ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East Pakistan , flag_s1 = Flag of Pakistan.svg , national_anthem = , image_map = Bangladesh on the globe (Bangladesh centered).svg , image_flag = , flag_caption = , image_coat = , capital =

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

(currently known as

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

) , common_languages =

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Parliamentary constitutional monarchy , legislature = Legislative Assembly , date_start = 14 August , year_start = 1947 , event_start = Partition of Bengal , date_end = 14 October , year_end = 1955
1970 – 1971 , event_end = One Unit , currency = Pakistani rupee , today =

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, footnotes = , East Bengal ( bn, পূর্ব বাংলা/পূর্ববঙ্গ ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was a geographically noncontiguous province of the Dominion of Pakistan covering present-day

. With its coastline on the Bay of Bengal, it bordered

and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. It was located close to, but did not share a border with, Nepal, Tibet, the Kingdom of Bhutan and the

Kingdom of Sikkim The Kingdom of Sikkim (Classical Tibetan and sip, འབྲས་ལྗོངས།, ''Drenjong''), officially Dremoshong (Classical Tibetan and sip, འབྲས་མོ་གཤོངས།) until the 1800s, was a hereditary monar ...

. Its capital was Dacca, now known as

. The Partition of India, which divided Bengal along religious lines, established the borders of Muslim majority East Bengal. The province existed during the reign of two monarchs, including George VI and

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

; and three Governors-General, including Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Khawaja Nazimuddin and Ghulam Muhammad. Its provincial governors included a British administrator and several Pakistani statesmen. Its chief ministership was held by leading Bengali politicians. East Bengal was the most populous and cosmopolitan province in the dominion. East Bengal was a hub of political movements, including the Bengali Language Movement and pro-democracy groups. It was dissolved in 1955 and replaced by East Pakistan during the One Unit scheme implemented by Prime Minister Mohammad Ali of Bogra. The provincial legislature was the East Bengal Legislative Assembly.

History

RBI 5-rupee note, overprinted Government of Pakistan, 1947, obverse

Mandates for partition

Between 1905 and 1911, a province called Eastern Bengal and Assam existed in the region as part of the British Indian Empire. The All India Muslim League was founded in the British province in 1906. The All India Muslim League adopted the Lahore Resolution in 1940 which envisaged the creation of sovereign states in the Muslim majority areas of eastern and northwestern British India. The League won elections in Bengal in 1946, receiving its largest mandate in the province. In May 1946, Rohingya Muslim leaders from met with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and asked for a formal annexation of the Mayu region. Two months later, the North Arakan Muslim League also asked Jinnah to annex the region. Jinnah refused, saying he could not interfere with Burma's internal matters. Proposals were also made to the

Burmese government Myanmar ( also known as Burma) operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests. ...

but they were rejected.Hugh Tinker, ''The Union of Burma: A Study of the First Year of Independence'', (London, New York, and Toronto: Oxford University Press) 1957, p. 357. The District of Sylhet in Assam Province also voted to reunite with the rest of East Bengal, and the Muslim League's campaign played a great role in facilitating this. A plebiscite was held which resulted in joining Pakistan. However, a large part of Sylhet's Karimganj subdivision was barred due to

Abdul Matlib Mazumdar Abdul Matlib Mazumder ( bn, আব্দুল মতলিব মজুমদার; 1890–1980) was an Indian freedom fighter and political leader based in undivided Assam State. In 1946, when India was still under British rule, he became an ...

's delegation. The Chittagong Hill Tracts, which had a 97% non-Muslim population (mostly

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

), was awarded to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

by the Boundary Commission due to it being inaccessible to India and to provide a substantial rural buffer to support Chittagong, a major city and port; advocates for Pakistan forcefully argued to the Bengal Boundary Commission that the only approach was through Chittagong. As a result of these mandates, the

Mountbatten Plan The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

and Radcliffe Line established East Bengal as a province of the newly formed Dominion of Pakistan in August 1947.

Nazimuddin ministry

Governor General Khawaja Nazimuddin and Pakistan Cricket Team

Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin, a former Prime Minister of Bengal, was the first Chief Minister of East Bengal after partition. Nazimuddin was a senior leader of the Muslim League and a close confidante of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Sir

Frederick Chalmers Bourne Sir Frederick Chalmers Bourne, KCSI, CIE (12 August 1891 – 3 November 1977) was an English colonial administrator who served in British India until 1947 and then in the new Dominion of Pakistan until 1950. Early life Frederick Chalmers Bourn ...

was the first Governor of East Bengal. Partition resulted in making many Hindus to leave East Bengal while Muslims from different parts of the Indian subcontinent migrated to East Bengal. The East-West Bengal border did not see as much violence as seen in the Punjab border between North India and Pakistan. Jinnah made his sole visit to East Bengal as governor general in 1948. During a speech to students in Dhaka University, he resisted demands to make

a federal language. His refusal sparked fierce protests among East Bengalis who comprised the majority of Pakistan's population. The proposal for Urdu as the sole national language met with strong opposition in East Bengal, where Urdu considered rather alien, especially in light in Bengali's rich literary heritage. When Jinnah died in 1948, Nazimuddin became the Governor General of Pakistan.

