabad, who nominally respected the sovereignty of the Mughals in Delhi. Several independent Hindu states were established in Bengal during the Mughal period, including those of Pratapaditya of Jessore District and Raja Sitaram Ray of Bardhaman. Following the death of Emperor Aurangzeb and the Governor of Bengal, Shaista Khan, the proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal became a semi-independent state under the Nawabs of Bengal, and showed signs of the world's first Industrial Revolution.[13][14] The Koch dynasty in northern Bengal flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries; it weathered the Mughals and survived until the advent of the British colonial era.[54][55]
Colonial period
Several European traders reached this area in the late 15th century. The British East India Company defeated Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab, in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The company gained the right to collect revenue in Bengal subah (province) in 1765 with the signing of the treaty between the East India company and the Mughal emperor following the Battle of Buxar in 1764.[56] The Bengal Presidency was established in 1765; it later incorporated all British-controlled territory north of the Central Provinces (now Madhya Pradesh), from the mouths of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra to the Himalayas and the Punjab. The Bengal famine of 1770 claimed millions of lives due to tax policies enacted by the British company.[57] Calcutta, the headquarters of the East India company, was named the capital of British-held territories in India in 1773.[58] The failed Indian rebellion of 1857 started near Calcutta and resulted in a transfer of authority to the British Crown,[59] administered by the Viceroy of India.[60]
The Bengal Renaissance and the Brahmo Samaj socio-cultural reform movements significantly influenced the cultural and economic life of Bengal.[61] Between 1905 and 1911 an abortive attempt was made to divide the province of Bengal into two zones.[62] Bengal suffered from the Great Bengal famine in 1943, which claimed three million lives during World War II.[63] Bengalis played a major role in the Indian independence movement, in which revolutionary groups such as Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar were dominant.[19] Armed attempts against the British Raj from Bengal reached a climax when news of Subhas Chandra Bose leading the Indian National Army against the British reached Bengal. The Indian National Army was subsequently routed by the British.[64]
Indian independence and afterwards
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. The eastern part went to the Dominion of Pakistan as a province called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan in 1956), becoming the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971.[65] In 1950 the Princely State of Cooch Behar merged with West Bengal.[66] In 1955 the former French enclave of Chandannagar, which had passed into Indian control after 1950, was integrated into West Bengal; portions of Bihar were also subsequently merged with West Bengal. Both West and East Bengal experienced large influxes of refugees during and after the partition in 1947. Refugee resettlement and related issues continued to play a significant role in the politics and socio-economic condition of the state.[66]
During the 1970s and 1980s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, leading to a period of economic stagnation and deindustrialisation.[23] The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 resulted in an influx of millions of refugees to West Bengal, causing significant strains on its infrastructure.[67] The 1974 smallpox epidemic killed thousands. West Bengal politics underwent a major change when the Left Front won the 1977 assembly election, defeating the incumbent Indian National Congress. The Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), governed the state for the next three decades.[68]
The state's economic recovery gathered momentum after the central government introduced economic liberalisations in the mid-1990s. This was aided by the advent of information technology and IT-enabled services. Beginning in the mid-2000s, armed activists conducted minor terrorist attacks in some parts of the state.[69][70] Clashes with the administration took place at several controversial locations over the issue of industrial land acquisition.[71][72] This became a decisive reason behind the defeat of the ruling Left Front government in the 2011 assembly election.[73] Although the economy was severely damaged during the unrest in the 1970s, the state has managed to revive its economy steadily throughout the years.[74][75][76] The state has shown improvement regarding bandhs (strikes)[77][78][79] and educational infrastructure.[80] Significant strides have been made in reducing unemployment,[81] though the state suffers from substandard healthcare services,[82][83] a lack of socio-economic development,[84] poor infrastructure,[85] unemployment and civil violence.[86][87] In 2006 the state's healthcare system was severely criticised in the aftermath of the West Bengal blood test kit scam.[88][89]
Geography
West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The state has a total area of 88,752 square kilometres (34,267 sq mi).[3] The Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the northern extreme of the state is a part of the eastern Himalayas mountain range. In this region is Sandakfu, which, at 3,636 m (11,929 ft), is the highest peak in the state.[90] The narrow Terai region separates the hills from the North Bengal plains, which in turn transitions into the Ganges delta towards the south. The Rarh region intervenes between the Ganges delta in the east and the western plateau and high lands. A small coastal region is in the extreme south, while the Sundarbans mangrove forests form a geographical landmark at the Ganges delta.[91]
The main river in West Bengal is the Ganges, which divides into two branches. One branch enters Bangladesh as the Padma, or Pôdda, while the other flows through West Bengal as the Bhagirathi River and Hooghly River. The Farakka barrage over the Ganges feeds the Hooghly branch of the river by a feeder canal. Its water flow management has been a source of lingering dispute between India and Bangladesh.[92] The Teesta, Torsa, Jaldhaka and Mahananda rivers are in the northern hilly region. The western plateau region has rivers like the Damodar, Ajay and Kangsabati. The Ganges delta and the Sundarbans area have numerous rivers and creeks. Pollution of the Ganges from indiscriminate waste dumped into the river is a major problem.[93] Damodar, another tributary of the Ganges and once known as the "Sorrow of Bengal" (due to its frequent floods), has several dams under the Damodar Valley Project. At least nine districts in the state suffer from arsenic contamination of groundwater, and as of 2017 an estimated 1.04 crore people were afflicted by arsenic poisoning.[94]
West Bengal's climate varies from tropical savanna in the southern portions to humid subtropical in the north. The main seasons are summer, the rainy season, a short autumn and winter. While the summer in the delta region is noted for excessive humidity, the western highlands experience a dry summer like northern India. The highest daytime temperatures range from 38 to 45 °C (100 to 113 °F).[95] At night, a cool southerly breeze carries moisture from the Bay of Bengal. In early summer, brief squalls and thunderstorms known as Kalbaisakhi, or Nor'westers, often occur.[96] West Bengal receives the Bay of Bengal branch of the Indian Ocean monsoon that moves in a southeast to northwest direction. Monsoons bring rain to the whole state from June to September. Heavy rainfall of above 250 centimetres (98 in) is observed in the Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Cooch Behar district. During the arrival of the monsoons, low pressure in the Bay of Bengal region often leads to the formation of storms in the coastal areas. Winter (December–January) is mild over the plains with average minimum temperatures of 15 °C (59 °F).[95] A cold and dry northern wind blows in the winter, substantially lowering the humidity level. The Darjeeling Himalayan Hill region experiences a harsh winter, with occasional snowfall.[97]
Flora and fauna
The "India State of Forest Report 2017", recorded forest area in the state is 16,847 km2 (6,505 sq mi),[98][99] while in 2013, forest area was 16,805 km2 (6,488 sq mi), which was 18.93% of the state's geographical area, compared to the then national average of 21.23%.[100] Reserves and protected and unclassed forests constitute 59.4%, 31.8% and 8.9%, respectively, of forested areas, as of 2009.[101] Part of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans in southern West Bengal.[102]
From a phytogeographic viewpoint, the southern part of West Bengal can be divided into two regions: the Gangetic plain and the littoral mangrove forests of the Sundarbans.[103] The alluvial soil of the Gangetic plain, combined with favourable rainfall, makes this region especially fertile.[103] Much of the vegetation of the western part of the state has similar species composition with the plants of the Chota Nagpur plateau in the adjoining state of Jharkhand.[103] The predominant commercial tree species is Shorea robusta, commonly known as the sal tree. The coastal region of Purba Medinipur exhibits coastal vegetation; the predominant tree is the Casuarina. A notable tree from the Sundarbans is the ubiquitous sundari (Heritiera fomes), from which the forest gets its name.[104]
The distribution of vegetation in northern West Bengal is dictated by elevation and precipitation. For example, the foothills of the Himalayas, the Dooars, are densely wooded with sal and other tropical evergreen trees.[105] Above an elevation of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), the forest becomes predominantly subtropical. In Darjeeling, which is above 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), temperate forest trees like oaks, conifers and rhododendrons predominate.[105]
3.26% of the geographical area of West Bengal is protected land, comprising fifteen wildlife sanctuaries and five national parks—Sundarbans National Park, Buxa Tiger Reserve, Gorumara National Park, Neora Valley National Park and Singalila National Park.[101] Extant wildlife includes Indian rhinoceros, Indian elephant, deer, leopard, gaur, tiger and crocodiles, as well as many bird species. Migratory birds come to the state during the winter.[106] The high-altitude forests of Singalila National Park shelter barking deer, red panda, chinkara, takin, serow, pangolin, minivet and kalij pheasants. The Sundarbans are noted for a reserve project devoted to conserving the endangered Bengal tiger, although the forest hosts many other endangered species such as the Gangetic dolphin, river terrapin and estuarine crocodile.[107] The mangrove forest also acts as a natural fish nursery, supporting coastal fishes along the Bay of Bengal.[107] Recognising its special conservation value, the Sundarbans area has been declared a Biosphere Reserve.[101]
Government and politics
