Snippets about Bangladesh's history and culture
Shahid Alam is appreciative of an informative anthology
19 October 2007, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh National Culture and Heritage: An Introductory Reader
A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed and Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, eds.,
Independent University, Bangladesh
Surely, it would be expecting too much for one to gain a detailed, profound and comprehensive account of the history, culture, and heritage of Bangladesh in an anthology of around 450 pages. The saving grace of the book under review, on this count, lies in its very subtitle: "An Introductory Reader". In the preface to the book, the editors, A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed and Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, articulate its modest objective: "This book aims at giving the general reader an overview of the different aspects of history, society and culture of Bangladesh…. Though meant as a textbook for students, general readers may also find it useful." The general reader would find Bangladesh National Culture and Heritage: An Introductory Reader a tad more than useful. At the very least, s/he should find it a handy point of reference for diverse issues relating to this country's history, culture and society.
Twenty five scholars, a number of whom are prominent in their respective fields, offer pithy, yet for the most part quite incisive scholarship on subjects ranging from ancient history of Bengal to Bengali language, literature, music and folk arts. Besides an introductory chapter, "Bangladesh: History and Culture --- An overview", by A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, the volume contains sixteen chapters arranged in two parts. Part I is made up of eleven of them, takes up the bulk of the book's pages, and deals mostly with the history of Bengal from ancient times to the birth of Bangladesh. Part II, containing the remaining chapters, concentrates on the major and minor religions of the Bengal/Bangladesh region, its art, architecture, language, literature and music. The subjects, to reiterate, provide a sampling of their content and treatment in books devoted solely to each one of them; and it is not a bad sampling at all. Some of them even provide grounds for much divergence of opinion. And some, following a general trend in eclectic anthologies, are qualitatively superior over the others.
The introductory chapter lays down the essence of the Bengali Muslim's religious outlook: "The Bengalis have been drawn more by the inner spirit of religion than by its outward forms or external rituals. Hence religious orthodoxy or exclusiveness and intolerance could never influence the mind of the people of this region." This is a character trait and tradition to be proud of, something that has evolved from the influence of the teachings and activities of Sufi saints, rather than those of fundamentalist mullahs, and which must be nurtured and propagated. However, Ahmed's view that Ikhtiaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiar Khilji's facile conquest of Bengal was due to the absence of firm social roots of traditional Hinduism in the country may be contested. And he seems almost apologetic while conceding that "the caste prejudices of the…Hindu community and, particularly, the anti-Muslim, exclusive and communal attitude of the upper and middle class Hindu bhadralok, also generated anti-Hindu feelings among the Muslims." It should not be that difficult to come out and boldly state that the anti-Muslim attitude that generally prevailed among much of the Hindu political leadership and the bhadraloks across much of British India, and not just Bengal, was a prime factor behind the demand for Pakistan, which was to be created as a separate homeland for Muslims who, it was felt by them and their important political leaders, would have been economically and politically subjugated by the majority Hindus in a united independent India. As much as anything else, this fear factor was instrumental in bringing about the so-called 'Great Divide' of British India.
Nazimuddin Ahmed's "Land and People" is truly a gratifying erudite piece that provides a panorama of Bangladesh's archaeological sites, monuments, and artifacts, and, at the end, makes this timely entreaty: "Bangladesh is heir to a rich archeological heritage which cries out for protection and preservation. For, whatever survives today, are the variable (sic) pages of the land's history." There can be no equivocation over this point, even though the interpretation of historical events, not infrequently, gives rise to divergence of opinion. Although most of the essays in the volume are compartmentalised within their specific subject matters, inevitably there has been some overlap, and a few inconsistencies and variations have crept in. For example, Abdul Momin Chowdhury, in "Ancient Bengal --- Hindu-Buddhist Dynasties", believes that, "By the time Aryan influence reached Bengal, it had become feeble during its long march through the entire area of northern India. Thus the pre-Aryan elements in the culture of the people of Bengal got time to be rooted deeply and even under Aryan influence, which was feeble, they retained many elements in their life and culture which are non-Aryan and definitely pre-Aryan." Shahanara Husain, in "Ancient Bengal --- Society and Culture", however, discerns a greater influence of Aryan culture and social customs on ancient Bengal, while she compares the effect on Bengal in terms of the impact of the phenomenon in other parts of India, and finds it to have been comparatively less than in many of those parts.
