Bengal (1905 - 1911)

Bengal ( - ) Bengal Eastern Assam Bengal ( - ) Area (Km ) , . Population (mn) Muslims (mn) Muslims % Eastern Bengal & Assam ( - ) Area (Km ) , . Population (mn) Muslims (mn) Muslims % Bengal Not to Scale E W N S Rise of Extremism and Swadeshi Movement balancing out each other. There was a conscious attempt on the part of British administration to woo the Muslim population in Bengal. In his speech at Dhaka, in Februry , Curzon assured the Muslims that in the new province of East Bengal, Muslims would enjoy a unity, which they had never enjoyed since the days of old Muslim rule. The partition, instead of dividing the Bengali people along the religious line, united them. Perhaps the British administration had underestimated the growing feeling of Bengali identity among the people, which cut across caste, class, religion and regional barriers.By the end of the nineteenth century, a strong sense of Bengali unity had developed among large sections in the society. Bengali language had acquired literary status with Rabindranath Tagore as the central figure. The growth of regional language newspapers played a role in building the narrative of solidarity. Similarly, recurring famines, unemployment, and a slump in the economic growth generated an anti- colonial feeling.