History of West Bengal

The History of West Bengal reveals that it was divided into many small states. The Buddhist and Jaina works and the coins prove that towards the middle of the sixth century B.C. independent sovereign states were established in Vanga and Radha. However in the beginning of the fourth century B.C., a state called Gangaridai as arose out of the unison of lower and western Bengal. The Bhagavata Purana discusses the primitive people of Bengal as sinners because they were considered Dasyus and not Indo Aryans. But the Vanga and Anga in Bengal are identified as Indo-Aryans in the Jain scriptures. The remains of the settlements of the Copper Age suggest that the region of Bengal dates back to four thousand years. Earliest evidences of human settlements are derived from the stone tools and such pre historic stone tools have been found in many regions of Bengal such as Medinipur, Bankura and Bardhaman. In the Mahabharata there are references of Bengali kings like Chitrasena who was defeated by Bhima. The epic also suggests that Bengal was divided among various tribes or kingdoms such as southern, northern and western Bengal. Western Bengal was a part of Magadha. However it was under the Nanda Empire that the whole of Bengal came under the Indo Aryan rule.

According to belief Gangaridai was a part of King Ashoka's Empire. During the rule of the Kushanas the major part of the state was ruled by three agents. Over a period of time these rulers refused to accept the suzerainty of the Kushanas and thereby became independent. This was followed by a period of uncertainty and turmoil. According to an inscription Simha Varman and his son Chandra Varman were the rulers of Bengal when the Guptas had come to power (319-20 A.D.). As per the Allahabad Stone Pillar inscription Samatata was a part of Samudragupta's kingdom. The inscription gives evidence that North Bengal was included within the Gupta Empire.

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