This is a list of rulers of Bengal. For much of its history, Bengal was split up into several independent kingdoms, completely unifying only several times. In ancient times, Bengal consisted of the kingdoms of Pundra, Suhma, Anga, Vanga, Rarh and Harikela. Along with Bihar, parts of northwestern Bengal were also incorporated into the kingdom of Magadha.
Under the Mauryas, much of Bengal was conquered save for the far eastern Bengali kingdoms which continued to exist as tributary states before succumbing to the Guptas. With the fall of the Gupta Empire, Bengal was united under a single local ruler, Shashanka, for the first time. With the collapse of his kingdom, Bengal split up into petty kingdoms once more.
With the rise of Gopala, Bengal was united once more under the Pala Empire, Chandra dynasty, Sena dynasty and deva dynasty. After them, Bengal was ruled by the Muslim dynasties followed by the British. In 1947, Bengal was partitioned, making West Bengal part of India and the East Bengal part of Pakistan. East Bengal then became an independent country, Bangladesh, following the Bangladesh Liberation War.
| Name | Reign | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nasiruddin Bughra Khan | 1281 –1291 | As governor of Lakhnauti in 1281–1287 and as independent Sultan in 1287–1291 |
| Rukunuddin Kaikaus | 1291–1300 | Divided the kingdom into two parts - Bihar and Lakhnauti |
| Shamsuddin Firoz Shah | 1300–1322 | First Muslim ruler to conquer Sonargaon region |
| Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah | 1322–1324 | Lost independence of Bengal to Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq |
| Name | Reign | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ilyas Shah | 1352–1358 | Became the first sole ruler of whole Bengal comprising Sonargaon, Satgaon and Lakhnauti. |
| Sikandar Shah | 1358–1390 | Assassinated by his son and successor, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah |
| Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah | 1390–1411 | |
| Saifuddin Hamza Shah | 1411–1412 | |
| Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah | 1412–1414 |
| Name | Reign | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Qutubuddin Koka | September 2, 1606 – 1607 | killed in a battle against Sher Afghan |
| Jahangir Quli Beg | 1607–1608 | In early life, a slave of Akbar's brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim |
| Islam Khan Chishti | 1608-1613 | first governor to transfer the Bengal capital to Dhaka on April 1612 |
| Qasim Khan Chishti | 1613-1617 | younger brother of Islam Khan Chishti |
| Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang | 1617-1624 | died in an attack by Prince Shahjahan |
| Mahabat Khan | 1625-1626 | |
| Mukarram Khan | 1626-1627 | |
| Fidai Khan | 1627-1628 |
British colonial period ended when India and Pakistan became independent nations in 1947. Bengal fell into two parts - one in India, named West Bengal and the other part in Pakistan as East Pakistan.
| # | Name | Took Office | Left Office |
| 1 | Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari | 1947 | 1948 |
| 2 | Kailash Nathi Katju | 1948 | 1951 |
| 3 | Harendra Coomar Mookerjee | 1951 | 1956 |
| 4 | Phani Bhusan Chakraborty | 1956 | 1956 |
| 5 | Padmaja Naidu | 1956 | 1967 |
| 6 | Dharma Vira | 1967 | 1969 |
| 7 | Deep Narayan Sinha | 1969 | 1969 |
| 8 | Shanti Swaroop Dhavan | 1969 | 1971 |
| 9 | Anthony Lancelot Dias | 1971 | 1979 |
| 10 | Tribhuvana Narayana Singh | 1979 | 1981 |
| 11 | Bhairab Dutt Pande | 1981 | 1983 |
| 12 | Anant Prasad Sharma | 1983 | 1984 |
| 13 | Satish Chandra | 1984 | 1984 |
| 14 | Uma Shankar Dikshit | 1984 | 1986 |
| 15 | Nurul Hasan | 1986 | 1989 |
| 16 | T. V. Rajeshwar | 1989 | 1990 |
| 17 | Nurul Hasan | 1990 | 1993 |
| 18 | B. Satyanarayan Reddy | 1993 | 1993 |
