A significant number of refugees and migrants left East Bengal following the partition of Bengal as part of the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. Bengal was partitioned into the Indian state of West Bengal and the Pakistani province of East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan, which subsequently broke away from Pakistan to form the independent country of Bangladesh in 1947. Most of Sylhet district in Assam also joined East Pakistan and was subsequently considered to be East Bengal. The majority of East Bengali refugees settled in the new state of West Bengal, but a significant number also moved to the Barak Valley of Assam and the princely state of Tripura which eventually joined India in 1949. Around 0.5 million were also settled in other parts of India including Dandakaranya, the East Pakistan Displaced Persons' Colony (EPDP) in Delhi (subsequently renamed Chittaranjan Park) and Orissa. The estimated 0.5 million Bengalis in Delhi and 0.3 million in Mumbai are also largely comprised of East Bengali refugees and their descendants. East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly included the modern state of Bangladesh. ... West Bengal   (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ... East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly included the modern state of Bangladesh. ... East Pakistan was a former province of Pakistan which existed between 1955 and 1971. ... Shah Jalal Mazar (Tomb) Sylhet (Sylheti: Silôţ; Bengali: সিলেট, SileÅ£, formerly Srihôţţo) is a major city in north-eastern Bangladesh. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tripura Tripura/Tipra (Bengali: ত্রিপুরা, Hindi: त्रिपुरा) is a state in North East India. ... Delhi   (Hindi: , Urdu: ‎, Punjabi: ) is a metropolis in northern India. ... Mumbai (IPA: ,Marathi: मुंबई), formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, and the most populous city of India, with an estimated population of about 13 million (as of 2006)[1]. Mumbai is located on Salsette Island, off the west coast of Maharashtra. ...

The vast majority of East Bengali refugees and migrants were Hindus, though a significant number of Bengali Muslims opted to make their permanent base in West Bengal after partition despite having origins in what fell in the new Pakistan. Their reasons included ideology (in that they opposed the division of India on the basis of the Two-Nation theory emphasizing incompatibility of Hindus and Muslims), as well as professional and family ties.

Number of East Bengali refugees and migrants

The exact number of refugees has never been officially collected and estimates vary considerably.

In the immediate aftermath of partition, commonly attributed figures suggest around 3 million East Bengalis migrating to India and 864,000 migrants from India to East Pakistan. Indian government estimates suggest around 2.6 million migrants leaving East Bengal for India and 0.7 million migrants coming to East Pakistan from India.

In 1950, it is estimated that a further 1 million refugees crossed into West Bengal. The 1951 Census of India recorded that 27% of Kolkata's population comprised of East Bengali refugees.

Migration continued, primarily from East Pakistan to India, right up to the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, both on an on-going basis and with spikes during periods of particular communal unrest such as the 1964 riots and the 1965 India-Pakistan War, when it is estimated that 600,000 refugees left for India. Estimates of the number of refugees up to 1970 are over 5 million to West Bengal alone, with around 4.1 million coming between 1946-1958 and 1.2 million coming between 1959 and 1971.

Another major influx came in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It is estimated that around 10 million East Bengali refugees entered India during the early months of the war, of whom 1.5 million may have stayed back after Bangladesh became independent. Combatants Mukti Bahini India Pakistan Commanders • General M A G Osmani • General Jagjit Singh Aurora General A. A. K. Niazi Strength India: 500,000+ Mukti Bahini: 100,000[1][2] Pakistan Army: 365,000 Paramilitary: 280,000[1] Casualties India: 1,426 KIA 3,611 Wounded (Official) Mukti Bahini: NA...

The outflow of Hindus from East Bengal had a particularly negative effect on the Hindu community of East Pakistan and subsequently Bangladesh, as a significant portion of the region's educated middle class and political leadership left. The heights reached by many of the East Bengali migrants and their descendants, including Amartya Sen's Nobel Prize and Meghnad Saha's pioneering work in Astrophysics are considerable. Amartya Sen Dr. Amartya Kumar Sen CH (Hon) (Bengali: Ômorto Kumar Shen) (born 3 November 1933 in Santiniketan, India), is an economist and a winner of the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences (sometimes referred to informally as the Nobel Prize for Economics) in 1998, for his work on... Nobel Prize medal. ... Meghnad Saha (मेघनाथ साहा) (October 6, 1893 – February 16, 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist. ...

