Bengal , Bengali Bangla , historical region in the north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, generally corresponds to the area spoken by speakers of the Bengali language and now between the Indian state West Bengal and the People's Republic Bangladesh is divided . Bengal was part of most of the early kingdoms that North India controlled .
From the 8th to the 12th century Bengal was under the Buddhist Pala Dynasty based in today's neighboring country Bihar . After about 1200 it was ruled by semi-independent Muslim rulers and from 1576 it belonged to the Mughal Empire . When Mughal power declined in the 18th century, originated in Bengal, Bihar and today State Odisha own Dynasty . His rulers, known as the Nawabs from Bengal soon came into conflict with the British 1690 in Kolkata ( Kolkata ) settled in West Bengal and took possession of the Nawab empire in 1757–64.
Bengal was the base for British expansion in India from then on. From 1773 its Governor-General was the Chief Executive of British India; from 1834 he bore the title "Governor-General of India". The Assam Northeast region was associated with Bengal from 1838 to 1874. In 1854 the Indian government was separated from that of Bengali, although Calcutta remained India's capital until 1912. With the end of British rule in 1947, West Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha became part of the Republic of India. East Bengal became East Pakistan , but in 1971 it seceded from the motherland to become the independent state of Bangladesh.