East
India is a region of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar,
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. Historic
region of Bengal which was ruled by Nawabs of Bengal comprises present
Bihar,Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bangladesh from where British started
their conquest of India.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 Chhota 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 Chhattisgarh 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 Nanda, Maurya, Kharavela, Sunga,
Kalinga, Gupta 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 form 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.East India was at the
heart of the ancient Sena, Magadha, Maurya and Kalinga empires.
