FROM
THE 3RD CENTURY BC THE BROADER REGION OF BENGAL FORMED PART OF ASHOKA’S
EMPIRE. IN THE 4TH CENTURY BC IT WAS ABSORBED INTO THE GUPTA EMPIRE.
FROM THE
13TH CENTURY IT WAS UNDER MUSLIM RULE UNTIL IT CAME UNDER THE BRITISH IN THE
18TH CENTURY.
AT INDIAN INDEPENDENCE IN 1947, BENGAL WAS PARTITIONED, THE
EASTERN SECTOR BECOMING EAST PAKISTAN (LATER BANGLADESH) AND
THE WESTERN SECTOR BECOMING INDIA’S WEST BENGAL.
ALTHOUGH IN AREA WEST BENGAL
RANKS AS ONE OF THE SMALLER STATES OF INDIA, IT IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN
POPULATION WITH OVER 91 MILLION PEOPLE.