West Bengal is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy, a feature the state shares with other Indian states. Universal suffrage is granted to residents. There are two branches of government. The legislature, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, consists of elected members and special office bearers such as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, who are elected by the members. Assembly meetings are presided over by the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker in the Speaker's absence. The judiciary is composed of the Calcutta High Court and a system of lower courts. Executive authority is vested in the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister although the titular head of government is the Governor. The Governor is the Head of State appointed by the President of India. The leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Legislative Assembly is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Council of Ministers reports to the Legislative Assembly. The Assembly is unicameral with 295 members, or MLAs,[108] including one nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. Terms of office run for five years unless the Assembly is dissolved before the completion of the term. Auxiliary authorities known as panchayats, for which local body elections are regularly held, govern local affairs. The state contributes 42 seats to the Lok Sabha[109] and 16 seats to the Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament.[110]
Politics in West Bengal is dominated by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), and the Left Front alliance (led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M)). Following the West Bengal State Assembly Election in 2011, the All India Trinamool Congress and Indian National Congress coalition under Mamata Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress was elected to power with 225 seats in the legislature.[111]
Prior to this, West Bengal was ruled by the Left Front for 34 years (1977–2011), making it the world's longest-running democratically elected communist government.[68] Banerjee was re-elected twice as Chief Minister in the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election and 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election with 211 and 215 seats respectively, an absolute majority by the Trinamool Congress.[112] The state has one autonomous region, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.[113]
.jpg)
Districts and cities
Districts
As of 1 November 2023,[update] West Bengal is divided into 23 districts.[114]
| District | Population | Growth rate | Sex ratio | Literacy | Density per square Kilometer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North 24 Parganas | 10,009,781 | 12.04 | 955 | 84.06 | 2445 |
| South 24 Parganas | 8,161,961 | 18.17 | 956 | 77.51 | 819 |
| Purba Bardhaman | 4,835,432 | – | 945 | 74.73 | 890 |
| Paschim Bardhaman | 2,882,031 | – | 922 | 78.75 | 1800 |
| Murshidabad | 7,103,807 | 21.09 | 958 | 66.59 | 1334 |
| West Midnapore | 5,913,457 | 13.86 | 966 | 78.00 | 631 |
| Hooghly | 5,519,145 | 9.46 | 961 | 81.80 | 1753 |
| Nadia | 5,167,600 | 12.22 | 947 | 74.97 | 1316 |
| East Midnapore | 5,095,875 | 15.36 | 938 | 87.02 | 1081 |
| Howrah | 4,850,029 | 13.50 | 939 | 83.31 | 3306 |
| Kolkata | 4,496,694 | −1.67 | 908 | 86.31 | 24306 |
| Maldah | 3,988,845 | 21.22 | 944 | 61.73 | 1069 |
| Jalpaiguri | 3,872,846 | 13.87 | 953 | 73.25 | 622 |
| Alipurduar[a] | 1,700,000 | – | – | – | 400 |
| Bankura | 3,596,292 | 12.64 | 954 | 70.95 | 523 |
| Birbhum | 3,502,404 | 16.15 | 956 | 70.68 | 771 |
| North Dinajpur | 3,007,134 | 23.15 | 939 | 59.07 | 958 |
| Purulia | 2,930,115 | 15.52 | 957 | 64.48 | 468 |
| Cooch Behar | 2,819,086 | 13.71 | 942 | 74.78 | 832 |
| Darjeeling | 1,846,823 | 14.77 | 970 | 79.56 | 586 |
| Dakshin Dinajpur | 1,676,276 | 11.52 | 956 | 72.82 | 755 |
| Kalimpong[a] | 202,239 | – | – | – | 270 |
| Jhargram[a] | 1,136,548 | – | – | – | 374 |
Each district is governed by a district collector or district magistrate, appointed by either the Indian Administrative Service or the West Bengal Civil Service.[115] Each district is subdivided into sub-divisions, governed by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and again into blocks. Blocks consists of panchayats (village councils) and town municipalities.[116]
Cities
The capital and largest city of the state is Kolkata—the third-largest urban agglomeration[117] and the seventh-largest city[118] in India. Asansol is the second-largest city and urban agglomeration in West Bengal.[117]
Major planned cities of West Bengal include Bidhannagar, New Town, Kalyani, Haldia, Durgapur and Kharagpur. Kolkata has some planned neighbourhoods like New Garia, Tollygunge, and Lake Town. Siliguri is an economically important city, strategically located in the northeastern Siliguri Corridor (Chicken's Neck) of India.[119] Other larger cities and towns in West Bengal are Howrah, Chandannagar, Bardhaman, Baharampur, Jalpaiguri, and Purulia etc.[120]
Economy
| Net State Domestic Product at Factor Cost at Current Prices (2004–05 Base)[121] (figures in crores of Indian rupees) | |
| Year | Net State Domestic Product |
|---|---|
| 2004–2005 | 190,073 |
| 2005–2006 | 209,642 |
| 2006–2007 | 238,625 |
| 2007–2008 | 272,166 |
| 2008–2009 | 309,799 |
| 2009–2010 | 366,318 |
As of 2015[update], West Bengal has the sixth-highest GSDP in India. GSDP at current prices (base 2004–2005) has increased from Rs 2,086.56 billion in 2004–05 to Rs 8,00,868 crores in 2014–2015,[122] reaching Rs 10,21,000 crores in 2017–18.[123] GSDP per cent growth at current prices varied from a low of 10.3% in 2010–2011 to a high of 17.11% in 2013–2014. The growth rate was 13.35% in 2014–2015.[124] The state's per capita income has lagged the all India average for over two decades. As of 2014–2015, per capita NSDP at current prices was Rs 78,903.[124] Per-capita NSDP growth rate at current prices varied from 9.4% in 2010–2011 to a high of 16.15% in 2013–2014. The growth rate was 12.62% in 2014–2015.[125]
In 2015–2016, the percentage share of Gross Value Added (GVA) at factor cost by economic activity at the constant price (the base year 2011–2012) was Agriculture-Forestry and Fishery—4.84%, Industry 18.51% and Services 66.65%. It has been observed that there has been a slow but steady decline in the percentage share of industry and agriculture over the years.[126] Agriculture is the leading economic sector in West Bengal. Rice is the state's principal food crop. Rice, potato, jute, sugarcane and wheat are the state's top five crops.[127]: 14 Tea is produced commercially in northern districts; the region is well known for Darjeeling and other high-quality teas.[127]: 14 State industries are localised in the Kolkata region, the mineral-rich western highlands, and the Haldia Port region.[128] The Durgapur-Asansol colliery belt is home to a number of steel plants.[128] Important manufacturing industries include: engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, frigates, automobiles, railway coaches and wagons. The Durgapur centre has established several industries in the areas of tea, sugar, chemicals and fertilisers. Natural resources like tea and jute in nearby areas have made West Bengal a major centre for the jute and tea industries.[129]
Years after independence, West Bengal is dependent on the central government for help in meeting its demands for food; food production remained stagnant, and the Indian green revolution bypassed the state. However, there has been a significant increase in food production since the 1980s and the state now has a surplus of grains.[130] The state's share of total industrial output in India was 9.8% in 1980–1981, declining to 5% by 1997–1998. In contrast, the service sector has grown at a rate higher than the national rate.[130] The state's total financial debt stood at ₹1,918,350 million (US$23 billion) as of 2011.[131]
In the period 2004–2010, the average gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate was 13.9% (calculated in Indian rupee terms) lower than 15.5%, the average for all states of the country.[127]: 4
The economy of West Bengal has witnessed many surprising changes in direction. The agricultural sector in particular rose to 8.33% in 2010–11 before tumbling to −4.01% in 2012–13.[132] Many major industries such as the Uttarpara Hindustan Motors car manufacturing unit, the jute industry, and the Haldia Petrochemicals unit experienced shutdowns in 2014. In the same year, plans for a 300 billion Jindal Steel project was mothballed. The tea industry of West Bengal has also witnessed shutdowns for financial and political reasons.[133] The tourism industry of West Bengal was negatively impacted in 2017 because of the Gorkhaland agitation.[134]
However, over the years due to effective changes in the stance towards industrialisation, ease of doing business has improved in West Bengal.[135][136][137] Steps are being taken to remedy this situation by promoting West Bengal as an investment destination. A leather complex has been built in Kolkata. Smart cities are being planned close to Kolkata, and major roadway projects are in the offing to revive the economy.[138] West Bengal has been able to attract 2% of the foreign direct investment in the last decade.[139]
Transport
-
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport is a hub for flights to and from Bangladesh, East Asia, Nepal, Bhutan and north-east India. -
-
An SBSTC bus in Karunamoyee -
Kolkata Metro, India's first metro rail system
As of 2011, the total length of surface roads in West Bengal was over 92,023 kilometres (57,180 miles);[127]: 18 national highways comprise 2,578 km (1,602 mi)[140] and state highways 2,393 km (1,487 mi).[127]: 18 As of 2006, the road density of the state was 103.69 kilometres per square kilometre (166.87 miles per square mile), higher than the national average of 74.7 km/km2 (120.2 mi/sq mi).[141]
As of 2011, the total railway route length was around 4,481 km (2,784 mi).[127]: 20 Kolkata is the headquarters of three zones of the Indian Railways—Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway and the Kolkata Metro, which is the newly formed 17th zone of the Indian Railways.[142][143] The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) serves the northern parts of the state. The Kolkata metro is the country's first underground railway.[144] The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, part of NFR, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[145]
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at Dum Dum, Kolkata, is the state's largest airport. Bagdogra Airport near Siliguri is a customs airport that offers international service to Bhutan and Thailand, besides regular domestic service. Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport, India's first private sector airport, serves the twin cities of Asansol-Durgapur at Andal, Paschim Bardhaman.[146][147]
Kolkata is a major river port in eastern India. The Kolkata Port Trust manages the Kolkata and the Haldia docks.[148] There is passenger service to Port Blair on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Cargo ship service operates to ports in India and abroad, operated by the Shipping Corporation of India. Ferries are a principal mode of transport in the southern part of the state, especially in the Sundarbans area. Kolkata is the only city in India to have trams as a mode of transport; these are operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company.[149]
