Names of Bengal

Bengal is a region in South Asia, politically split between Bangladesh and India. Due to its long history and complicated political divisions, various names have been used to refer to the region and its subsections. The modern English name Bengal is an exonym derived from the Bengal Sultanate period.[1] The name is used by both Bangladesh and West Bengal in international contexts. In the Bengali language, the two Bengals each use a different term to refer to the nominally identified nation: Bānglā (বাংলা) and Baṅga (বঙ্গ)

Terminology in detail
Bengal is a region in Asia located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Geographically it is part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system, the largest river delta system in the world. The region borders the Himalayan states to its north and in the east borders Northeast India and the country of Burma. Bangla (Bengali: বাংলা) may be a transliteration of either Bengal (a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia) or Bengali (an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Bengal). It can also refer to the endonym of the region in the Bengali language or the native name of the region. Banga (Bengali: বঙ্গ) is a transliteration of the Bengali name of the region of Bengal as a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia. Language: Bangladesh (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ; lit. Bengali Country) was a popular term for the region as a unified country during the Bengali Renaissance (c. 1820–1920), and was used in Bengali patriotic songs and poems like "Namo Namo Namo Bangladesh Momo" (1932) by Kazi Nazrul Islam, who later became the national poet of Bangladesh.[2] In his patriotic song Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy (1905), the poet Rabindranath Tagore used the word Bangladesh to refer to his motherland.[3][4] Alternatives to the name Bangladesh are: Bangadesh (Bengali: বঙ্গদেশ; lit. Bengali Country)[5] Bangabhumi or Banglabhumi (Bengali: বঙ্গভূমি/ বাংলাভূমি; lit. Bengali Land)[5] Bangarajya or Banglarajya (Bengali: বঙ্গরাজ্য/ বাংলারাজ্য; lit. Bengali Realm)[5] Bangarashtra or Banglarashtra (Bengali: বঙ্গরাষ্ট্র/ বাংলারাষ্ট্র; lit. Bengali State) Politics: East Bengal – The 1947 Partition of Bengal divided the British Indian province of Bengal as part of the formal Partition of India. East Bengal (now Bangladesh), which was predominantly Muslim, became a province of Pakistan. In 1955, East Bengal became the new province of East Pakistan. In 1971, East Pakistan declared Independence during the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the new nation of Bangladesh was formed.

West Bengal – The Partition of Bengal also created West Bengal, a predominantly Hindu province of India. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the official name of the state to Paschimbongo (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Pôshchimbônggô).[6][7] This is the native name of the state, literally meaning "West Bengal" in the Bengali language. In 2016, West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to change the name of West Bengal to Bengal in English, Bangla in Bengali and Bangal in Hindi. Despite the Trinamool Congress government's efforts to forge a consensus, the Congress, the Left Front, and the Bharatiya Janata Party opposed the resolution and it awaits the consent of the Indian Parliament for approval.[8][needs update] Bangabhumi or Bir Banga – A separatist movement to create a Hindu country in southwestern Bangladesh, envisioned by Banga Sena. Greater Bangladesh – A political theory circulated by a number of politicians, intellectuals and writers that the People's Republic of Bangladesh has aspirations to unite Bengali-speaking regions into a greater historical Bengal. According to the theory this would include the Indian states of West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Andaman Islands, and the Rakhine State (formerly Arakan/Rohang) in Myanmar (formerly Burma) as part of its own territory with democratic governance. United Bengal – A proposal that was put forward by Bengali political leaders Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sarat Chandra Bose to found a united and independent nation-state of Bengal. The proposal was floated as an alternative to the Partition of Bengal on communal lines.