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West Bengal
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Kolkata
| Sunderbans
| Darjeeling
| Kalimpong |
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Area : 87,800
Sq.Kms.
Languages : Bengali
West Bengal has long since been the cultural centre of India. West
Bengal is a coastal state shaped like a sea horse spreading out from
the temperate coastal of the largest estuarine forest in the
world-the spectacular Sunderbans.West Bengal is triple gateway
opening out eastward to the northeastern states northward to Sikkim
and westward to the Gangetic plains.
The cultural centre of India West Bengal is a land of intellectual
awakening a cradle of Indian renaissance and the national freedom
movement. A land of political activities and aesthetes West Bengal
is famous for its eminent writers, poets, artists, social reformers,
spiritualist’s freedom fighters and revolutionaries. It is a land of
the Melodius Rabindra Sangeet and Durga Puja.
The topography hence is suitably varied. Born of its geography and
history the colourful state is indeed a land of violent contrasts.
It ranges from cool northern uplands, flat riverbeds, parched
Pargana lands, marshy, swampy, coastal regions and the dense
tropical and Alpine forests inhabited by animals like the Alpine
forests inhabited by animals like the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger.
West Bengal is watered by river Ganges and its tributaries. The main
channel is River Hoogly or River Bhagirathi. The Northern foothills
of West Bengal’s Himalayas are one of the greatest tea growing
regions of the world.Tea and one of the greatest tea growing regions
of the world. Tea and jute are among the most industrialized areas
of India.
The state is long and narrow running from the delta of the Ganges
River system in the Bay of Bengal to the south up through the Ganges
plain to the heights of Himalayas and Darjeeling in the North Bengal
has a wide variety of thrilling experience to offer to the tourists.
From Himalayan heights of Himalayas and Darjeeling in the North
Bengal has a wide variety of thrilling experiences to offer to the
tourists. From Himalayan heights to the tea estates form plantation
country to the flourishing jute fields of the fertile river plains
from the great plains to that deltaic hive of massed humanity
throbbing industries and explosive politics.
The Northern foothills of West Bengal’s romantic can still be
reached by the romantic steam-pulled ‘toy train’ to Darjeeling one
of the picturesque hill stations imprinted with images of the
colonial inheritance. To the south is one of the world’s most
densely populated agricultural regions. But Darjeeling is just a
fragment of the varied and complex state of West Bengal. To the
south in one of the world’s most densely populated agricultural
regions Kolkata dominates the political and economic life of much of
eastern India but the plains also have much to offer. In the border
regions of Bangladesh are the remains of Muslim capitals of medieval
eastern India and the remarkable terracotta temples of Bishnupur. To
the far south the humid mangroves of the Sunderbans whose mudflats
fade almost imperceptibly into the Bay of Bengal are still home to a
sizable tiger population.
At the time of Partition the state was split into East and West
Bengal. East Bengal eventually became Bangladesh and West Bengal a
state of India with Kolkata (Calcutta) as its capital. West Bengal
has plenty of historic sites and the famous tourist attractions
sites and the famous tourist attractions are Kolkata and
Darjeeling.The land of the haunting Rabindra Sangeet and Durga Puja
West Bengal has a wide variety of thrilling experiences to offer the
tourists. From Himalayan heights to the tea ranges from plantation
country to the flourishing jute fields of the fertile river plains
from the Great Plains to that deltaic hive of massed humanity
throbbing industry and explosive politics West Bengal is truly a
land of much exotic splendour.
History
West Bengal like all great river deltas is unquestionably one of the
cradles of civilization. Today old Bengal known as Gauda or Vanga in
ancient Sanskrit literature has been mentioned in the great epic
Mahabharata and in Ptolemy’s geography. The inhabitants of ancient
Bengal were non-Aryan tribes. Ancient Greek literature and Sri
Lanka’s Mahavamsa refer to a strong Kingdom in Bengal during the
time of Alexandar’s invasion.Once a sea-faring nation Bengal traded
with Java Sumatra and Sri Lanka and was visited in turn by Greek
Chinese and Persian traders.
Referred to as Vanga in the Mahabharata West Bengal has a long
history. It was part of the Mauryan Empire in the 3rd century before
being captured by the Guptas. For three centuries from around 800 AD
the Pala dynasty of Bengal ruled it including Parts of Orissa Bihar
and modern Bangladesh. Bengal was brought under Muslim rule by
Qutb-ud-din the first sultan of Delhi at the end of the 12th
century. Following the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 Bengal became an
independent Muslim state. British had established a trading post in
Kolkata towards the end of 17th century. Sensing rich potential
Siraj-Ud-daula the Nawab of Bengal came down from his capital at
Murshidabad and captured Kolkata in 1756. Robert Clive defeated him
in the following years at the Battle of Plassey helped by the
treachery of Siraj-Ud-Daula’s uncle Mir Jafar who controlled part of
the nawab’s army. After the Battle of Buxar in 1764 the British took
full control of Bengal.
Through the 19th century West Bengal became the economic and
political centre of British ruled India. Industries like engineering
and jute flourished Kolkata developed as a major port and a trading
centre of the region and Bengali literature drama art and music
flourished.Religious reform movements such as the Brahmo Samaj under
the leadership of Raja Ram Mohan Roy grew during this period.
Since then later through India’s struggle for Independence from the
British and even in post-independent India. West Bengal has always
been playing a pivotal role in the country’s cultural social and
spiritual movements. |
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