Bengal

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Bengal is a cultural and historic region in Asia. It is located at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. On the north, it is bounded by the Himalayas; on the west by Northern India; on the east by North East India; and on the southeast by Myanmar (Myanmar).

Location-Bangla01 - Regional map of Bengal

When the territory of the British Raj was partitioned in 1947 and the two new states India and Pakistan each got part of Bengal. Later East Pakistan (the Bengali part) broke away from the rest of Pakistan to become the separate nation of Bangladesh. Today the divisions are:

Bangladesh (People's Republic ofBangladesh)*West Bengal, a state of the India|Republic of India

Bengali is the main language of the region and is widely spoken on both sides of the border crossing. It ranks as the seventh most common language in the world and second in India, by number of native speakers.

The Grand Trunk Road runs through the region.

Bengal Halal Travel Guide

Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna_basins - The river basins

Most of Bengal is in the enormous delta area formed by a complex of three rivers. The Ganges flows roughly west-to-east across much of northern India and is historically the nation's most important river. The Brahmaputra is the greatest river of northeast India and both it and the Meghna are important in Bangladesh. By the time they reach the sea and the combined rivers (called the Padma in this region) are the world's third largest by volume of water discharged. The Brahmaputra, considered by itself, ranks eighth.

At times political units called "Bengal" extended into nearby areas which were not ethnically or linguistically Bengali. When the British defeated the last Nawab of Bengal and his French allies at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and they took not only Bengal itself but also the Nawab's other territories, now the states of Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand. Under the British, what is now Assam was administered as part of the Bengal Presidency. }}

Cities

Burigonga river in dhaka - With over 700 bustling rivers and waterways, Bengal is like the Venetian part of Asia

We list only a few of the most important city's here. For other city's, see West Bengal,Bangladesh and regional articles under those.

The great city's of the region are:

Chittagong — former Portuguese, Mughal and British port; known for its rolling hills and great harbour; nicknamed the Queen of the East
Dhaka — thriving modern Bangladeshi capital; known as the Rickshaw Capital of the World; historically a cosmopolitan commercial center during the Mughal Empire
Kolkata — the third-largest city in India and the state capital of West Bengal and the historic seat of British India; nicknamed the City of Joy

Two smaller places are very important for tourism:

Cox's Bazaar — a popular vacation town on the Bay of Bengal, well known for its vast sandy beaches
Darjeeling — a hill station and the tea capital of West Bengal; home to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway; nicknamed the Queen of the Hills

More Destinations

Gorumara National Park — a nature reserve in Jalpaiguri neighborhood, West Bengal
Gour-Pandua — archaeological ruins from the Sultanate of Bengal; includes Adina Mosque, once the largest mosque in South Asia
Jaldapara — wildlife sanctuary on the eastern foothills of the Himalayas
Naogaon District — includes several palaces of the Bengali aristocracy
Paharpur — site of the archaeological ruins of Somapura, including the imperial monastery of the Pala Empire
St. Martins Island|St. Martin's Island — the only coral reef in the northern Bay of Bengal
Sundarbans — the world's most extensive mangrove forest; home to Bengal tigers
Sylhet Division — Famous for tea gardens, rolling highlands, rainforests and waterfalls
Teknaf — includes an elephant sanctuary and the river border betweenBangladesh and Burma

Travel to Bengal

There are a number of international airports that facilitate entry into the region.

Shah Amanat International Airport - Chittagong,Bangladesh
Shahjalal International Airport - Dhaka,Bangladesh
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport - Kolkata, India
Osmani International Airport - Sylhet,Bangladesh

Local Language in Bengal

*Bengali phrasebook