History of West Bengal
[2][3] Hatpara on the west bank of Bhagirathi River has evidence of human settlements dating back to around 15,000-20,000 years.
Blades, points, scrapers, lunettes, burins, borers, flakes, and cores are the most common tools used throughout this period.
Chalcolithic site Pandu Rajar Dhibi on the south bank of Ajay River, where spiral bangles, rings and fish-hook have been found.
Historian Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri theorizes that the Nandas exercised centralized control over their core territories in present-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, but allowed considerable autonomy in the frontier parts of their empire.
Iron Age of West Bengal artefacts have been discovered here, which belong to the Pre-Maurya, Maurya and Sunga periods.
According to Darian, with the rise of the Maurya Empire, Tamralipti gained universal popularity as the main port of the entire basin.
When the East India Company began strengthening the defenses of Fort William (Calcutta) in the mid-1750s, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah attacked with French encouragement.
Under the command of Robert Clive, British troops and their local allies captured Chandannagar in March 1757 and severely defeated the Nawab in the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757.
In the seat of the Nawab of Bengal, the British appointed and administered the people of their choice, and extended their direct control to the south.
Mir Qasim and Shuja-ud-Daula in alliance with the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II in 1765 tried to recover Bengal, but were again defeated in the Battle of Buxar (1765).
Thus, the company became the tax collector of the empire, while the local nawabs appointed by the Mughal emperor continued to rule the province.
During the fall of the Mughal empire, the center of Indian culture and trade shifted from Delhi to Calcutta in West Bengal.
During Company rule, there was a devastating famine in 1770 that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 7 to 10 million people, which is known as the Chiẏāttôrer mônnôntôr.
[29] In 1950, the Princely State of Koch Bihar merged with West Bengal after King Jagaddipendra Narayan had signed the Instrument of Accession with India.
[citation needed] After the state legislative elections held in 1967, the CPI(M) was the main force behind the United Front government formed.
During the 1970s and 1980s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist-Naxalite movement damaged much of the state's infrastructure, leading to a period of economic stagnation.
The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 resulted in the influx of millions of refugees to West Bengal, causing significant strains on its infrastructure.
West Bengal politics underwent a major change when the Left Front won the 1977 assembly election, defeating the incumbent Indian National Congress.
The Left Front, led by Communist Party of India (Marxist), has governed for the state for the subsequent three decades.
Initially the Indian National Congress formed a minority government led by Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, but that cabinet did not last long.
[33] But with the active support of CPI and the Bangla Congress, Ajoy Mukherjee was returned as Chief Minister of the state.
[citation needed] Indian National Congress the 1972 assembly election, and its leader Siddhartha Shankar Ray became the chief minister.
In the 1977 election of the state legislature, the Left Front, headed by Communist Party of India (Marxist), won 243 seats thereby gaining a majority.
[citation needed] The massacre in Marichjhanpi, which took place under CPI(M) rule in Bengal between January 26 and May 16, 1979, relates to the forcible eviction of refugees who had fled from East Pakistan thereby leading to the death of a sizable population among them.
[34][35]After leading the Left Front government for consecutive five terms, Jyoti Basu retired from active politics and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was appointed as his successor.
A front-page story in the Kolkata newspaper, The Telegraph, on 4 January 2007 was headlined, "False alarm sparks clash".
[citation needed] In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Left Front was defeated and Trinamool Congress won an absolute majority of seats.
