Wikipedia

Islam in West Bengal

According to the 2011 census, West Bengal has over 24.6 million Muslims, making up 27% of the state's population.[6] The vast majority of Muslims in West Bengal are ethnic native Bengali Muslims, numbering around over 22 million and comprising 24.1% of the state population (mostly they reside in Rural areas). There also exists an Immigrants Urdu-speaking Muslim community numbering 2.6 million, constituting 2.9% of the state population and mostly resides in Urban areas of the state.[7][1][3][2][4][8]

Muslims in West Bengal
West Bengal's oldest mosque located at Murshidabad district
Total population
24,654,825 (2011 census)
(27% of the state population)Increase[1][2][3][4][5]
Regions with significant populations
Majority in Murshidabad (66.3%), Maldah (51.3%), Uttar Dinajpur (50%). Significant minority in Birbhum (37.1%), South 24 Parganas (35.6%), Howrah (26.20%).
Languages
Majority Bengali, Minority Urdu, Surjapuri, and others
Zohora Begum Mosque in Kolkata

Muslims form the majority of the population in three districts: Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur.[9] Among these, Uttar Dinajpur is notable as ethnic Bengali Muslims comprise 28% of the district's population, with the remaining 22% being Urdu and Surjapuri speakers.[10]

History

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See also: Bengal Sultanate
See also: Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad
 
The Gazi Dargah (গাজী দরগা) of Tribeni (ত্রিবেনী) in West Bengal. This is one of the oldest Islamic heritage structures of Bengal

Islam first arrived in Bengal in the year 1204.[11] The establishment of the first Muslim state in Bengal, the Bengal Sultanate, in 1352 by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah is credited to giving rise to a Bengali socio-linguistic identity.[12] The Sultanate's influence was expansive, with the Hindu-born sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah funding the construction of Islamic institutions as far as Makkah Al Mukarramah and Madinah Al Munawwarah, which came to be known as al-Madaris al-Banjaliyyah (Bengali madrasas). Sufis also became prominent in this period, such as Usman Serajuddin, also known as Akhi Siraj Bengali, who was a native of Gaur in western Bengal and became the Sultanate's court scholar during Ilyas Shah's reign.[13][14][15] Alongside Persian and Arabic, the Sultanate also used the Bengali language to gain patronage and support, contrary to previous states which exclusively favored liturgical languages such as Sanskrit and Pali.[16][17] Islam became especially widespread when the region was under Mughal rule from 1576 to 1765 and was commonly known as Bengal Subah.[citation needed] The Mughal Emperors considered Bengal their most prized province. The Mughal emperor Akbar is credited with developing the modern Bengali calendar.[18]

 
The Bengal Sultanate, 16th century covering whole Western part of Bengal

Population

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Historical Muslim Population
YearPop.±%
1901 3,954,776—    
1911 2,955,098−25.3%
1921 4,101,516+38.8%
1931 4,521,313+10.2%
1941 5,506,442+21.8%
1951 4,402,330−20.1%
1961 5,515,348+25.3%
1971 7,983,963+44.8%
1981 9,743,209+22.0%
1991 12,050,000+23.7%
2001 18,240,543+51.4%
2011 24,654,825+35.2%
Source: [19]

As per as Indian Census figures, The Muslim population have increased from (5.1 million) 20 per cent in 1951 to (24.6 million) 27 per cent in 2011 (a growth of 19.5 million in absolute numbers and an increasement of 7 per cent points from last 6 decades) respectively.[20]

Partition and immigration

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See also: Partition of Bengal (1947)

The Muslim population in West Bengal before 1947 partition was around 33%.[21] After partition of Bengal in 1947, some Muslims from West Bengal left for East Pakistan, (Present-Day-Bangladesh). Estimates show that 1,634,718 Muslim refugees from West Bengal settling permanently in East Pakistan during 1947–1951.[22]

Population by district (2011)

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Percentage share of Muslims in the districts of West Bengal, 2011 Census
Muslims in West Bengal by district (2011)[23]
# District Total population Muslim population %
1 Murshidabad 7,103,807 4,707,573 66.88%
2 South 24 Parganas 8,161,961 2,903,075 35.57%
3 North 24 Parganas 10,009,781 2,584,684 25.82%
4 Malda 3,988,845 2,045,151 51.27%
5 Bardhaman 7,717,563 1,599,764 20.73%
6 Uttar Dinajpur 3,007,134 1,501,170 49.92%
7 Nadia 5,167,600 1,382,682 26.76%
8 Birbhum 3,502,404 1,298,054 37.06%
9 Howrah 4,850,029 1,270,641 26.20%
10 Kolkata 4,496,694 926,414 20.60%
11 Hooghly 5,519,145 870,204 15.77%
12 Purba Medinipur 5,095,875 743,436 14.59%
13 Cooch Behar 2,819,086 720,033 26.54%
14 Paschim Medinipur 5,913,457 620,554 10.49%
15 Jalpaiguri 3,872,846 445,817 11.51%
16 Dakshin Dinajpur 1,676,276 412,788 24.63%
17 Bankura 3,596,674 290,450 8.08%
18 Purulia 2,930,115 227,249 7.76%
19 Darjeeling 1,846,823 105,086 5.69%

