The decade of the 1940s was a turbulent one for Bengal. War, famine, riots and partition - Bengal witnessed it all, and the unique experience of each of these factors created a space for diverse social and political forces to thrive and impact the lives of people of the province. The book embarks on a study of the last seven years of colonial rule in Bengal, analysing the interplay of multiple socioeconomic and political factors that shaped community identities into communal ones. The focus is on three major communal riots that the province witnessed - the Dacca Riots (1941), the Great Calcutta Killings (August 1946) and the Noakhali Riots (October 1946). This book moves beyond the binary understanding of communalism as Hindu versus Muslim and looks at the caste politics in the province, and offers a complete understanding of the 1940s before partition.

Looks at the decade of 1940s in Bengal and provides a complete understanding of the pre-partition years.

About the Author
Anwesha Roy is Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Gandhian Politics at the Department of History, King's College London. She completed her Ph.D. from Jawaharlal National University, India, and was also a Charles Wallace Scholar to Britain in 2014.


Book Information
ISBN 9781108428286
Author Anwesha Roy
Format Hardback
Page Count 292
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 440g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 158mm * 25mm