This is a study of agricultural development in undivided Bengal during the period 1920-1946. The first part of the book is devoted to a close examination of the quality of the officially published crop statistics and a detailed analysis of the trends in cropped area, output and yield per acre. Particular topics discussed are the gradual deterioration in per capita crop production and the economic roots of the Bengal famine in 1943. The second part of the book deals with the factors that directly or indirectly affected crop trends. Amongst these are the effect of crop prices on area sown. Trends in physical capacity of Bengal agriculture are analysed and compared with those in the visible supply of labour and crop output. The problem of agricultural credit is discussed and the progress of the Co-operative credit movement evaluated.
Presenting the grand sweep of Indian history from antiquity to the present, A History of India is a detailed and authoritative account of the major political, economic, social and cultural forces that have shaped the history of the Indian subcontinent. Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund provide a comprehensive overview of the structural pattern of Indian history, covering each historical period in equal depth. Fully revised throughout, the sixth edition of this highly accessible book has been brought up to date with analysis of recent events such as the 2014 election and its consequences, and includes more discussion of subjects such as caste and gender, Islam, foreign relations, partition, and the press and television. This new edition contains an updated chronology of key events and a useful glossary of Indian terms, and is highly illustrated with maps and photographs. Supplemented by a companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/kulke), it is a valuable resource for students of Indian history.
The essays in this volume examine the nature and extent of disease on indigenous communities and local populations located within the vast regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a result of colonial sea power and colonial conquest. While this established a long-term impact of disease on populations, the essays also offer insights into the dynamics of these populations in resisting colonial intrusions and introduction of disease to newly-acquired territories.
This study is an attempt to show how religious, kinship and factional ties cut across class alignments, leading to the communalization of class struggle between the peasants and the exploiting classes in East Bengal during 1920-1947. "During a substantial stay in some East Bengal villages in the summer of 1971, when East Pakistan was in the traumatic process of being transformed into Bangladesh, it first dawned upon me that peasants were not stupid, devoid of political consciousness. Discussions with different types of peasants revealed that at least the upper echelons were aware of the implications of the liberation struggle for Bangladesh and the superpower involvement in it. Richard Nixon and Indira Gandhi were familiar names. Ordinary peasants often quoted the Bengali news readers and commentators of the BBC world service and the Voice of America. Well-to-do peasants who owned transistor radio sets regularly tuned into the British, American and Indian radio stations. Many inquisitive and worried peasants asked me (then a fresh graduate from Dhaka University) how their cherished Sonar Bangla (golden Bengal) would improve their socio-economic conditions. Many peasants also took part in the liberation struggle as members of the Mukti Bahini or freedom fighters. Almost everyone, with a few exceptions who collaborated with the Pakistan armed forces, was a keen supporter of Bangladesh. After the emergence of Bangladesh, things did not change to the expectations of the masses, but rather deteriorated so much that Henry Kissinger is said to have coined the phrase ''bottomless basket"" as a denotation for Bangladesh, because of the rampant corruption of a big section of the Bengali bourgeoisie at that time. I was provoked to write the history of the peasants' glorious role in the Liberation Struggle which was being overshadowed by claims and counter-claims of heroism and sacrifice by members of the privileged, parasitical urban elites. This work may be regarded as a prelude to the history of the freedom struggle that eventually led to the creation of Bangladesh. This is an attempt to shed light on the peasant politics, almost synonymous with Muslim politics in the region, during the significant period between 1920 and 194 7 when East Bengal was going through the political process that culminated in the creation of East Pakistan in 194 7."
Dr Kozlowski's important study pioneers a fresh approach to the study of a critical Muslim institution: the endowments or awqaf which almost everywhere in the Islamic world provide support for mosques, schools and shrines. The wealthier Muslims who establish endowments inevitably have an eye on social, political and economic conditions and have traditionally used awqaf as part of an effort to preserve their wealth and influence, especially in periods of change and uncertainty. The book focuses on the use of endowments by Muslims suffering the dislocations caused by the imposition of British rule in India and examines in detail the social and political implications of the controversy over endowments that took place in the imperial courts and councils. The author's observations and insights can be applied to many periods and places in the Muslim world and his novel approach will attract all those interested in the study of Islam.
In The State and Poverty in India the author argues cogently that well-organised, left-of-centre parties in government are the most effective in implementing reform.
