A report on BengalisBengal and Bengali Hindus

The ancient political divisions of the Ganges delta.
Durga Puja, the most notable Hindu festival for Bengali Hindus.
Parts of the Charyapada, a collection of ancient Buddhist hymns which mention the Bengalis, in display at the Rajshahi College Library.
The Ganges-Brahmaputra delta
Devi Durga Sculpture by Sandalwood. Found in Murshidabad, West Bengal. Now kept in Indian Museum, Kolkata.
Depiction of Gangaridai on a map by 11th-century polymath Ptolemy.
On a clear day, the snowy peaks of the Himalayas in Nepal and Sikkim can be seen from northern Bangladesh and Darjeeling district of West Bengal
Dancing Ganesha sculpture from North Bengal, 11th century CE, Asian Art Museum of Berlin (Dahlem).
Atiśa is recognised as one of the greatest figures of classical Buddhism, having inspired Buddhist thought from Tibet to Sumatra.
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Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Ghazi Pir is thought to have lived in the Sundarbans some time between the 12th to 13th century.
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Swami Vivekananda was a leading figure of the Bengal Renaissance Vivekananda at the Parliament of the World's Religions (1893)
15th-century Portuguese painting of "Bengalis".
A 2015 census of Sundarbans Bengal tigers found 106 in Bangladesh and 76 in West Bengal.
Signature dish of Bengali: Fish And Rice.
The Bengali artillery at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
Hindu sculpture, 11th century
Savitri-Satyavan story on Kalighat Painting, 3rd quarter of the 19th century.
A painting by Shaikh Muhammad Amir of Karraya displaying a syce of Bengal holding two carriage horses.
Inscriptions on the Adina Mosque proclaim the builder Sikandar Shah as "the wisest, the most just, the most perfect and most liberal of the Sultans of Arabia, Persia and India."
Durga Puja, the largest festival of Bengali Hindus
A Bengali woman in Dhaka clad in fine Bengali muslin, 18th century.
A woman in Dhaka clad in fine Bengali muslin, 18th century.
Kali Puja, a major festival of Bengal
W.C. Bonnerjee, co-founder and first president of Indian National Congress.
The Battle of Plassey in 1757 ushered British rule
Rath Yatra at Dhamrai in Dhaka district, Bangladesh
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, the co-founder and inaugural president of the Awami League.
The former royal palace of Hill Tippera in Agartala
A traditional Durga idol
Dean Mahomed is credited for introducing shampoo to the Europeans.
Shaheed Minar in Dhaka commemorates the 1952 Language Movement
The Bengali Hindu diaspora celebrate Durga Puja all over the world.
Large numbers of Bengalis have settled and established themselves in Banglatown.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led Bengali's decade long independence struggle including the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971
Ichhai Ghosher Deul at Gourangapur in Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal. (India)
I'tisam-ud-Din was the first educated Bengali and South Asian to have travelled to Europe.
Bangabhaban (the House of Bengal) is the official residence of the president of Bangladesh
Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka. (Bangladesh)
Regional dialects form one of the determiners to the social stratification of Bengalis.
Writers' Building, the official seat of the Government of West Bengal
Baro-chala Buro Shiva temple at Jalshara in Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal. (India)
Bengali schoolboys in the port city of Chittagong.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is the largest airline based in the Bengal region
Devi Manasa with her husband Jaratkaru & son Astik flanked by Nagas, 11th century Pala period statue from Bengal
Eid prayers in Dhaka.
The Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, India
Durga Puja in Kolkata.
New Mooring Terminal, Port of Chittagong
Harvesting preparation in Bangladesh.
Aerial view of Haldia port, Haldia Port
A sculpture of the Nawab of Bengal's Royal Peacock Barge in Murshidabad.
The strategically important city of Chittagong is home to the busiest port on the Bay of Bengal
Traditional way of weaving Jamdani.
Bengali Letters
A Bengali man sporting a simple black sherwani.
A silver coin with Proto-Bengali script, 9th century
Artistes from Purulia district of West Bengal performs Chhau dance
Rabindranath Tagore, known as the Bengali Shakespeare, being hosted at the Parliament of Iran in the 1930s
Satyajit Ray, eminent film director who has made Bengali films popular all over the world
Bangladeshi paintings on sale at an art gallery in Dhaka
Gitanjali intro featuring its author Rabindranath Tagore
Bungalows originated from Bengali architecture
The application of mehndi onto one's hand hosts a ceremony of itself during Bengali wedding seasons.
A sculpture on Fazlur Rahman Khan at the Sears Tower in the United States
A Bengali groom partaking in a supplication during his wedding.
A Baul musician. The Baul ballads of Bengal are classified by UNESCO as humanity's intangible cultural heritage
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18th century painting of a budgerow
Qazi Azizul Haque is recognised for his contributions to the development of modern fingerprint biometrics, a discovery of worldwide importance.
A river in Bangladesh
Meghnad Saha, J C Bose, J C Ghosh, Snehamoy Dutt, S N Bose, D M Bose, N R Sen, J N Mukherjee, N C Nag
A mustard and date palm farm in West Bengal
A sculpture honoring Fazlur Khan at the Willis Tower
A tea garden in Bangladesh
A lathi khela event taking place in Tangail.
Kanchenjunga from Singalila National Park, West Bengal
A Nouka Baich competition taking place in the monsoon season.
Gangaridai in Ptolemy's map, 1st century
Mohammed Salim, the first South Asian footballer to play for a foreign club. Due to playing in bare feet, he is having them bandaged by Jimmy McMenemy in 1936.
The Pala Empire, 9th century
Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan is currently crowned the world's best all-rounder in all formats for ODI cricket, and one of the greatest of all times.
At its greatest extent, the Bengal Sultanate's realm and protectorates stretched from Jaunpur in North India in the west to Tripura and Arakan in the east
The Bengal Sultanate, 16th century
Bengal & Bihar in 1776 by James Rennell
Colonial Bengal, 19th century
Colonial Eastern Bengal and Assam, early 20th century
Province of Bengal (1931)
Map of West Bengal
Map of Bangladesh
Map of Tripura
Flag of Bengal Sultanate
Flag of the Bengal Subah (15-18th Century)
Flag of Bengal Presidency, under British rule
Flag of Bangladesh during Bangladesh Liberation War and after
Flag of Bangladesh from 1972 onwards

