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20/08/22 02:10 AM IST

Lord Curzon

In News 
  • In Bengal,the 119-year-old Curzon Gate in Bardhaman is now at the centre of a political firestorm.
  • Mahtab built the gate when Curzon, who partitioned Bengal in 1905 and served as Viceroy of India, visited Bardhaman in 1903.
Lord Curzon 
  • He served as Under-Secretary of State for India (1891-1892), and for Foreign Affairs (1895-1898), before being appointed Viceroy of India in 1899.
  • He succeeded Lord Elgin and served as India’s Viceroy between 1899 and 1905.
  • He became the youngest Viceroy of India at the age of 39.
  • He was one of the most controversial and consequential holders of that post.
  • Before assuming office as governor general and viceroy, Curzon had visited India (four times) Ceylon, Afghanistan, China, Persia, Turkestan, Japan, and Korea.
  • Of all the Viceroys of India, Curzon is possibly the most criticised — he is the man who partitioned Bengal in 1905, and triggered a wave of Bengali nationalism that contributed to the wider Indian national movement. He was also one of the more openly imperialist of viceroys, and a man who saw Britain’s rule over India as critical to the survival of the empire.
  • In 1900, Curzon famously stated, “We could lose all our [white settlement] dominions and still survive, but if we lost India, our sun would sink to its setting.”
  • Curzon brought in the Indian Universities Act of 1904,which brought all the universities in India under the control of the government.
  • The Agriculture Research Institute in Pusa (Bihar – Bengal Presidency) was established.
  • He instituted a Police Commission in 1902 under the chairmanship of Sir Andrew Frazer.
  • During the Curzon regime, the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) was established which covered roughly the areas of the upper course of the River Indus.
  • Imperial cadet corpswas set up which became an instrument for the Indianisation of the army later.
Partition of Bengal 
  • The partition of the undivided Bengal Presidency in 1905 was one of Curzon’s most criticized moves, which triggered widespread opposition not only in Bengal but across India, and gave impetus to the freedom movement.
  • Bengal was the most populous province of India, with around 8 crore people.
  • It comprised the present-day states of West Bengal, Bihar, parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Assam and present-day Bangladesh.
  • In July 1905, Curzon announced the partition of the undivided Bengal Presidency.
  • A new province of East Bengal and Assam was announced, with a population of 3.1 crore with a Muslim-Hindu ratio of 3:2.
Source- Indian Express 

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