Riyad
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I read this in Quora answer. West Bengali people are actually Bangladeshi in disguise. 
India: Why did government not rename West Bengal as Bengal when there is no East Bengal anymore?
Saswat Routroy, India, the most tolerant Nation.
475 Views
Thanks to A2A.
I will split my answer into major sections for better understanding.
A) How the name Bengal came:- The name Bengal wasn't the original name of the province or the geographical region. The actual name was Banga.
People must have heard the phrase "Anga-Banga-Kalinga".
Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Anga
Banga:- Banga was the combined geographical region of today's Bangladesh and West Bengal. Banga, or the Vanga Kingdom was a kingdom located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent comprising today's politically divided Bengal region (West Bengal and Bangladesh). It was a seafaring nation of South Asia. Vanga Kingdom
Kalinga:- Kalinga was an early republic in central East India that comprised almost whole Odisha and also some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the Damodar River/Ganges to the Godavari River and from Bay of Bengal to the Amarkantak range in the west. Kalinga (India)
Mahabharata reference of Anga-Banga-Kalinga:- The founders of five eastern kingdoms, which included: - Angas (eastern Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, India.), Bangas (southern West Bengal and Bangladesh), Kalingas (coastal Orissa), Pundras (northern Bangladesh and West Bengal, India) and Suhmas (north-western Bangladesh and West Bengal, India) shared a common ancestry.
Bhagavata Purana provides us the ancestry of Bali. Bali was a king in line of Anu, son of Yayati as under: Yayati → Anu → Sabhanara → Kalanara → Janamejaya → Maha Shala → Mahamanas → Titiksha → Rushadratha → Homa → Sutapas → Bali
Bali had six sons Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Sambhu, Pundra and Odhra. The above stated five kingdoms were named after 5 sons of Bali.
Another off-shoot origin of Banga:- Some people say Banga got its name from the two rivers Brahma and Ganga. Though it is a less popular belief, still thought for sharing it.
B) Bengal was the name given by the British, to Bangla:- In the modern history, i.e. during the sultanate period and pre-independence era, the collective region of Banga was called Bangladesh which means "nation of Bangla".
Now the name Bangla can be used in two context. The language is called Bangla, also the region is called Bangla. The ethnicity is called Bangali(people of Bangla).
Rabindranath wrote "Amar Sonar Bangla", in which he meant both East Bengal and West Bengal, when Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose made speeches after speeches hoping that his beloved 'Bangladesh which is the birthplace of nationalism in India'.
C) Post-independence era and splitting of Bangla:- Bengal, or Bangla was divided into two regions, during India's independence in 1947 based on religion. The major portion with bigger landmass became East Bengal which went under the dominion of Paksitan and later became East Pakistan in 1955. The smaller portion with smaller landmass became West Bengal, a state under India.
D) Becoming an Independent Nation:- Due to cruelty and dominance of Pakistan, the people of East Paksitan faced numerous atrocities. Hindus were killed, Hindu women were raped and sold to Saudi as slaves, Hindu children were butchered. The Pakistan government even had hard feelings on Bangladeshi Muslims too. They treated them as inferiors. Then India came to rescue and helped East Pakistan to gain it's independence by helping it in War of Freedom. Bangladesh, which was even unable to defend it's people from getting beaten to death, gained Independence due to India's favor and generosity. When it got independent, it took the name Bangladesh, meaning a separate country of Bengalis.
E) West Bengal retained it's name from Independence:- Indian Bengalis have their identity attached with India. They are not any separate nation, but an interim part of India. So they they can't use any name like Banga-desh or Banga-rashtra which suggests a separate nation in its meaning.
However, the name can be changed to Bangla. Even Mamata Banerjee and many politicians of West Bengal use the word "Bangla" is their speeches.
Mamata has been seen often making a statement, "Banglar manush eta bardasto korbe na", meaning "People of Bangla won't tolerate this". In speeches, many politicians from WB uses "Bangla" instead of "Paschim Bangla" or "West Bengal".
