Browsing by Author "Bhattacharya, Dahlia"

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Open Access
Bengali Diaspora in Burma: Dynamics of Political Interactions (1885-1948)
(University of North Bengal, 2011-03) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Open Access
Caricature in Print Media: A Historical Study of Political Cartoons in Colonial India (1872-1947)
(University of North Bengal, 2019-03) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
With the growth of print media in the nineteenth century there was development of national consciousness and social awareness among the middle class educated gentry of India. Thebeginning of cartoons started in India with the Colonial influence and gradually the visual culture became a significant part of the print media. The present paper intends to unfold a narration of the growth and development of political cartoons in India in the colonial period and to understand the representation of the then contemporary political situation with humour and caricature. The article tries to look into the racial arrogance, the colonial outlook towards Indians and a reaction of the Indians through the vernacular political cartoons.
Open Access
Crime, Criminality and Punishment in Colonial Darjeeling District
(University of North Bengal, 2017-03) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Crime is behaviour against the rules of the society by which it achieves the status of crime and individual is treated as criminal. In the pre-colonial period the concept of crime and criminality existed in an elaborate form in texts and scriptures. But the legal perception of crime and criminality in the British period is essentially a colonial construction. They adopted a new method of identifying crime and criminality and of punishment in colonial India. In this article the crimes and criminality in Darjeeling and the methods of imprisonment is highlighted.
Open Access
History of the Bengal settlers in burma (1826-1962) : their impact on the political economic and cultural life of Burma (Myanmar)
(University of North Bengal, 2013) Bhattacharya, Dahlia; Ghosh, Ananda Gopal
Open Access
In quest of a new destination: study of refugees, resettlement and rehabilitation in North Bengal with special reference to women (1947-79)
(University of North Bengal, 2018) Mitra Guha, Madhuparna,; Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Open Access
Living in Shadows : A Study of the Racial Discrimination and Injustice of the Indian Diasporic Community in Fiji (1879-1987)
(University of North Bengal, 2012-03) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Open Access
Migration, Urbanisation and Growth of Hill Town in Darjeeling: A Historical Study (1835-1950)
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Mandal, Chanchal; Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Open Access
Partition of India And Socio–Economic Transformations of the Mufassal Towns in Jalpaiguri District in the Post Colonial Period 1947 – 2011
(University of North Bengal, 2018) Bhowmik, Swapan Kumar,; Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Open Access
Shattered minds: Controlling the body in the lunatic asylums in colonial India (1858-1920)
(University of North Bengal, 2018-03) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Taming with discipline and confinement the ‘mentally ill’ was largely a colonial concept. The colonial government particularly after 1857 revolt became more concerned about the insane and in controlling insanity they passed Lunatic Acts and constructed asylums throughout the country. In identifying the lunatics the colonial institution used Victorian morality rather than clinical observation. The vagrants and beggars were the mostly classified as insane by the British which was in contrary to the Indian concept of saints and sages. The ganja smokers, hemp and alcohol addicted men were also identified as lunatics. The Victorian morality recognized ‘work’ as a therapy and the ‘mentally ill’ were made to work in the garden, carpentry, grinding wheat and other works leading to monetary gain. The funds were applied to maintain the asylums, sometimes the local jails and led to profit for the British. The paper seeks to look into the colonial policy towards the asylums and the hard work imposed upon the lunatics leading to asylum ‘industries’ and how it received a new direction of economic gains.
Open Access
Step towards Liberation: Re-Visiting the English Writings of Begum Rokeya
(University of North Bengal, 2020-12) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Open Access
Taming the Mind : Women in the Lunatic Asylums of Colonial Bengal
(University of North Bengal, 2021) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
The Lunatic Asylums in the colonial period did not have proper medical treatment or identification of female patients. The infrastructural facilities for the women were not given attention by the asylums.The Victorian morality recognized ‘work’ as a therapy and the ‘mentally ill’ were made to work in the garden, carpentry, grinding wheat and other works, leading to monetary gain in the asylums of Bengal.. The funds were applied to maintain the asylums, sometimes the local jails and led to profits for the British. The paper seeks to look into the colonial policy with regard to asylums and the hard work imposed upon the female lunatics leading to asylum ‘industries’ and how it received a new direction of economic gain.
Open Access
Towards Emancipation: Reflection of Writings of Some Muslim Women in the Twentieth Century
(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Bhattacharya, Dahlia
Education was denied to the Muslim women in Bengal . They were to receive some elementary education at home and their movement was restricted within the four walls of the house. A few Muslim women who have learnt to write with the help of some of their family members or received modern education had penned down some of their ideas in their writings. This paper wants to highlight the works of Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Begum Shainsunnahar Mahmud, Begum Sufia Kamal and Fajiltunessa who 'had taken the courage to overcome the hurdles of the society and had taken a step towards emancipation. ft wants to highlight their concept of education, spaces and rights for women and the politics.
