The Partition of Midnapore (Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

: মেদিনীপুর জেলা বিভাজন) was the administrative breakup of the Midnapore District

Midnapore District

Midnapore district is a former district of the state of West Bengal, India. This district was bifurcated on January 1, 2002 into the Purba Medinipur district and the Paschim Medinipur district.-References:...

 of West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 into the western Paschim Medinipur

Paschim Medinipur

Paschim Medinipur district or West Midnapore district is the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on January 1, 2002 after the Partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur. The district has 4 sub-divisions: Kharagpur, Medinipur Sadar, Ghatal and Jhargram...

 and the eastern Purba Medinipur

Purba Medinipur

Purba Medinipur district , or East Midnapore district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Burdwan division – one of the three administrative divisions of West Bengal. The headquarter is located at Tamluk...

 districts that became effective on January 1, 2002. With a collective population of 97 lakh

Lakh

A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...

 or 9.7 million

Million

One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...

, the undivided district was the largest in terms of population in India and more populous than many countries, including Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. With the division of the district, the subdivisions of Medinipur Sadar, Kharagpur

Kharagpur

Kharagpur is an industrial city in India. It is located in the Midnapore West district of the state of West Bengal.Kharagpur was chosen as the location of the first campus of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology . The IITs are the premier technical education institutes in India and...

, Jhargram

Jhargram

Jhargram is a subdivisional municipality in the Paschim Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal.Beyond the Gangetic plains of West Bengal,INDIA...

, and Ghatal

Ghatal

Ghatal is head quarters of Ghatal subdivision in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It also has a community development block. Ghatal is flood-prone area and in many years is flooded by the Rupnarayan River. This town is old one. The river Shilabati divided the town into two parts....

 were placed in Paschim Medinipur, with Midnapore, now the district headquarter of only the western half. The subdivisions of Tamluk

Tamluk

Tamluk is the district headquarters of Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. Though there is some controversy, scholars have generally agreed that present day Tamluk is the site of the ancient city variously known as Tamralipta or Tamralipti...

, Contai

Contai

Contai is head quarters of Contai subdivision in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. There are three community development blocks in Contai.- History :...

, and Haldia

Haldia

Haldia has a typical moderate climate with winter temperatures ranging from a low of around 7 degrees Celsius to a high of 22 degrees Celsius. Winters are chilly and is when the residents hold the Haldia Utsav festival. Summers can be very hot and humid. Usual summer temperatures in May, the...

 were placed in the eastern district with district headquarters at Tamluk. Egra

Egra

Egra is head quarters of Egra subdivision in Purba Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. it is a town with a municipality and community development blocks.-Geography:...

 subdivision, a new subdivision of Purba Medinipur, was created out of the Contai subdivision.

Early attempts at Partition

The earliest recorded attempt to divide Midnapore district was announced during the time of the British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 in 1915. Since, the district was administered by a district magistrate or 'collector'. The idea behind the division was to make the administration of the large district more manageable. The Government of the province of Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 had floated the idea in 1907, but had not implemented it, due to the volatile situation in the province following the Partition of Bengal

Partition of Bengal (1905)

The decision of the Partition of Bengal was announced on 19 July 1905 by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The partition took effect on 16 October 1905...

. A new district of Hijli was to be set up to help in administration. Midnapore was also a hotbed of revolutionary activity, and it was thought that dividing the district would allow the British rulers to tighten their grip. The announcement of the partition on January 26, 1915 was greeted with protests from zamindar

Zamindar

A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...

s who feared they would be taxed twice if their lands spanned two districts, and by the lawyers of the district court who felt their business would be hurt if another district court was set up at Hijli. Upendra Nath Maity, President of the Midnapore Bar Association commented that the division of the district would be financially unsound since there were, in his opinion, more pressing matters that the administration needed to finance. Birendranath Sasmal

Birendranath Sasmal

Birendranath Sasmal was a lawyer and political leader. He was known as Deshparan because of his work for the country and for his efforts in the Swadeshi movement.-Early life:...

, a prominent barrister and politician, initially supported the partition when it was possible that his hometown, Contai, might be the seat of the new district, but opposed it, when Hijli was announced instead. A number of members of the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 also opposed the partition citing that they believed the ruling class wanted to break the unity of the politically conscious population of the undivided district. Agitation against the partition continued until 1921, when the whole idea was canned, due to financial reasons.

Partition on January 1, 2002

In independent India, successive governments had expressed a desire to divide the district but this was never done until the government led by Chief Minister

Chief Minister

A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...

 Buddhadev Bhattacharya finalized the details of the partition and set a date. The mood in various towns in that were affected was variable, as gauged by local newspapers. In general, the event was treated with concern and dismay in Midnapore by inhabitants citing a loss of importance, greeted with parades and other festivities in Tamluk since it was now a district town, and with dismay or apathy in Contai since Contai had failed to become the district town in the newly formed district. The major opposition party, the Trinamool Congress opposed the move, but a section of the media was favorable. Dividing the district, it was felt would help the administration reach the people and assist in providing better healthcare and educational facilities. Opponents mentioned that many of the problems of Naxalite

Naxalite

The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to various militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes...

elements would be plaguing the district of Paschim Medinpur and would take up too much of its now limited resources. New administrative and legislative buildings began to come up immediately in Tamluk after the partition came into effect. A new district magistrate and superintendent of police was also appointed.