Partition of Bengal (1905): Curzon’s Motives, the Swadeshi Response and the 1911 Annulment (UPSC Notes + PYQs)

Background: Bengal before 1905

At the turn of the twentieth century the Bengal Presidency included Bengal proper, Bihar and Orissa, with a population of about 78 million. It was too large for one Lieutenant-Governor, and the idea of reducing it had been discussed for decades. But Bengal was also the heart of the new Indian middle class: Calcutta had the universities, the press, the bar and the Indian National Congress’s most vocal leaders. Lord Curzon, Viceroy from 1899, distrusted this class. His Calcutta Corporation Act (1899) cut the number of elected members, and the Indian Universities Act (1904) tightened official control over universities. Many Bengalis read these as attacks on educated Indians. When the plan to divide the province was made public, it was seen as the third blow in a series, and the reaction was correspondingly fierce.

Stated and real reasons

Bengal Presidency, with about 7.8 crore people, was hard to administer. But officials like Home Secretary H.H. Risley wrote plainly that “Bengal united is a power; Bengal divided will pull several different ways”. The new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam, with Dacca as capital, had a Muslim majority; western Bengal included Bihar and Orissa, making Bengalis a minority there.

The response

• 16 October 1905 observed as a day of mourning; Rabindranath Tagore led Raksha Bandhan processions and wrote Amar Sonar Bangla.
• Swadeshi: national schools, swadeshi stores, Bengal Chemicals (P.C. Ray); Boycott of foreign cloth and salt.
• Samitis like the Swadesh Bandhab Samiti (Ashwini Kumar Dutt); Anushilan Samiti; revolutionary actions.
• The Congress at Benares (1905) supported it; at Calcutta (1906) Dadabhai Naoroji declared Swaraj as the goal.

Wider effects

The movement spread to Maharashtra (Tilak), Punjab (Lala Lajpat Rai, Ajit Singh) and Madras (V.O. Chidambaram Pillai’s Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company). It widened the gap between Moderates and Extremists, leading to the Surat split (1907). The Muslim League was founded at Dacca in 1906.

The two provinces compared

The arithmetic of the new provinces was the heart of the protest. Bengali Hindus would be a minority in western Bengal, and a Muslim-majority province was being created in the east. Officials like Herbert Risley wrote privately that Bengal united was a power and Bengal divided would pull in different directions.

Annulment

King George V announced the annulment at the Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911; the capital was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. Bihar and Orissa became a separate province, and Assam became a Chief Commissioner’s province again.

Methods of the Swadeshi movement

The movement went through two phases. The moderate phase (1903-1905) used petitions, public meetings, memoranda and press campaigns led by Surendranath Banerjea, K.K. Mitra and Prithwishchandra Ray. When these failed, the movement took new forms after 7 August 1905. Boycott of foreign cloth, salt and sugar was enforced through public bonfires and social pressure on buyers. Swadeshi enterprise grew: textile mills, soap and match factories, banks and insurance firms, and P.C. Ray’s Bengal Chemicals. National education was organised through the National Council of Education (1906). Samitis such as Ashwini Kumar Dutt’s Swadesh Bandhab Samiti in Barisal trained volunteers, settled disputes and carried the message to villages. Culture also played a role: Rabindranath Tagore wrote ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’, Rakhi Bandhan was celebrated on 16 October 1905 as a sign of unity, and Abanindranath Tagore’s paintings gave the movement a visual language.

Extremists, moderates and the Surat split

The movement deepened a split in the Congress. Moderates such as Gokhale wanted boycott limited to Bengal and to foreign goods. Extremists led by Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Aurobindo Ghosh wanted it extended across India and to every form of cooperation with the government, which they called passive resistance. The Calcutta session of 1906, under Dadabhai Naoroji, adopted swaraj as the goal and passed resolutions on swadeshi, boycott and national education, a compromise. At Surat in 1907 the two sides split openly. The government then struck at the extremists: Tilak was sentenced to six years in Mandalay, Pal and Aurobindo withdrew from politics, and Lajpat Rai had already been deported in 1907. Out of frustration some young people turned to revolutionary terrorism, such as the Muzaffarpur bombing of 1908 by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki.

Limits and legacy

The movement had clear limits. It did not reach most Muslim peasants of East Bengal, many of whom were tenants of Hindu landlords; some leaders’ use of Hindu religious symbols widened the gap, and communal riots broke out in Comilla and Jamalpur in 1907. The All-India Muslim League was founded at Dacca in December 1906. Peasants in general were drawn in only partly, and boycott was hard to sustain once foreign goods were cheaper. Yet Swadeshi left a lasting mark. It tested almost every method later used by Gandhi, from boycott and constructive work to national schools and volunteer bodies. Sumit Sarkar described it as the first stage of mass politics in modern India. For Mains, frame the partition both as a case of ‘divide and rule’ and as the moment when nationalism moved beyond petitions.

Partition Of Bengal: UPSC angle

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