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Chapter 6 - British Legacies

from Part II - Colonial Encounters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2021

Willem van Schendel
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Amsterdam
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Summary

European rule brought the people of Bengal economic upheaval, a social shake-up and a cultural kick in the teeth. The British were unlike the Mughals – they wanted more than just to extract Bengal’s riches. It was their ambition to transform Bengal’s economy to make it yield them much more income. To this end they subjected the population of Bengal to an endless series of social, administrative and economic experiments. Among these were ‘permanent settlement’, a system of land rights and taxation that enabled the British to distance their administration from the vagaries of nature, climate and social upheaval in the Bengal delta. They had a rural gentry collect the colonial taxes on their behalf. Other institutions of rule and commodity production for far-flung markets further shaped local society. An important legacy was the transformation of religious identities – notably Hindu and Muslim – into political ones, creating the ‘communal’ politics that are still prominent in Bangladesh.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • British Legacies
  • Willem van Schendel, Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Book: A History of Bangladesh
  • Online publication: 17 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108684644.008
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  • British Legacies
  • Willem van Schendel, Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Book: A History of Bangladesh
  • Online publication: 17 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108684644.008
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • British Legacies
  • Willem van Schendel, Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Book: A History of Bangladesh
  • Online publication: 17 June 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108684644.008
Available formats
×