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Total population | |
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24,654,825 (2011 census) (27% of the state population) ![]() | |
Regions with significant populations | |
MajoritySignificant minority | |
Religions | |
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Languages | |
Majority Bengali, Minority Urdu, Surjapuri, and others |
Part of a series on |
Islam |
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According to the 2011 census, West Bengal has over 24.6 million Muslims, making up 27% of the state's population. The vast majority of Muslims in West Bengal are ethnic Bengali Muslims, numbering around over 22 million and comprising 24.1% of the state population (mostly they reside in Rural areas). There also exists an Urdu-speaking Muslim community numbering 2.6 million, constituting 2.9% of the state population and mostly resides in Urban areas of the state.
Muslims form the majority of the population in three districts: Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur. [4] Among these, Uttar Dinajpur is notable as ethnic Bengali Muslims comprise 28% of the district's population, with the remaining 22% being Urdu and Surjapuri speakers. [5]
Islam first arrived in Bengal in the year 1204. [6] The establishment of the first Muslim state in Bengal, the Bengal Sultanate, in 1352 by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah is credited to giving rise to a Bengali socio-linguistic identity. [7] The Sultanate's influence was expansive, with the Hindu-born sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah funding the construction of Islamic institutions as far as Makkah Al Mukarramah and Madinah Al Munawwarah, which came to be known as al-Madaris al-Banjaliyyah (Bengali madrasas). Sufis also became prominent in this period, such as Usman Serajuddin, also known as Akhi Siraj Bengali, who was a native of Gaur in western Bengal and became the Sultanate's court scholar during Ilyas Shah's reign. [8] [9] [10] Alongside Persian and Arabic, the Sultanate also used the Bengali language to gain patronage and support, contrary to previous states which exclusively favored liturgical languages such as Sanskrit and Pali. [11] [12] Islam became especially widespread when the region was under Mughal rule from 1576 to 1765 and was commonly known as Bengal Subah.[ citation needed ] The Mughal Emperors considered Bengal their most prized province. The Mughal emperor Akbar is credited with developing the modern Bengali calendar. [13]
Year | Pop. | ±% |
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1901 | 3,954,776 | — |
1911 | 2,955,098 | −25.3% |
1921 | 4,101,516 | +38.8% |
1931 | 4,521,313 | +10.2% |
1941 | 5,506,442 | +21.8% |
1951 | 4,402,330 | −20.1% |
1961 | 5,515,348 | +25.3% |
1971 | 7,983,963 | +44.8% |
1981 | 9,743,209 | +22.0% |
1991 | 12,050,000 | +23.7% |
2001 | 18,240,543 | +51.4% |
2011 | 24,654,825 | +35.2% |
Source: [14] |
As per as Indian Census figures, The Muslim population in West Bengal has increased from 19.85 per cent in 1951 to 27 per cent in 2011. [15]
The Muslim population in West Bengal before 1947 partition was around 33%. [16] After partition of Bengal in 1947, some Muslims from West Bengal left for East Pakistan, (Present-Day-Bangladesh). Estimates show that 1,634,718 Muslim refugees from West Bengal settling permanently in East Pakistan during 1947–1951. [17]
# | District | Total population | Muslim population | % |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Murshidabad | 7,103,807 | 4,707,573 | 66.88% |
2 | South 24 Parganas | 8,161,961 | 2,903,075 | 35.57% |
3 | North 24 Parganas | 10,009,781 | 2,584,684 | 25.82% |
4 | Malda | 3,988,845 | 2,045,151 | 51.27% |
5 | Bardhaman | 7,717,563 | 1,599,764 | 20.73% |
6 | Uttar Dinajpur | 3,007,134 | 1,501,170 | 49.92% |
7 | Nadia | 5,167,600 | 1,382,682 | 26.76% |
8 | Birbhum | 3,502,404 | 1,298,054 | 37.06% |
9 | Howrah | 4,850,029 | 1,270,641 | 26.20% |
10 | Kolkata | 4,496,694 | 926,414 | 20.60% |
11 | Hooghly | 5,519,145 | 870,204 | 15.77% |
12 | Purba Medinipur | 5,095,875 | 743,436 | 14.59% |
13 | Cooch Behar | 2,819,086 | 720,033 | 25.54% |
14 | Paschim Medinipur | 5,913,457 | 620,554 | 10.49% |
15 | Jalpaiguri | 3,872,846 | 445,817 | 11.51% |
16 | Dakshin Dinajpur | 1,676,276 | 412,788 | 24.63% |
17 | Bankura | 3,596,674 | 290,450 | 8.08% |
18 | Purulia | 2,930,115 | 227,249 | 7.76% |
19 | Darjeeling | 1,846,823 | 105,086 | 5.69% |
According to the census , there were around 24.6 million Muslims living in West Bengal, comprising 27% of the state's population. Nearly most of them , about 22 million are native Bengali Muslims, constituting around 90% of the total Muslim population in the state, and are mostly concentrated in rural and Semi Urban areas. The Urdu-speaking Muslims from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh constitute rest , numbering around 2.6 million and are mainly concentrated in Kolkata, Asansol, Islampur subdivision of West Bengal.