| 19 | K.V. Raghunatha Reddy | 1993 | 1998 |
| 20 | A.R. Kidwai | 1998 | 1999 |
| 21 | Shyamal Kumar Sen | 1999 | 1999 |
| 22 | Viren J. Shah | 1999 | 2004 |
| 23 | Gopalkrishna Gandhi | 2004 | 2009 |
| 24 | Devanand Konwar | 2009 | 2010 |
| 25 | Mayankote Kelath Narayanan | 2010 | present |
| Key: | INC Indian National Congress |
BC-UF Bangla Congress |
CPI(M) Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
|---|
| # | Name | Took Office | Left Office | Political Party |
| 1 | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | 15 August 1947 | 14 January 1948 | Indian National Congress |
| 2 | Bidhan Chandra Roy | 14 January 1948 | 1 July 1962 | Indian National Congress |
| President's rule | 1 July 1962 | 8 July 1962 | ||
| 3 | Prafulla Chandra Sen | 8 July 1962 | 15 March 1967 | Indian National Congress |
| 4 | Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | 15 March 1967 | 2 November 1967 | Bangla Congress in United Front |
| 5 | Prafulla Chandra Ghosh | 2 November 1967 | 20 February 1968 | Nonparty in Progressive Democratic Alliance Front |
| President's rule | 20 February 1968 | 25 February 1969 | ||
| 6 | Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | 25 February 1969 | 19 March 1970 | Bangla Congress in United Front |
| President's rule | 19 March 1970 | 2 April 1971 | ||
| 7 | Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee | 2 April 1971 | 28 June 1971 | Indian National Congress in coalition |
| President's rule | 28 June 1971 | 19 March 1972 | ||
| 8 | Siddhartha Shankar Ray | 19 March 1972 | 21 June 1977 | Indian National Congress |
| 9 | Jyoti Basu | 21 June 1977 | 6 November 2000 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Left Front |
| 10 | Buddhadeb Bhattacharya | 6 November 2000 | 13 May 2011 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Left Front |
| 11 | Mamata Banerjee | 20 May 2011 | Incumbent | All India Trinamool Congress |
| Tenure | Chief Minister of East Pakistan | Political Party |
|---|---|---|
| August 1955 - September 1956 | Abu Hussain Sarkar | Krishan Sramik Party |
| September 1956 - March 1958 | Ata-ur-Rahman Khan | Awami League |
| March 1958 | Abu Hussain Sarkar | Krishan Sramik Party |
| March 1958 - 18 June 1958 | Ata-ur-Rahman Khan | Awami League |
| 18 June 1958 - 22 June 1958 | Abu Hussain Sarkar | Krishan Sramik Party |
| 22 June 1958 - 25 August 1958 | Governor's Rule | |
| 25 August 1958 - 7 October 1958 | Ata-ur-Rahman Khan | Awami League |
In 7 October 1958, the post of Governor of East Pakistan was abolished. And after the independence of Bangladesh in 16 December 1971, the Province of East Pakistan was dissolved.
East Pakistan seceded from West Pakistan in 16 December 1971 and named Bangladesh as an independent nation.
| Name | Took Office | Left Office | Party | |
| 1 | Tajuddin Ahmed | 11 April 1971 | 13 January 1972 | Awami League |
| 2 | Sheikh Mujibur Rahman | 13 January 1972 | 26 January 1975 | Awami League |
| 3 | Mohammad Mansoor Ali | 26 January 1975 | 15 August 1975 | Awami League |
| 4 | Shah Azizur Rahman | 15 April 1979 | 24 March 1982 | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| 5 | Ataur Rahman Khan | 30 March 1984 | 9 July 1986 | Jatiya Party |
| 6 | Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury | 9 July 1986 | 27 March 1988 | Jatiya Party |
| 7 | Moudud Ahmed | 27 March 1988 | 12 August 1989 | Jatiya Party |
| 8 | Kazi Zafar Ahmed | 12 August 1989 | 6 December 1990 | Jatiya Party |
| 9 | Khaleda Zia, | 20 March 1991 | 30 March 1996 | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| 10 | Sheikh Hasina Wazed | 23 June 1996 | 15 July 2001 | Awami League |
| 11 | Khaleda Zia, 2nd term | 10 October 2001 | 29 October 2006 | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| 12 | Sheikh Hasina Wazed, 2nd term | 1 January 2009 | incumbent | Awami League |