Amin ministry

The conservative Muslim League leader Nurul Amin succeeded Nazimuddin as Chief Minister. According to some sources, Amin had strained relations with the federal government, including Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and Governor General Khawaja Nazimuddin. Historians have noted that Amin's government was not strong enough to administer the provincial state; it was completely under the control of the central government of Nazimuddin. His government did not enjoy enough power and lacked vision, imagination, and initiatives. In 1949,

Maulana Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was po ...

led left-wing elements in the Muslim League to break away and form the Awami Muslim League. The new party was joined by

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 ...

, a former Prime Minister of British Bengal. The new party later dropped the word Muslim, fashioned itself as secular and courted votes from East Bengal's large non-Muslim minorities. The language movement reached a climax in 1952. During the unrest, the police shot dead four student activists. This raised more opposition in the region to the Muslim League. Leading politicians in West and East Pakistan called for Amin's resignation. In subsequent provincial elections, Amin lost his seat in the legislative assembly.

Huq ministry

In the 1954, the United Front coalition resoundingly defeated the Muslim League with a landslide majority. The coalition included the Awami League, the Krishak Praja Party, the Democracy Party and Nizam-e-Islam. The esteemed lawyer A. K. Fazlul Huq, popularly known as the Sher-e-Bangla (Lion of Bengal), became Chief Minister. Huq established the Bangla Academy and called for greater provincial autonomy. He wanted the federal government's responsibilities limited to only foreign affairs and defense. King Saud of Saudi Arabia sent a plane to bring Huq to a meeting with the monarch. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' published an article claiming Huq wanted independence for East Bengal. While visiting Calcutta and New Delhi, Huq was received by Indian leaders. Barely a few months into office, Huq was dismissed by Governor General Ghulam Muhammad due to allegations against of Huq of inciting secession.

Sarkar ministry

After Governor General's rule was withdrawn in 1954,

Abu Hussain Sarkar Abu Hussain Sarkar ( bn, আবু হোসেন সরকার; 1894 – 17 April 1969) was a Bengali politician and lawyer. He served as the fourth chief minister of East Pakistan. Under his ministry, the Bangla Academy was inaugurated and 2 ...

briefly served as chief minister, before Governor General's rule was again imposed. He started the construction of Central Shaheed Minar.

Khan ministry

Governor General's rule was withdrawn in June 1955. Ataur Rahman Khan of the Krishak Sramik Party was the last Chief Minister. His government declared 21 February, the anniversary of the language movement, a public holiday. He later resigned on 30 August 1956 over inflation of food grains and subsequent food shortages.

One Unit

As part of the reforms and reorganization policies of

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pak ...

Mohammad Ali of Bogra, East Bengal was renamed as East Pakistan on 14 October 1955.

Federal law and East Bengal

East Bengal existed when Pakistan did not have a written constitution. Instead, the Pakistani courts relied on English common law and the Objectives Resolution.

Constitutional Coup

In 1953, Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin's government was dismissed by Governor General Ghulam Muhammad, in spite of enjoying the confidence of a majority in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. The governor general later dissolved the constituent assembly itself. In the case of ''Federation of Pakistan v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan'', the speaker of the dissolved constituent assembly challenged the governor general's decision in the Sindh High Court. The case proceeded to the apex court- the Federal Court of Pakistan- where Justice M. Munir ruled in favour of the governor general. Justice

A. R. Cornelius Alvin Robert Cornelius, HPk (8 May 1903 – 21 December 1991) was a Pakistani jurist, legal philosopher and judge, serving as the 4th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 1960 until 1968. In addition, he served as Law Minister in the cabinet of Yahya ...

expressed dissent and supported Speaker Khan. The dismissal of the prime minister and assembly was one of the first major blows to democracy and the rule of law in the Pakistani union.

Reform demands

Begum

Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah (22 July 1915 – 11 December 2000) was a Bengali Pakistani politician from Bengal, diplomat and author. She was the first Muslim woman to earn a PhD from the University of London. She was Pakistan's ambas ...

called for Pakistan's constituent assembly to convene in Dacca as East Bengal was home to the majority of Pakistan's population.

Governors and chief ministers

Economy, culture, religion and military

Orient Airways, owned by an East Bengal-based industrialist, launched the first flights between Karachi and

. The airline later evolved into

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Aviation Secretary of Pakistan, Secretary to the Governme ...

. The Chittagong Tea Auction was established in 1949. As a result of the Bengali Language Movement, East Bengal was a center of Bengali cultural activities. The University of Dacca was hotbed of political thought. The East Bengal Regiment was formed on 15 February 1948 following Pakistan's independence and transition from post British rule. The infantry of the new Pakistan Army was made up exclusively of men from the western part of the country. It was consequently necessary to raise a regiment in the east. A total of eight battalions were raised.

Religion

East Bengal (present-day-Bangladesh) had a population of 39,121,673 people by the year 1947, of which 26,720,102 people were followers of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

representing about 68.3% of the region's population, while 11,736,501 belonged to the Hindu faith constituting 30% of the region. The smaller number of 665,068 people followed

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

, together presenting around 1.7% of the region.

Notes

References

{{Coord, 25.2192, N, 90.9889, E, source:wikidata, display=title Former subdivisions of Pakistan 1947 establishments in East Pakistan 1955 disestablishments in Pakistan