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States of India by Bengali speakers

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This is a list of States and Union Territories of India by Bengali speakers at the time of the 2011 Census.[1]

According to 2011 census of India, Bengali is the fourth fastest growing language in India, following Hindi in the first place, Kashmiri in the second place, and Meitei (Manipuri), along with Gujarati, in the third place.[2]

2011 Census

State / Union Territory Bengali speakers[3] Percentage of population speaking Bengali[4]
West Bengal 78,698,852 86.22%
Barak Valley (Assam) 2,930,378 80.84%
Tripura 2,414,774 67.73%
Brahmaputra Valley (Assam) 6,094,274 22.09%
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 108,432 28.49%
Jharkhand 3,213,423 9.73%
Mizoram 107,840 1.35%
Meghalaya 232,525 6.44%
Arunachal Pradesh 100,579 3.66%
Nagaland 74,753 3.78%
Daman & Diu 5,232 2.15%
Uttarakhand 150,933 1.50%
Delhi 215,960 1.29%
Odisha 504,570 1.20%
Sikkim 6,986 1.14%
Manipur 30,611 1.07%
Chhattisgarh 243,597 0.95%
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 3,116 0.91%
Bihar 810,771 0.78%
Chandigarh 6,236 0.59%
Goa 7,099 0.49%
Maharashtra 442,090 0.39%
Haryana 70,948 0.28%
Lakshadweep 1,509 0.22%
Madhya Pradesh 109,185 0.15%
Jammu & Kashmir 19,830 0.16%
Karnataka 87,963 0.14%
Gujarat 79,648 0.13%
Pondicherry 1,509 0.12%
Uttar Pradesh 241,007 0.12%
Rajasthan 81,658 0.12%
Punjab 27,030 0.10%
Himachal Pradesh 6,214 0.09%
Kerala 29,061 0.09%
Andhra Pradesh 57,804 0.07%
Tamil Nadu 22,969 0.03%
India 98,237,669 (First language speakers) 8.3%[5](Second most spoken in India)

2001 Census

State / Union Territory Bengali speakers[6] Percentage of population speaking Bengali [5]
West Bengal 68,369,255 85.34%
Tripura 2,147,944 67.14%
Assam 7,343,338 27.55%
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 91,582 25.71%
Jharkhand 2,607,601 9.68%
Mizoram 80,389 9.05%
Arunachal Pradesh 97,149 8.85%
Meghalaya 185,692 8.01%
Nagaland 58,890 2.96%
Delhi 208,414 1.50%
Uttarakhand 123,190 1.45%
Odisha 490,857 1.33%
Manipur 27,100 1.25%
Sikkim 6,320 1.18%
Daman & Diu 1,810 1.16%
Chhattisgarh 208,669 1.00%
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 1,382 0.63%
Chandigarh 5,491 0.61%
Bihar 443,425 0.53%
Maharashtra 310,137 0.32%
Goa 4,111 0.31%
Haryana 39,199 0.19%
Madhya Pradesh 105,399 0.17%
Jammu & Kashmir 14,416 0.14%
Pondicherry 1,180 0.12%
Uttar Pradesh 181,634 0.11%
Rajasthan 54,172 0.10%
Gujarat 40,780 0.08%
Himachal Pradesh 4,772 0.08%
Karnataka 41,256 0.08%
Punjab 20,655 0.08%
Andhra Pradesh 41,293 0.05%
Lakshadweep 24 0.05%
Kerala 3,387 0.01%
Tamil Nadu 8,805 0.01%
India 87,737,669 (First language speakers) 8.12%[5]

Bengali majority states of India

West Bengal

According to the provisional results of the 2011 national census, West Bengal is the fourth-most-populous state in India with a population of 91,347,736 (7.55% of India's population). Bengalis, consisting of Bengali Hindus, Bengali Muslims, Bengali Christians and a few Bengali Buddhists, numbering around 78,698,852 comprise about 86.22% of the state population. West Bengal was created as a homeland of Bengali speaking people in 1947 specially for Hindus of Bengal region.[7][8]

Tripura

The non-tribal population of Tripura, the mostly Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims, constitute more than two-thirds of the state's population. The resident and the migrant Bengali population benefitted from the culture and language of the royal house of Tripura thanks to embracement of Hinduism and adoption of Bengali as the state language by the Maharajahs of Tripura much before Indian independence.[9] After the Partition of India and Tripura's accession to the Dominion of India, thousands of Bengali Hindus from eastern Bengal took refuge in Tripura. The influx of the Bengali Hindus increased during the Bangladesh Liberation War, when of Bengali Hindus were massacred in Bangladesh by the Pakistani occupation army. At present there are around 2.2 million Bengali Hindus in Tripura, making them the largest ethnic group in the state, constituting over 60% of the total population.[10]

