BENGAL', the name of a presidency, and a province in Hindustan, the latter being distinguished its 13. proper. In 1765, the soubali or viceroyalty of this name was, along with 13allar and part of'Orissa, ceded by the great )logul, virtually in full sovereignty. to the English Enst India company. As a natural consequence of this acquisition of territory, the presidency of Calcutta, which had been separated from that of :Madras in 1707, came to lx styled the presidency of Bengal. Moreover, in 1773, this, the youngest of the three distinct governments of British India, was elevated above both its older rivals by 11/1 aet of parliament, which declared its immediate ruler to be ex officio the governor general of the whole of the company's dominions. With its commanding position on and arolind the delta of the Ganges 110d the 13ralinmputra, B.. as 0 presidency; grew almost as uninterruptedly as a tree. alike to the n.w. and to the s.e.—far beyond the basins of liA own mighty rivers. NVithin less than 90 years, it had overleaped, I'vit 'lent a break in its continuity, at once the Irrawaddy and the Lulus. Bcnares in the one direction. was the first considerable increment, having been absorbed in 1775; while the last additiort cif importnnee—nnles one should except dude, which, however. had really become Brit islt In Pegu, 111 the other direction. the Burmese war of 1852 filling up the gap on the coast which that of 1826 hail still left betv•ecit Assam and Arnim on the n., ana Tcnasserim on the south. From Tenasserim to the Punjab inclusiv.., B., as a presidency. embraced about 29' of long., and about 21° of lat. Further, it comprised, to the s.c., the detached settlements of Penang, 'Malacca, and Singapore; while to the li.w. it might. for a time at least, have claimed Afghanistan. The whole of this vast tract was, either directly or indirectly, tinder the immediate rule of the governor-general, advised, and in some cases, controlled, by a council of 5 members, of whom one was the commander-in chief, and at least one other was not to Ix a company's servant.
Some time ago, the presidency of B.. having proved to be ton extensive for a consoli dated admini/tration, was divided into three portions—one portion remaining under the governor-general, and two being assigned 10 subordinate tunctionaries, the lieutenant governors respectively of " the nor th-tvestern provinces," and of `Bengal.'" T!:e' first
portion, anger the direct sway: of the governor-general, consisted of the Punjab (q.v.). the Cis-Sui lej states, 4 in numbe•—Gude, Nagpoor, Pcgu, Tenasserim; and the detached settlements already mentioned in and near the straits of .Malacca. The two other portions, occupying, between them, the entire space from Pegu to the Cis-Stitlej states, met near the confluence of the Gogra and the Ganges, Patna being situated in "Bengal," and Bemires in " the north-western provinces." The " presidency" of B. is no longer an administrative division; the territory aver which the lieutenant-governor of B. now rules is very nearly what used to be known as lower B., and comprises B. proper, Baliar, Orissa, including the tributary Chota Nagpore, and the native. states of Bill Tipper:di and Koo•h Baliar. The north-west provinces are no longer included in the government of II.; the Punjab has likewise an independent lieutenant-governor; (hide is under a chief commissioner; Pegu and Tenasserim are embraced in British Burinah; and since 1874 Assam too has its own chief commissioner.
According to Ilia census of 1872, the areas and populations of the four great provinces that constitute B. iu the wider sense, and are under the lieutenant-governor of B., are as follows: Square miles. Inhabitants.
Bengal proper ...... 78,982 34,277,342 13aleir 42.417 19,736,101 Chota Nagpore.... 28,482 3,419.591 Oriss.t 8,714 3,162,490 158.595 60,595,524 Tributary states.... 38,324 2,218,296 Total ... .....196,019 62,813,820 Thus the local government of B. has a population nearly twice as numerous as that of the United Kingdom. It extends from the meridian 82" to 92' e. of Greenwich. and lies within the parallels of 40' and 28° 10' n. lat. It consists mainly of the lower plains of the Ganges, and the whole of the great delta, and comprises a portion of the valley of the Brahmapootra, and the sea-board district of Chittagong,. Chola Nagpore and Orissa arc beyond the we.ttern bounds of the plains of the Ganges.