So there is a notion that West Bengal can get it's name changed. But then, the question is, "What should be the new name?".
Previously there was some suggestion of changing "West Bengal" to "Paschim Bangla" permanently. Later some more suggestions popped up like changing the name to "Banga-Bhoomi".
Now why keeping the word "Bangla" is a problem? Because it won't give separate identity to the state. People in Bangladesh also call Bangladesh as Bangla. Even the Non-Residential-Bengalis(collectively the Indian Bengalis and Bangladeshi Bengalis) who are residing outside India and Bangladesh, recognizes Bangladesh as Bangla, globally. So West Bengal should have a separate name for its unique identity.
My personal choice is "Bharat-Banga", defining the "Land of Bengal in India".
Anonymous
121 Views
To find an answer to this you need to understand the history of Bengal.
For last 800-1000 years the entire region where Bengalis used to live was known as 'Bangla-desh', there are doubts about how the region came to be known as 'Bangla', but some historians say that the name became popular during Bengal Sultanate, when Bengal became autonomous and independent after a long time. The British called it 'Bengal' instead of the colloquial name of Bangladesh.
Many people mostly non-Bengalis and WB Bengalis who are not aware of history think that the name Bangladesh is new, but it was actually used heavily by all Bengali authors and intellectuals during the British rule. When Rabindranath wrote "Amar Sonar Bangla" he meant both East Bengal and West Bengal, when Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose made speeches after speeches hoping that his beloved 'Bangladesh which is the birthplace of nationalism in India' (speech link - http://eisamay.indiatimes.com/ci... ) will never fall prey to communalism and show the way forward to rest of India, he meant both West and Eastern part. Now that does not mean there was no gap between the Eastern part and Western part, there has always been sub-cultural divide, it is not only because of religion, among co-religionists there is difference in accent, social customs and until recently marriage didn't take place among people of pure East Bengal ancestry and West Bengal ancestry. Hapless Hindu refugees who came from East Bengal after partition was not accepted easily and considered inferior, although if we purely go by numbers most successful Bengalis in last 300 years have East Bengal ancestry than West Bengal ones and perceived superiority of us WB origin Bengalis is only due to more British influence. Over time ruling elites of WB origin (Bengal Congress) were overpowered by communists whose leadership consists of mostly EB origin men who have attachments to their original homeland.
When East Bengal got liberated they wanted to create a long-cherished independent, sovereign Bengali homeland based on Bengali identity, so they took claim of the word 'Bangladesh' despite people of West Bengal having equal claim on that identity. It was unfair on their side to call the land 'Bangladesh' instead of calling their country East Bengal.Currently it is estimated that 40% of Bengali people in West Bengal has East Bengal origin including our CM Mamata Banerjee whose father is from East Bengal origin. Most of the CPIM leadership is also of East Bengal origin.East Bengal origin people are majority among Bengalis in urban centres like Kolkata or Durgapur-Asansol, thereby having more influence in WB than the people of actual WB origin. A name change like what happened in East Punjab in India or West Punjab in Pakistan assume that no other Punjab exists just in the opposite side of border and a denial of thousand-year old history of Punjabi race. Punjabis have lots of blood blood among themselves due to partition violence and currently no love exists in either side. On the other hand West Bengal and East Bengal (Bangladesh) share very cordial relationship which thanks to internet actually growing very fast. Bengalis in India irrespective of religions find more proximity with Bengalis of Bangladesh than with people of neighbouring states such as Bihar or Orissa. Shiekh Mujibur Rahaman, the leader of East Bengal liberation is considered a Hero in West Bengal and given more respect than any of the PMs of India,even a liberation memorial museum is being built by WB state Govt. in Rajarhat township near Kolkata. Changing the name of West Bengal denies the history of Bengali people specially the heritage of East Bengali people who came to West Bengal after partition.
Also I see a majority of people in WB (which might not reflect on Quora) and surprisingly in Bangladesh too romanticizing for a day when borders will be irrelevant and both East and West will come together like in European Union and people will cling to their passports for formality.
