Bengal
Bengal (/bɛnˈɡɔːl/ ben-GAWL; Bengali: বাংলা/বঙ্গ, romanized: Bangla/Bôngô, pronounced [ˈbɔŋgo] ⓘ) is a historical geographical term referring to a region in the Northeastern South Asia, which is on the Indian subcontinent near the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between modern-day Bangladesh and the States and union territories of India. The Indian states of Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Tripura as well as the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a sizeable population. However, a large Bengali diaspora exists across the world. The Bengali language is the sixth-most spoken language in the world.
The Bengali calendar dates back to the reign of Shashanka in the 7th century. The Pala Empire was founded in Bengal during the 8th century. The Sena dynasty and Deva dynasty ruled between the 11th and 13th centuries. By the 14th century Bengal was absorbed by the Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent. An independent Bengal Sultanate was formed and became the eastern frontier of the Islamic world. During this period, Bengal rule and influence spread to Assam, Arakan, Tripura, Bihar, and Odisha.
The last independent Nawab of Bengal was defeated in 1757 at the Battle of Plassey by the East India Company. The company's Bengal Presidency grew into the largest administrative unit of British India with Calcutta as the capital of both Bengal and India until 1911. As a result of the partition of Bengal, a short-lived province called Eastern Bengal and Assam existed between 1905 and 1911 with its capital in the former Mughal capital Dhaka. Following the Sylhet referendum and votes by the Bengal Legislative Council and Bengal Legislative Assembly, the region was again divided along religious lines in 1947.
Bengali culture, particularly its Bengali literature, Bengali music, and Bangladeshi art are well known in Asia and beyond. The region is also notable for its economic and social scientists, which includes several Nobel laureates. Once home to the city with the highest per capita income level in British India, the region is today a leader in South Asia in terms of the Gender Parity Index, the gender pay gap, and other indices of the Human Development Index.