Categories: History

English Bazar in Colonial Bengal: An Urban History of Malda (1813-1947)

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<p>India has a long history of urbanization from the time of the Indus Valley civilization to the modern age and it bears specific characteristics relating to their historical circumstances. The urban centre that de-vel­oped in Malda district of West Bengal during the period specified is categorically different from urbanization in the pre-colonial period. The urbanization at Lakhnauti in Bengal is archaeologically not very notable. The second urbanization that started there in the thirteenth century was the beginning of the process of urbanization in Malda and was identical to the features of any Muslim capital centric urban centre. The first British urban establishment that took place in the district during the pre-colonial phase originated with the establishment of the commercial factory of the East-India Company at English Bazar in 1680. However a new type of urbanization took place after the formation of the Malda district in 1813. The nucleus of the administrative headquarters was located in the pre-colonial English settlement area popularly known as English Bazar. The gradual expansion of the city necessitated by administration and the need to accommodate the influx of migrants over the years from different areas of Bengal led the district to assume a definite shape after establishment of the English Bazar Municipality in 1869. This book is an important contribution to the literature on the urbanization of colonial India at the micro level. It discusses conceptual as well as theoretical issues relating to urbanization urban experiences of pre-colonial and colonial India and the origin and growth of the English Bazar town. About the Author Rupan Sarkar is an Associate Professor of History at P.D. Women’s College Jalpaiguri West Bengal. A scholar of urban history he com-ple­ted his Ph.D. on the subject and has published a book in Bengali entitled Nagarayaner Tin Parbo: Prachin Madhaya Oponibeshik. He has also published several articles on urban history in reputed journals.</p>

Rethinking Bihar and Bengal: History, Culture and Religion

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<p>This book is a collection of some of the published papers of the author published mostly abroad and unravels some significant yet hitherto neglected aspects of history culture and religion of Bihar and Bengal: two areas that were connected through an intricate network of rivers. Themes looked into are: early historic urbanisation in the Mithila plains of North Bihar; the social history of Brahmanical religious institutions (temples and Ma]thas) in early medieval Bihar and Bengal; the social history of Buddhist monasticism in early medieval Bihar and Bengal; the integration of a local goddess into the institutional fabric of Mahayana Buddhism; the survival of Buddhism in the thirteenth and fourteenth century ad; pilgrimage from Central India and Deccan to a Hindu pil­grimage centre of Bihar in the medieval period; and the debate on the Islamisation of medieval eastern Bengal. About the Author Birendra Nath Prasad is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi where he teaches social history of religion in India and Southeast Asia. His publications include Monasteries Shrines and Society: Buddhist and Brahmanical Religious Institutions in India in their Socio-Economic Context (edited Delhi 2011); Buddhism in a Poly-Religious Context: An Archaeological History of Buddhist Brahmanical and Jaina Religious Centres in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal (Delhi 2021); Social History of Indian Buddhism: New Researches (edited Delhi 2021 forth­coming) and many peer-reviewed research articles in prestigious international journals such as Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies (Oxford) Buddhist Studies Review (London) Religions of South Asia (London/Sheffield) and Berlin Indological Studies.</p>

The Gulistan of Shaikh Sa'di Shirazi

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<p>Thirteenth-century Persian poet Shaikh Sa'di Shirazi's classic twin-volume Gulistan (Rose Garden) and Bostan (The Orchard) offer anec­dotes (hikayats) in prose and poetry comprising words of wisdom including political advice on responsibilities of rulers and examples of good or bad governance. Written in a period of political flux caused by violent emergence of Changez Khan's Mongol hordes which created widespread anxieties and horrendous bloodbath Sa'di's work provides valuable insights on a whole gamut of themes and issues relevant even in modern times. Politically good work is remembered in posterity and history bad is mocked and forgotten. There has been a wide admiration for Shaikh Sa'di and his literary masterpieces in India since his own lifetime the tumultuous thirteenth century when poets like Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan Sijzi proudly followed his style. The lasting appreciation for Sa'di continues with publication of translations of his work including this reprint of a late-nineteenth-century English translation of Gulistan by Major R.P. Anderson. This book will be of much interest to scholars of Persian language and literature norms of comportment and political ideals in medieval and early modern Iran Central Asia and the Indian sub­continent. About the Author Major R.P. Anderson served in the Lucknow Garrison of the English East India Company during the siege of 1857. Raziuddin Aquil teaches medieval and early modern history in the University of Delhi.</p>

Wild Races of South-Eastern India

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<p>Rising from the rice swamps and level land of Chittagong District now in Bangladesh there stretches out a vast extent of hilly and mountainous country inhabited by various hill tribes. The author discusses the cli­mate the bazars where they bartered their produce for such items as salt spices dried fish etc. found only in plains the flora and fauna especially descriptions of valuable forest trees medicinal plants varieties of bamboos and canes their mode of cultivation (jhum cultivation which is a form of slash and burn agriculture) and com­munity life. It also contains descriptions of the British interaction with the hill tribes their exploitation by the Hindu mahajans the origin of the tribes living there believed to be of Burmese extraction their habits customs religion festivals attire marriage ceremony social habits and language. The author fondly describes them as lovable simple honest who do not believe in the accumulation of wealth and believe in perfect social equality. About the Author Thomas Herbert Lewin (1839-1916) travelled to India as a Lieutenant and was involved in several campaigns to put down the Indian Mutiny. His appointment as Political Agent for the unregulated Hill Tracts meant that he became in effect the Governor of the Lushai and Chittagong Hill Tracts. On the basis of his experiences there he wrote The Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers There (1869) and The Wild Races of South Eastern India (1870).</p>