......................
India: Why did government not rename West Bengal as Bengal when there is no East Bengal anymore?
Saswat Routroy, India, the most tolerant Nation.
475 Views
Thanks to A2A.
I will split my answer into major sections for better understanding.
A) How the name Bengal came:- The name Bengal wasn't the original name of the province or the geographical region. The actual name was Banga.
People must have heard the phrase "Anga-Banga-Kalinga".
Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Anga
Banga:- Banga was the combined geographical region of today's Bangladesh and West Bengal. Banga, or the Vanga Kingdom was a kingdom located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent comprising today's politically divided Bengal region (West Bengal and Bangladesh). It was a seafaring nation of South Asia. Vanga Kingdom
Kalinga:- Kalinga was an early republic in central East India that comprised almost whole Odisha and also some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the Damodar River/Ganges to the Godavari River and from Bay of Bengal to the Amarkantak range in the west. Kalinga (India)
Mahabharata reference of Anga-Banga-Kalinga:- The founders of five eastern kingdoms, which included: - Angas (eastern Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, India.), Bangas (southern West Bengal and Bangladesh), Kalingas (coastal Orissa), Pundras (northern Bangladesh and West Bengal, India) and Suhmas (north-western Bangladesh and West Bengal, India) shared a common ancestry.
Bhagavata Purana provides us the ancestry of Bali. Bali was a king in line of Anu, son of Yayati as under: Yayati → Anu → Sabhanara → Kalanara → Janamejaya → Maha Shala → Mahamanas → Titiksha → Rushadratha → Homa → Sutapas → Bali
Bali had six sons Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Sambhu, Pundra and Odhra. The above stated five kingdoms were named after 5 sons of Bali.
Another off-shoot origin of Banga:- Some people say Banga got its name from the two rivers Brahma and Ganga. Though it is a less popular belief, still thought for sharing it.
B) Bengal was the name given by the British, to Bangla:- In the modern history, i.e. during the sultanate period and pre-independence era, the collective region of Banga was called Bangladesh which means "nation of Bangla".
Now the name Bangla can be used in two context. The language is called Bangla, also the region is called Bangla. The ethnicity is called Bangali(people of Bangla).
Rabindranath wrote "Amar Sonar Bangla", in which he meant both East Bengal and West Bengal, when Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose made speeches after speeches hoping that his beloved 'Bangladesh which is the birthplace of nationalism in India'.
C) Post-independence era and splitting of Bangla:- Bengal, or Bangla was divided into two regions, during India's independence in 1947 based on religion. The major portion with bigger landmass became East Bengal which went under the dominion of Paksitan and later became East Pakistan in 1955. The smaller portion with smaller landmass became West Bengal, a state under India.
D) Becoming an Independent Nation:- Due to cruelty and dominance of Pakistan, the people of East Paksitan faced numerous atrocities. Hindus were killed, Hindu women were raped and sold to Saudi as slaves, Hindu children were butchered. The Pakistan government even had hard feelings on Bangladeshi Muslims too. They treated them as inferiors. Then India came to rescue and helped East Pakistan to gain it's independence by helping it in War of Freedom. Bangladesh, which was even unable to defend it's people from getting beaten to death, gained Independence due to India's favor and generosity. When it got independent, it took the name Bangladesh, meaning a separate country of Bengalis.
E) West Bengal retained it's name from Independence:- Indian Bengalis have their identity attached with India. They are not any separate nation, but an interim part of India. So they they can't use any name like Banga-desh or Banga-rashtra which suggests a separate nation in its meaning.
However, the name can be changed to Bangla. Even Mamata Banerjee and many politicians of West Bengal use the word "Bangla" is their speeches.
Mamata has been seen often making a statement, "Banglar manush eta bardasto korbe na", meaning "People of Bangla won't tolerate this". In speeches, many politicians from WB uses "Bangla" instead of "Paschim Bangla" or "West Bengal".
So there is a notion that West Bengal can get it's name changed. But then, the question is, "What should be the new name?".
