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Why was the partition of Bengal annulled in 1911?

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Mahatma Gandhi, holding a walking stick, walks beside Sarojini Naidu during the Salt March protest in 1930, with several men following behind them. — Indian National Congress Indian National Congress leaders Mahatma Gandhi (left) and Sarojini Naidu (right) on the Salt March in western India, March 1930.

The partition of Bengal, implemented in 1905, was annulled in 1911 primarily to address the intense and escalating political unrest it had triggered across India.12

Although British officials initially characterized the partition as a "settled fact," the policy—widely viewed as a divide and rule strategy—failed to weaken the nationalist movement. Instead, it intensified anti-colonial sentiment, leading to the Swadeshi Movement, widespread boycotts, and a rise in revolutionary violence.123

When Lord Hardinge became viceroy in 1910, he recognized that the partition was unsustainable and recommended reunification to restore order. The formal announcement was made by King George V on December 12, 1911, during his coronation durbar in Delhi. The British aimed to combine the appeasement of Bengali sentiment with administrative convenience by reuniting Bengal and creating a separate province of Bihar and Orissa. Additionally, the government planned to shift the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi, hoping the move would placate the Muslim minority who had benefited from the original partition.142