Several government-owned organisations operate bus services in the state, including: the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, the South Bengal State Transport Corporation, the West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation and the Calcutta Tramways Company.[150] There are also private bus companies. The railway system is a nationalised service without any private investment.[151] Hired forms of transport include metered taxis and auto rickshaws, which often ply specific routes in cities. In most of the state, cycle rickshaws and in Kolkata, hand-pulled rickshaws and electric rickshaws are used for short-distance travel.[152]
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 16,940,088 | — |
| 1911 | 17,998,769 | +6.2% |
| 1921 | 17,474,348 | −2.9% |
| 1931 | 18,897,036 | +8.1% |
| 1941 | 23,229,552 | +22.9% |
| 1951 | 26,299,980 | +13.2% |
| 1961 | 34,926,279 | +32.8% |
| 1971 | 44,312,011 | +26.9% |
| 1981 | 54,580,647 | +23.2% |
| 1991 | 68,077,965 | +24.7% |
| 2001 | 80,176,197 | +17.8% |
| 2011 | 91,276,115 | +13.8% |
| 2022 est. | 98,604,000 | +8.0% |
| Source: Census of India[153] | ||
According to the provisional results of the 2011 national census, West Bengal is the fourth-most-populous state in India with a population of 91,347,736 (7.55% of India's population).[3] The state's 2001–2011 decennial population growth rate was 13.93%,[3] lower than the 1991–2001 growth rate of 17.8%[3] and lower than the national rate of 17.64%.[154] The gender ratio is 947 females per 1,000 males.[154] As of 2011, West Bengal had a population density of 1,029 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,670/sq mi) making it the second-most densely populated state in India, after Bihar.[154]
The literacy rate is 77.08%, higher than the national rate of 74.04%.[155] Data from 2010 to 2014 showed the life expectancy in the state was 70.2 years, higher than the national value of 67.9.[156][157] The proportion of people living below the poverty line in 2013 was 19.98%, a decline from 31.8% a decade prior.[158] Scheduled castes and tribes form 28.6% and 5.8% of the population, respectively, in rural areas and 19.9% and 1.5%, respectively, in urban areas.[130]
In September 2017, West Bengal achieved 100% electrification, after some remote villages in the Sunderbans became the last to be electrified.[159]
As of September 2017, of 125 towns and cities in Bengal, 76 have achieved open defecation free (ODF) status. All towns in the districts of: Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Bardhaman and East Medinipur are ODF zones, with Nadia becoming the first ODF district in the state in April 2015.[160][161]
A study conducted in three districts of West Bengal found that accessing private health services to treat illness had a catastrophic impact on households. This indicates the importance of the public provision of health services to mitigate poverty and the impact of illness on poor households.[162]
The latest Sample Registration System (SRS) statistical report shows that West Bengal has the lowest fertility rate among Indian states. West Bengal's total fertility rate was 1.6, lower than neighbouring Bihar's 3.4, which is the highest in the entire country. Bengal's TFR of 1.6 roughly equals that of Canada.[163]
Bengalis, consisting of Bengali Hindus, Bengali Muslims, Bengali Christians and a few Bengali Buddhists, comprise the majority of the population.[164] Marwari, Maithili and Bhojpuri speakers are scattered throughout the state; various indigenous ethnic Buddhist communities such as the Sherpas, Bhutias, Lepchas, Tamangs, Yolmos and ethnic Tibetans can be found in the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region. Native Khortha speakers are found in Malda district.[165]
Surjapuri, a language considered to be a mix of Maithili and Bengali, is spoken across northern parts of the state.[166] The Darjeeling Hills are mainly inhabited by various Gorkha communities who overwhelmingly speak Nepali (also known as Gorkhali), although there are some who retain their ancestral languages like Lepcha. West Bengal is also home to indigenous tribal Adivasis such as: Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Bhumij, Lodha, Kol and Toto.
There are a small number of ethnic minorities primarily in the state capital, including : Chinese, Tamils, Maharashtrians, Odias, Malayalis, Gujaratis, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Jews, Punjabis and Parsis.[167] India's sole Chinatown is in eastern Kolkata.[168]
Languages
The state's official languages are Bengali and English;[4] Nepali has additional official status in the three subdivisions of Darjeeling district.[4] In 2012, the state government passed a bill granting additional official status to Hindi, Odia, Punjabi, Santali and Urdu in areas where speakers exceed 10% of the population.[4] In 2019, another bill was passed by the government to include Kamtapuri, Kurmali and Rajbanshi as additional official languages in blocks, divisions or districts where the speakers exceed 10% of the population.[4] On 24 December 2020, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced Telugu as an additional official language.[4] As of the 2011 census, 86.22% of the population spoke Bengali, 5.00% Hindi, 2.66% Santali, 1.82% Urdu and 1.26% Nepali as their first language.[169]
Religion
Religion in West Bengal (2011)[170]
West Bengal is religiously diverse, with regional cultural and religious specificities. Although Hindus are the predominant community, the state has a large minority Muslim population. Christians, Buddhists and others form a minuscule part of the population. As of 2011, Hinduism is the most common religion, with adherents representing 70.54% of the total population.[171] Muslims, the second-largest community, comprise 27.01% of the total population,[172] Three of West Bengal's districts: Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur, are Muslim-majority. Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism and other religions make up the remainder.[173] Buddhism remains a prominent religion in the Himalayan region of the Darjeeling hills; almost the entirety of West Bengal's Buddhist population is from this region.[174] Christianity is mainly found among the tea garden tribes at tea plantations scattered throughout the Dooars of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.
The Hindu population of West Bengal is 64,385,546 while the Muslim population is 24,654,825, according to the 2011 census.[175]
Culture
Literature
The Bengali language boasts a rich literary heritage it shares with neighbouring Bangladesh. West Bengal has a long tradition of folk literature, evidenced by the Charyapada, a collection of Buddhist mystic songs dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries; Mangalkavya, a collection of Hindu narrative poetry composed around the 13th century; Shreekrishna Kirtana, a pastoral Vaishnava drama in verse composed by Boru Chandidas; Thakurmar Jhuli, a collection of Bengali folk and fairy tales compiled by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder; and stories of Gopal Bhar, a court jester in medieval Bengal. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised in the works of authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, whose works marked a departure from the traditional verse-oriented writings prevalent in that period;[178] Michael Madhusudan Dutt, a pioneer in Bengali drama who introduced the use of blank verse;[179] and Rabindranath Tagore, who reshaped Bengali literature and music. Indian art saw the introduction of Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[180] Other notable figures include Kazi Nazrul Islam, whose compositions form the avant-garde genre of Nazrul Sangeet,[181] Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, whose works on contemporary social practices in Bengal are widely acclaimed,[182] and Manik Bandyopadhyay, who is considered one of the leading lights of modern Bengali fiction.[183] In modern times, Jibanananda Das has been acknowledged as "the premier poet of the post-Tagore era in India".[184] Other writers include: Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, best known for his work Pather Panchali; Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, well known for his portrayal of the lower strata of society;[185] Manik Bandopadhyay, a pioneering novelist; and Ashapurna Devi, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Saradindu Bandopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha, Mahashweta Devi, Samaresh Majumdar, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Buddhadeb Basu,[186] Joy Goswami and Sunil Gangopadhyay.[187][188]
Music and dance
A notable music tradition is the Baul music, practised by the Bauls, a sect of mystic minstrels.[189] Other folk music forms include Gombhira and Bhawaiya. Folk music in West Bengal is often accompanied by the ektara, a one-stringed instrument. Shyama Sangeet is a genre of devotional songs, praising the Hindu goddess Kali; kirtan is devotional group songs dedicated to the god Krishna.[190] Like other states in northern India, West Bengal also has a heritage in North Indian classical music. Rabindrasangeet, songs composed and set to words by Rabindranath Tagore, and Nazrul geeti (by Kazi Nazrul Islam) are popular. Also prominent are Dwijendralal, Atulprasad and Rajanikanta's songs, and adhunik or modern music from films and other composers.[191] From the early 1990s, new genres of music have emerged, including what has been called Bengali Jeebonmukhi Gaan (a modern genre based on realism). Bengali dance forms draw from folk traditions, especially those of the tribal groups, as well as the broader Indian dance traditions. Chhau dance of Purulia is a rare form of masked dance.[192]
Films
West Bengali films are shot mostly in studios in the Kolkata neighbourhood of Tollygunge; the name "Tollywood" (similar to Hollywood and Bollywood) is derived from that name. The Bengali film industry is well known for its art films, and has produced acclaimed directors like Satyajit Ray who is widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century,[193] Mrinal Sen whose films were known for their artistic depiction of social reality, Tapan Sinha,[194] and Ritwik Ghatak. Some contemporary directors include veterans such as: Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Tarun Majumdar, Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen, and Rituparno Ghosh, and a newer pool of directors such as Kaushik Ganguly and Srijit Mukherji.[195][196][197] Uttam Kumar was the most popular lead actor for decades, and his romantic pairing with actress Suchitra Sen in films attained legendary status.[198] Soumitra Chatterjee, who acted in many Satyajit Ray-films, and Prosenjit Chatterjee are among other popular lead male actors. As of 2020[update], Bengali films have won India's annual National Film Award for Best Feature Film twenty-two times in sixty seven years, the highest among all Indian languages.
