Until the landmark Land Boundary Agreement implementation on August 1, 2015, the India-Bangladesh border region of Cooch Behar contained the world's most convoluted web of enclaves, comprising 102 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh and 71 Bangladeshi enclaves inside India.
The World's Only 3rd-Order Enclave
The pinnacle of this cartographic maze was Dahala Khagrabari (#51). It was a 7,000-square-meter parcel of Indian farm land located inside a Bangladeshi enclave, which was itself situated inside an Indian enclave, which was located inside Bangladesh.
The Legend of Chess Stakes
Local folklore claims these fragmented boundaries originated from high-stakes chess games played centuries ago between the Maharaja of Cooch Behar and the Nawab of Rangpur, where villages were wagered as stakes. Historical research, however, attributes the boundary chaos to peace treaties signed in 1711 and 1713 between the Mughal Empire and the Kingdom of Cooch Behar.
Resolution in 2015
Because enclave residents were isolated from their home nations without access to electricity, schools, or police, India and Bangladesh ratified a historic agreement in 2015, swapping 162 enclaves and granting full citizenship rights to residents.