Identity of a Muslim Family in Colonial Bengal: Between Memories and History

230 Pages·2021·10.234 MB·English

by  Mohammad Rashiduzzaman

Weaving personal remembrances with diverse sources including the author’s academic research I
d Mohammad Rashiduzzaman
and fi eld works, this book is an intriguing rural Muslim historiography in Colonial Bengal, a e
n
largely ignored swathe in South Asian history. The gripping true-life account is built around real t
i
t
y
people—not imagined characters. Between the twilight of the 19th century and nearly the fi rst

o
half of the 20th century, the Muslims in Colonial Bengal in India were haunted by their misgivings f

a
about an alien rule and its cohorts. The religiosity and identity questions, confl icting existential

M
urges, the spiraling Hindu-Muslim discord, the feudal constraints, and marginalization by the
u
bhadraloks swirled around them. Wracked by religious, cultural, social, and political confl icts, s
l
i
the old British Indian Bengal comes alive in this book’s intergenerational narrative. With its 9 m
main chapters plus a preface and introduction, this volume seeks out average individuals’ life F Identity
a
amidst such turmoil while it amplifi es the larger challenges of the Muslims in undivided Bengal. m
i
l
y
Not rigidly structured, the multi-layered recount has utilized variable ways and means of
i
n
research and innovative analysis. Authored by a well-published scholar on South Asia, this

C
extraordinary study of a rural Muslim family in pre-partition Bengal addresses scholars, students, o of a
l
and specialists as well as the general readers. Framed by the known historical milieu and backed o
n
by reliable oral narratives, qualitative interviews, authentic memoirs, and scholarly sources, this
i
a
is not a chronological memoir. Pertinent to the academics and refreshing to avid readers, this l
Muslim Family
B
recount touches a range of disciplines from history, culture, and politics to anthropology.
e
n
g
a
l

in

Mohammad Rashiduzzaman, M.A., Ph.D., a retired academic and Professor Emeritus in Political M
Science at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, USA, is a recognized scholar with a range
o
of publications on British India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. He completed his Ph.D. at the h
a Colonial Bengal
University of Durham, England in 1964; he taught at the University of Dhaka, now Bangladesh m
m
for a decade before he came to Columbia University for post-doctoral work from 1970 to 1973.
a
His previous works include The Central Legislature in British India, 1921–47: Parliamentary d

R
Experiences Under the Raj (Peter Lang, 2020), Politics and Administration in the Local Councils:
A Study of Union and District Councils in East Pakistan (1968), and Pakistan: A Study of a
s
Government and Politics (1967). He also authored numerous peer-reviewed articles on Pakistan, h Between Memories
i
d
Bangladesh, Muslim identity, and political Islam.
u
z
z
a and History
m
a
n
www.peterlang.com
9781433183195_cvr_eu.indd All Pages 06-Feb-21 12:32:39
Weaving personal remembrances with diverse sources including the author’s academic research I
d Mohammad Rashiduzzaman
and fi eld works, this book is an intriguing rural Muslim historiography in Colonial Bengal, a e
n
largely ignored swathe in South Asian history. The gripping true-life account is built around real t
i
t
y
people—not imagined characters. Between the twilight of the 19th century and nearly the fi rst

o
half of the 20th century, the Muslims in Colonial Bengal in India were haunted by their misgivings f

a
about an alien rule and its cohorts. The religiosity and identity questions, confl icting existential

M
urges, the spiraling Hindu-Muslim discord, the feudal constraints, and marginalization by the
u
bhadraloks swirled around them. Wracked by religious, cultural, social, and political confl icts, s
l
i
the old British Indian Bengal comes alive in this book’s intergenerational narrative. With its 9 m
main chapters plus a preface and introduction, this volume seeks out average individuals’ life F Identity
a
amidst such turmoil while it amplifi es the larger challenges of the Muslims in undivided Bengal. m
i
l
y
Not rigidly structured, the multi-layered recount has utilized variable ways and means of
i
n
research and innovative analysis. Authored by a well-published scholar on South Asia, this