Fine arts
There are significant examples of fine arts in Bengal from earlier times, including the terracotta art of Hindu temples and the Kalighat paintings. Bengal has been in the vanguard of modernism in fine arts. Abanindranath Tagore, called the father of modern Indian art, started the Bengal School of Art, one of whose goals was to promote the development of styles of art outside the European realist tradition that had been taught in art colleges under the British colonial administration. The movement had many adherents, including: Gaganendranath Tagore, Ramkinkar Baij, Jamini Roy and Rabindranath Tagore. After Indian Independence, important groups such as the Calcutta Group and the Society of Contemporary Artists were formed in Bengal and came to dominate the art scene in India.[199][200]
Reformist heritage
The capital, Kolkata, was the workplace of several social reformers, including Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Vivekananda. Their social reforms eventually led to a cultural atmosphere that made it possible for practices like sati, dowry, and caste-based discrimination, or untouchability, to be abolished.[201] The region was also home to several religious teachers, such as Chaitanya, Ramakrishna, Prabhupada and Paramahansa Yogananda.[201]
Cuisine
Rice and fish are traditional favourite foods, leading to a saying in Bengali, "machhe bhate bangali", that translates as "fish and rice make a Bengali".[202] Bengal's vast repertoire of fish-based dishes includes hilsa preparations, a favourite among Bengalis. There are numerous ways of cooking fish depending on its texture, size, fat content and bones.[203] Most of the people also consume eggs, chicken, mutton, and shrimp. Panta bhat (rice soaked overnight in water) with onion and green chili is a traditional dish consumed in rural areas.[204] Common spices found in a Bengali kitchen include cumin, ajmoda (radhuni), bay leaf, mustard, ginger, green chillies and turmeric.[205] Sweets occupy an important place in the diet of Bengalis and at their social ceremonies. Bengalis make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including Rôshogolla, Chômchôm, Kalojam and several kinds of sondesh. Pitha, a kind of sweet cake, bread, or dim sum, are specialties of the winter season. Sweets such as narkol-naru, til-naru, moa and payesh are prepared during festivals such as Lakshmi puja.[206] Popular street foods include Aloor Chop, Beguni, Kati roll, biryani, and phuchka.[207][208]
Clothing
Bengali women commonly wear the sari, often distinctly designed according to local cultural customs. In urban areas, many women and men wear western attire. Among men, western dress has greater acceptance. Particularly on cultural occasions, men also wear traditional costumes such as the panjabi with dhuti while women wear salwar kameez or sari.[209]
West Bengal produces several varieties of cotton and silk saris in the country. Handlooms are a popular way for the state's rural population to earn a living through weaving. Every district has weaving clusters, which are home to artisan communities, each specialising in specific varieties of handloom weaving. Notable handloom saris include tant, jamdani, garad, korial, baluchari, tussar and muslin.[210]
Festivals
Durga Puja is the biggest, most popular and widely celebrated festival in West Bengal.[211] The five-day-long colourful Hindu festival includes intense celebration across the state. Pandals are erected in various cities, towns, and villages throughout West Bengal. The city of Kolkata transforms Durga Puja. It is decked up in lighting decorations and thousands of colourful pandals are set up where effigies of the goddess Durga and her four children are displayed and worshipped. The idols of the goddess are brought in from Kumortuli, where idol-makers work throughout the year fashioning clay models of the goddess. Since independence in 1947, Durga Puja has slowly changed into more of a glamorous carnival than a religious festival. Today people of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds partake in the festivities.[212] On Vijayadashami, the last day of the festival, the effigies are paraded through the streets with riotous pageantry before being immersed into the rivers.[213]
Rath Yatra is a Hindu festival which celebrates Jagannath, a form of Krishna. It is celebrated with much fanfare in Kolkata as well as in rural Bengal. Images of Jagannath are set upon a chariot and pulled through the streets.[214]
Other major festivals of West Bengal include: Poila Baishakh the Bengali new year, Dolyatra or Holi the festival of lights, Poush Parbon, Kali Puja, Nabadwip Shakta Rash, Saraswati Puja, Deepavali, Lakshmi Puja, Janmashtami, Jagaddhatri Puja, Vishwakarma Puja, Bhai Phonta, Rakhi Bandhan, Kalpataru Day, Shivratri, Ganesh Chathurthi, Maghotsav, Karam festival, Kartik Puja, Akshay Tritiya, Raas Yatra, Guru Purnima, Annapurna Puja, Charak Puja, Gajan, Buddha Purnima, Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha and Muharram. Rabindra Jayanti, Kolkata Book Fair, Kolkata Film Festival, and Nazrul Jayanti. All are important cultural events.[214]
Eid al-Fitr is the most important Muslim festival in West Bengal. They celebrate the end of Ramadan with prayers, alms-giving, shopping, gift-giving, and feasting.[215]
Christmas, called Bôŗodin (Great day) is perhaps the next major festival celebrated in Kolkata, after Durga Puja. Although Hinduism is the major religion in the state, people show significant passion to the festival. Just like Durga Puja, Christmas in Kolkata is an occasion when all communities and people of every religion take part. Large masses of people go to parks, gardens, museums, parties, fairs, churches and other places to celebrate the day. A lot of Hindus go to Hindu-temples and the festival is celebrated there too with Hindu rituals.[216][217] The state tourism department organises a gala Christmas Festival every year in Park Street.[218] The whole of Park Street is hung with colourful lights, and food stalls sell cakes, chocolates, Chinese cuisine, momo, and various other items. The state invites musical groups from Darjeeling and other North East India states to perform choir recitals, carols, and jazz numbers.[219]
Buddha Purnima, which marks the birth of Gautama Buddha, is one of the most important Hindu/Buddhist festivals and is celebrated with much gusto in the Darjeeling hills. On this day, processions begin at the various Buddhist monasteries, or gumpas, and congregate at the Chowrasta (Darjeeling) Mall. The Lamas chant mantras and sound their bugles, and students, as well as people from every community, carry the holy books or pustaks on their heads. Besides Buddha Purnima, Dashain, or Dusshera, Holi, Diwali, Losar, Namsoong or the Lepcha New Year, and Losoong are the other major festivals of the Darjeeling Himalayan region.[215]
Each year between July and August at Tarakeswar Yatra held, nearly 10 million devotees come from various part of India bringing holy water of Ganga fin order to offer it to Lord Shiva.
Poush Mela is a popular winter festival of Shantiniketan, with performances of folk music, Baul songs, dance, and theatre taking place throughout the town.[215]
Ganga Sagar Mela coincides with the Makar Sankranti, and hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims converge where the river Ganges meets the sea to bathe en masse during this fervent festival.[214]
Education
-
University of Calcutta, the oldest public university of India. -
The front entrance to the academic block of NUJS, Kolkata. -
Prajna Bhavan, housing the School of Mathematical Sciences and School of RKMVU.
.jpg)
West Bengal schools are run by the state government or private organisations, including religious institutions. Instruction is mainly in English or Bengali, though Urdu is also used, especially in Central Kolkata. Secondary schools are affiliated with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Institute of Open School (NIOS), West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, or the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education.[220]
As of 2016 85% of children within the 6 to 17-year age group attend school (86% do so in urban areas and 84% in rural areas). School attendance is almost universal among the 6 to 14-year age group then drops to 70% with the 15 to 17-year age group. There is a gender disparity in school attendance in the 6 to 14-year age group, more girls than boys are attending school. In Bengal, 71% of women aged 15–49 years and 81% of men aged 15–49 years are literate. Only 14% of women aged 15–49 years in West Bengal have completed 12 or more years of schooling, compared with 22% of men. 22% of women and 14% of men aged 15–49 years have never attended school.[221]
Some of the notable schools in the city are: Ramakrishna Mission Narendrapur, Baranagore Ramakrishna Mission, Sister Nivedita Girls' School, Hindu School, Hare School, La Martiniere Calcutta, Calcutta Boys' School, St. James' School (Kolkata), South Point School, Techno India Group Public School, St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Loreto House, Loreto Convent, Pearl Rosary School are some of which rank amongst the best schools in the country.[222] Many of the schools in Kolkata and Darjeeling are colonial-era establishments housed in buildings that are exemplars of neo-classical architecture. Darjeeling's schools include: St. Paul's, St. Joseph's North Point, Goethals Memorial School, and Dow Hill in Kurseong.[223]
West Bengal has eighteen universities.[224][225] Kolkata has played a pioneering role in the development of the modern education system in India. It was the gateway to the revolution of European education during the British Raj.[226] Sir William Jones established the Asiatic Society in 1794 to promote oriental studies. People such as Ram Mohan Roy, David Hare, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Alexander Duff and William Carey played leading roles in setting up modern schools and colleges in the city.[215]
The University of Calcutta, the oldest and one of the most prestigious public universities in India, has 136 affiliated colleges. Fort William College was established in 1810. The Hindu College was established in 1817. The Lady Brabourne College was established in 1939. The Scottish Church College, the oldest Christian liberal arts college in South Asia, started in 1830. The Vidyasagar College was established in 1872 and was the first purely Indian-run private college in India.[227] In 1855 the Hindu College was renamed the Presidency College.[228] The state government granted it university status in 2010 and it was renamed Presidency University. Kazi Nazrul University was established in 2012. The University of Calcutta and Jadavpur University are prestigious technical universities.[229] Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan is a central university and an institution of national importance.[230]
Other higher education institutes of importance in West Bengal include: St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (the first IIM), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Indian Statistical Institute, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (the first IIT), Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur (the first IIEST), Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kalyani, Medical College, Kolkata, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, National Institute of Technical Teachers' Training and Research, Kolkata, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. In 2003 the state government supported the creation of West Bengal University of Technology, West Bengal University of Health Sciences, West Bengal State University, and Gour Banga University.[231]
Jadavpur University (Focus area—Mobile Computing and Communication and Nano-science), and the University of Calcutta (Modern Biology) are among two of the fifteen universities selected under the "University with Potential for Excellence" scheme. University of Calcutta (Focus Area—Electro-Physiological and Neuro-imaging studies including mathematical modelling) has also been selected under the "Centre with Potential for Excellence in a Particular Area" scheme.[232]
