Britons in Bangladesh

Last updated

The British diaspora in Bangladesh has historically played a significant role due to the impacts of British colonialism.

Contents

History

Pre-colonial era

Before the 1757 Battle of Plassey which resulted in Bengal falling to the British East India Company, there were likely less than two hundred British people in the region; some of them were Company servants working in the factories, while others lived in Calcutta. [1] The Company was perceived in a poor light by local rulers by the early 18th century; its officials' behaviour was characterised by brawls and foul language, and its construction of military forts was seen as a potential threat. Alivardi Khan, Nawab of Bengal, was petitioned by several groups to drive the British out, but on one such occasion, likened Europeans to a hive of bees that would provide honey if unprovoked, but "sting you to death" otherwise. [2] Company servants, for their own part, had low views of local rulers, supposing them to be despotic and corrupt. Some Company officials believed that if they were in charge, they could enact quick reforms in Bengal that would allow for greater wealth generation and extraction. [3]

Colonial era

One writer claimed that in the first decades after 1757, the British had transformed from "pettifogging traders quarreling over their seats in church [...] into imperialist swashbucklers and large scale extortionists. [4] [2] A number of economic experiments were attempted to extract as much income as possible from Bengalis; these experiments aimed not only to take wealth but to also generate more wealth in the local economy that could be taken. [5]

Contemporary era

There have been concerns around Islamism being imported into Bangladesh through the return migration of British Bangladeshis. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal</span> Region in the eastern Indian subcontinent

Bengal is a historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between the modern-day sovereign nation of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, and some parts of Assam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Bangladesh</span>

The history of Bangladesh dates back over four millennia to the Chalcolithic period. The region's early history was characterized by a succession of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms and empires that fought for control over the Bengal region. Islam arrived in the 8th century and gradually became dominant from the early 13th century with the conquests led by Bakhtiyar Khalji and the activities of Sunni missionaries like Shah Jalal. Muslim rulers promoted the spread of Islam by building mosques across the region. From the 14th century onward, Bengal was ruled by the Bengal Sultanate, founded by Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah, who established an individual currency. The Bengal Sultanate expanded under rulers like Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, leading to economic prosperity and military dominance, with Bengal being referred to by Europeans as the richest country to trade with. The region later became a part of the Mughal Empire, and according to historian C. A. Bayly, it was probably the empire's wealthiest province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent</span> Era in South Asia characterized by Muslim rule

The Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent or Indo-Muslim period is conventionally said to have started in 712, after the conquest of Sindh and Multan by the Umayyad Caliphate under the military command of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. It began in the Indian subcontinent in the course of a gradual conquest. The perfunctory rule by the Ghaznavids in Punjab was followed by Ghurids, and Sultan Muhammad of Ghor is generally credited with laying the foundation of Muslim rule in Northern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Company rule in India</span> Rule of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent (1757–1858)

Company rule in India refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established their first trading post in India in 1612, and gradually expanded their presence in the region over the following decades. During the Seven Years' War, the East India Company began a process of rapid expansion in India which resulted in most of the subcontinent falling under their rule by 1857, when the Indian Rebellion of 1857 broke out. After the rebellion was suppressed, the Government of India Act 1858 resulted in the EIC's territories in India being administered by the Crown instead. The India Office managed the EIC's former territories, which became known as the British Raj.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siraj-ud-Daulah</span> Last independent Nawab (ruler) of Bengal from 1756 to 1757

Mir Syed Jafar Ali Khan Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah, commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Bengal and later almost all of the Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Indian people</span> Ethnic group or cultural group identification

Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Anglo-Indian" has also encompassed other European and Indian ancestries. Anglo-Indians' first language is usually English. Prior to 1911, various designations like "Eurasian" or "Indo-Briton" were used to describe this community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic history of India</span>

Around 500 BC, the Mahajanapadas minted punch-marked silver coins. The period was marked by intensive trade activity and urban development. By 300 BC, the Maurya Empire had united most of the Indian subcontinent except Tamilakam, which was ruled by the Three Crowned Kings. The resulting political unity and military security allowed for a common economic system and enhanced trade and commerce, with increased agricultural productivity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Bengal</span>

The history of Bengal is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Karimganj district, located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, at the apex of the Bay of Bengal and dominated by the fertile Ganges delta. The region was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Gangaridai, a powerful kingdom whose war elephant forces led the withdrawal of Alexander the Great from India. Some historians have identified Gangaridai with other parts of India. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers act as a geographic marker of the region, but also connects the region to the broader Indian subcontinent. Bengal, at times, has played an important role in the history of the Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Renaissance</span> 1800s–1930s socio-cultural and religious reform movement in Bengal, Indian subcontinent

The Bengal Renaissance, also known as the Bengali Renaissance, was a cultural, social, intellectual, and artistic movement that took place in the Bengal region of the British Raj, from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Historians have traced the beginnings of the movement to the victory of the British East India Company at the 1757 Battle of Plassey, as well as the works of reformer Raja Rammohan Roy, considered the "Father of the Indian Renaissance," born in 1772. Nitish Sengupta stated that the movement "can be said to have … ended with Rabindranath Tagore," Asia's first Nobel laureate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nawabs of Bengal</span> Governors of Eastern India and Bengal in the 18th-century

