Tell about West Bengal?

They exert a powerful influence in Bengali cultural life.

The theatre is popular, and performances—amateur as well as professional—are sophisticated.

Yatras (jatras), traditional open-air performances that may treat mythological and historical topics or contemporary themes, are popular both in the countryside and in urban areas.

The kavi is an impromptu duel in musical verse between village poets.

The kathakata, a religious recital, is another traditional form of rural entertainment, based on folklore.

The film industry is a well-established modern form of popular entertainment.

Bengali films have earned national and international awards for their delicate handling of Indian themes; the works of the directors Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha, Mrinal Sen, and Aparna Sen are particularly notable.

The name of Bengal, or Bangla, is derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga, or Banga. References to it occur in early Sanskrit literature, but its early history is obscure until the 3rd century BCE, when it formed part of the extensive Mauryan empire inherited by the emperor Ashoka.

the decline of Mauryan power, anarchy once more supervened. In the 4th century CE the region was absorbed into the Gupta empire of Samudra Gupta.

Later it came under control of the Pala dynasty.

From the beginning of the 13th century to the mid-18th century, when the British gained ascendancy, Bengal was under Muslim rule—at times under governors acknowledging the suzerainty of the Delhi sultanate but mainly under independent rulers.

est Bengal, state of India, located in the eastern part of the country.

In 1757 British forces under Robert Clive defeated those of the nawab (ruler) of Bengal, Sirāj al-Dawlah, in the Battle of Plassey near present-day Palashi.

In 1765 the nominal Mughal emperor of northern India, Shah ʿĀlam II, granted to the British East India Company the dīwānī of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa (now Odisha)—that is, the right to collect and administer the revenues of those areas.

It is bounded to the north by the state of Sikkim and the country of Bhutan, to the northeast by the state of Assam, to the east by the country of Bangladesh, to the south by the Bay of Bengal, to the southwest by the state of Odisha, to the west by the states of Jharkhand and Bihar, and to the northwest by the country of Nepal.

West Bengal has a peculiar configuration; its breadth varies from 200 miles (320 km) at one point to hardly 10 miles (16 km) at another.

By the Regulating Act of 1773, Warren Hastings became the first British governor-general of Bengal.

The British-controlled government, centred at Calcutta (now Kolkata), was declared to be supreme: essentially, the governor-general of Bengal was the chief executive of British India.

Its roughly 1,350-mile (2,200-km) frontier with Bangladesh, neither natural nor well defined, is of strategic importance.

Thus, the Bengal Presidency, as the province was known, had powers of superintendence over the other British presidencies, those of Madras (now Chennai) and Bombay (now Mumbai).

Although in area West Bengal ranks as one ofThe capital is Kolkata (Calcutta). Area 34,267 square miles (88,752 square km). Pop. (2011) 91,347,736.

the smaller states of India, it is one of the largest in population.

West Bengal may be broadly divided into two natural geographic divisions—the Gangetic Plain in the south and the sub-Himalayan and Himalayan area in the north.

Britain was not, however, the only European presence in Bengal.

The town of Hugli, north of Calcutta, was the location of a Portuguese factory (trading post) until 1632; Hugli-Chinsura (Chunchura), the next town south, was the Dutch post until 1825; the next town, Shrirampur (Serampore), was the Danish post until 1845; and Chandernagore (Chandannagar) remained in French hands until 1949.

From 1834 Bengal’s governor-general bore the title “governor-general of India,” but in 1854 the post was relieved of the direct administration of Bengal, which was placed under a lieutenant governor.