In addition, the state is home to Kalyani University, The University of Burdwan, Vidyasagar University, and North Bengal University all well established and nationally renowned schools that cover education needs at the district level and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. Apart from this there is a Deemed university run by the Ramakrishna mission named Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University at Belur Math.[233]
There are several research institutes in Kolkata. The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science is the first research institute in Asia. C. V. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery (Raman Effect) done at the IACS. The Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute Durgapur, Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers, National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani, and the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre are the most prominent.[231]
Notable scholars who were born, worked, or studied in the geographic area of the state include physicists: Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha,[234] and Jagadish Chandra Bose;[235] chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy;[234] statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Anil Kumar Gain;[234] physician Upendranath Brahmachari;[234] educator Ashutosh Mukherjee;[236] and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore,[237] C. V. Raman,[235] Amartya Sen,[238] and Abhijit Banerjee[239]
Media
In 2005 West Bengal had 505 published newspapers,[240] of which 389 were in Bengali.[240] Ananda Bazar Patrika, published in Kolkata with 1,277,801 daily copies, has the largest circulation for a single-edition, regional language newspaper in India.[240] Other major Bengali newspapers are: Bartaman, Ei Samay, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal and Uttarbanga Sambad. Major English language newspapers include The Telegraph, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Statesman, The Indian Express and Asian Age. Some prominent financial dailies such as: The Economic Times, Financial Express, Business Line and Business Standard are widely circulated. Vernacular newspapers such as those in Hindi, Nepali, Gujarati, Odia, Urdu and Punjabi also exist.[241]
DD Bangla is the state-owned television broadcaster. Multi system operators provide a mix of Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, English and international channels via cable. Bengali 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, News18 Bangla, Republic Bangla, Kolkata TV, News Time, Zee 24 Ghanta, TV9 Bangla, Calcutta News and Channel 10.[242][243] All India Radio is a public radio station.[243] Private FM stations are available only in cities like Kolkata, Siliguri, and Asansol.[243] Vodafone Idea, Airtel, BSNL, Jio are available cellular phone providers. Broadband Internet is available in select towns and cities and is provided by the state-run BSNL and by other private companies. Dial-up access is provided throughout the state by BSNL and other providers.[244]
Sports
Cricket and association football are popular. West Bengal, unlike most other states of India, is noted for its passion and patronage of football.[245][246][247] Kolkata is one of the major centres for football in India[248] and houses top national clubs such as Mohun Bagan Super Giant, East Bengal Club and Mohammedan Sporting Club.[249]
West Bengal has several large stadiums. Eden Gardens was one of only two 100,000-seat cricket stadiums in the world;[250] renovations before the 2011 Cricket World Cup reduced the capacity to 66,000.[251] The stadium is the home to various cricket teams such as the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Bengal cricket team and the East Zone. The 1987 Cricket World Cup final was hosted in Eden Gardens. The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[252]
Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), is a multipurpose stadium in Kolkata, with a current capacity of 85,000. It is the largest stadium in India by seating capacity.[253] Before its renovation in 2011, it was the second-largest football stadium in the world, having a seating capacity of 120,000. It has hosted many national and international sporting events like the SAF Games of 1987 and the 2011 FIFA friendly football match between Argentina and Venezuela featuring Lionel Messi.[254] In 2008 legendary German goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn played his farewell match on this ground.[255] The stadium hosted the final match of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Notable sports persons from West Bengal include former Indian national cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly, Pankaj Roy, Olympic tennis bronze medallist Leander Paes and chess grand master Dibyendu Barua.[245][246][247]
See also
- Bangal
- Bengali language movements in India
- Ghoti people
- List of people from West Bengal
- List of tourist attractions in West Bengal
- Outline of West Bengal
References
- ^ "West Bengal Assembly passes resolution declaring Rabindranath Tagore composition as state anthem". Scroll.in. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Sandakphu". 25 December 2008. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Area, population, decennial growth rate and density for 2001 and 2011 at a glance for West Bengal and the districts: provisional population totals paper 1 of 2011: West Bengal". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g —"Report of the Commissioner for linguistic minorities: 52nd report (July 2014 to June 2015)" (PDF). Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. pp. 85–86. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
—Singh, Shiv Sahay (3 April 2012). "Official language status for Urdu in some West Bengal areas". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
—"Multi-lingual Bengal". The Telegraph. 11 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
—"Kurukh language given official status by Bengal government". Outlook. 21 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
—Roy, Anirban (28 February 2018). "Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi make it to list of official languages in". India Today. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
—"West Bengal shows 'Mamata' to Telugus". The Hans India. 24 December 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020. - ^ a b c "Financial Statements 2023-24, Government of West Bengal" (PDF). Government of West Bengal. 1 February 2023. p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Handbook of Statistics of Indian States 2022-23" (PDF). Reserve Bank of India. pp. 11, 33. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- ^ "STATE-WISE DATA ON PER CAPITA INCOME". Delhi: PIB Delhi. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Sub-national HDI – Area Database". Global Data Lab. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ NSO (2018). "Sex ratio, 0–6 age population, literates and literacy rate by sex for 2001 and 2011 at a glance for West Bengal and the districts: provisional population totals paper 1 of 2011: West Bengal" (PDF). Government of India:Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012.
- ^ "Sex ratio, 0–6 age population, literates and literacy rate by sex for 2001 and 2011 at a glance for West Bengal and the districts: provisional population totals paper 1 of 2011: West Bengal". Government of India:Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ a b Mukherjee 1987, p. 230.
- ^ "West Bengal Population 2023". World Population Review. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ a b Indrajit Ray (2011). Bengal Industries and the British Industrial Revolution (1757-1857). Routledge. pp. 57, 90, 174. ISBN 978-1-136-82552-1. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ a b Shombit Sengupta, Bengals plunder gifted the British Industrial Revolution Archived 1 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Financial Express, 8 February 2010
- ^ Chaudhury, Sushil; Mohsin, KM (2012). "Sirajuddaula". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015.
- ^ Campbell & Watts 1760.
- ^ Pletcher, Kenneth (15 August 2010). The Geography of India: Sacred and Historic Places. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. pp. 17, 150. ISBN 978-1-61530-142-3.
- ^ Chattopadhyay, Aparajita; Ghosh, Saswata (1 May 2020). Population Dynamics in Eastern India and Bangladesh: Demographic, Health and Developmental Issues. Springer Nature. p. 6. ISBN 978-981-15-3045-6.
- ^ a b Lochtefeld, James G (2001). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. p. 771. ISBN 9780823931804. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Talbot, Ian; Singh, Gurharpal (2009), The Partition of India, Cambridge University Press, pp. 115–117, ISBN 978-0-521-67256-6
- ^ Tan, Tai Yong; Kudaisya, Gyanesh (2002) [2000], The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia, Taylor & Francis, pp. 172–175, ISBN 978-0-203-45060-4
- ^ a b "Introduction and Human Development Indices for West Bengal". West Bengal Human Development Report 2004 (PDF). Development and Planning Department, Government of West Bengal. May 2004. pp. 4–6. ISBN 81-7955-030-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
- ^ a b —Banerjee, Partha Sarathi (5 February 2011), "Party, Power and Political Violence in West Bengal", Economic and Political Weekly, 46 (6): 16–18, ISSN 0012-9976, JSTOR 27918111
—Donner, Henrike (2004), The significance of Naxalbari: accounts of personal involvement and politics in West Bengal (PDF), United Kingdom: University of Cambridge, p. 14, archived (PDF) from the original on 18 September 2020, retrieved 13 July 2020
—Banerjee, Debdas (20 February 1982), "Industrial Stagnation in Eastern India: A Statistical Investigation", Economic and Political Weekly, 17 (8): 286–298, JSTOR 4370702
—Mukherjee, Rudrangshu (5 October 2008). "Murder, most foul – the people of Bengal created the darkness that envelops them". The Telegraph. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012. - ^ "Handbook of Statistics of Indian States 2021-22" (PDF). Reserve Bank of India. pp. 37–42. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "Invest in West Bengal - Business Opportunities, Industries, FDI". Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "FDI in India | FDI Consultant | FDI Companies | FDI Opportunities 2022". Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "State Finances: A Risk Analysis". Reserve Bank of India. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ UNESCO 2012.
- ^ "India Tourism Statistics at a Glance 2023" (PDF). Government of India: 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ "Bangladesh: early history, 1000 B.C.–A.D. 1202". Bangladesh: A country study. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. September 1988. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
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.
- ^ Marshman, John Clark (1865). Outline of the History of Bengal. John Clark Marshman. p. 1. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017.
- ^ Chakrabarty 2004, p. 142.
- ^ "West Bengal may be renamed PaschimBanga". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 19 August 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Assembly drops West, renames State as Bengal". The Hindu. 29 August 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ "Foreign ministry turns down Mamata Banerjee's 'Bangla' for West Bengal". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- ^ "West Bengal to send another proposal to Centre on changing its name". Hindustan Times. 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- ^ Sarkar, Sebanti (28 March 2008). "History of Bengal just got a lot older". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
Humans walked on Bengal's soil 20,000 years ago, archaeologists have found out, pushing the state's pre-history back by some 8,000 years.
- ^ Sen, S. N. (1999). Ancient Indian History And Civilization. New Age International. pp. 273–274. ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016.
- ^ Chakrabarti, Dilip K. (2001). Archaeological Geography of the Ganga Plain: The Lower and the Middle Ganga. Delhi: Permanent Black. pp. 154–155. ISBN 978-81-7824-016-9.