C
extraordinary study of a rural Muslim family in pre-partition Bengal addresses scholars, students, o of a
l
and specialists as well as the general readers. Framed by the known historical milieu and backed o
n
by reliable oral narratives, qualitative interviews, authentic memoirs, and scholarly sources, this
i
a
is not a chronological memoir. Pertinent to the academics and refreshing to avid readers, this l
Muslim Family
B
recount touches a range of disciplines from history, culture, and politics to anthropology.
e
n
g
a
l

in

Mohammad Rashiduzzaman, M.A., Ph.D., a retired academic and Professor Emeritus in Political M
Science at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, USA, is a recognized scholar with a range
o
of publications on British India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. He completed his Ph.D. at the h
a Colonial Bengal
University of Durham, England in 1964; he taught at the University of Dhaka, now Bangladesh m
m
for a decade before he came to Columbia University for post-doctoral work from 1970 to 1973.
a
His previous works include The Central Legislature in British India, 1921–47: Parliamentary d

R
Experiences Under the Raj (Peter Lang, 2020), Politics and Administration in the Local Councils:
A Study of Union and District Councils in East Pakistan (1968), and Pakistan: A Study of a
s
Government and Politics (1967). He also authored numerous peer-reviewed articles on Pakistan, h Between Memories
i
d
Bangladesh, Muslim identity, and political Islam.
u
z
z
a and History
m
a
n
www.peterlang.com
9781433183195_cvr_eu.indd All Pages 06-Feb-21 12:32:39
Identity of a Muslim Family
in Colonial Bengal
This book is part of the Peter Lang Political Science, Economics, and Law list.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.
PETER LANG
New York • Bern • Berlin
Brussels • Vienna • Oxford • Warsaw
Mohammad Rashiduzzaman
Identity of a Muslim Family
in Colonial Bengal
Between Memories and History
PETER LANG
New York • Bern • Berlin
Brussels • Vienna • Oxford • Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rashiduzzaman, M., author.
Title: Identity of a Muslim family in colonial Bengal: between memories
and history / Mohammad Rashiduzzaman.
Description: New York: Peter Lang, 2021.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020033409 (print) | LCCN 2020033410 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-4331-8319-5 (hardback) | ISBN 978-1-4331-8320-1 (ebook pdf)
ISBN 978-1-4331-8321-8 (epub) | ISBN 978-1-4331-8322-5 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Rashiduzzaman, M.—Family. |
Muslims—India—Bengal—History—19th century. |
Muslims—India—Bengal—History—20th century. | Bengal
(India)—History—19th century. | Bengal (India)—History—20th century.
| Bengal (India)—Ethnic relations.
Classification: LCC DS485.B4512 M8735 2021 (print) | LCC DS485.B4512 (ebook) |
DDC 929.20954—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033409
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033410
DOI 10.3726/b17464

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

© 2021 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
80 Broad Street, 5th floor, New York, NY 10004
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
Dedicated to the memories of my parents and grandparents

Contents

Preface: Ways and Means of the Narrative ix
Acknowledgements xv
Introduction: Threads of Memories! 1
1: Weaving Contemporary and Comparable Memories 17
2: A Family Maverick: Existential Slog and Identity Encounters! 47
3: Nuri: A Virtuous Woman with a Voice of Her Own! 63
4: Achkan/Sherwani, Fez, Lungi or Dhoti? Identity and Dress 77
5: The Incredible Rezu Chacha: Quest for Sufism in a Rural Community? 91
6: Kaleidoscopic Rural Elites: Rai Sahebs/Khandans/Beparis? 107
7: Muslim Identity Imaginations: “Never Apologize for Being a Muslim!” 133
8: Eclectic Historiography: “Demise of Memories Is the End of History!” 161
viii | Identity of a Muslim Family in Colonial Bengal
9: Memories: A Cherag on the Edge of History! 185
Bibliography 199
Index 203