🗺 State & UT profiles

West Bengal

Population (2011)91,347,736

Density (per sq km)1,029

Urban population (%)31.89

Kingdoms and empires17

Events on the map25

🗺 Geography

⛰ Land and rivers

Physiographic divisions: The Northern Plain (most of the state)

Rivers: Ganga, Tista

Physical India →

⚠ Natural hazards

Floods — Among the most flood-prone

Natural hazards →

🌿 Protected areas and natural heritage

Biosphere reserves: Sunderban (1989)

Natural World Heritage Sites: Sundarbans National Park

Ramsar wetlands (2): East Calcutta Wetlands, Sundarban Wetland

Tiger reserves (2): Sunderban, Buxa

Climate & life → · Water & protected areas →

🏭 Resources and economy

Crops: Rice, Jute

Minerals & energy: Coal

Industries: Jute textiles, Aluminium smelting

Major ports: Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata, Haldia

Resources & economy →

📜 History

👑 Who held this land

Kingdoms, empires and cultures whose territory, as drawn on our map, covered a large part of today’s West Bengal, or that were based here. Extents are approximate, so treat this as a guide to who held the region — not as exact borders.

Mauryan Empire c. 321–185 BCE

Gupta Empire c. 240 CE – c. 550 CE

Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) Dynasty c. 500 CE – c. 647 CE

Gauda Kingdom (Shashanka) c. 590 CE – c. 626 CE · based here

Pala Empire c. 750 CE – c. 1161

Sena Dynasty c. 1070 – 1230 · based here

Delhi Sultanate 1206 – 1526

Bengal Sultanate 1352 – 1576

Koch Kingdom (Kamata / Cooch Behar) 1515 – 1949 · based here

Mughal Empire 1526 – 1857

Sur Empire 1540 – 1556

Portuguese Hooghly 1579 – 1632 · based here

British East India Company 1600 – 1858 · based here

Dutch Chinsurah 1656 – 1825 · based here

Chandernagore 1673 – 1950 · based here

Nawabs of Bengal 1717 – 1765 · based here

Danish Serampore 1755 – 1845 · based here

321 BCE1950

📅 Events in West Bengal

c. 750 CE Gopala elected king in Bengal · Bengal
c. 1204 Bakhtiyar Khalji takes Nadia · Nabadwip
1352 Ilyas Shah unifies Bengal · Pandua
1576 Battle of Rajmahal: Mughals take Bengal · Rajmahal
1690 ★ Job Charnock founds Calcutta · Sutanuti
1742 Maratha (Bargi) raids on Bengal · Murshidabad
1757 ★ Battle of Plassey · Palashi
1770 ★ Great Bengal Famine · Bengal
1773 Regulating Act; Warren Hastings Governor-General · Kolkata
1784 Asiatic Society founded · Kolkata
1793 Permanent Settlement of Bengal · Kolkata
1828 Brahmo Samaj founded · Kolkata
1829 Sati abolished · Kolkata
1835 English Education Act · Kolkata
1856 Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act · Kolkata
1857 Mangal Pandey's attack at Barrackpore · Barrackpore
1859 Indigo revolt in Bengal · Nadia
1876 Indian Association founded · Kolkata
1883 Ilbert Bill controversy · Kolkata
1905 Partition of Bengal · Kolkata
1905 ★ Swadeshi movement launched · Kolkata
1913 Rabindranath Tagore wins the Nobel Prize · Santiniketan
1943 ★ Bengal famine · Bengal
1946 Direct Action Day riots · Kolkata
1967 Naxalbari uprising · Naxalbari

🏛 Historic places

Somapura Mahavihara, Paharpurc. 780 CE Fort William, Calcutta1696

🎨 People and culture

👥 2011 Census

Population: 91,347,736
Share of India’s population (%): 7.55
Density (per sq km): 1,029
Decadal growth 2001–11 (%): 13.93
Urban population (%): 31.89
Work participation rate (%): 38.1

People →

🎨 Art & culture

Living painting traditions: Pata Chitra

UNESCO intangible heritage: Chhau dance, Durga Puja in Kolkata

Art & culture →

Geography: features are those on our Geography map that cover a good part of the state (or that NCERT places in it); hazards, reserves, crops, minerals, industries and ports are where NCERT, UNESCO or the Ramsar list name or place them. Census figures are for 2011, as NCERT prints them.

How this is made: nothing here is new — it is YugMap’s own map data sorted by today’s states. A kingdom is listed if its territory on our map covered at least 40% of the state at some point, or if its centre or capital lies here; events and places are listed where their map point falls inside the state. State outlines follow India’s official map.