Who composed the Bande Mataram? State the reaction of the masses to the proclamation of the Partition of Bengal.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee composed the Bande Mataram.

The reaction of the masses to the proclamation of the Partition of Bengal was as follows:

1. The leaders of the protest movement declared it a day of national mourning throughout Bengal.
2. It was observed as a day of fasting.
3. There was strike in Kolkata.
4. People walked barefooted and bathed in the Ganga in the early morning hours.
5. The streets of Kolkata were full of the cries of 'Bande Mataram' which became the theme song of the national movement.
6. Rabindranath Tagore composed the patriotic song, 'Amar Sonar Bangla' (My Golden Bengal), for the occasion which was sung by huge crowds parading the streets.
7. 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.
8. 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.