Britons in Bangladesh

The British diaspora in Bangladesh has historically played a significant role due to the impacts of British colonialism.

History

Pre-colonial era

Before the 1757 Battle of Plassey which resulted in Bengal falling to the British East India Company, there were likely less than two hundred British people in the region; some of them were Company servants working in the factories, while others lived in Calcutta.^[1] The Company was perceived in a poor light by local rulers by the early 18th century; its officials' behaviour was characterised by brawls and foul language, and its construction of military forts was seen as a potential threat. Alivardi Khan, Nawab of Bengal, was petitioned by several groups to drive the British out, but on one such occasion, likened Europeans to a hive of bees that would provide honey if unprovoked, but "sting you to death" otherwise.^[2] Company servants, for their own part, had low views of local rulers, supposing them to be despotic and corrupt. Some Company officials believed that if they were in charge, they could enact quick reforms in Bengal that would allow for greater wealth generation and extraction.^[3]

Colonial era

One writer claimed that in the first decades after 1757, the British had transformed from "pettifogging traders quarreling over their seats in church [...] into imperialist swashbucklers and large scale extortionists.^[4]^[2] A number of economic experiments were attempted to extract as much income as possible from Bengalis; these experiments aimed not only to take wealth but to also generate more wealth in the local economy that could be taken.^[5]

Contemporary era

There have been concerns around Islamism being imported into Bangladesh through the return migration of British Bangladeshis.^[6]

References

^ Ghosh, Suresh Chandra (1979). The Social Condition of the British Community in Bengal: 1757-1800. Brill Archive.
^ ^a ^b Indian Response to Early Western Contacts in Bengal, 1650 - 1756 Brijen K. Gupta
^ Travers, Robert (2005). "Ideology and British expansion in Bengal, 1757–72". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 33 (1): 7–27. doi:10.1080/0308653042000329997. ISSN 0308-6534.
^ Kopf, David (2023-04-28). British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance: The Dynamics of Indian Modernization 1773-1835. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-31717-8.
^ Schendel, Willem van, ed. (2009), "The British impact", A History of Bangladesh, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 57–66, ISBN 978-0-511-99741-9, retrieved 2024-10-08
^ "How Britain exports Islamist extremism to Bangladesh". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-10-08.

[1] Ghosh, Suresh Chandra (1979). The Social Condition of the British Community in Bengal: 1757-1800. Brill Archive.

[:0-2] Indian Response to Early Western Contacts in Bengal, 1650 - 1756 Brijen K. Gupta

[3] Travers, Robert (2005). "Ideology and British expansion in Bengal, 1757–72". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 33 (1): 7–27. doi:10.1080/0308653042000329997. ISSN 0308-6534.

[4] Kopf, David (2023-04-28). British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance: The Dynamics of Indian Modernization 1773-1835. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-31717-8.

[5] Schendel, Willem van, ed. (2009), "The British impact", A History of Bangladesh, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 57–66, ISBN 978-0-511-99741-9, retrieved 2024-10-08

[6] "How Britain exports Islamist extremism to Bangladesh". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-10-08.

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