Editing History of Bangladesh (section)

=== British rule ===
[[Image:Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757 by Francis Hayman.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Clive]]'s victory in Bengal marked the beginning of British colonial dominance in South Asia]]
The British goal was to increase the productivity of the Bengali economy. They experimented on Bengal's administration and economy. The results of some of the experiments were not always successful. The increased taxation in Bengal's unstable climate was a calamity. The taxation was not eased even during the drought and floods of 1769–1770.  Along with unmonitored exploitation this caused a severe famine, in which it is believed ten million residents of Bengal died.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=57}}</ref>

The Mughal State was disintegrated, causing the principal governor of Bengal to become the ''de facto'' ruler.<ref name="WVS2002">{{cite journal |last1=van Schendel |first1=Willem |title=Stateless in South Asia: The Making of the India-Bangladesh Enclaves |journal=[[The Journal of Asian Studies]] |date=February 2002 |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=115–130 |doi=10.2307/2700191 |jstor=2700191 |s2cid=56506815 |url=https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/3501679/153272_201293.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/3501679/153272_201293.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |author1-link=:nl:Willem van Schendel }}</ref><ref name="SWWH1876">{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=William Wilson |author-link=William Wilson Hunter |title=A Statistical Account of Bengal |date=1876 |pages=414– |edition=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Zb6vQEACAAJ&q=hunter+1876+A+Statistical+account+of+Bengal+volume+10 |access-date=13 February 2019 |language=en |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116112331/https://books.google.com/books?id=_Zb6vQEACAAJ&q=hunter+1876+A+Statistical+account+of+Bengal+volume+10 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="RCM1997"/> After a replacement was sought by the British East India Company, in the mid-eighteenth century, the border of [[Cooch Behar]] was marked the northernmost limit of British Territory.<ref name="WVS2002"/><ref name="SWWH1876"/><ref name="RCM1997"/> Cooch Behar survived as a princely state till the end of the colonial rule, this was due to the indirect ruling of the British expedition in 1772, when it invaded and conquered the territory: the Maharaja and his administration were thence retained under the control of a British political agent.<ref name="WVS2002"/><ref name="SWWH1876"/><ref name="RCM1997">{{cite book |last1=Majumdar |first1=Ramesh Chandra |author-link=R. C. Majumdar |title=Ancient India |date=1977 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=[[Delhi|Bungalow Road, Delhi]] |isbn=9788120804364 |page=518 |edition=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNxiN5tzKOgC |access-date=13 February 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Capital amassed from Bengal by the East India Company was invested in various industries such as [[Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution|textile manufacturing]] in [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] during the initial stages of the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref name="tong">{{cite book |last=Tong |first=Junie T. |year=2016 |title=Finance and Society in 21st Century China: Chinese Culture Versus Western Markets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UQGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |publisher=CRC Press |page=151 |isbn=978-1-317-13522-7}}</ref><ref name="esposito">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Esposito |editor-first=John L. |editor-link=John L. Esposito |encyclopedia=The Islamic World: Past and Present |title=Great Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZcohRpc4OsC&pg=PT190 |access-date= |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=1 |page=174 |isbn=978-0-19-516520-3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220230104/https://books.google.com/books?id=KZcohRpc4OsC&pg=PT190 |archive-date=20 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ray">{{cite book |last=Ray |first=Indrajit |year=2011 |title=Bengal Industries and the British Industrial Revolution (1757-1857) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHOrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |publisher=Routledge |pages=7–10 |isbn=978-1-136-82552-1 |access-date=20 January 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116111751/https://books.google.com/books?id=CHOrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="sengupta">
{{cite news |last=Sengupta |first=Shombit |date=8 February 2010 |title=Bengals plunder gifted the British Industrial Revolution |url=http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/bengals-plunder-gifted-the-british-industrial-revolution/576476/ |newspaper=[[The Financial Express (India)|The Financial Express]] |location=Noida, India |access-date=2 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801120317/http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/bengals-plunder-gifted-the-british-industrial-revolution/576476/ |archive-date=1 August 2017 |url-status=live}}
</ref> Company policies in Bengal also led to the [[deindustrialization]] of the Bengali textile industry during Company rule.<ref name="tong"/><ref name="ray"/>

The famine disaster made British officials look for viable methods of tapping into the colony's resources. In 1790, the British introduced "permanent settlement" and made it law three years later. It was a framework for taxation on land. The system was the core of the colonial form of government. It was an agreement between the British and the zamindars who were effectively given landholdings in exchange for timely payment of taxes.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=58}}</ref> The aim of the permanent settlement was that the zamindars would eventually invest in the development of agriculture and improve the economy of Bengal. The aim did not materialise because the zamindars did not have state backing for agrarian growth and because of newfound ways of generating wealth. A multilayered form of landholdings developed, which benefited from the land's revenue. This structure was most pronounced in the southern areas of modern Bangladesh. The permanent settlement scheme deprived peasants of any proprietary rights over the land.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=59}}</ref>