Bengalis (singular Bengali বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia.

- Bengalis

They are adherents of Hinduism and are native to the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent.

- Bengali Hindus

Bengali Hindus, who live primarily in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam's Barak Valley, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, generally follow Shaktism or Vaishnavism, in addition to worshipping regional deities.

- Bengalis

The predominant ethnolinguistic group is the Bengali people, who speak the Indo-Aryan language of Bengali.

- Bengal

In India, they tend to identify themselves as Bengalis while in Bangladesh they tend to identify themselves as Hindus.

- Bengali Hindus

Bengali Hindus make up the second largest linguistic community in India.

- Bengal
The ancient political divisions of the Ganges delta.

6 related topics with Alpha

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West Bengal

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West Bengal (, Bengali: Poshchim Bongo,, abbr.

West Bengal (, Bengali: Poshchim Bongo,, abbr.

Coin of the King Shashanka, who created the first separate political entity in Bengal, called the Gauda Kingdom
The Pala Empire was an imperial power during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal.
Firoz Minar at Gauḍa was built during the Bengal Sultanate.
An 1880 map of Bengal
Subhas Chandra Bose, he was a leading freedom fighter of India
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
Many areas remain flooded during the heavy rains brought by a monsoon.
Districts of West Bengal
A hut in a village in the Hooghly district
The Grand Hotel in Kolkata. Tourism, especially from Bangladesh, is an important part of West Bengal's economy.
Freshly sown saplings of rice in a paddy; in the background are stacks of jute sticks.
Satyajit Ray, a pioneer in Bengali cinema along with Ravi Sankar.
Panchchura Temple in Bishnupur, one of the older examples of the terracotta arts of India.
Jamdani Sari of Bangladesh is very popular in West Bengal.
Salt Lake Stadium / Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata
Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is a hub for flights to and from Bangladesh, East Asia, Nepal, Bhutan and north-east India.
Durgapur Expressway
An SBSTC bus in Karunamoyee
Kolkata Metro, India's first metro rail system
University of Calcutta, the oldest public university of India.
The front entrance to the academic block of NUJS, Kolkata.
Prajna Bhavan, housing the School of Mathematical Sciences and School of RKMVU.

