User:Naveen289/sandbox

Partition of Bengal was done in December 1903 by the British Government. The idea was to have two provinces: Western Bengal comprising provinces of Bihar and Orissa, and Eastern Bengal along with Assam. Bengal retained Calcutta as its capital, while Dacca became the capital of Eastern Bengal. The official reason given for the decision was the population. Bengal with a population of 78 million (one-quarter of the population of British India) had become too big to be administered. It was also stated that it would help in the development of Assam if it came under the direct jurisdiction of the government. This was true to some extent but the real motive behind the partition plan was seen to be the British desire to weaken Bengal, the nerve centre of Indian nationalism.