Women in Mahabharata - Sudeshna (Bengal)
She is the wife of a King Bali [sometimes identified with the Asura king Bali himself] who used to rule in the areas that are the modern-day West Bengal and Bangladesh, areas that were in the Vedic times (and also to a lesser degree in Mahabharata) considered 'impure'.
When Maamateya Deerghatama's wife and children, on account of his hyper-sexuality, tie him up and set him afloat on a raft in the waters of Ganga, King Bali rescues him.
Knowing his reputation as a mantra-drashta Vedic rishi, Bali desires to have children with his DNA, and he instructs his wife Sudeshna to do the needful.
Sudeshna however is repulsed by the rishi's appearance and sends her attendant Aushinari to him instead.
Later, forced by the king, she has five children with Deerghatama named- Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma, who go on to establish the well-known cluster of the five Eastern kingdoms spread over the modern-day states of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. This story is noted by many researchers as a metaphor for the ongoingaaryayana (aryafication) of this region.
These group of kingdoms lie primarily on the same side throughout history (whichever side that may be) and are closely linked in their history and culture. When the British take over after defeating Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, this rough stretch of land is still referred to in the same breath as the Sub-e-Bangla.