List of prominent East Bengali refugees and migrants

• Achintyakumar Sengupta (Noakhali; literature)
• Amartya Sen (Dhaka, economics/academia)
• Bijon Bhattacharya (Faridpur, cinema)
• Buddhadev Bose (Comilla; literature)
• Chuni Goswami (Kishoreganj; sports)
• Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed (Noakhali; politics, founder of Communist Party of India)
• Debabrata Biswas (Barisal, music)
• Jibananda Das (Barisal, poet)
• Jogendra Nath Mandal (Barisal; politics, First Law Minister, Pakistan (1947-1950)
• Jyoti Basu (Dhaka; politics, Chief Minister, West Bengal 1977-2000)
• Bimal Roy (Dhaka; cinema)
• Hemanga Biswas (Sylhet; music)
• Humayun Kabir (Faridpur; literature and academics)
• Ila Mitra (Khulna, human rights activist)
• Kazi Abdul Wadud (Faridpur; literature)
• Madhabi Mukherjee (???; cinema)
• Mahasweta Devi (Dhaka; literature, human rights)
• Meghnad Saha (Dhaka; science)
• Mrinal Sen (Faridpur; cinema)
• Narendranath Mitra (Faridpur; literature and journalism)
• Nirad Chaudhuri (Mymensingh; academia)
• Nirmalendu Chowdhury (Sylhet; music)
• Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi (Dinajpur, politics)
• Ritwik Ghatak (Dhaka; cinema)
• Pannalal Ghosh (Barisal; music)
• Sachin Dev Burman (Comilla; music)
• Suchitra Sen (Pabna, cinema)
• Sunil Ganguly (Faridpur; literature)
• Tulsi Lahiri (Rangpur; music and cinema)
• Ustad Alauddin Khan (Brahmanbaria; music)
• Ustad Bahadur Hossain Khan (Dhaka; music)
• Vilayat Khan (Mymensingh; music)
• Utpal Dutta (Barisal, theatre)

(please add to this list!) Amartya Sen Dr. Amartya Kumar Sen CH (Hon) (Bengali: Ômorto Kumar Shen) (born 3 November 1933 in Santiniketan, India), is an economist and a winner of the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences (sometimes referred to informally as the Nobel Prize for Economics) in 1998, for his work on... Subimal Goswami (January 15, 1938 - , commonly known by his nickname Chuni Goswami (Bengali: )is a Bengali footballer, and cricketer. ... Debabrata Biswas (Bangla: দেবব্রত বিশ্বাস) is one of the most well known (and controversial) exponents of Rabindra_Sangeet. ... Jibananda Das Bengali Poet. ... Jogendra Nath Mandal (Bangla: যোগেন্দ্রনাথ মণ্ডল) (1906–1956) was a Pakistani and Indian politician of Hindu Scheduled Caste and Bengali background, and a close follower of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a senior Dalit politician. ... Jyoti Basu (born July 8, 1914) is a Communist politician from West Bengal, India. ... Bimal Roy (July 12, 1909—January 7, 1966), nicknamed Bimalda, was one of the most successful Hindi film directors of all time. ... Humayun Kabir(1906-1969) was an Indian educationist, politician, writer, philosopher. ... Ila Mitra (Bangla: ইলা মিত্র) (1925-2002) was a legendary peasants movement organizer of the Indian Subcontinent, especially in Bengal (now Bangladesh). ... Madhabi Mukherjee is a famous Bengali film actress who starred in two of Satyajit Rays films Charulata and Mahanagar. ... Mahasweta Devi (born 1926 in Dacca now known as Bangladesh) is an Indian writer. ... Meghnad Saha (मेघनाथ साहा) (October 6, 1893 – February 16, 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist. ... Mrinal Sen (Bangla: মৄণাল সেন) is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. ... Nirad C. Chaudhuri (23 November 1897 – 1 August 1999) was born in Kishorganj in the Mymensingh district of East Bengal (now in Bangladesh). ... Shri Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi is a Member of the Parliament of India. ... Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Ghatak (1925 - 1976) was a Bengali Indian filmmaker. ... Pannalal Ghosh (1911-1960), also known as Amal Jyoti Ghosh, was a Bengali Indian bānsurÄ« player and composer. ... Sachin Dev Burman (Bengali: )(October 1, 1906 - October 31, 1975) (aka Burman da, also credited as Kumar Sachindra Deo Varman) was one of the most famous Bollywood music composers. ... Suchitra Sen Suchitra Sen (April 6, 1929) (Bangla: সুচিত্রা সেন) is a Bengali actress who has attained legendary status because of her performances in Bengali cinema. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline for Music. ... Vilayat Khan (Bangla: বিলায়েত খাঁ) (August 8, 1928–March 13, 2004) was an Indian virtuoso sitar maestro. ... Utpal Dutt (Bangla: উত্পল দত্ত) (March 29, 1929, Barisal in the then Undivided Bengal (now in Bangladesh)- August 19, 1993, Calcutta, India) was an Indian actor, director and writer. ...