UPPSC 2019 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 60 of 150

Correct — B, Both 1 and 2. Statement 1 is true: Lord Curzon, Viceroy from 1899 to 1905, did redraw provincial boundaries. He had already carved the North-West Frontier Province out of Punjab in 1901, and in 1905 he ordered the partition of the Bengal Presidency, which at the time stretched from Chittagong to the Bihar and Orissa uplands and was governed as one enormous province. The scheme was announced on 19 July 1905 and came into force on 16 October 1905, the official justification being administrative convenience. Statement 2 is also true: the eastern districts of Bengal were joined with Assam to form a brand-new province, officially styled Eastern Bengal and Assam, with its capital at Dacca (Dhaka) and its own Lieutenant-Governor; the residue — western Bengal together with Bihar and Orissa — kept the name Bengal with its capital at Calcutta. Since both statements hold, the answer is 'Both 1 and 2'.

• (a)1 only — It accepts the rearrangement of boundaries but denies the new province, when the new province is exactly what the rearrangement produced. Eastern Bengal and Assam existed as a separate province from 16 October 1905 until the partition was annulled in 1911.
• (c)2 only — The new province cannot be admitted while denying that Curzon rearranged provincial boundaries — the decision was his, taken and defended by his government, and it followed his earlier boundary change of 1901 that created the North-West Frontier Province.
• (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Both statements are historically accurate. The partition of Bengal is one of the best documented administrative decisions of the Raj, and the province created by it was formally named Eastern Bengal and Assam.

The partition of Bengal was presented as an administrative measure and received as a political one. The Bengal Presidency was too large for one Lieutenant-Governor, and eastern Bengal in particular was poorly served. But splitting the province also split the Bengali-speaking intelligentsia that was then the sharpest critic of the government, and the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam had a Muslim majority while the remaining Bengal did not — which is why nationalists read the measure as an attempt to divide Bengal on communal lines. The reaction produced the Swadeshi and Boycott movement, the first mass agitation of the national movement, and 16 October 1905 was observed across Bengal as a day of mourning.

The one nuance in this question is the name. The paper writes 'East Bengal and Assam' whereas the province was gazetted as 'Eastern Bengal and Assam'; the difference is one of wording, not of fact, and does not disturb the answer. The other point worth holding on to is that Curzon's boundary work was not confined to Bengal — the creation of the North-West Frontier Province in 1901 is the second example, and it is what makes statement 1 comfortably true even before the Bengal decision is considered. Curzon was still Viceroy when the partition took effect in October 1905; he had already resigned that August over his dispute with Kitchener and handed charge to Lord Minto in November 1905.

• Partition of Bengal announced on 19 July 1905 and brought into effect on 16 October 1905, under Viceroy Lord Curzon.
• The new province was officially named Eastern Bengal and Assam, with its capital at Dacca and a Lieutenant-Governor of its own; the remainder of Bengal, with Bihar and Orissa, kept Calcutta as its capital.
• Curzon had already redrawn provincial boundaries once before, creating the North-West Frontier Province out of Punjab in 1901.
• The partition triggered the Swadeshi and Boycott movement; 16 October 1905 was observed as a day of mourning, with rakhi-tying to symbolise Bengali unity.
• The partition was annulled by King George V at the Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911, when Bengal was reunited on linguistic lines, Bihar and Orissa were made a separate province and the capital of British India was moved from Calcutta to Delhi.

• Mixing up the announcement (19 July 1905) with the date the partition took effect (16 October 1905).
• Reading the paper's 'East Bengal and Assam' as a different entity from the gazetted 'Eastern Bengal and Assam' — it is the same province.
• Assuming the 1905 partition lasted until 1947; it was annulled in 1911, and the 1947 partition of Bengal was a separate event.

UPPSC uses the two-statement format on the administrative facts — who decided, and what was created; UPSC has repeatedly asked what 16 October 1905 signifies, how long the partition lasted and what it triggered.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  What was the capital of the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam created in 1905?

  • (a)Calcutta
  • (b)Dacca
  • (c)Shillong
  • (d)Chittagong

  Answer(b) Dacca — the new province formed on 16 October 1905 had its capital at Dacca (Dhaka), while the residual Bengal, with Bihar and Orissa, continued to be governed from Calcutta.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following administrative changes was carried out during the viceroyalty of Lord Curzon?

  • (a)Creation of the North-West Frontier Province
  • (b)Creation of the province of Bihar and Orissa
  • (c)Transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi
  • (d)Introduction of dyarchy in the provinces

  Answer(a) Creation of the North-West Frontier Province — carved out of Punjab in 1901 under Curzon; Bihar and Orissa and the shift of the capital both came with the Delhi Durbar of 1911, and dyarchy with the Government of India Act 1919.