Product Description

Whereas previous studies of the end of British rule in India have concentrated on the negotiations of the transfer of power at the all-India level or have considered the emergence of separatist politics amongst India’s Muslim minorities, this study provides a re-evaluation of the history of Bengal focusing on the political and social processes that led to the demand for partition in Bengal and tracing the rise of Hindu communalism. In its most startling revelation, the author shows how the demand for a separate homeland for the Hindus, which was fuelled by a large and powerful section of Hindu society within Bengal, was seen as the only way to regain influence and to wrest power from the Muslim majority. The picture which emerges is one of a stratified and fragmented society moving away from the mainstream of Indian nationalism, and increasingly preoccupied with narrower, more parochial concerns.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1256715 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 324 pages

Customer Reviews

Key to any historiographical study
An excellently written and researched account that takes a different perspective on the partition debate. In a break with other works on the politics of partition that seem to focus on the political machinations of Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the Congress and the British, Chatterji's book looks at the impact of regional politics on the demand for Pakistan. Chatterji makes the case that British political manipulation of provincial politics in the period following the first world war accentuated the communal divide in Bengal which, coupled with the great depression of the 1930s created a powerful Hindu nationalist lobby group within India's largest province. Chatterji argues that the impact of this pressure group within the Indian national Congress, coupled with the violence in Bengal prior to 1947 had a tremendous impact upon national politics. This book is a must read for any student of partition and alongside Ayesha Jalal's 'sole spokesman' forms the basis for any historiographical study of one of the most significant events of the 20th century.

If you like revisionist history, you'll love this!
The comrades are gonna love this, but I'm not so sure anyone else will. This book is just another attempt by the liberal leftist brigade to create its own brand of revisionist history. I would call this book a definite "must-read" for anyone wishing to the fathom the thought process of Indias homegrown ivory-tower intelligentsia.