Part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north.

The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.

Bangladesh

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Country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of either 148460 km2 or 147570 km2, making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; to the south it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor; and from China by 100 km of the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's economic, political, and cultural hub.

Country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of either 148460 km2 or 147570 km2, making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the west, north, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast; to the south it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is narrowly separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor; and from China by 100 km of the Indian state of Sikkim in the north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's economic, political, and cultural hub.

Vanga Kingdom and erstwhile neighbours in ancient South Asia
7th century buddhist monastery. Known as Somapura Mahavihara
The Pala Empire was an imperial power during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal.
The Sixty Dome Mosque is the largest mosque in the UNESCO protected Mosque City of Bagerhat.
Choto Sona Mosque, built during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah
Kusumba Mosque
Shipbuilding was a major industry in the Bengal Sultanate and later in Mughal Bengal
The Bibi Mariam Cannon (Lady Mary Cannon) was used by the Mughals to defend their bases.
Lalbagh Fort was the residence of the Mughal viceroy Shaista Khan.
Portuguese envoys (top left) at the imperial court of emperor Akbar. The Portuguese settlement in Chittagong flourished until the Mughals expelled the Portuguese in 1666.
Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, which led to the overthrow of the last independent Nawab of Bengal
Founding conference of the All India Muslim League in Dhaka, 1906
The Dominion of Pakistan in 1947, with East Bengal its eastern part
Women students of Dhaka University marching in defiance of the Section 144 prohibition on assembly during the Bengali Language Movement in early 1953
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (left) and Munier Chowdhury (centre) visiting Matiul Islam (right), an East Bengali student at Harvard during the late 1950s
Museum of Independence, Dhaka
Sheikh Mujib casting his ballot during a general election. He was given the popular title of Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengal) and is regarded as Bangladesh's founding leader.
Ziaur Rahman with members of the Dutch royal family in 1978
Muhammad Yunus (center) celebrating the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 with his family in Oslo, Norway
Rohingya refugees entering Bangladesh from Myanmar
Physical map of Bangladesh
A Bengal tiger, the national animal, in the Sundarbans
Bangabhaban, the official residence of the President of Bangladesh, was built in 1905 during the British Raj for use by the Viceroy of India and the Governor of Bengal.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during bilateral talks with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office in Dhaka
The National Parliament of Bangladesh
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Map of Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force deployments
First South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting in 1985 in Dhaka (l-r, top row: the presidents of Pakistan and the Maldives, the king of Bhutan, the president of Bangladesh, the prime minister of India, the king of Nepal and the president of Sri Lanka)
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry meeting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her residence in Dhaka in April 2021
The Rapid Action Battalion has been sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses
Historical development of GDP per capita
Construction of Padma Bridge, the longest bridge on the Ganges, by China Major Bridge Engineering Co. Ltd. The bridge was designed by AECOM.
Hotels and office blocks in an upmarket neighborhood of Dhaka
Paddy fields dominate the country's farmland. Bangladesh is a top global producer of rice (3rd), potatoes (7th), tropical fruits (6th), jute (2nd), and farmed fish (5th).
A Boeing 777 of the national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines
Coal and natural-gas fields in Bangladesh, 2011
In 2018, the first payload of SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket was the Bangabandhu-1 satellite built by Thales Alenia Space
The Charyapada scrolls are the oldest surviving text of the Bengali language. The photograph was taken at the Rajshahi College Library
Chakma alphabets are indigenous to the Chittagong Hill Tracts
Eid prayers for Muslims at Barashalghar, Debidwar, Comilla
Bangladeshis celebrating Pahela Baishakh as a mark of the beginning of Bengali new year
Literacy rates in Bangladesh districts
Faculty of Sciences at the University of Dhaka; The Curzon Hall
A Bangladeshi nurse in Kutupalong Refugee Camp
Historical development of life expectancy in Bangladesh
A preserved cloth of historic Bengali fine muslin, which is now extinct
Syed Mujtaba Ali
Muslim feminist Begum Rokeya and her husband in 1898
The 18th century terracotta Hindu Kantanagar Temple in Dinajpur
A Baul from Lalon Shah's shrine in Kushtia
Embroidery on Nakshi kantha (embroidered quilt), centuries-old Bengali art tradition
Traditional Bangladeshi Meal: Mustard seed Ilish Curry, Dhakai Biryani and Pitha
A Nouka Baich boat race
Bangladesh team on practice session at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium
Anwar Hossain playing Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, in the 1967 film Nawab Sirajuddaulah
Beds of zamindars kept at the Bangladesh National Museum

Bangladesh forms the sovereign part of the historic and ethnolinguistic region of Bengal, which was divided during the Partition of India in 1947.

