East India · West Bengal
West Bengal
Sources: wikimedia
About West Bengal
- Riverside
- Coastal
Where it is
West Bengal is a state in eastern India that stretches from the Darjeeling Himalaya in the north to the Sundarbans mangroves and the Bay of Bengal in the south, across the Ganges plains and delta; it borders Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and its capital is Kolkata.
History
Bengal was the seat of the Pala kings from the 8th century and later of the Bengal Sultanate and the Nawabs of Bengal. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 the East India Company made Calcutta the capital of British India until 1911, and the city led the Bengal Renaissance in literature, science and social reform. At Partition in 1947 Bengal was divided, and its western part became West Bengal.
People
Bengali is the main language, with Nepali spoken in the Darjeeling hills and Santali, Hindi and Urdu among other communities. Bengal's culture is known for its literature, from Rabindranath Tagore onwards, for Baul songs, fish-and-rice cooking and the festival of Durga Puja.
Known for
- Kolkata's Victoria Memorial and Howrah Bridge
- Durga Puja
- Darjeeling tea and the toy train
- The Sundarbans and its tigers
- Rosogolla, sandesh and other sweets
Did you know?
In 2021 Durga Puja in Kolkata was added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.