Bibliographical Essay

Summary

GENERAL SURVEYS

Valuable studies which enable the history of parts of the region to be seen in the context of its ecology are: R. Mukerjee, The Changing Face of Bengal: a Study in Riverine Economy (Calcutta, 1938) and N. Ahmad, An Economic Geography of East Pakistan (2nd edn, 1968). Two volumes of a collective history of Bengal cover the period with which this book is concerned: J.N. Sarkar (ed.), The History of Bengal: Muslim Period 1200-1757 (new edn, Patna, 1973) and N.K. Sinha (ed.), The History of Bengal 1757-1905 (Calcutta, 1969). The Cambridge Economic History of India, vol. lie 1757-c. 1970, ed. D. Kumar(2 vols., Cambridge, 1983) contains much material on eastern India during the period.

EASTERN INDIA UNDER THE NAWABS 1740-65

Some of the major contemporary histories and chronicles have been translated from Persian into English. The most famous is a translation of the Seir Mutaqherin of Ghulam Husain Khan, which first appeared in Calcutta in three volumes in 1789 and has been much reprinted. Other translations are: Riyaz us Salatin (trans. A. Salam, Calcutta, 1904); Tarikh-i-Bangala-i-Mahabatjangi (trans. A. Subhan, Calcutta, 1982); and the selection in Bengal Nawabs (trans. J.N. Sarkar, Calcutta, 1952). K.K. Datta has written a study of Alivardi Khan, Alivardi and his Times (Calcutta, 1939)- The political balance in Bengal is analysed in P. Calkins, 'The Formation of a Regionally Oriented Ruling Group in Bengal 1700-40', Journal of Asian Studies, XXIX (1970), 799-806. For Bengal's relations with the Mughal centre, see Z. Malik, Reign of Muhammad Shah 1719-48 (Delhi, 1977). J.H. Little's study, The House of Jagatseth (new edn, Calcutta, 1967) reveals much about both politics and economics. Other economic studies tend to be focussed on the European companies. O. Prakash's work is especially valuable in this respect, notably his 'Bullion for Goods: International Trade in the Economy of Early Eighteenth-century Bengal', Indian Economic and Social History Review, XIII (1976), 159-87. K.N. Chaudhuri's The Trading World of Asia and the English East India Company 1660- 1760 (Cambridge, 1978) is essential for an understanding of the impact of world trade on the region. Suggestive ideas on the pre-colonial economy can be found in F. Perlin, 'Proto-Industrialisation and Pre-Colonial South Asia', Past and Present, XCVIII (1983), 30-95