Bengalis make up 98% of the total population of Bangladesh, and the large Muslim population of Bangladesh makes it the third-largest Muslim-majority country.

Of Bengalis, Muslims are the majority, followed by Hindus, Christians and Buddhists.

Assam

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State in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys.

State in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys.

Map of Eastern Bengal and Assam during 1907–1909
A map of the British Indian Empire in 1909 during the partition of Bengal (1905–1911), showing British India in two shades of pink (coral and pale) and the princely states in yellow. The Assam Province (initially as the Province of Eastern Bengal and Assam) can be seen towards the north-eastern side of India.
Showing a historical incident at Kanaklata Udyan, Tezpur
Blooming of Kopou Orchid marks the beginning of the festive season of Bihu in Assam.
People gathered at Kamakhya Temple for the Ambubachi Mela
Kamakhya Temple
Basistha Temple in Guwahati.
7th–8th century specimen of Assamese (Kamarupi) literature
Brahmaputra valley region of Assam
1. Tinskia 2. Dibrugarh 3. Dhemaji 4. Charaideo 5. Sivasagar 6.Lakhimpur 7. Majuli 8. Jorhat 9. Biswanath 10. Golaghat 11. Karbi Anglong 12. Sonitpur 13. Nagaon 14. Hojai 15. Karbi Anglong West 16. Dima Hasao 17. Cachar 18. Hailakandi 19. Karimganj 20. Morigaon 21. Udalguri 22. Darrang 23. Kamrup Metro 24. Baksa 25. Nalbari 26. Kamrup 27. Barpeta 28. Chirang 29. Bongaigaon 30. Goalpara 31. Kokrajhar 32. Dhubri 33. South Salmara Mankachar 34. Bajali
Bodoland district map
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The image represent's Dimaraji proposed state map
Barak Valley
Per capita income of Assam since 1950
A paddy field in Assam
A tea garden in Assam: tea is grown at elevations near sea level, giving it a malty sweetness and an earthy flavor, as opposed to the more floral aroma of highland (e.g. Darjeeling, Taiwanese) teas
Assamese women busy planting paddy seedlings in their agricultural field in Pahukata village in the Nagaon district of Assam
A group of 'Husori' for the occasion of Assamese Bohag Bihu in their traditional attire.
Dakhinpat Satra of Majuli
Girl in traditional Mekhela chador dress with a Dhol wrapped with Gamosa
A decorative Assamese Jaapi laid over a Gamosa
A Bihu dancer blowing a pepa (horn)
A beautifully adorned Jaapi
Mising girls dancing during Ali Ai Ligang (Spring Festival)
Actors of Abinaswar Gosthi performs the play "Surjya Mandirot Surjyasta" directed by Dipok Borah
Assamese Thali
An ethnic preparation of Ghost chili chicken curry of Assam
Lakshminath Bezbaroa, one of the foremost figures of Assamese literature.
Imaginary portrait of Srimanta Sankardeva by Bishnu Prasad Rabha
School girls in the classroom, Lakhiganj High School, Assam
Cotton University, Guwahati
Academic complex of IIT Guwahati
National Institute of Technology, Silchar
Jorhat Engineering College of Assam Science and Technology University
Sattriya Dance
Bodo dance Bagurumba
Jhumair dance in Tea garden
Nagara
Bhupen Hazarika
Assamese youth performing Bihu Dance
Statue of Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and Phani Sarma at District Library, Guwahati.
Lil Bahadur Chettri
Citra Bhagavata illustration
A folio from the Hastividyarnava manuscript
<center>A page of manuscript painting from Assam; The medieval painters used locally manufactured painting materials such as the colours of hangool and haital and papers manufactured from aloewood bark</center>
Bell metal made sorai and sophura are important parts of culture
Assam Kahor (Bell metal) Kahi

A reign of terror was unleashed by the Burmese on the Assamese people, who fled to neighbouring kingdoms and British-ruled Bengal.

