Around the 8th century, the Bengali language branched off from Magadhi Prakrit, a derivative of Sanskrit that was prevalent in the eastern region of the Indian Subcontinent at that time.[22] During the Sena period (11th – 12th century) the Bengali culture developed into a distinct culture, within the civilisation. Bengali Hindus were at the forefront of the Bengal Renaissance in the 19th century, the Bengal region was noted for its participation in the struggle for independence from the British rule.[23][24] At the time of the independence of India in 1947, the province of Bengal was partitioned between India and East Pakistan, part of the Muslim-majority state of Pakistan. Millions of Bengali Hindus numbering around 25,19,557 (1941–1951) have migrated from East Bengal (later Bangladesh) and settled in West Bengal and other states of India.[citation needed] The migration continued in waves through the fifties and sixties, especially as a results of the 1950 East Pakistan riots, which led to the migration of 4.5 million Hindus to India, according to one estimate.[25] The 1964 East-Pakistan riots caused an estimated 135,000 Hindus to migrate to India.[26] The massacre of East Pakistanis in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to exodus of millions of Hindus to India.
^Datta, Romita (13 November 2020). "The great Hindu vote trick". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2022. Hindus add up to about 70 million in Bengal's 100 million population, of which around 55 million are Bengalis.
^Goa, David J.; Coward, Harold G."Hinduism". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
^Jupp, James, ed. (2001). The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins. Cambridge University Press. p. 186. ISBN978-0-521-80789-0. Retrieved 20 May 2021. Bengali speakers in Australia in 1996 numbered 6553, of whom about half have originated from West Bengal and half from Bangladesh. In addition, there are some who speak English as a mother tongue ... There are no figures for those from West Bengal, but Bangladesh-born numbered 5077 ... there was a Christian minority of about one in ten and a smaller number of Hindus. Indian Bengalis, in contrast, are mainly Hindus.
^Seal, Anil (1968). The emergence of Indian nationalism: competition and collaboration in the later nineteenth century. London: Cambridge U.P. p. 43. ISBN9780521096522.