In the Malay World

A Spatial History of a Bengali Transnational Community

Gazi Mizanur Rahman

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2025
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009446051
• Subtopic: Indian & South Asian History
• Index: History

Based on various archival and non-archival records, oral testimonies and travel accounts, some of which are used for the first time, this book explores the historical migration of Bengalis and their diasporic experiences in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, covering a period from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth century. Despite the tremendous historical mobility of the Bengalis in the Malay world and their contemporary salience, as reflected in the region's more-than-a-million-strong Bengali diaspora, their historical contribution remains almost unseen. This book addresses this lacuna by exploring the connections between Bengal and Malaya. The book further examines the formation of a Bengali social, political, economic and cultural space within the diverse South Asian diaspora during the colonial and postcolonial periods. The study contributes to the recent flourishing of mobility studies, cosmopolitanism, ethnic studies, connected histories and transnational histories in modern Asia.

Table of contents

• Cover
• In the Malay World
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Maps
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• List of Graphs
• Notes on Weighing Scale
• Note on Place Names
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Prelude
• 1 Contexts, Routes and Nodal Points
• 2 The Bengali: Terminological Ambiguity and Demographic Profile
• 3 Governance of Migration and Diaspora
• 4 Professionals and the Working Class
• 5 In the World of Trade and Commerce
• 6 Tales of Tears, Fears and Pleasures
• 7 The Making of a Diasporic Space: Social and Political Dimensions
• 8 The Making of a Diasporic Space: Civil Society
• Epilogue
• Appendix
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index