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Bengal (BAY OF very large The chief)

BAY OF very large. The chief exports are opium, jute, indigo, oil seeds, tea, hides and skins, and rice. The foreign trade is chiefly with Great Britain, China, the Straits Settlements, France, the United States, and Ceylon.

Language. The Bengali language is spoken by a majority of the population.

It is like the numerous vernacular dialects spoken in northern India, apparently descended from the ancient classical language of the country, the Sanskrit.

Its alphabet comprises 14 vowels and diphthongs, and 33 consonants. The consonants. ground work of the Bengali language is altogether Sanskrit .

Education, etc. - The first rudiments of education are usually given in the primary schools that have been developed out of the native schools, and are now connected with government. There are also a number of secondary and superior schools established by government, including eight government colleges. The highest educational institution is the Calcutta University, the chief function of which is to examine and confer degrees. There were in 1918 48,303 educational institutions, with 1,892,951 scholars. The total expenditure for education in that year was £1,699,569. The population of Bengal beyond the capital, Calcutta, and its suburbs, is largely rural.

History. The first of the East India Company's settlements in Bengal were made early in the 17th century. The rise of Calcutta dates from the end of the same century. The greater part of Bengal came into the hands of the East India Company in consequence of Clive's victory at Plassy in 1757, and was formally ceded to the company by the Nabob of Bengal in 1765. Chittagong had previously been ceded by the same prince, but its government under British administration was not organized till 1824. Orissa came into British hands in 1803. In 1858 the country passed to the crown, and since then the history of Bengal has been, on the whole, one of steady and peaceful progress.