Open Access
Violation, resistance and repression : a study of crime, public disorder and control in colonial North Bengal (1864-1947)
(University of North Bengal, 2023) Barman, Tushar Kanti; Bhattacharya, Dahlia; Khasnobish, Sudip
'The concept or crime. criminality and public disorder and its control during colonial rule is one of the most debated issues chat added a new dimension to the arena of social histor~,. Crime is a social phenomenon and the simple definition or crime is that it is an action punishable by criminal law. No behavior or action can be ,iudged as crime without the legal provision or punishment. But it is di mcult to understand what the historical definition of crime in colonial India was. as the rulers who codified the criminality of Indians to all kinds of prejudices· against the people whom they ruled. Hence. the legal inspection of crime and criminality in colonial lndia was effectively a colonial construction. Similarly. the term ·public disorder' resulting from group actions. violating legal norms which are closely related to the concept of crime as traditionally understood. Therefore, public disorder is a situation in which public order is violated or threatened. Hereafter. widespread violent clashes between n,vo or more groups. such as communal riots. peasant's agitation. labour unrest. political violenc;c etc. would pose grave threats to public order. In the colonial discourse every widespread violent activity were treated as public disorder but for the Indians it ww, a survival or protest against the colonial oppressor. I lowcver, since the days of British inception. Northern Bengal had shown diverse forms of crime ranging from dacoity or gang robbery Lo (')ett_ offences. In North Bengal number of notorious gang dacoites has been found who were involved in land as well as river dacoities accompanied by murders. In fact. it was an unavoidable and direct outcome of the Company's terrible fiscal policy along with money-lenders who frequently charged exorbitant rates or interest. Hereafter, some of them had ,ioined in crime by accident. !'iOmc for poverty and some for rncre curiosity and some people also joined to help the poor and needy. On the contrary, couple of references and o11icial accounts show that, the crirninals of this region usually came from the lower ordel' of the society and they have been involved in various forms of crime. Dacoity wa~ hereditary. and the nolorious gang concealed themselves among the heterogeneous class. Among them a group of tribes like Choto B!,agrya M11chi, llh11r, Pa/war Dusadh, Pasi. ( 'hai11 ,\tlallah Sandars and Mallahs were considered by the British authority as 'dangerous' community and they came under the Criminal Tribes /\ct. They were involved in dacoities. burglaries. thefls and river crimes mainly. It was impossible for the police to trace them out. Most or the suspect. could easily escape away to adjacent dense forest and neighboring State. Similarly. crime related to property. skirmishes due to civil dispute. forgery, will ful murder out of suspicion remained high during this period in North Bt:ngal. This system victimized even women. There have been lots of instances wh<.!re women were abused. abducted and harassed in many ways. The civil disputes relating to crops and personal vendetta led Lo affray. Murder also rose due to personal disputes and fraud. Murder or the children and prostitutes for the sake of ornaments was also a widespread crime in some districts of North Bengal. In regards to the public order problem. 1he major issues of public disorder which rocked Northern part of Bengal were agrarian unrest, tea garden workers agitation. tailway workers unrest etc. which the historians have called survival or protest crimes. A class of educated intellectual citizens came forward against this British exploitation and oppression of the regime that was able to spread the form of British exploitation lO the masses in every canopy. Among the public order issues most important were the Rangpur Rebell ion, Indigo Revolt, Chatrishu movement. tea garden workers unrest e1c. Furthermore, affray and riots. rai lway industrial workers unrest was a particular type of violent collective ··offences'·, attended with or without loss of I ite, against person or persons. widespread in the countryside in the phase of colonial rule. It was usually an open shadow of violence between two armed parties over a variety of rural disputes. Although the colonial government did nor attach much irnportance to such criminal activity in the early stages. they gradually became alarmed as the level of crime increased. Because 1·he main target of the criminals was the English merchants. indigo factories. or the Zamindrrs, .lotedars and moneylenders who were loyal to the British government. So, all this crime and criminals threatened the colonial administration. To curb the crime and to establish peace in the second half of the nineteenth century the colonial government took various administrative measures in the districts of North Bengal. The British government was determined to put down offl!nces against property. individuul life and ensure public safety to create a politic.al and administrative environment conducive to trade and investment and to maximize revenue extraction. Therefore. it became an objective necessity from the colonial viewpoint Lo codify the law. create a colonial police force as a legitimate instrument of coercion. reform of the court of justice from tor to bottom and renovale the rudimentary prison network that enabled the devices of control to prevent crime and to force the law and order in this portion of the country. 1 Ience, imprisonment and development of prisons as a penal institution under the British Raj were a significant addition in the criminal justice system of colonial North 81.:ngal as well as India. Thus. the history of crime. public disorder and its control in colon.ial North Bengal clearly emerges as a significant area of study. I Ience, the objet:Live of Lhe study is divided into some crucial themes. Firstly, viewing crime as an ingredient of social history, the study dealt with the evolution of crime and criminals from the backdrop of socio-economic and regional diversity anu the nature of colonial policies and exploitations. Similarly, lhe study intends to seek the rapiJ devdopmenL of tea and railway industry and modernization of economy and the relationship between crime and industrialization and crime and scarcity. Secondly. the study also intends to bring out certain unexplored facts of the major issues of public order problems which rocked No1thern part of Bengal as a form of colonial discourse i.e. • Public Disorder'. The study tries to analyze their causes in brief and main focus lies with the violent activities of the common people and how the colonial authorities approach to tackle such disorders and the responses of the colonial administration and its changing perceptions regarding crime and public order issues. Thirdly. the study is to provide an analysis of historical trends of the various institutions that has been used by colonial Government in the forms of control mechanism like police. Court. Jai I etc .. and how through this method of control their surveillance gesture was being fulfilled.