1st Edition

The Bengal Diaspora Rethinking Muslim migration

304 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

304 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

304 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

India’s partition in 1947 and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 saw the displacement and resettling of millions of Muslims and Hindus, resulting in profound transformations across the region. A third of the region’s population sought shelter across new borders, almost all of them resettling in the Bengal delta itself. A similar number were internally displaced, while others moved to the Middle... Read more

Introduction 1. Pre-histories of Mobility and Immobility: The Bengal delta and the ‘eastern zone’, 1857-1947 2. Dispositions and Destinations in the Bengal Muslim Diaspora, 1947-2007 3. Belonging, Status, and Religion: Migrants on the ‘peripheries’ 4. Making Home: Claiming and contesting diasporic space in Britain 5. ‘Always/already migrants’: Brides, marriage, and migration 6. Building a tazia, Becoming a paik: ‘Bihari’ identity amid a hostile Bengali universe 7. Rituals of Diaspora: The Shahid Minar and the struggle for diasporic space 8. Narrating Diaspora: Community histories and the politics of assimilation. Conclusion

Biography

Claire Alexander is Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, UK. Her publications include The Art of Being Black (1996) and The Asian Gang (2000).

Joya Chatterji is Professor of South Asian History at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her publications include Bengal Divided (1995) and The Spoils of Partition (2007), and she is the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of the South Asian Diaspora (2014).

Annu Jalais is Assistant Professor of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore. Her publications include Forest of Tigers (2010).