Editing West Bengal (section)

== Etymology ==
{{Main|Names of Bengal}}
The origin of the name [[Bengal]] (''Bangla'' and ''Bongo'' in [[Bengali language|Bengali]]) is unknown. One theory suggests the word derives from "Bang", the name of a [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] tribe that settled the region around 1000{{nbsp}}BCE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/4.htm |title=Bangladesh: early history, 1000&nbsp;B.C.–A.D. 1202 |date=September 1988 |work=Bangladesh: A country study |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date = 2 March 2012 |quote=Historians believe that Bengal, the area comprising present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, was settled in about 1000 B.C. by Dravidian-speaking peoples who were later known as the Bang. Their homeland bore various titles that reflected earlier tribal names, such as Vanga, Banga, Bangala, Bangal and Bengal. |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170615070625/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/4.htm |archive-date = 15 June 2017}}</ref> The Bengali word ''Bongo'' might have been derived from the ancient [[Vanga kingdom|kingdom of ''Vanga'']] (or ''Banga''). Although some early [[Sanskrit literature]] mentions the name ''Vanga'', the region's early history is obscure.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marshman |first=John Clark |author-link = John Clark Marshman |title=Outline of the History of Bengal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=845eAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1 |year=1865 |publisher=[[John Clark Marshman]] |page=1 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171204062800/https://books.google.com/books?id=845eAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1 |archive-date = 4 December 2017}}</ref>

In 1947, at the end of [[British Raj|British rule]] over the [[Indian subcontinent]] the [[British Bengal Legislative Council|Bengal Legislative Council]] and the [[Bengal Legislative Assembly (1937—1947)|Bengal Legislative Assembly]] voted on the [[Partition of Bengal (1947)|Partition of Bengal]] along religious lines into two separate entities: West Bengal, which continued as an [[States and union territories of India|Indian state]] and [[East Bengal]], a province of [[Pakistan]], which came to be known be as [[East Pakistan]] and later became the independent [[Bangladesh]].{{sfn|Mukherjee|1987|p=230}}{{sfn|Chakrabarty|2004|p=142}}

In 2011 the [[Government of West Bengal]] proposed a change in the official name of the state to Paschim Banga ({{langx|bn|পশ্চিমবঙ্গ}} ''Pôshchimbônggô'').<ref>{{cite news |title=West Bengal may be renamed PaschimBanga |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2373155.ece |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India |date=19 August 2011 |access-date = 7 February 2012 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120121204545/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2373155.ece |archive-date = 21 January 2012}}</ref> This is the native name of the state, literally meaning "western Bengal" in the native Bengali language. In August 2016 the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]] passed another resolution to change the name of West Bengal to "Bengal" in [[English language|English]] and "Bangla" in Bengali. Despite the [[Trinamool Congress]] government's efforts to forge a consensus on the name change resolution, the [[Indian National Congress]], the [[Left Front (West Bengal)|Left Front]] and the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] opposed the resolution.<ref name="namec">{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Assembly-drops-West-renames-State-as-Bengal/article14596751.ece |title=Assembly drops West, renames State as Bengal |date=29 August 2016 |work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=4 January 2018 |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225084838/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Assembly-drops-West-renames-State-as-Bengal/article14596751.ece|archive-date=25 December 2016}}</ref> However, the central government has turned down the proposal maintaining the state should have one single name for all languages instead of three and it should not be the same as that of any other territory (pointing out that the name 'Bangla' may create confusion with neighbouring [[Bangladesh]]).<ref name="namec" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/mar/29/foreign-ministry-turns-down-mamata-banerjees-bangla-for-west-bengal-1587394--1.html |title=Foreign ministry turns down Mamata Banerjee's 'Bangla' for West Bengal |work=[[The New Indian Express]]|access-date=20 December 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051528/http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/mar/29/foreign-ministry-turns-down-mamata-banerjees-bangla-for-west-bengal-1587394--1.html|archive-date=22 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/west-bengal-to-send-another-proposal-to-centre-on-changing-its-name/story-VaJhR4kFv9WhaYEk6QmQKI.html |title=West Bengal to send another proposal to Centre on changing its name |date=8 September 2017 |work=[[Hindustan Times]]|access-date=20 December 2017 |language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051404/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/west-bengal-to-send-another-proposal-to-centre-on-changing-its-name/story-VaJhR4kFv9WhaYEk6QmQKI.html|archive-date=22 December 2017}}</ref>