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Culture • Economy • Geography • History • People • Politics • Government • Cities The West Bengal Portal
West Bengal is a state in eastern India. With Bangladesh, which lies on its eastern border, the state forms the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. To its northeast lie the states of Assam and Sikkim and the country Bhutan, and to its southwest, the state of Orissa. To the west it borders the state of Jharkhand and Bihar, and to the northwest, Nepal.
The region that is now West Bengal was a part of a number of empires and kingdoms during the past two millennia. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the region following the Battle of Plassey in 1757 CE, and the city of Kolkata, then Calcutta, served for many years as the capital of British India. A centre of the Indian independence movement through the early 20th century, Bengal was divided in 1947 into two separate entities, West Bengal - a state of India, and East Pakistan belonging to the new nation of Pakistan.
Following India's independence in 1947, West Bengal's economic and political theatres were dominated for many decades by intellectual Marxism, Naxalite movements and trade unionism. From late 1990s, economic rejuvenation led to a spurt in the state's economic and industrial growth. An agriculture-dependent state, West Bengal occupies only 2.7% of the India's land area, though it supports over 7.8% of Indian population, and is the most densely populated state in India. West Bengal has been ruled by the CPI(M)-led Left Front for three decades, making it the world's longest-running democratically-elected communist government. Many notable poets, writers, artists and performers are native to West Bengal.
Selected article
Kalimpong is a hill station nestled in the Shiwalik Hills in the Indian state of West Bengal. The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong subdivision, a part of the district of Darjeeling. A major forward base of the Indian Army is located on the outskirts of the town. Kalimpong is well-known for its many educational institutions, which attract students from all over North East India, West Bengal, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. In recent times, Kalimpong has become an important tourist destination owing to its temperate climate and proximity to popular tourist locations in the region. Kalimpong is also famous for its flower market, especially the wide array of orchids. It houses several Buddhist monasteries holding a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures.
Selected picture
Rush hour in front of Trinca's Bar and Restaurant on Park Street, Kolkata. The yellow metered cabs are mostly Hindustan Ambassadors. The all-yellow ones have a Bengal permit and the black-yellow ones have a Kolkata city permit. The meters, though digital, are generally out-of-date and there is a conversion chart to refer to while converting the meter-reading to the actual fare.
Selected biography
Girish Chandra Sen (1836-1910), a Brahmo missionary, was the first person to translate the holy Qur’an into Bengali language in 1886. It was his finest contribution to Bengali literature. He learnt Persian and Sanskrit in early life. In 1869, Keshub Chunder Sen chose from amongst his missionaries, four persons and ordained them as adhyapaks or professors of four old religions of the world. He was selected to study Islam. A firm believer in the basic unity of all religions, he immersed himself in his studies and later went to Lucknow to study Arabic and the Islamic religious texts. After hard labour of six years from 1881-1886, he produced an annotated Bengali version of the holy Qur’an. In all he wrote and published 42 books, mainly related to Islam, in Bengali. Muslim society, in his days, respected him enormously and called him a Maulavi.
Wikipedia in Bengali
There is a Bengali version of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 
Current news
- June 18:Operation Lalgarh has been started against the Maoist who have been active in organising a tribal movement alongside a group called the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) by the police and security forces in Lalgarh, West Bengal to restore law and order in the area and flush out the Maoists. Indian Express
Did you know...
- ...that the tyranny and the perceived dread of Gobindram Mitter, a British deputy in Calcutta, earned him a place in a Bengali rhyme?
- ...that Narayan Debnath made the comic-strip character Batul The Great a superhero when the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 flared up?
- ...that Gnanendramohan Tagore was the first Asian to be called to the bar in England in 1862?
- ...that Ganendranath Tagore established the Jorasanko Natyasala, a private theatre in his own household, in Kolkata in 1865?
- ...that the unimportance and consequent emptiness of Kalikata afforded the British room to settle there and establish Calcutta?
- ...that Deganga, in West Bengal, where ground water is affected by arsenic contamination, will have to wait until 2009 for a supply of piped arsenic-free water?
- ...that Asit Kumar Haldar was the first Indian fellow at the Royal Society of Arts?
- ...that Entally was home to the poor and the depressed, and a neighborhood where Mother Teresa started her active life in Kolkata, India?
- ...that Banduan and Manbazar in West Bengal, India, are located in an area of violent political activities by Maoists?
Categories
Major topics
Geography: Darjeeling Himalayan hill region | Terai | North Bengal plains | Rarh region | Sundarbans | Western plateau and high lands | Ganges Delta | Sundarbans National Park | Singalila National Park | Khoai | Monsoon | More...
History: Shashanka | Pala Empire | Sena dynasty | Sher Shah Suri | Mughal Empire | British East India Company | Siraj ud-Daulah | Battle of Plassey | Dutch India | Bengal Presidency | Bengal Renaissance | Brahmo movement | Indian rebellion of 1857 | Bengal famine of 1770 | Bengal famine of 1943 | Partition of Bengal (1905) | Revolutionary movement for Indian independence | Anushilan Samiti | Jugantar | Subhash Chandra Bose | Partition of Bengal (1947) | Bangladesh Liberation War | Naxalite movement | More...
Districts and Cities: Districts of West Bengal | Kolkata | Siliguri | Bardhaman | Darjeeling | Kalimpong | Howrah | Durgapur | Asansol | Haldia | Tamluk | Kharagpur | Cooch Behar | Midnapore | Baharampur | Krishnanagar | More...
Economy and Politics: Government of West Bengal | Chief Ministers | Governors | Legislative Assembly | Left Front
Culture: Bengali language | Baul | Gombhira | Chau dance | cuisine | Rabindra Sangeet | Rabindra Nritya Natya | Dolyatra | Pohela Baishakh | Durgapuja | Bengali literature | Bengali cinema | Jatra
People: Rabindranath Tagore | Satyajit Ray | Subhas Chandra Bose | Amartya Sen | Ram Mohan Roy | Mother Teresa | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay | Kazi Nazrul Islam | Swami Vivekananda | Megh Nad Saha | More...
Tasks you can do
Photos required: Cooch Behar • College Street (Kolkata) • Park Street, Kolkata • Binay Ranjan Sen • Nirad C. Chaudhuri • Brajendra Nath Seal • Shakti Chattopadhyay • Dhan Gopal Mukerji • Biraja Sankar Guha • Subhas Mukhopadhyay (poet) • Subhash Mukhopadhyay (physician)
Citations/References required: Alipore • Barrackpore • Ichapore • Kalyani • Etymology of Cooch Behar
Clean-up required: Purulia District • Dakshin Dinajpur • Shibpur
Information required: for many towns. Please check list of towns in West Bengal and see if you can assist in improving the contents of any town, as per Guide to layout and Manual of Style.
Review: BengalWikiProjects
Related portals
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Events – Indian independence movementCategories:- West Bengal portal
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