The Partition of Bengal, 1905-1911

O Level Pakistan Studies History · The emergence of Pakistan: 1905 to 1939. A short explanation of the idea, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid, a worked example and practice questions with answers.

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The idea

In 1905 the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, divided Bengal into two provinces. The British said that Bengal was too large to govern well. The new province of East Bengal and Assam had its capital at Dhaka and a Muslim majority.

Most Muslims welcomed the change, because the new province gave them better chances in jobs, education and politics. Many Hindus opposed it strongly. They saw it as a plan to divide and weaken them, and they protested through the Swadeshi boycott of British goods.

The agitation made the Partition hard to maintain, and it was reversed in 1911. Many Muslims then began to doubt British promises and felt they must rely on their own organisation.

Rules to remember

Common mistake

The Muslim League was not founded to protest against the reversal. The League came in 1906, five years before the reversal in 1911.

Worked example

Put these in order and link them: the reversal of the Partition, the Swadeshi movement, the founding of the Muslim League.

  1. The Partition came in 1905, and the Swadeshi boycott began at once as the Hindu protest against it.
  2. The strength of that protest showed Muslims that they needed a party of their own, so the Muslim League was founded in 1906.
  3. The agitation continued until the British reversed the Partition in 1911.

Answer: Swadeshi movement (from 1905), then the Muslim League (1906), then the reversal (1911).

Practice questions

Try each one, then open the answer.

1. What was the official British reason for partitioning Bengal?

  1. A
    Muslims had petitioned for a province of their own
  2. B
    Hindus had asked for a new capital at Dhaka
  3. C
    the Congress had demanded it at its 1904 session
  4. D
    the province was too large to govern well
Show answer

Answer: D. Bengal had about 80 million people; the British said it was too big to administer, though critics saw political motives.

2. Why did most Muslims of East Bengal welcome the Partition?

  1. A
    the new Muslim-majority province offered them more opportunity
  2. B
    it gave Muslims separate electorates for the first time
  3. C
    it united them in one province with the Muslims of the Punjab
  4. D
    it removed all British officials from the eastern districts
Show answer

Answer: A. East Bengal and Assam, with Dhaka as capital, gave Muslims a majority and better chances in education and jobs. Separate electorates came in 1909.

3. Which other decision was announced together with the reversal of the Partition in 1911?

  1. A
    creating separate electorates for Muslims
  2. B
    moving the capital from Calcutta to Delhi
  3. C
    making Dhaka the capital of a united Bengal
  4. D
    ending the rule of the East India Company
Show answer

Answer: B. The move to Delhi was partly meant to soften the blow to Muslims. Separate electorates had come in 1909; Company rule ended in 1858.

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