Previously there was some suggestion of changing "West Bengal" to "Paschim Bangla" permanently. Later some more suggestions popped up like changing the name to "Banga-Bhoomi".
Now why keeping the word "Bangla" is a problem? Because it won't give separate identity to the state. People in Bangladesh also call Bangladesh as Bangla. Even the Non-Residential-Bengalis(collectively the Indian Bengalis and Bangladeshi Bengalis) who are residing outside India and Bangladesh, recognizes Bangladesh as Bangla, globally. So West Bengal should have a separate name for its unique identity.
My personal choice is "Bharat-Banga", defining the "Land of Bengal in India".
Anonymous
121 Views
To find an answer to this you need to understand the history of Bengal.
For last 800-1000 years the entire region where Bengalis used to live was known as 'Bangla-desh', there are doubts about how the region came to be known as 'Bangla', but some historians say that the name became popular during Bengal Sultanate, when Bengal became autonomous and independent after a long time. The British called it 'Bengal' instead of the colloquial name of Bangladesh.
Many people mostly non-Bengalis and WB Bengalis who are not aware of history think that the name Bangladesh is new, but it was actually used heavily by all Bengali authors and intellectuals during the British rule. When Rabindranath wrote "Amar Sonar Bangla" he meant both East Bengal and West Bengal, when Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose made speeches after speeches hoping that his beloved 'Bangladesh which is the birthplace of nationalism in India' (speech link - http://eisamay.indiatimes.com/ci... ) will never fall prey to communalism and show the way forward to rest of India, he meant both West and Eastern part. Now that does not mean there was no gap between the Eastern part and Western part, there has always been sub-cultural divide, it is not only because of religion, among co-religionists there is difference in accent, social customs and until recently marriage didn't take place among people of pure East Bengal ancestry and West Bengal ancestry. Hapless Hindu refugees who came from East Bengal after partition was not accepted easily and considered inferior, although if we purely go by numbers most successful Bengalis in last 300 years have East Bengal ancestry than West Bengal ones and perceived superiority of us WB origin Bengalis is only due to more British influence. Over time ruling elites of WB origin (Bengal Congress) were overpowered by communists whose leadership consists of mostly EB origin men who have attachments to their original homeland.
When East Bengal got liberated they wanted to create a long-cherished independent, sovereign Bengali homeland based on Bengali identity, so they took claim of the word 'Bangladesh' despite people of West Bengal having equal claim on that identity. It was unfair on their side to call the land 'Bangladesh' instead of calling their country East Bengal.Currently it is estimated that 40% of Bengali people in West Bengal has East Bengal origin including our CM Mamata Banerjee whose father is from East Bengal origin. Most of the CPIM leadership is also of East Bengal origin.East Bengal origin people are majority among Bengalis in urban centres like Kolkata or Durgapur-Asansol, thereby having more influence in WB than the people of actual WB origin. A name change like what happened in East Punjab in India or West Punjab in Pakistan assume that no other Punjab exists just in the opposite side of border and a denial of thousand-year old history of Punjabi race. Punjabis have lots of blood blood among themselves due to partition violence and currently no love exists in either side. On the other hand West Bengal and East Bengal (Bangladesh) share very cordial relationship which thanks to internet actually growing very fast. Bengalis in India irrespective of religions find more proximity with Bengalis of Bangladesh than with people of neighbouring states such as Bihar or Orissa. Shiekh Mujibur Rahaman, the leader of East Bengal liberation is considered a Hero in West Bengal and given more respect than any of the PMs of India,even a liberation memorial museum is being built by WB state Govt. in Rajarhat township near Kolkata. Changing the name of West Bengal denies the history of Bengali people specially the heritage of East Bengali people who came to West Bengal after partition.
Also I see a majority of people in WB (which might not reflect on Quora) and surprisingly in Bangladesh too romanticizing for a day when borders will be irrelevant and both East and West will come together like in European Union and people will cling to their passports for formality.
......................
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