Exactly 100 years from the Great Battle of Plassey, almost to the day, came the Mutiny of 1857. Through a little bit of daring and a whole lot of cunning the British won that too, and to rub salt into our wounds the British crown took over the reigns from the East India Company. Enclaves began to be let, demarcated, and transferred on someone else’s whims but not before they were – again by way of habit – scrupulously notified, as was the case on September 13, 1876 when, through The Calcutta Gazette, one came to know that 19 villages of Dinajpur had suddenly been transferred to the district of Rangpur. The land transfer and appropriation game continued unabated until 1905, when the pastime reached an altogether higher level. Bengal was divided. Enclave-ridden districts such as Rangpur and Jalpaiguri now came under the East Bengal province (that included Assam) while Cooch Behar went to Bengal. The division resulted in a Hindu majority (in Bengal) and a Muslim majority (in East Bengal & Assam). Bengal erupted. Vande Mataram was on every Bengali’s lips. Fearing a mass uprising, the British reorganised Bengal in 1912. Assam was given separate status as were Bihar and Orissa. Cooch Behar once again found itself firmly entrenched from all sides, with Assam forming the new boundary on the right. We’ve had enough of this, the Brits must have thought, for they moved their capital to Delhi the same year, leaving Bengal to deal with the legacy of land disputes.