The Nawab of Bengal was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the de facto independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which constitute the modern-day sovereign country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. The Bengal Subah reached its peak during the reign of Nawab Shuja-ud-Din Muhammad Khan. They are often referred to as the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The Nawabs were based in Murshidabad which was centrally located within Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. Their chief, a former prime minister, became the first Nawab. The Nawabs continued to issue coins in the name of the Mughal Emperor, but for all practical purposes, the Nawabs governed as independent monarchs. Bengal continued to contribute the largest share of funds to the imperial treasury in Delhi. The Nawabs, backed by bankers such as the Jagat Seth, became the financial backbone of the Mughal court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Bengal famine of 1770</span> Famine affecting lower regions of India in 1770

The Great Bengal famine of 1770 struck Bengal and Bihar between 1769 and 1770 and affected some 30 million people, which was about ⅓ of the current population of the area. It occurred during a period of dual governance in Bengal. This existed after the East India Company had been granted the diwani, or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal by the Mughal emperor in Delhi, but before it had wrested the nizamat, or control of civil administration, which continued to lie with the Mughal governor, the Nawab of Bengal Nazm ud Daula (1765-72).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidencies and provinces of British India</span> 1612–1947 British directly-ruled administrative divisions in India

The states of India, earlier presidencies of India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British Indian governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods:

The Singranatore family is the consanguineous name given to a noble family in Rajshahi of landed aristocracy in erstwhile East Bengal and West Bengal that were prominent in the nineteenth century till the fall of the monarchy in India by Royal Assent in 1947 and subsequently abolished by the newly formed democratic Government of East Pakistan in 1950 by the State Acquisition Act.

The role and scale of British imperial policy during the British Raj on India's relative decline in global GDP remains a topic of debate among economists, historians, and politicians. Some commentators argue that the effect of British rule was negative, and that Britain engaged in a policy of deindustrialisation in India for the benefit of British exporters, which left Indians relatively poorer than before British rule. Others argue that Britain's impact on India was either broadly neutral or positive, and that India's declining share of global GDP was due to other factors, such as new mass production technologies or internal ethnic conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asia</span> Subregion of Asia

South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. With a population of 2.04 billion living in South Asia, it contains a quarter (25%) of the world's population. As commonly conceptualised, the modern states of South Asia include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, with Afghanistan also often included, which may otherwise be classified as part of Central Asia. South Asia borders East Asia to the northeast, Central Asia to the northwest, West Asia to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. Apart from Southeast Asia, Maritime South Asia is the only subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. The British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of the Maldives in South Asia lie entirely within the Southern Hemisphere. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian subcontinent and is bounded by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir Mountains in the north.

The Economy of India under Company rule describes the economy of those regions that fell under Company rule in India during the years 1757 to 1858. The British East India Company began ruling parts of the Indian subcontinent beginning with the Battle of Plassey, which led to the conquest of Bengal Subah and the founding of the Bengal Presidency, before the Company expanded across most of the subcontinent up until the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistani nationality law</span>

Pakistani nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of Pakistan. The primary law governing these requirements is the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, which came into force on 13 April 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali Hindus</span> Ethno-linguistic and religious population from India and Bangladesh

Bengali Hindus are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, and Assam's Barak Valley region. In Bangladesh, they form the largest minority. They are adherents of Hinduism and are native to the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Comprising about one-third of the global Bengali population, they are the largest ethnic group among Hindus. Bengali Hindus speak Bengali, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and adhere to Shaktism or Vaishnavism of their native religion Hinduism with some regional deities. There are significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus in different Indian states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Subah</span> Subdivision of the Mughal Empire

The Bengal Subah, also referred to as Mughal Bengal and Bengal State, was the largest subdivision of Mughal India encompassing much of the Bengal region, which includes modern-day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and some parts of the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha between the 16th and 18th centuries. The state was established following the dissolution of the Bengal Sultanate, a major trading nation in the world, when the region was absorbed into the Mughal Empire. Bengal was the wealthiest region in the Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kulin Kayastha</span> Sub-caste of the Kayastha caste in West Bengal, India

Kulin Kayastha is a sub-caste of the Bengali Kayastha caste in Bengal region of Indian subcontinent. They are also known as the Kulina Kayasthas.

References

  1. Ghosh, Suresh Chandra (1979). The Social Condition of the British Community in Bengal: 1757-1800. Brill Archive.
  2. 1 2 Indian Response to Early Western Contacts in Bengal, 1650 - 1756 Brijen K. Gupta
  3. Travers, Robert (2005). "Ideology and British expansion in Bengal, 1757–72". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 33 (1): 7–27. doi:10.1080/0308653042000329997. ISSN   0308-6534.
  4. Kopf, David (2023-04-28). British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance: The Dynamics of Indian Modernization 1773-1835. Univ of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-31717-8.
  5. Schendel, Willem van, ed. (2009), "The British impact", A History of Bangladesh, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 57–66, doi:10.1017/CBO9780511997419.008, ISBN   978-0-511-99741-9 , retrieved 2024-10-08
  6. "How Britain exports Islamist extremism to Bangladesh". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 2024-10-08.