WEST BENGAL DUARS

physical region in extreme northeastern West Bengal state, northeastern India. It is bounded by Sikkim state and Bhutan on the north, Assam state on the east, Nepal on the west, and the continuation of West Bengal state on the south. The West Bengal Duars were ceded to the British by Bhutan in 1863. They constitute a lowland forest belt along the junction between the Himalayan foothills to the north and the North Bengal Plain region of the Lower Ganges Plains to the south. The name Duars (literally doors) is derived from the several passes that lead from the region northward into the Lesser Himalayas. Along the northern portion of the West Bengal Duars are large banks of boulders, through which flow numerous streams cutting across the slope from the low foothills in the north to the plains in the south. These streams and the Tista River on the western side of the Duars occasionally bring devastating floods. The area is covered with dense forests of conifers, including silver fir, and oak, magnolia, rhododendron, beech, birch, and sal (Shorea). Forests have been cleared for tea plantations in the Darjeeling foothills in the northeast. Rice, jute, corn (maize), potatoes, vegetables, and fruits are the other major crops grown. Industries in the area produce foodstuffs, beverages, dairy products, leather footwear, and transport equipment; rice, oilseeds, and wheat are milled. Siliguri, Darjeeling, and Jalpaiguri are the regions' most important towns and are linked by roads and railways. Siliguri has an airfield at nearby Baghdogra. History The name of Bengal, or Bangla, is derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga, or Banga. References to it occur in early Sanskrit literature, but its early history is obscure until the 3rd century BC, when it formed part of the extensive Mauryan empire inherited by Asoka. With the decline of Mauryan power, anarchy once more supervened. In the 4th century AD the region was absorbed into the Gupta empire of Samudra Gupta. Later it came under Pala rule. From the beginning of the 13th century to Robert Clive's conquest of the province in 1757, Bengal was under Muslim rule, at times under governors acknowledging the suzerainty of the Delhi sultans but mainly under independent rulers. In 1765 Shah 'Alam, the Mughal emperor defeated by the British, granted to the East India Company the diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissathat is, the right to collect and administer the revenues of the area. By the Regulating Act of 1773, Warren Hastings, the governor of Bengal, became the first governor-general of Bengal, which was declared to be the supreme government with powers of superintendence over the other two presidencies of Madras and Bombay as well. Britain was not, however, the only European presence in Bengal. The town of Hugli, 19 miles north of Calcutta, was the location of a Portuguese factory (trading post) until 1632, the earliest of all European enclaves in India; Hugli-Chunchura (Chinsura), the next town south, was the Dutch post until 1825 and is today the location of one of India's premier rice research stations; the next town, Shrirampur (Serampore), was the Danish post until 1845; and Chandarnagar ( Chandernagore) remained in French hands until 1949. In 1854 the governor-general was relieved of the direct administration of Bengal, which was placed under a lieutenant governor. Thenceforward, the government of India became entirely distinct from that of Bengal. In 1874 Assam was transferred from the charge of the lieutenant governor and placed under a separate chief commissioner. It was felt in 1905 that Bengal had become too unwieldy a charge for a single administration, and, in spite of violent Hindu protests, it was partitioned into two provinces, (1) Western Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa and (2) Eastern Bengal and Assam, each under a lieutenant governor. In 1912, because of continued opposition to partition, Bengal was placed under a governor, Bihar and Orissa under a lieutenant governor, and Assam once more under a chief commissioner. At the same time, Delhi became the capital of India in place of Calcutta. Under the Government of India Act (1935), Bengal was constituted an autonomous province in 1937. This was the situation until the Indian subcontinent was partitioned into the two dominions of Pakistan and India after the British withdrawal in 1947. The eastern sector of Bengal, largely Muslim, became East Pakistan (later Bangladesh); the western sector became India's West Bengal. The partition of Bengal left West Bengal with ill-defined boundaries and a constant inflow of non-Muslim, mostly Hindu, refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). More than seven million refugees entered the already densely populated state after 1947, and their rehabilitation placed an immense burden on the administration. In 1950 the princely state of Cooch Behar (present name Koch Bihar) was integrated with West Bengal. After the linguistic and political reorganization of Indian states in 1956, West Bengal gained 3,157 square miles from Bihar; the additional land provided a link between the previously separated northern and southern parts of the state. Robert E. Huke