Sind: A Re-Interpretation of the Unhappy Valley

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<p>This book is an attempt to write the history of the Sind valley. Inscriptions and archaeological findings have hardly been able to add much to our knowledge of her past. Geographical factors have played a destructive part the extent of which is difficult to gauge. In spite of the falsities that pass for facts the fiction that so boldly masquerades as truth the conflicting theory of the savants so numerous the author has meticulously verified every reference right from native to European records. He has also examined the records of the East India Company and European travellers. The reader will get a glimpse of the Indus the Rann of Cutch Debal Bakhar Tatha the Alor Bund and the Sumrahs. Besides there is an essay on the Alexandrian tradition Khwajah Khizr the island shrine the Daryapanthis the Indus boat and Mathelo one of the oldest sites in Sind. About the Author James Abbott (1807-96) was a British Army officer and administrator in colonial India. He was commissioned as a cadet in the Bengal Artillery at the age of 16. In 1827 he was promoted to the post of lieutenant and made adjutant to the Sirhind Division of Artillery and finally to the rank of General. The Pakistani city of Abottabad is named after him.</p>

A New Account of the East-Indies ( 2 Vol Set )

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<p>Little is known of Captain Alexander Hamilton. First published in 1727 this book is both an invaluable source of information on South-East Asia at the time and a lively travelogue of Hamilton's adventurous sea­faring life in the service of the East India Company and independently between 1688 and 1723. He writes of encounters with pirates the Portuguese and of a poisoning in Malacca and vivid descriptions of the countries he visited – from Africa to Japan east coast of India Sumatra Java Thailand Cambodia and China – and their social customs religions trade and commerce. His maps and illustrations enhance the value of his narrative. About the Author Alexander Hamilton was a Scottish sea captain privateer and merchant. On his arrival at Bombay in 1688 he was briefly pressed into the service of British East India Company to take part in a local war. Later he set up as a private trader operating from Surat. He was subsequently appointed as Commander of the British Marine in 1717.</p>

Travels in South-Eastern Asia (Set of 2 Vols)

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<p>The author was sent out on a Missionary tour by an American Missionary Society but he felt that though his special attention was directed to the prospects of the Mission the political and economic relations with the countries which he visited had immense bearing on the progress of the cause. This work accordingly contains the remarks of an acute and enlightened observer on the state of society and manners commerce and natural products of some of the most interesting parts of India the Far East and Africa as it would be of immense help to other missionaries. About the Author Rev. Howard Malcom (1799-1879) was an American educator and Baptist Minister. In 1835 he went on missions to India Burma Malaya Siam China and Africa.</p>

Notes on the History and Antiquities of Chaul and Bassein

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<p>First published in 1876 this book traces the history and antiquities of two of the earliest European settlements in India – Chaul and Bassein which after having attained the heights of luxury and power had at the time of writing this book declined to the position of a 'City of the Dead'. Chaul was an ancient city on the mainland of North Konkan and Bassein was an island 29 miles from Bombay. The history of Chaul and Bassein is connected with the origin and growth of the area which was later known as Greater Bombay. About the Author Jose Gerson da Cunha was a Goan physician who specialized in obstetrics and also achieved international renown as an orientalist historian linguist and numismatist. Writing in English instead of Portuguese which most Goans did in those days gained him greater recognition amongst English readers.</p>

Through Unknown Tibet

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<p>First published in 1898 this book is about a journey that the author made in 1896 which took him from India across to Tibet and then to China. As with all travelogues written during this age there are descriptions of everything that the author saw heard and experienced while travelling. There are notices on the people anecdotes and accounts of their daily lives customs folklore local politics geographical and meteorological readings personal experiences interactions with friendly as well as hostile natives etc. The 79 photographs in the book enhance its reading pleasure. About the Author M.S. Wellby (1866-1900) was a Captain of 18th Royal Hussars.</p>

A Lady's Diary of the Siege of Lucknow: Written for the Perusal of Friends at Home

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<p>This book is a personal account by G. Harris (Mrs James P. Harris) of the siege of Lucknow during the Mutiny of 1857. It chronicles on a day-to-day basis the experiences of those within the Residency’s battered walls and vividly recreates the days between 15 April 1857 to 3 January 1858 in the form of diary entries. The diary gives short narrations of the trials that the besieged British colonialists faced there. The conflict became an abiding symbol of the spirit and fortitude of the men and women that made the British Empire. About the Author James P. Harris came to Lucknow with her husband in March 1857 only a few weeks before the Sepoy outbreak. Her diary entries provide valuable insight into the suffering of the English families in Lucknow at the time of the siege.</p>