- ^ Prasad, Prakash Chandra (2003). Foreign trade and commerce in ancient India. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. p. 28. ISBN 978-81-7017-053-2. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ Geiger, Wilhelm; Haynes Bode, Mabel (2003) [1908]. "Chapter VI: The Coming of Vijaya". Mahavamsa: Great Chronicle of Ceylon. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. pp. 51–54. ISBN 978-81-206-0218-2. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ Sultana, Sabiha. "Settlement in Bengal (Early Period)". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ Mookerji, Radhakumud (1959). The Gupta Empire. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 11, 113. ISBN 978-81-208-0440-1.
- ^ Sen, Sailendra Nath (1 January 1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. p. 275. ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015.
- ^ "Shashanka". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ Joseph, Tony (11 December 2015). "Intolerance debate: How some historical brutalities are more special than others". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ Bagchi, Jhunu (1993). The History and Culture of the Pālas of Bengal and Bihar, Cir. 750 A.D.-cir. 1200 A.D. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-301-4. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016.
- ^ Khan, Muhammad Mojlum (21 October 2013). The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal. Kube Publishing Limited. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-1-84774-062-5. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018.
- ^ Sengupta, Nitish K. (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016.
- ^ Raj Kumar (2003). Essays on Ancient India. Discovery Publishing House. p. 199. ISBN 978-81-7141-682-0.
- ^ Nanda, J. N (2005). Bengal: the unique state. Concept Publishing Company. p. 10. 2005. ISBN 978-81-8069-149-2.
Bengal [...] was rich in the production and export of grain, salt, fruit, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments besides the output of its handlooms in silk and cotton. Europe referred to Bengal as the richest country to trade with.
- ^ Banu, U. A. B. Razia Akter (January 1992). Islam in Bangladesh. BRILL. pp. 2, 17. ISBN 978-90-04-09497-0. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014.
- ^ "Islam (in Bengal)". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ Lewis, David (31 October 2011). Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-139-50257-3.
- ^ Ganguly, Dilip Kumar (1994). Ancient India, History and Archaeology. Abhinav Publications. p. 41. ISBN 9788170173045. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Chaudhury, S; Mohsin, KM. "Sirajuddaula". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ Fiske, John. "The famine of 1770 in Bengal". The Unseen World, and Other Essays. Adelaide: University of Adelaide Library Electronic Texts Collection. Archived from the original on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ Arnold-Baker 2015, p. 504
- ^ Baxter 1997, p. 32
- ^ Bayly 1987, pp. 194–197
- ^ Sarkar 1990, p. 95
- ^ Baxter 1997, pp. 39–40
- ^ Wolpert, Stanley (1999). India. Berkeley, California, US: University of California Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-520-22172-7. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
- ^ Chandra et al. 1989, p. 26
- ^ Islam, Sirajul. "Partition of Bengal, 1947". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ a b Sailen Debnath, West Bengal in Doldrums ISBN 978-81-86860-34-2; & Sailen Debnath ed. Social and Political Tensions in North Bengal since 1947, ISBN 81-86860-23-1
- ^ Hindle 1996, pp. 63–70
- ^ a b Biswas, Soutik (16 April 2006). "Calcutta's colourless campaign". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ Ghosh Roy, Paramasish (22 July 2005). "Maoist on rise in West Bengal". VOA Bangla. Voice of America. Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2006.
- ^ "Maoist Communist Centre (MCC)". Left-wing extremist group. South Asia Terrorism Portal. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2006.
- ^ "Several hurt in Singur clash". Rediff.com. 28 January 2007. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
- ^ "Red-hand Buddha: 14 killed in Nandigram re-entry bid". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 15 March 2007. Archived from the original on 17 March 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
- ^ Bhaumik, Subir (13 May 2011). "Defeat rocks India's elected communists". Rediff India Abroad. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ^ "Is West Bengal's economy actually reviving under Mamata Banerjee?". scroll.in. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016.
- ^ "West Bengal tax revenue up 19% on greater efficiency". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017.
- ^ "Revenue collection: Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal beats rest of India in growth". Financial Express. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017.
- ^ "Bharat Bandh gets mixed response from India, West Bengal surprises with business-as-usual attitude". India Today. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ "No bandh in Bengal tomorrow : Mamata". Business Standard India. Business Standard. Press Trust of India. September 2016. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017.
- ^ "Zero-strike work culture has resulted in no days loss: Moloy Ghatak". The Economic Times. India Times. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017.
- ^ "Silent Resurrection~I". The Statesman. 24 August 2017. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017.
- ^ "Report on Fifth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey (2015–16)" (PDF). Ministry of Labour and Employment. p. 120. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ^ Shah, Mansi (2007). "Waiting for health care: a survey of a public hospital in Kolkata" (PDF). Centre for Civil Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "West Bengal: health systems development initiative programme memorandum" (PDF). Government of West Bengal. 15 January 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "Impact of social sector development in West Bengal – Midnapore and Birbhum districts". Planning Commission of India. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "ADB pep pill for Bengal". The Telegraph. Kolkata. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ Ramesh, Randeep (12 November 2007). "Six killed as farmers and communists clash in West Bengal". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "West Bengal political violence continues". The Economic Times. New Delhi. 8 August 2009. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "Unknown vs The State of West Bengal on 14 November, 2014". indiankanoon.org. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "Defective blood-test kits in West Bengal". Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ Pal, Supratim (14 May 2007). "Top of world in kingdom of cloud". The Telegraph. Kolkata. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ Jana, Bipal Kr; Majumder, Mrinmoy (27 June 2010). Impact of Climate Change on Natural Resource Management-west bengal. Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 9789048135813. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Jayapalan, N (2001). Foreign policy of India. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. p. 344. ISBN 978-81-7156-898-7.
- ^ "Alarming rise in bacterial percentage in Ganga waters". The Hindu Business Line. Chennai. 4 August 2006. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "1.04 cr hit by arsenic contamination in Bengal". The Hindu. 19 March 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Climate". West Bengal: Land. Suni System (P) Ltd. Archived from the original on 23 May 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
- ^ "kal Baisakhi". Glossary of Meteorology. American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 30 August 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2006.
- ^ "Under 7-inch snow, Sandakphu a hot favourite among tourists now". Times of India. 12 March 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ Mukherjee, Krishnendu (13 February 2018). "Bengal green cover up by just 21 sq km, aided by plantations". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ "West Bengal" (PDF). fsi.nic.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ^ "Forest cover" (PDF). India state of forest report 2013. Forest Survey of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ a b c "Forest and tree resources in states and union territories: West Bengal" (PDF). India state of forest report 2009. Forest Survey of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. pp. 163–166. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ Islam, Sadiq (29 June 2001). "World's largest mangrove forest under threat". CNN. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
- ^ a b c Mukherji, S.J. (2000). College Botany Vol. III: (chapter on Phytogeography). Calcutta: New Central Book Agency. pp. 345–365.
- ^ "Sundarbans National Park". World heritage list. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ a b "Natural vegetation". West Bengal. Suni System (P) Ltd. Archived from the original on 23 May 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
- ^ "West Bengal: General Information". India in Business. Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2006.
- ^ a b West Bengal Human Development Report 2004, pp. 200–203, Ch. 10: Problems of Specific Regions
- ^ "West Bengal legislative assembly". Legislative bodies in India. National Informatics Centre, India. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
- ^ Delimitation Commission (15 February 2006). "Notification: order no. 18" (PDF). New Delhi: Election Commission of India. pp. 23–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
- ^ "Composition of Rajya Sabha" (PDF). Rajya Sabha at work. New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Secretariat. pp. 24–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ "Statewise results – West Bengal". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ^ "TMC registers strong wins in Bengal by-elections". The Hindu. 22 November 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ "Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Agreement signed". Outlook. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ^ "District Profiles". Archived from the original on 22 April 2017.
- ^ "Section 2 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 – West Bengal Judicial Academy" (PDF). West Bengal Judicial Academy. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ "Directory of district, sub division, panchayat samiti/ block and gram panchayats in West Bengal, March 2008". West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Limited, Government of West Bengal. March 2008. p. 1. Archived from the original (DOC) on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Urban agglomerations/cities having population 1 million and above" (PDF). Provisional population totals, census of India 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
- ^ "Cities having population 1 lakh and above, census 2011" (PDF). Provisional population totals, census of India 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Ankit Panda. "Geography's Curse: India's Vulnerable 'Chicken's Neck'". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ "2011 Census of India" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2013.
- ^ "Net state domestic product at factor cost—state-wise (at current prices)". Handbook of statistics on Indian economy. Reserve Bank of India. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ "GSDP at current prices, 2004–05 series (2004–05 to 2014–15)". Archived from the original on 18 July 2016.
- ^ "Centre accepts Bengal GDP has crossed Rs 10L cr". The Times of India. 3 August 2018. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ^ a b "GSDP at current prices, Percent growth (2004–05 to 2014–15)". Archived from the original on 17 July 2016.