Assam

A “language reversion” has been going on among Muslims who once migrated from erstwhile East Bengal. After Partition, the Brahmaputra valley Muslim migrants of East Bengali roots chose to report their language as Assamese. As a result, between 1931 and 1951, the population of Assamese speakers in Assam (excluding Sylhet) rose by a phenomenal 150%. The Partition violence may have played a part in this decision. The apprehension of being persecuted in the newly independent country made the migrants give up language and keep religion. As a mirror image of the quick rise in the Assamese speaking population, during 1931-1951 the population of Bengali speakers fell by as much as 25%. It is conjectured that of late, the Na-Axamiyas (the new Assamese) have been switching back to Bengali. This curious phenomenon was behind the Assam Movement (1979-1985) according to political scientist Myron Weiner. The relative calm of the last few decades since the conclusion of the movement may have given the migrants the confidence to report Bengali. The rise in the share of Bengalis could be due to Na-Axamiyas reverting to Bengali.[11][12][13] In 1931, the population of Assamese speakers in the region was 1.74 million- which constituted 31.42% of the total population while by 1951, it turned into 4.55 million, constituting 56.69% of the population.[14][15][13] According to 2011 census, Assam has around 31,205,576 people living in the state.[16] Language census report tells that Assam has around 48.38% Assamese and 28.92% Bengali speakers as per 2011 census.[17]

Andaman and Nicobar islands

There is also a significant number of Bengali Hindus residing in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, estimated approximately 100,000 comprising 26%–28% of the population. Bengali is also the most widely spoken language in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, despite it lacking official status.[18]

Other significant areas

Uttarakhand

There are large number of Bengali speaking population mainly centered around Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. Much of the population reached here as a result of migration during 1970's. The Bengali speakers are primarily engaged in farming and industrial activities.[19]

Kerala

There is steady migration of Bengali speaking population from Assam and West Bengal towards southern state of Kerala as migrant labourers. As of 2020, Bengali speakers constitute a large proportion of Migrant labourers in Kerala. Most of the Bengali speakers are working as footloose labourers and only a few consider permanent settlement. The major chunk of Bengali speaking populace is concentrated in Ernakulam district.[20][21]

Chhattisgarh

In southern Chhattisgarh, especially in Bastar region there is significant Bengali speaking population. Most of these settlers have reached there as a result of Dandakaranya Project following the Partition of India.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Report of the Commissioner for linguistic minorities: 50th report (July 2012 to June 2013)" (PDF). Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ —"What census data reveals about use of Indian languages". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
    —"Hindi Added 100Mn Speakers In A Decade; Kashmiri 2nd Fast Growing Language". 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
    —"Hindi fastest growing language in India, finds 100 million new speakers".
    —"Hindi grew rapidly in non-Hindi states even without official mandate". India Today. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  3. ^ "Distribution of the 22 Scheduled Languages – India, States & Union Territories – 2011 Census" (PDF). Government of India.
  4. ^ "Census of India - Distribution of 10,000 persons by language – India, States and Union Territories-2011". Government of India.
  5. ^ a b c "Census of India - Distribution of 10,000 persons by language – India, States and Union Territories-2001".
  6. ^ "Distribution of the 22 Scheduled Languages – India, States & Union Territories – 2001 Census".
  7. ^ "Opinion: Why a United Bengal in 1947 wouldn't have worked out".
  8. ^ "C-16 POPULATION BY MOTHER TONGUE". Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. Archived from the original (XLSX) on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  9. ^ Dikshit, K. R.; Dikshit, Jutta K. (21 October 2013). North-East India: Land, People and Economy. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 352. ISBN 978-94-007-7055-3.
  10. ^ "BJP eyes 2.2 m Bengali Hindus in Tripura quest". The Pioneer. 14 May 2017.
  11. ^ "In Assam, Rising Share of Bengali Speakers Doesn t Necessarily Point to Infiltration".
  12. ^ Bhattacharya, D. P. "CAA protests in Assam: Why it is different from the rest of the country". The Economic Times.
  13. ^ a b "In Assam, campaign urging Bengali Muslims not to list Assamese as mother tongue has sparked protests". 9 June 2019.
  14. ^ Chubbra K. M. L, Assam Challenge, Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd, Delhi, 1992.
  15. ^ "Insurgency in Assam: The Demographic Dimensions".
  16. ^ "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India"
  17. ^ "C-16 Population By Mother Tongue". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  18. ^ Andaman, Team Explore. "Andaman Nicobar population - a description". Population mix of Andaman and Nicobar. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  19. ^ Singh, Kautilya. "What's this Bengali doing in Uttarakhand poll pitch?". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  20. ^ Bibin Babu (May 3, 2016). "Perumbavoor: A mini North India in Kerala | Kochi News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  21. ^ Menon, Sreelatha (2011-07-27). "Kerala, a 'Dubai' for Bengali migrants". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  22. ^ "NCST to ask Chhattisgarh to probe if refugee resettlement led to demographic changes in tribal areas". The Hindu. PTI. 2020-01-19. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  23. ^ Bagchi, Suvojit (2018-11-09). "Congress parachutes Bengali leaders to campaign in southern Chhattisgarh". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
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