Assam also has a large number of Bengali Hindu population as according to government data, It is being reported that 7.5 million Bengali Hindus live in Assam, thus constituting 25% of the state population as per 2011 census report.

Durga Puja, a festival introduced and popularised by Bengalis, is widely celebrated across the state.

East Pakistan

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Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which nowadays is split up between India and Bangladesh.

Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which nowadays is split up between India and Bangladesh.

East Pakistan was a key part of SEATO
Suhrawardy (middle) with US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
Elizabeth II, seen here visiting Chittagong in 1961, was Pakistan's Queen until 1956.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announcing the Six Points
Surrender of Pakistan
Yahya Khan
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1971
East and West Pakistan
The Kaptai Dam in 1965
President Ayub Khan (left) with Bengali industrialist Abul Kashem Khan (right) in Chittagong
Entrance to the Adamjee Jute Mills, the world's largest jute processing plant, in 1950
The Daily Ittefaq edited by Tofazzal Hossain was the leading Bengali newspaper in Pakistan
The first Bangladeshi flag was hoisted on 23 March 1971 across East Pakistan, as a protest on Republic Day
The Indo-East Pakistan border as shown by the U.S. Army, c. 1960.
Central business district in Dacca, 1960s
Chittagong Port in 1960
Baitul Mukarram Market Area, Dacca, 1967
Pakistani banknotes included Bengali script until 1971
A poster of the East Pakistan Helicopter Service
Third president of Pakistan, Yahya Khan with Richard Nixon in 1970

Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, who did not include Bengal in the coined word "PAKISTAN", did create a state among many in India in his book Now or Never pamphlet (1933).

The largest ethnic group of the province were Bengalis, who in turn were the largest ethnic group in Pakistan.

Bengali Muslims formed the predominant majority, followed by Bengali Hindus, Bengali Buddhists and Bengali Christians.

Tripura

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State in northeastern India.

State in northeastern India.

Tripura Sundari Temple in Udaipur.
Rock-cut sculpture of Shiva at Unakoti
Neermahal Palace is the royal palace built by Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman of the Kingdom of Tripura.
Queen Kanchan Prabha Devi who signed the instrument of accession to India as president of the Council of Regency.
Rice is grown on Tripura's alluvial plains, which include lungas, the narrow valleys that are found mainly in the west of the state.
Tripura Assembly
Tripura district map
Ujjayanta Palace, built in the 19th century as a replacement for a former royal palace destroyed in an earthquake, was used until 2011 as the meeting place of Tripura's State Legislative Assembly.
Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, pictured, encompasses much of the state
Rice is the major crop in Tripura and accounts for 91 percent of the land under cultivation.
Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport
Agartala Railway Station
The border post between Bangladesh and India in Akhaura
Classrooms built of bamboo in a school. In 2010–11, Tripura had 4,455 schools run by the state government or private organisations. Instruction is mainly in English or Bengali.
Tripuri children preparing for a dance performance.
A Tripuri girl in her traditional attire
East Pakistan refugees (since Bangladesh was not formed yet) coming to Tripura during Bangladesh liberation war.
Durga Puja is the major festival of Tripura
A couple in traditional Tripuri costume.
Tripuri girls in traditional attire
Tripura girls in their traditional attire
Tripuri dance

Since the partition of India, many Bengali Hindus have migrated to Tripura as refugees fleeing religious persecution in Muslim-majority East Pakistan, especially after 1949.

Communism in the state had its beginnings in the pre-independence era, inspired by freedom struggle activities in Bengal, and culminating in regional parties with communist leanings.

According to the 2001 census of India, Bengalis represented almost 70 per cent of Tripura's population while the Tripuri population amounted to 30 per cent.

1779 map of the Jungle Terry District.

Malda district

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District in West Bengal, India.

District in West Bengal, India.

1779 map of the Jungle Terry District.
1907 Map of Bengal with Sikkim
Early 19th century lithograph of the Muslim ruins of Dakhil Darwaza at Gour
Temple of Jahura Kali Bari, Malda
Debipur Haribasar Radhakrishna Mandir (Debipur, Ratua1, Malda)

Malda is called the gateway of North Bengal.

Bengalis about 91% including Bengali Muslims and Bengali Hindus form the majority of the district population.