Linguistic groups

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According to the 2021 census estimation, there were around 28-29 million Muslims living in West Bengal, constituting 28-29% respectively.[24] Nearly most of them (25-26% of state population), about 25-26 million are native Bengali Muslims, constituting around 90% of the total Muslim population in the state, and are mostly concentrated in rural and Semi Urban areas. The Urdu-speaking Muslims from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh constitute rest 3%, numbering around 3 million and are mainly concentrated in Kolkata, Asansol, Islampur subdivision of West Bengal.[25][3][26]

Notable Muslims from West Bengal

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Kolkata

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Malda

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Murshidabad

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Hooghly

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Bardhaman

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Birbhum

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North 24 Parganas

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South 24 Parganas

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Howrah

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Uttar Dinajpur

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  • Abdul Karim Chowdhury, Bengali Former Politician, Ex Minister for Mass Education Extension and Library Services.

Midanapur

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Cooch Behar

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Jalpaiguri

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  • Khaleda Zia, politician who served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Nadia

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Population of West Bengal - West Bengal Population 2021".
  2. ^ a b "West Bengal assembly elections: Why getting Muslims votes could be tough for Mamata Banerjee". Times of India. 6 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Why the 30% Muslim vote share is crucial in Bengal, explains Robin Roy".
  4. ^ a b "West Bengal Population 2022".
  5. ^ Census of India - Religious Composition
  6. ^ "Why the 30% Muslim vote share is crucial in Bengal, explains Robin Roy".
  7. ^ Jayanta Ghosal (21 April 2021). "Decoding the Muslim vote in West Bengal". India Today. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  8. ^ misu-2011-census.html "Census 2011 shows Islam is the fastest growing religion in India". Mint. 26 August 2015. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Saibal Sen (26 August 2015). "Bengal beats India in Muslim growth rate".
  10. ^ hajarduar (22 October 2013). "The curious case of the Surjapuri people". আলাল ও দুলাল | ALAL O DULAL. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  11. ^ http://pu.edu.pk › historyPDF the diffusion of islam in bengal - Punjab University
  12. ^ Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin (2012). "Iliyas Shah". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  13. ^ 'Abd al-Haqq al-Dehlawi. Akhbarul Akhyar.
  14. ^ Abdul Karim (2012). "Shaikh Akhi Sirajuddin Usman (R)". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  15. ^ Hanif, N (2000). Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: South Asia. Prabhat Kumar Sharma, for Sarup & Sons. p. 35.
  16. ^ "What is more significant, a contemporary Chinese traveler reported that although Persian was understood by some in the court, the language in universal use there was Bengali. This points to the waning, although certainly not yet the disappearance, of the sort of cosmopolitan mentality that the Muslim ruling class in Bengal had exhibited since its arrival over two centuries earlier. It also points to the survival and eventual dominance of parochial Bengali culture at the highest level of official society." (Eaton 1993:60)
    Eaton, Richard M. (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. University of California. ISBN 978-0-520-20507-9. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  17. ^ Rabbani, AKM Golam (7 November 2017). "Politics and Literary Activities in the Bengali Language during the Independent Sultanate of Bengal". Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics. 1 (1): 151–166. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017 – via www.banglajol.info.
  18. ^ Shoaib Daniyal (15 April 2015). "Bengali New Year: how Akbar invented the modern Bengali calendar". Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  19. ^ Nahid Kamal. "The Population Trajectories of Bangladesh and West Bengal During the Twentieth Century: A Comparative Study" (PDF).
  20. ^ "The Politics of Demography in Assam and West Bengal". 12 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Muslims of West Bengal" (PDF). core.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  22. ^ Chatterji, Joya (2007). The Spoils of Partition: Bengal and India, 1947–1967. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-46830-5.
  23. ^ Population by religious community: West Bengal. 2011 Census of India.
  24. ^ "Mamata's Muslim Gameplan". 17 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Owaisi's entry into Bengal likely to unsettle TMC's sway over minorities | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 13 November 2020.
  26. ^ "West Bengal elections 2021: Mamata Banerjee and Muslim votes - Times of India". The Times of India.
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