AT:INDIATourism.

is a region of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar^[2][3], Jharkhand, and Orissa. The states of Orissa and West Bengal share some cultural and linguistic characteristics with Bangladesh and with the state of Assam. Together with Bangladesh, West Bengal formed the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal before Partition in 1947.

The bulk of the region lies on the east coast of India by the Bay of Bengal, and on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhand, on the Chota Nagpur plateau, is a hilly and a heavily forested state rich in mineral wealth. The region is bounded by the Nepal and Sikkim Himalayas in the north, the states of Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh on the west, the state of Andhra Pradesh in the south and the Bay of Bengal on the east.

The region was the historical centre of the Maurya, Kalinga,Utkal,Gajapati,Sunga and Pala empires that ruled much of the Indian sub-continent at their prime. In medieval India, it was incorporated into the Mughal and then the British empire. After independence in 1947, the states joined the Indian Union and took their current from after the States Reorganization Act of 1956. Today, they continue to face problems of overpopulation, environmental degradation and pervasive corruption despite significant economic and social progress.

 

History

East India was at the heart of the ancient Magadha ,Maurya and Kalinga empires.

It was the birthplace of Buddhism. Gautam Buddha received enlightenment in Bodh Gaya. After the Kalinga War The Maurya king Ashoka send out emissaries to spread Buddhism across Asia. The famous university of Nalanda was in East India. Chinese travellers visited Buddhist and Hindu temples and libraries in the universities of Magadha Empire.The Emperor of Kalinga Mahameghavahana Aira Kharavela was one the most powerful monarch of ancient India.

Islamic invasions in the 13th century resulted in the collapse of Hindu kings and most Buddhists, especially in East Bengal, converted to Islam. East India including Bihar and West Bengal was part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries.Orissa remained a powerful Hindu dynasty under the rule of Soma/Keshari Dynasty,Eastern Ganga Dynasty,Surya Dynasty till the end of 16th century.

With the arrival of the Europeans in the 17th century, outposts were established in Orissa Coast and Bengal. The European traders established their trade centers in the famous ports of Balasore,Pipili,Palur in the Orissa Coast during the rule of the last independent Hindu king Gajapati Prataprudra Dev.The Portuguese were in Chittagong, Dutch in Chinsura, French in Pondicherry and the English founded Calcutta. In 1756, the British East India Company defeated the local Indian Muslim rulers in Plassey and established British Rule in the subcontinent. Its capital Calcutta grew into one of the world's greatest ports. Tea from Calcutta was off-loaded by American separatists in the American War of Independence in the 1770s. In the 19th century, Calcutta's traders and merchants traded with the rest of the British Empire, continental Europe, the United States and China. Indentured Indian labourers from Bihar, sailed to new homes in Fiji, Mauritius, Guyana, Surinam and South Africa.

India's independence movement had strong roots in East India. The feudal land system, established through the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was unpopular. The Indian War of Independence in 1857 started in Bengal. British war propaganda asserted there were atrocities by the mutinous soldiers in the Black Hole of Calcutta. Eventually the British prevailed and Calcutta remained capital of Britain's Asian dominions until 1911. The Indian Congress was founded in Calcutta. During Mahatma Gandhi's freedom movement, the Bihari village of Champaran was an important supporter of non-violent resistance. Great poets of the stature of Rabindranath Tagore championed the movement for self-rule.

The Partition also had its roots in undivided East India. The Muslim League was founded in Dhaka. After wide spread communal violence during the Direct Action Day protests in Calcutta, leading to further communal violence across British India, the creation of Pakistan became inevitable. In 1947, further communal violence displaced millions as independence and partition of British India occurred. Some Bihari and Bengali Muslims fled to the newly created East Pakistan. Most East Bengal Hindus fled to India.

The 1950s saw industrial progress in East India. These were cut short with the conflict in neighbouring East Pakistan and by the Communist movement at home. In 1971, in the course of Bangladesh's independence struggle, millions of refugees poured into East India. In 1977 the Communist party came to power in West Bengal.

Bihar and Orissa struggled with economic issues but developed steadily. Jharkhand became a separate state in the 1990s. The economic boom since 1991 started to spread new malls, highways, airports and IT office complexes, but not evenly across the region.

 

Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks - East India

Kaziranga National Park (Assam)
Elephant grass and swamps; one horned Indian rhinoceros, water buffalo, tiger, leopard, elephant, deer, rich bird life. Elephant transport available within the park. Airports: Jorhat 96km, Guwahati 217km. Railhead: Furkating 78km. Season: February-May. Accommodation: Within the Park.

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (Assam)
On the Bhutan border, rain forest and grassland and river banks; rhino, water buffalo, tiger, elephant, golden langur, water birds; fishing permitted. Airport: Gauhati 176km. Railhead: Barpeta 40km. Season: January-March. Accommodation: Within the sanctuary.

Palamau Tiger Reserve (Bihar)
Rolling, forested hills; tiger, leopard, elephant, sambar, jungle cat, rhesus macaque (monkey), occasionally wolf. Airport: Ranchi 155km. Railhead: Daltenganj 19km. Season: February-March. Accommodation: At Betla.

Hazaribagh National Park (Bihar)
Sal forested hills; sambar, nilgai, cheetal, tiger, leopard, occasionally muntjac (lager barking deer). Airport: Ranchi 100km. Railhead: Hazaribagh 67km. Season: February-March. Accommodation: Within the Park.

Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (West Bengal)
Mangrove forests; tiger, fishing cat, deer, crocodile, dolphin, rich bird life, Transport: access and travel by chartered boat. Airport: Kolkata (Calcutta) 48km. Season: February - March. Accommodation: None available in or near the sanctuary.

Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary (West Bengal)
Tropical forest and grassland; rhino, elephant, rich bird life. Airport: Bagdogra 155km, Railhead: Madari Hat 11 km. Season: March - May. Accommodation: Rest House at Jaldapara.

Similipal Tiger Reserve (Orissa)
Immense Sal forest; tiger, elephant, leopard, sambar, cheetal, muntjac and chevrotain. Airport: Bhubaneshwar 310km. Railhead: Baripada 50km. Season: November- June. Accommodation: Several Tourist Rest Houses in the vicinity

Thank more article in : www.india-tourism.com , www.wikipedia.org