Why did the British partition Bengal in 1905?

The British partition of Bengal in 1905, carried out by Viceroy Lord Curzon, was officially justified as a measure to improve administrative efficiency. By 1900, the Bengal Presidency had become too vast and unwieldy to manage under a single administration, with the eastern region suffering from neglect and poor communication compared to the west.123

However, historians widely regard the partition as a strategic application of the divide and rule policy. Beyond administrative convenience, the British aimed to weaken the growing Indian Independence Movement, which was particularly strong and well-developed in Bengal. By creating a Muslim-majority province in the east and a Hindu-majority province in the west, the colonial authorities sought to foster religious divisions and position the Muslim population as a political counterweight to the Hindu-dominated nationalist movement. This territorial reorganization ultimately intensified anti-colonial sentiment, fueling the Swadeshi Movement before the partition was eventually annulled in 1911.1234