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a former province in NE India, now divided between India and Bangladesh.
Compare East Bengal, West Bengal.
Bay of, a part of the Indian Ocean between India and Burma (Myanmar).
a raw silk from Bengal.
a fabric, especially one made of silk and hair.
a fabric, similar to muslin, with printed stripes.
Contemporary Examples

On May 20, when she is sworn in, she will have stormed a male bastion to become Bengal’s first woman chief minister.
Mamata Banerjee, India’s Political Superwoman Shoma Chaudhury May 17, 2011

Then, as Bengal slid into internecine chaos, Banerjee raised an inspired call: “Poriborton!”
Mamata Banerjee, India’s Political Superwoman Shoma Chaudhury May 17, 2011

Across Bengal, those who had once deemed her an affront have voted her in with a thumping majority.
Mamata Banerjee, India’s Political Superwoman Shoma Chaudhury May 17, 2011

Pity the poor Zanesvillians who had to batten down the hatches to avoid being eaten by the 18 free-roaming Bengal tigers.
Lights, Camera, Cocktails Brody Brown October 21, 2011

Outnumbered five to one in Britain, Scots made up 60 percent of the merchants in Bengal, Calcutta and Madras.
Scotland’s ‘Yes’ Campaign and the Myth of Scottish Equality Noah Caldwell September 17, 2014

Historical Examples

With the exception of Bengal, this district is more plentifully supplied with rivers than any other part of India.
The Story of the Cotton Plant Frederick Wilkinson

At Shabkadr a charge of the 13th Bengal Lancers was more than successful.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force Sir Winston S. Churchill

He boasted that every public office, without exception, which existed when he left Bengal was his creation.
Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3) Thomas Babington Macaulay

Hockheimer glared like a Bengal tiger about to spring upon its prey.
Vivian Grey Earl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli

It was he who persuaded the pundits of Bengal to disclose the treasures of Sanskrit to European scholars.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 1 Various

noun
a former province of NE India, in the great deltas of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers: in 1947 divided into West Bengal (belonging to India) and East Bengal (Bangladesh)
Bay of Bengal, a wide arm of the Indian Ocean, between India and Myanmar
a breed of medium-large cat with a spotted or marbled coat

region in South Asia, named for its people, said to be from Banga, name of a founding chief. It is attested in Europe as far back as Marco Polo (1298), who wrote of Bangala.