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Bay of Bengal

April 28, 2021
kamruzzaman
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The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between Sangaman Kanda, Sri Lanka and the north westernmost point of Sumatra (Indonesia). It is the largest water region called a bay in the world. There are countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal in South Asia and Southeast Asia. In ancient Classical India, the Bay of Bengal was known as Kalinga Sagar (Kalinga Sea).[3][4] Later during the British India, it came forth as the Bay of Bengal after the historic Bengal region, as the Port of Kolkata served as the gateway to the Crown rule in India. Cox’s Bazar, the longest sea beach in the world and Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest and the natural habitat of the Bengal tiger, are located along the bay.

History[edit]

Ross Island, in the Andamans, was one of the main naval bases of India during World War II

Northern Circars occupied the western coast of the Bay of Bengal and is now considered to be India’s Madras state. Chola dynasty (9th century to 12th century) when ruled by Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I occupied and controlled the Bay of Bengal with Chola Navy circa AD 1014, The Bay of Bengal was also called the Chola Sea or Chola Lake.[3] The Kakatiya dynasty reached the western coastline of the Bay of Bengal between the Godavari and the Krishna rivers. Kushanas about the middle of the 1st century AD invaded northern India perhaps extending as far as the Bay of Bengal. Chandragupta Maurya extended the Maurya Dynasty across northern India to the Bay of Bengal. Hajipur was a stronghold for Portuguese Pirates. In the 16th century the Portuguese built trading posts in the north of the Bay of Bengal at Chittagong (Porto Grande) and Satgaon (Porto Pequeno).[10]

Geostrategic importance[edit]

The Bay of Bengal is centrally located in South and Southeast Asia. It lies at the center of two huge economic blocks, the SAARC and ASEAN. It influences China’s southern landlocked region in the north and major sea ports of India and Bangladesh. China, India, and Bangladesh have forged naval cooperation agreements with Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia to increase cooperation in checking terrorism in the high seas.[23]

Image of United States ships participating in the Malabar 2007 naval exercise. Aegis cruisers from the navies of Japan and Australia, and logistical support ships from Singapore and India in the Bay of Bengal took part.

Its outlying islands (the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) and, most importantly, major ports such as Paradip Kolkata, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Tuticorin, Chittagong, and Mongla, along its coast with the Bay of Bengal added to its importance.[24]

China has recently made efforts to project influence into the region through tie-ups with Myanmar and Bangladesh.[25] The United States has held major exercises with Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and recently India.[26][27][28][29] The largest ever wargame in Bay of Bengal, known as Malabar 2007, was held in 2007 and naval warships from US, Bangladesh, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Australia took part. India was a participant.

Large deposits of natural gas in the areas within Bangladesh’s sea zone incited a serious urgency by India and Myanmar into a territorial dispute.[23] Disputes over rights of some oil and gas blocks have caused brief diplomatic spats between Myanmar and India with Bangladesh.

The disputed maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar resulted in military tensions in 2008 and 2009. Bangladesh is pursuing a settlement with Myanmar and India to the boundary dispute through the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.[3

Islands[edit]

Havelock Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The islands in the bay are numerous, including the Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands and Mergui Archipelago of India and Myanmar. The Cheduba group of islands, in the north-east, off the Burmese coast, are remarkable for a chain of mud volcanoes, which are occasionally active.[34]

Great Andaman is the main archipelago or island group of the Andaman Islands, whereas Ritchie’s Archipelago consists of smaller islands. Only 37, or 6.5%, of the 572 islands and islets of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are inhabited.[35]

Marine biology, flora and fauna[edit]

A spinner dolphin in Bay of Bengal

Tachypleus gigas in Odisha

The Bay of Bengal is full of biological diversity, diverging amongst coral reefs, estuaries, fish spawning and nursery areas, and mangroves. The Bay of Bengal is one of the World’s 64 largest marine ecosystems.

Kerilia jerdonii is a sea snake of the Bay of Bengal. Glory of Bengal cone (Conus bengalensis) is just one of the seashells which can be photographed along beaches of the Bay of Bengal.[48] An endangered species, the olive ridley sea turtle can survive because of the nesting grounds made available at the Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary, Gahirmatha Beach, Odisha, India. Marlin, barracuda, skipjack tuna, (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna, Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa chinensis), and Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) are a few of the marine animals. Bay of Bengal hogfish (Bodianus neilli) is a type of wrasse which live in turbid lagoon reefs or shallow coastal reefs. Schools of dolphins can be seen, whether they are the bottle nose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata) or the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris). Tuna and dolphins usually reside in the same waters. In shallower and warmer coastal waters the Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) can be found.[49][50]

The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve provides sanctuary to many animals some of which include the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), giant leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), and Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis kamaroma) to name a few.

Another endangered species royal Bengal tiger is supported by Sundarbans a large estuarine delta that holds a mangrove area in the Ganges River Delta.[51][52]

Tropical storms and cyclones[edit]

Main article: Tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal

Cyclone Sidr at its peak near Bangladesh

A tropical storm with rotating winds blowing at speeds of 119 km/h (74 mph) is called a cyclone when they originate over the Bay of Bengal, and called a hurricane in the Atlantic.[55] Between 100,000 and 500,000 residents of Bangladesh were killed because of the 1970 Bhola cyclone.

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