Bengal

a presidency of British India. The name is applied to territory having widely varying boundaries, and inhabited by from 4,000,000 to 70,000,000 people according to the interpretation placed on the name. It is perhaps sufficient for the general reader to say that historical Bengal extends from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, and that it comprises the great plains of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, the choicest parts of India. See Calcutta; Ganges; Brahmaputra; Clive; Cornwallis; Hastings; India; Tiger; Cobra; Irrigation; Opium