Abdul Karim's "Bengal Under the Mughals: Politics, Society and Culture", and Zaheda Ahmad's "Bengal Under British Colonial Rule: Politics and Society" are both informative and thoughtfully analysed, enabling the reader to discern the marked shifts, modifications and transformations that had taken place in society during the two eras. Ahmad points out that the British colonisation of Bengal, later extended to the rest of India, was not, "as some British pundits would like us to believe, the product of a mere accident of history." It was, on the contrary, the end result of a protracted period of scheming and planning over more than a century, which was facilitated by "the prevailing state of disunity and division within the decadent ruling establishment of Bengal."
Zaheda Ahmad, A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed in "Evolution of Political Ideas and Movements in the Nineteenth Century", M. Mufakharul Islam in "Economic Development --- Bangladesh Agriculture: Historical And Current Perspectives", and Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury in "Economic Development --- Changing Class and Social Structure in Bangladesh: 1793-1980" all provide valid rationale for decrying Governor-General Lord Cornwallis' Permanent Settlement as having had a negative impact on the socio-political and cultural life of Bengal. In Zaheda Ahmad's summing-up: "All told, Cornwallis' land settlement would remain as one of the most pernicious and damaging legacies of British colonialism." Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury succinctly provides an example of the far-reaching negative effects of the settlement: "The hierarchy of landowners created under the Permanent Settlement appropriated a greater portion of the surplus produced by the peasants. For example, in the 1940's the ryots and under ryots paid between 120 and 200 million rupees to ensure only 26.8 million rupees to the Crown." Incidentally, another discrepancy in terms of figures presented may be detected between Mufakharul Islam's article, where, in discussing the famous Tebhaga movement, he avers that, under the terms of Tebhaga, "the bargadars should receive one-third of the produce of the land cultivated by them," and Tajul Islam Hashmi's "Peasants and Politics in East Bengal, 1914-1947", where he holds that "two-third of crops should go to the sharecropper or bargadar/adhiar and the rest one-third should go to the landlord or jotedar/talukdar."
Staying on the subject of economic development, Wahidul Haque in "Industrialization of Bangladesh in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" has some interesting observations about the present global economic system (terming it "a sort of neo-laissez-faire") and the policies that the South Asian countries should follow in facing up to the challenges posed by globalisation and market economy: an "import-led" development strategy financed by long-term capital inflow. He is particularly concerned by American domination of the global economy: "If Pax Americana remotely resembles yesterday's Pax Britannica, then South Asia will, along with many other regions including Europe, have to think of a different world order which is hard to visualise at this stage of globalization." However, he appears to be just a little self-serving when he prescribes, as a means of safeguarding Bangladesh's interests against the onslaught of globalisation, "Bangladeshi experts, at home and abroad, should not continue to remain in the wilderness or stand on the wayside", and makes a loaded statement when he states that "neutral teams of advisors from overseas could be consulted" (just how is the "neutrality" to be determined?).
Anisuzzaman's "Bengali Language and Literature" elucidates on the evolution and flowering of those two areas, and he manages to get an impressive amount of information and discussion in within the confines of the limited space. Karunamaya Goswami is almost as adept in exploring the rich variety extant in Bengali music. He brings up an interesting point in discussing tappa, where the poet-composers "got rid of symbolism and spiritualism of every kind and sought to portray love as a tender relation between man and woman emphasizing mostly that inevitable aspect of the man-woman relationship, namely, viraha: separation." Could that explain the average Bangladeshi's penchant for highly emotional melodrama in plays, TV dramas, and films, and a proclivity for sad tear-jerkers of songs? Or could it be that the viraha-predominant tappas are only a reflection of the average Bengali's trait? The essays on religion are rather too sketchy and bland, and may be the weakest segment of the book.
Bangladesh National Culture and Heritage will not provide any grand vista on any specific subject matter covered in the anthology. But its avowed intention is not to do that. Its objective is to arouse in the reader an interest in this country's history, culture and heritage. It should succeed in this modest yet significant objective, and possibly arouse in many the desire to explore, at greater depth, the larger vista in each subject matter covered in the volume.
Shahid Alam is a writer and Head, Media and Communication department, Independent University, Bangladesh.
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