While Muslims had comprised most of the landlord class during Mughal rule, Hindus became prominent during the colonial rule. While Muslim landlords and Hindu occupants did exist, eastern Bengal witnessed an amalgamation of religion with class, with Hindu landlords presiding over mainly Muslim peasants. Hindu landlords were also prominent in western Bengal, but most peasants there were Hindus. This factor would become politically important by the end of the colonial rule.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 60">{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=60}}</ref>

Another change during British rule was the system of cash cropping. During colonial rule cash cropping was organised and produced for international markets. It was significant because of the links it created between the Bengali countryside's economy with markets in Asia and Europe.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 60"/> Because of cash cropping the eastern region of modern Bangladesh emerged as the centre for jute cultivation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|pages=60–63}}</ref> The western portion of modern Bangladesh produced silk and sugar. The northern areas produced tobacco. Crops were associated with specific types of land organisation. Peasantry in the eastern areas were compelled by financial needs towards market production. The countryside's elite in the western and northern areas were protected from the immediate impact of market factors because they provided agrarian credit.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=63}}</ref>

The British abandoned the former official language, Persian, in the 1830s and English medium educational institutions prepared a small part of the Bengali elite for jobs in the lower and middle tiers of government.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 64">{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=64}}</ref> Muslims took up the British improvements more slowly and lagged behind the Hindus educationally and commercially. Hindus comprised most of the college students.<ref name="Baxter 1997 29">{{cite book|last=Baxter|first=Craig|year=1997|title=Bangladesh: From A Nation to a State |publisher=Westview Press|page=29|isbn=978-0-813-33632-9}}</ref> There were changes in health. The population growth during colonial rule was because people had more knowledge of hygiene and increased access to hospitals and medication. Transport became less reliant on the rivers with the construction of bridges and railways. Improvements in technology aided communications. Despite the government's authoritarian form, the British tried out limited democratic systems in the later part of their rule due to political constraints.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 64"/>

A vital development under British rule was the rise of Calcutta to political and cultural prominence.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 64"/> It became colonial India's capital. From 1757 to 1931 the Government of India was located in the city. Aspiring Bengalis migrated to Calcutta and obtained education and government employment. They are known to historians as the "bhodrolok" and high caste Hindus comprised most of them.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=65}}</ref> Old centers such as Dhaka and Murshidabad declined while the trading class became concentrated in Calcutta.<ref name="Baxter 1997 29"/>

The authoritarian regime functioning in alliance with the rural elite was susceptible to resistance and revolts happened frequently during the British rule. However, British rule in Bengal faced no threat by the second half of the 1800s. Bengal did not participate in the 1857 revolt which nearly ended British administration over large swathes of India. While there was a revolt by troops in Chittagong it dwindled because the landlords and peasants did not support the rebellion.<ref>{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=77}}</ref> Instead political grievances nor revolved around peasant rights and the commercialization of agriculture. The struggle was usually characterised by peasants and the middle class in opposition to the landlords, Western businessmen and the British administration. Many campaigns eventually ended the indigo industry. These were led by Wahhabi-influenced Islamic missionaries.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 78">{{cite book|author=Willem van Schendel|title=A History of Bangladesh|date=12 February 2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511997419|page=78}}</ref>

There had been prominent Hindu reformist movements in the early 1800s but no equivalent Muslim movement. A departure from this rule was the Faraizi movement which Haji Shariatullah started in 1828. It was a conservative Islamic movement grounded in Wahhabi ideology. It opposed the exaltation of saints and the repression by landlords and indigo traders. Shariatullah regarded India as a dar al-harb and thus believed that festivals and Friday prayers should cease. His heir, Dudu Mia, expanded the movement and claimed that the landlords did not possess permanent land rights. The Faraizi movement eventually ended after his demise.<ref>{{cite book|last=Baxter|first=Craig|year=1997|title=Bangladesh: From A Nation to a State |publisher=Westview Press|page=30|isbn=978-0-813-33632-9}}</ref>

Titu Mir led another Wahhabi campaign at the same time as the Faraizi movement. This movement was violent and opposed to the British presence. He died in 1831 during a confrontation with the British. Two years later his followers supported indigo farmers in a clash against the European planters and Hindu landlords. The protest was ultimately muted by 1860 when the peasants were granted more security.<ref>{{cite book|last=Baxter|first=Craig|year=1997|title=Bangladesh: From A Nation to a State |publisher=Westview Press|page=31|isbn=978-0-813-33632-9}}</ref> But not all rural rebellions were inspired by religion.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 78"/>

By the late 1800s parts of the elite and peasants became politically connected. This link was to become a crucial prototype of later campaigns in Bengal. The movement for self determination joined communist and nationalist movements, several of which were associated with all-India organisations.<ref name="Willem van Schendel 78"/>