- ^ "Per Capita NSDP at current prices, Percent growth (2004–05 to 2014–15) – NITI Aayog". niti.gov.in. Archived from the original on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- ^ "Economic Review 2015–16" (PDF). Archived from the original on 15 August 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c d e f "West Bengal" (PDF). India Brand Equity Foundation. November 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Industrial infrastructure". West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "About West Bengal State: Tourism, Industries, Agriculture, Economy & Geography". IBEF. Archived from the original on 9 December 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ a b c West Bengal Human Development Report 2004, pp. 4–6, Ch. 1: Introduction and Human Development Indices for West Bengal
- ^ "Mamata seeks debt restructuring plan for West Bengal". The Economic Times. New Delhi. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2012.[dead link]
- ^ "Figures matter". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ Dutta, Indrani (30 December 2014). "A year of shutdowns in Bengal's industry". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ Sarkar, Debasis (26 June 2017). "Darjeeling fears continuing Gorkhaland agitation to hurt festive tourism business". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ "'Ease of doing business improves in West Bengal". The Hindu. 17 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Business environment satisfactory in West Bengal: Survey". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 17 March 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "West Bengal bags top spot in Ease of Doing Business; Here's the full ranking list". The Financial Express. 17 March 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Industrial Development in West Bengal, GSDP of West Bengal". IBEF. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ^ "The city that got left behind". The Economist. 7 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "Statewise Length of national highways in India". National Highways. Department of Road Transport and Highways; Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways; Government of India. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ Chattopadhyay, Suhrid Sankar (January–February 2006). "Remarkable Growth". The Hindu; Frontline. 23 (2). Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ^ "Kolkata Metro is now the 17th zone of Indian Railways". The Times of India. 29 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ^ "Geography : Railway Zones". IRFCA.org. Indian Railways Fan Club. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
- ^ "About Kolkata Metro". Kolkata Metro. Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
- ^ "Mountain Railways of India". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 3 May 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2006.
- ^ "Profile on Kazi Nazrul Islam International Airport". Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ Mishra, Mihir (18 May 2015). "Air India operates inaugural flight between Durgapur & Kolkata". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Port info: cargo statistics". Kolkata Port Trust. Kolkata Port Trust, India. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Intra-city train travel". reaching India. Times Internet Limited. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
- ^ Pramanik, Ayan (2 May 2012). "Bengal transport dept to offer VRS to over 4,000 employees". The Hindu Business Line. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: IR History: Early Days – 1". www.irfca.org. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005.
- ^ Nilanjan, Ghosh (31 January 2014). Sustainability Science for Social, Economic, and Environmental Development. IGI Global. ISBN 978-1-4666-4996-5. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ "A-02: Decadal variation in population 1901-2011". Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019. Alt URL
- ^ a b c "Table 1: Distribution of population, sex ratio, density and decadal growth rate of population: 2011". Provisional population totals paper 1 of 2011 India: series 1. Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ "Table 2(3): Literates and literacy rates by sex : 2011". Provisional population totals paper 1 of 2011 India: series 1. Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ "Contents 2010–14" (PDF). Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Abridged Life Tables- 2010–14" (PDF). Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Table 162, Number and Percentage of Population Below Poverty Line". Reserve Bank of India, Government of India. 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ^ "Bengal is 100% electrified now". The Times of India, Kolkata. 3 November 2017.
- ^ Chakrabarti, Suman (6 September 2017). "76 Bengal towns free of open defecation". The Times of India.
- ^ Dutta, Saptarshi (7 September 2017). "With 76 Towns And Cities Already Open Defecation Free, West Bengal Aims To Reach The 100% Mark by the End of This Year". NDTV. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
- ^ Kanjilal, Barun; Swadhin Mondal; Moumita Mukherjee; Debjani Barman; Arnab Mondal (October 2008). "Catastrophic Health Care Payment: how much protected are the users of public hospitals?". FHS Research Brief (4). Archived from the original on 9 March 2013.
- ^ "Why West Bengal is like Canada, and Bihar like Swaziland". 25 December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016.
- ^ Hoddie, Matthew (2006). Ethnic realignments: a comparative study of government influences on identity. Lexington Books. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-7391-1325-7. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: AAVE – Esperanto. Oxford University Press. 10 March 2018. ISBN 978-0-19-513977-8. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ Hernández-Campoy, Juan Manuel; Conde-Silvestre, Juan Camilo (15 February 2012). The Handbook of Historical Sociolinguistics. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-25726-5. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ Banerjee, Himadri; Gupta, Nilanjana; Mukherjee, Sipra, eds. (2009). Calcutta mosaic: essays and interviews on the minority communities of Calcutta. Anthem Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-81-905835-5-8. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ Banerjee, Himadri; Gupta, Nilanjana; Mukherjee, Sipra, eds. (2009). Calcutta mosaic: essays and interviews on the minority communities of Calcutta. Anthem Press. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-81-905835-5-8. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Table C-16 - Population by Mother Tongue". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015.
- ^ B.P. Syam Roy (28 September 2015). "Bengal's topsy-turvy population growth". The Statesman. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016.
- ^ Singh, Shiv Sahay (26 February 2016). "Could it take two to tango with Mamata?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016.
- ^ "Data on Religion". Census of India (2001). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 12 August 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
- ^ Ling, Trevor; Axelrod, Steven (19 June 1980). Buddhist Revival in India: Aspects of the Sociology of Buddhism. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-16310-6. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ Seni, Saibal (26 August 2015). "Bengal beats India in Muslim growth rate". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017.
- ^ Georg, Feuerstein (2002). The Yoga Tradition. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 600. ISBN 978-3-935001-06-9.
- ^ Clarke, Peter Bernard (2006). New Religions in Global Perspective. Routledge. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-7007-1185-7.
- ^ "Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist". The Daily Star. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ Buckland, C. E. (1999). Dictionary of Indian Biography. Cosmo Publication. ISBN 9788170208976. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "TagoreWeb". tagoreweb.in. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Islam, Kazi Nazrul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Remembering Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the 'Awara Masiha'". The Indian Express. 15 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "Manik Bandopadhyay Taking the road less travelled". The Daily Star. 22 May 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Mookerjea-Leonard, Debali (2008). R. Victoria Arana (ed.). The Facts on File Companion to World poetry, 1900 to the Present. New York City: Facts on File, Inc. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-8160-6457-1.
- ^ Sen, Sukumar (1979) [1960]. History of Bengali Literature (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 345. ISBN 978-81-7201-107-9.
- ^ Datta 1988, p. 1213
- ^ Datta 1988, p. 1367
- ^ Bardhan 2010
- ^ Openshaw, Jeanne (25 July 2002). Seeking Bauls of Bengal. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–6. ISBN 978-0-521-81125-5. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016.
- ^ Guha-Thakurta, P. (5 September 2013). The Bengali Drama: Its Origin and Development. Routledge. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-136-38553-7.
- ^ Chaudhuri, Sukanta (1990). Calcutta, the Living City: The past. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195625851. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017.
- ^ "Folk & Culture : Purulia, Famous Folk Dance "Chau"". The Official Website of Purulia District. Archived from the original on 3 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- ^ Tmh (2007). Book of Knowledge Viii, 5E. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 978-0-07-066806-5. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016.
- ^ "Master filmmaker Tapan Sinha dead". 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
- ^ Gooptu 2013, pp. 37–50
- ^ Gooptu 2010, pp. 170–182
- ^ Biswas, Premankur (31 October 2014). "'Chatushkone' director Srijit Mukherji: I have gained enough confidence as a director". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
- ^ Chowdhury, S. (2021). Uttam Kumar: A Life in Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 209. ISBN 978-93-5435-271-3. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ Raychaudhuri, Baidehi Chatterjee and Roshmi. "contemporaryart-india – Art History: Bengal Region". www.contemporaryart-india.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ^ Onians, John (2004). Atlas of World Art. Laurence King Publishing. p. 304. ISBN 978-1-85669-377-6. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ a b History of the Bengali-speaking People by Nitish Sengupta, p 211, UBS Publishers' Distributors Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 81-7476-355-4.
- ^ Gertjan de Graaf, Abdul Latif. "Development of freshwater fish farming and poverty alleviation: A case study from Bangladesh" (PDF). Aqua KE Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2006.
- ^ "Bengalis relish hilsa fish as imports of the Bangladeshi delicacy grow". Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ "Ferment rice for a healthy morsel". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Banerji, Chitrita (December 2006). Bengali Cooking: Seasons and Festivals. Serif. ISBN 978-1-897959-50-3. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Sweet Items | Bengal Cuisine". bengalcuisine.in. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Saha, S (18 January 2006). "Resurrected, the kathi roll – Face-off resolved, Nizam's set to open with food court". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 28 February 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ "Mobile food stalls". Bangalinet.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ Singh, Kumar Suresh; Bagchi, Tilak; India, Anthropological Survey of (2008). People of India: West Bengal. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 9788170463009. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ "Parinita – Handloom map of West Bengal". 26 June 2015. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015.
- ^ "Durga Puja". Festivals celebrated throughout West Bengal. Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Durga Puja in India: Largest Open-Air Art Expo". kolkata.china-consulate.org. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "Foreign bloggers and travel writers soak in Kolkata's festive spirit". The Times of India. 26 October 2015. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ a b c Betts, Vanessa (30 October 2013). Footprint Focus-Kolkata and West Bengal. Footprint Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-909268-41-8. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d Chakrabarti, Kunal; Chakrabarti, Shubhra (22 August 2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8024-5. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ "YSSKendra - Christmas Celebration at Dakshineswar Ashram, December 2016". dakshineswar.yssashram.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^ "Christmas In Belur Math: রীতিমেনেই বেলুড় মঠে বড়দিন পালন". ETV Bharat News (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^ "West Bengal Tourism". www.westbengaltourism.gov.in. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ Choudhury, Angikaar (23 December 2015). "In photos: Glimpses of a Bengali Christmas on Kolkata's Park Street". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "Boards of secondary & senior secondary education in India". Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "National Family Health Survey". rchiips.org. Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.(Select West Bengal to view the pdf format)
- ^ "India's Best Schools, 2014". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015.
