BENGAL. a state of Britich India re constituted in 191'5 and 1912 from the former Bengal presidency and provinces. Area, 78,699 square miles; pop. about 50,000,000.
Topography.—As a whole Bengal con sists of plains, there being few remark able elevations, though it is surroundei with lofty mountains. It is intersect-r1 in all directions by rivers, mostly tribu taries of its two great rivers, the Ganges and Brahmaputra, which annually, in June and July, inundate a large part of the region. The Sundarhans or Sun th.rbunds (from being covered with the sunder tree), that portion of the coun try through which the numerous branches of the Ganges seek the sea, about 150 miles from E. to W. and about 160 from N. to S., is traversed in all di rections by water courses, and inter spersed with numerous sheets of stag nant water. The country is subject to great extremes of heat. The most un healthful period is the latter part of the rainy season. The mean temperature of the whole year varies between 80' F. in Orissa, and 74° F. in Assam, that of Calcutta being 79'. The heaviest rain fall occurs in eastern Bengal, the an nual average amounting to over 100 inches.
Productions.—Besides rice and other grains, which form, along with fruits, the principal food of the population, there may be noted among the agricultural products indigo, opium, cane sugar, to bacco, betel, cotton, and the jute and sunn plants. Tea is now extensively grown in some places, notably in Darjeeling dis trict and Chittagong. Cinchona is cul tivated in Darjeeling and Sikkim. The forests cover 12,000 square miles, the principal forest trees being the sal on the Himalaya slopes, sal and teak in Orissa. Wild animals are most numerous in the Snridarbans and Orissa, snakes being remarkably abundant in the latter district. The principal minerals are coal, iron, and salt. Coal is worked at Raniganj, in Bardwan district, where the seams are about 8 feet in thickness, and iron in the district of Birbham, in the same division. Salt is obtained from the maritime districts of Orissa. The im ports in 1919 were 64,04,52,684 rupees, and the exports 105,71,68,192 rupees.
Manufactures.—The principal manu factures are cotton piece goods of various descriptions, jute fabrics, blanketing, and silks. Muslins of the most beautiful and
delicate texture were formerly made at Dacca, but the manufacture is almost ex tinct. Sericulture is carried on more largely in Bengal than in any other part of India, and silk weaving is a leaiing industry in many of the districts. The commerce, both internal and external. is very large. The chief exports are opium, jute, indigo, oil seeds, tea, hides and skins, and rice. The foreign trade is chiefly with Great Britain, China, the Straits Settlements, France, the United States, and Ceylon.
Language.—The Bengali language is spoken by a majority of the population. It is like the numerous vernacular dia lects spoken in northern India, appar ently descended from the ancient classical language of the country, the Sanskrit. Its alphabet comprises 14 vowels and diphthongs, and 33 consonants. The ground work of the Bengali language is altogether Sanskrit.
Education, etc.—The first rudiments of education are usually given in the primary schools that have been developed out of the native schools. and are now connected with government. There are also a number of secondary and superior schools established by government, in cluding eight government colleges. The highest educational institution is the Calcutta University, the chief function of which is to examine and confer de grees. There were in 1918 48,303 edu cational institutions, with 1,892,951 scholars. The total expenditure for edu cation in that year was £1,699,569. The population of Bengal beyond the capital, Calcutta, and its suburbs, is largely rural.
History.—The first of the East India Company's settlements in Bengal were made early in the 17th century. The rise of Calcutta dates from the end of the same century. The greater part of Bengal came into the hands of the East India Company in consequence of Clive's victory at Plassy in 1757, and was formally ceded to the company by the Nabob of Bengal in 1765. Chittagong had previously been ceded by the same prince, but its government under British administration was not organized till 1524. Orissa came into British hands in 1803. In 1858 the country passed to the crown, and since then the history of Bengal has been, on the whole, one of steady and peaceful progress.