

From the 8th to the 12th century, Bengal was under the Buddhist Pāla Pala dynasty, based in neighbouring BihārBihar. After about 1200 it was governed by semi-independent Muslim rulers, and from 1576 it belonged to the Mughal empireEmpire. When Mughal power declined in the 18th century, a separate dynasty emerged in Bengal, BihārBihar, and Orissa. Its rulers, known as the nawabs of Bengal, soon came into conflict with the British, who had established themselves at Calcutta (Kolkata) in western Bengal (in 1690 ) and who took possession of the nawabs’ realm in 1757–64. Bengal was thenceforth the base for British expansion in India. From 1773 its governor-general was the chief executive of British India; from 1834 he bore the title “governor-general of India.” Assam was joined to Bengal from 1838 to 1874. In 1854 the government of India was separated from that of Bengal, though Calcutta remained India’s capital until 1912. With the end of British rule in 1947, West Bengal, BihārBihar, and Orissa became part of the Republic of India. East Bengal went to Pakistan, but in 1971 it became the independent state of Bangladesh.