Soham Bandyopadhyay

Bengal was the base of the Britishers in India. While the other regions of India (Madras Presidency, Bombay Presidency, United Provinces etc.) contributed to the British Treasury, Bengal Presidency was the most productive for the British. While most of the Bombay and Madras Presidency businesses were owned by Indians (Parsi, Gujarati and Chettiar merchants), British/European businesspeople held them in Bengal Presidency.
In this happy time (for the British businessmen) emerged the Bengal Renaissance. From Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Vidyasagar to J C Bose and Vivekananda and beyond, stalwarts emerged in various fields exposing Bengali people to progressive thoughts.
This uplifting movement soon had freedom advocates emerging from all parts of India (and Bengal Presidency in particular). Calcutta now was no longer a tranquil base for British/European business people. As the capital of British India, Calcutta was the prime target for revolutionaries who wanted Freedom.
In this environment, the British resorted to their old policy of Divide-and-rule. The partition of Bengal was suggested to divide the population-based on religion (though the British said that it was a move aimed at improving administration).
The people revolted, and the partition of Bengal was rolled back. But the seed of partition of India had been sowed.