- ^ "Educational Institute". darjeeling.gov.in. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ "UGC recognised Universities in West Bengal with NAAC accreditation status". Education Observer. Archived from the original on 9 January 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ "West Bengal University of Health Sciences". West Bengal University of Health Sciences. Archived from the original on 21 December 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ Sridhar, M.; Mishra, Sunita (5 August 2016). Language Policy and Education in India: Documents, Contexts and Debates. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-87824-6. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ "History, Glory & Evolution". Vidyasagar College. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ "List of Affiliated Colleges". University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
- ^ Mitra, P (31 August 2005). "Waning interest". Careergraph. Calcutta, India: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ "Visva-Bharati: Facts and Figures at a Glance". Visva-Bharati Computer Centre. Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
- ^ a b NAAC. "NAAC accredited higher educational institution s in West Bengal" (PDF). www.naac.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ "University Grants commission ::Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area". ugc.ac.in. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- ^ "University". www.ugc.ac.in. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Some of the distinguished alumni of the University of Calcutta". University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Some of our distinguished teachers". University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ Petitjean, Patrick; Jami, Cathérine; Moulin, Anne Marie (1992). Science and empires: historical studies about scientific development and European expansion. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7923-1518-6.
- ^ Frenz, Horst, ed. (1999). Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901–1967. Amsterdam: World Scientific. p. 134. ISBN 978-981-02-3413-3. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ^ "Professor Amartya Sen". President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard University. Archived from the original on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ "Abhijit Banerjee Facts". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "General Review". Registrar of Newspapers for India. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "West Bengal Media" (PDF). FCCI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^ "Bengali News Channel took 5 months to reach no.1 position". News Center. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2006.
- ^ a b c "Calcutta : Television, Radio Channels". Calcutta Web. Archived from the original on 3 December 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2006.
- ^ "The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report April–June 2017" (PDF). TRAI. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ a b Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: empire, nation, diaspora. London: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-7146-8170-2.
- ^ a b Bose, Mihir (2006). The magic of Indian cricket: cricket and society in India. Psychology Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-415-35691-6.
- ^ a b Das Sharma, Amitabha (2002). "Football and the big fight in Kolkata" (PDF). Football Studies. 5 (2): 57. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
- ^ Prabhakaran, Shaji (18 January 2003). "Football in India – A Fact File". LongLiveSoccer.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ "Kolkata-football infrastructure is from-the past century". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2006.
- ^ "India – Eden Gardens (Kolkata)". Cricket Web. Archived from the original on 31 May 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ "Eden Gardens". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
- ^ Raju, Mukherji (14 March 2005). "Seven Years? Head Start". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
- ^ "Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), Kolkata". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017.
- ^ "Lionel Messi arrives in Kolkata for the friendly match against Venezuela". India Today. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018.
- ^ "King Kahn Bows Out in Kolkata". DW.com. 27 May 2008. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018.
Sources
- Arnold-Baker, Charles (30 July 2015). The Companion to British History. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-40039-4. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- Bardhan, Kalpana (2010). The Oxford India Anthology of Bengali Literature: 1941–1991. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-806461-9.
- Baxter, Craig (1997). Bangladesh: From a Nation to a State. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 978-1-85984-121-1.
- Bayly, Christopher Alan (1987). Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire. Cambridge University Press. pp. 195, 196. ISBN 978-0-521-38650-0.
- Campbell, John; Watts, William (1760), "Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, Anno Domini 1757", World Digital Library, archived from the original on 24 December 2014, retrieved 30 September 2013
- Chakrabarty, Bidyut (2004). The Partition of Bengal and Assam, 1932-1947: Contour of Freedom. Routledge. ISBN 9781134332748. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
- Chandra, Bipan; Mukherjee, Mridula; Mukherjee, Aditya; Panikkar, K. N.; Mahajan, Sucheta (1989). India's Struggle for Independence. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-81-8475-183-3. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- Datta, Amaresh (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- Gooptu, Sharmistha (November 2010). Bengali Cinema: 'An Other Nation'. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-91217-7.
- Gooptu, Sharmistha (17 April 2013). "'Bengali' cinema: Its making and unmaking". In Gokulsing, K. Moti; Dissanayake, Wimal (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-77284-9.
- Hindle, Jane, ed. (1996). London Review of Books: An Anthology. Foreword by Alan Bennett. London: Verso. pp. 63–70. ISBN 978-1-85984-121-1.
- Mukherjee, Soumyendra Nath (1987). Sir William Jones: A Study in Eighteenth-century British Attitudes to India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-86131-581-9. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019.
- Sarkar, Sumit (1990). "Calcutta and the Bengal Renaissance". In Chaudhuri, Sukanta (ed.). Calcutta, the Living City: The past. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195625851.
- Impact of Social Sector Development in West Bengal (Report). Planning Commission, Government of India. 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- West Bengal Human Development Report, 2004 (PDF) (Report). Kolkata: Development and Planning Department, Government of West Bengal. May 2004. ISBN 978-81-7955-030-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- "UNESCO World Heritage List". Whc.unesco.org. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
Further reading
- Amrita Basu, V. (1997). Two Faces of Protest: Contrasting Modes of Women's Activism in India. University of California Press ltd. ISBN 978-0-520-06506-2. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
- Atul Kohli, I. (1987). The State and Poverty in India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-37876-5. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2007.
- Bald, Vivek (2013). Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America. Harvard University Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-674-07040-0. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004). Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal. SAGE Publications India. p. 256. ISBN 978-81-321-0407-0.
- Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2009). Decolonization in South Asia: Meanings of Freedom in Post-independence West Bengal, 1947–52. Routledge. p. 256. ISBN 978-1-134-01823-9.
- Banerjee, Anuradha (1998). Environment, population, and human settlements of Sundarban Delta. Ashok Kumar Mittal. ISBN 978-81-7022-739-7.
- Bhargava, Gopal, ed. (2008). Encyclopaedia of Art And Culture in India (West Bengal) 20th Volume. Isha Books. p. 508. ISBN 978-81-8205-460-8.
- Bose, Sugata (1993). Peasant Labour and Colonial Capital: Rural Bengal Since 1770, Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-521-26694-9.
- Chakrabarti, Ranjan (2013). Dictionary of Historical Places: Bengal, 1757–1947. Primus Books. p. 657. ISBN 978-93-80607-41-2.
- Chakrabarti, Kunal; Chakrabarti, Shubhra (22 August 2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8024-5.
- Chatterjee, Partha (1997). The Present History of West Bengal: Essays in Political Criticism. the University of Michigan: Oxford University Press. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-19-563945-2.
- Chatterjee, Pranab (2009). A Story of Ambivalent Modernization in Bangladesh and West Bengal: The Rise and Fall of Bengali Elitism in South Asia. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-1-4331-0820-4.
- Chatterji, Joya (2007). The Spoils of Partition: Bengal and India, 1947–1967. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-46830-5.
- Eaton, Richard Maxwell (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-08077-7.
- Government of West Bengal, Law Department, Legislative Notification. No. 182- L – 24 January 2013. West Bengal Act XXXVI of 2012. The West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Act, 2012.
- Harriss-White, Barbara, ed. (2008). Rural Commercial Capital: Agricultural Markets in West Bengal. Oxford University Press, US. ISBN 978-0-19-569159-7.
- Inden; Ronald B.; Ralph W (2005). Kinship in Bengali Culture. The University of Chicago Press, 1977. ISBN 978-81-8028-018-4.
- Jasodhara Bagchi, Sarmistha Dutta Gupta, V. (2000). The changing status of women in West Bengal, 1970–2000: the challenge ahead. Saga Publication India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7619-3242-0. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- Khan, Muhammad Mojlum (2013). The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal. Kube Publishing Ltd. p. 384. ISBN 978-1-84774-062-5.
- Klass, L; Morton, S (1996). Community Structure and industrialization in West Bengal. University Press of America Inc. ISBN 978-0-7618-0420-8.
- Mallick, Ross. (1955). Development Policy of a Communist Government: West Bengal Since 1977, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (Reprinted 2008) ISBN 978-0-521-43292-4.
- Marvin, Davis (1983). Rank and rivalry: the politics of inequality in rural West Bengal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. xxvii, 239. ISBN 978-0-521-24657-6.
- Mukherjee, Bharati (1991). Political Culture and Leadership in India: A Study of West Bengal. Mittal Publications. p. 403. ISBN 978-81-7099-320-9.
- Öberg, Magnus; Strom, Kaare, eds. (2008). Resources, governance and civil conflict. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-41671-9. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2004.
- Raychaudhuri, Tapan (2002). Europe Reconsidered: Perceptions of the West in Nineteenth-Century Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-566109-5.
- Raychaudhuri, Ajitava; Das, Tuhin K., eds. (2005). West Bengal economy: some contemporary issues. Jadavpur University Press, India. ISBN 978-81-7764-731-0. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- Roy, Ananya; AlSayyad, Nezar (2004). Urban Informality: Transnational Perspectives from the Middle East, Latin America, and South Asia. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-0741-6.
- Roy, Dayabati (2013). Rural Politics in India: Political Stratification and Governance in West Bengal. Cambridge University Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-107-51316-7.
- Samaddar, Ranabir (1999). The Marginal Nation: Transborder Migration from Bangladesh to West Bengal. the University of Michigan: SAGE Publications. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-7619-9283-7.
- Sen, Jyotirmoy (1988). Land Utilisation and Population Distribution: A Case Study of West Bengal, 1850–1985. Daya Books. p. 227. ISBN 978-81-7035-043-9.
- Sen, Raj Kumar; Dasgupta, Asis (2007). West Bengal Today: 25 Years of Economic Development. Deep and Deep Publications. p. 380. ISBN 978-81-7629-984-8.
- Sunny, C (1999). "Poverty and social development in west bengal" (PDF). India Rural Development Report, NIRD. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
External links
- Government
- General information
- West Bengal web resources provided by GovPubs at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries
- West Bengal at the Encyclopædia Britannica
Wikimedia Atlas of West Bengal
Geographic data related to West Bengal at OpenStreetMap
Places adjacent to West Bengal | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small}
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| People | |