One of Lord Curzon's administrative measures that resulted in a strong resentment from the masses was the Partition of Bengal in 1905. In this context, answer the following questions:

(a) What was Lord Curzon's argument in favour of the Partition of Bengal? How did the nationalists interpret Lord Curzon's motives?

(b) How did the people react to the Partition of Bengal?

(c) What was the impact of the Anti-Partition Movement?

(a) Lord Curzon stated that the main motive for the Partition of Bengal, was administrative necessity. The government said that the province of Bengal was too big to be efficiently administered by a single provincial government.

The Indian nationalists clearly saw the design behind the Partition and condemned it.

1. They saw that it was a deliberate attempt to divide the Bengalis on religious and territorial grounds and thereby, disrupt and weaken nationalism in Bengal.
2. They felt that administrative efficiency could have been better secured by separating Hindi-speaking Bihar and the Odiya-speaking Odisha from the Bengali-speaking part of the province.
3. Moreover, the manner in which the announcement of partition was made without any regard for the public opinion, hurt the sentiments of sensitive Bengalis.

(b) People started a strong movement against the partition, known as the Anti-partition Movement.

1. The Partition of Bengal led to a mighty upsurge which brought people and political leaders together.
2. The Indian National Congress and the nationalists of Bengal opposed the partition. Within Bengal, different sections of the population — zamindars, merchants, lawyers, students and women — rose up in opposition to the partition of their province.
3. Many protest meetings were held by eminent leaders like Surendranath Banerjee, Krishna Kumar Mitra, P.C. Ray, B.C. Pal and Ananda Mohan Bose.
4. The Early Nationalists and the Assertive Nationalists cooperated with one another during the course of the movement.
5. The leaders condemned partition through newspapers like Bengali, Hitabadi and Sanjibani. They declared it a day of national mourning throughout Bengal.
6. There was strike in Kolkata.
7. The streets of Kolkata were full of the cries of 'Bande Mataram' which became the theme song of the national movement.
8. Rabindranath Tagore composed the patriotic song, 'Amar Sonar Bangla' (My Golden Bengal), for the occasion which was sung by huge crowds parading the streets.
9. The ceremony of Raksha Bandhan was celebrated in a new way. Hindus and Muslims tied rakhis on one another's wrists as the symbol of unbreakable unity of the Bengalis and the two halves of Bengal.
10. In the afternoon, there was a great demonstration when the veteran leader Ananda Mohan Bose laid the foundation of a Federation Hall to mark the indestructible unity of Bengal. All gathered there took the vow to follow Swadeshi.

(c) The Anti-Partition Movement had the following impact:

1. The Partition of Bengal along with the Anti-Partition Movement accelerated the Nationalist Movement by spreading it among the general masses. The people rose in unity to resist, to suffer and to sacrifice.
2. Swadeshi and Boycott were used as weapons of political agitation and a training in self-sufficiency for the attainment of Swaraj. British goods were burnt at public places and shops selling them were picketed. The spirit of Swadeshi spread to almost every walk of life — industries, education, culture, literature, etc.
3. The people lost their faith in the fair play and justice of the British. Lord Curzon refused to concede to the demands of annulling the partition.
4. The Anti-Partition agitation backfired the plans of Lord Curzon. It gave added strength to the National Movement. The methods adopted by the Early Nationalists lost their appeal and gave an opportunity to the Assertive Nationalists to lead the National Movement.

The Partition of Bengal was revoked in 1911. A new scheme of partition of Bengal was implemented on linguistic rather than on religious grounds. Hindi, Oriya and Assamese speaking areas were separated from Bengal to form separate administrative units. The administrative capital of British India was shifted from Kolkata to Delhi in 1911.