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Papers by Kaustubh Mani Sengupta
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University of Pittsburgh Press eBooks, Nov 22, 2022
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The India Forum, 2022
In 1921, Bengal witnessed the foundation of two universities: Visva Bharati and Dacca. The early ... more In 1921, Bengal witnessed the foundation of two universities: Visva Bharati and Dacca. The early years of the institutions give us a portrait of two unique models of education, learning, and pedagogy.
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History Compass, 2022
This article looks at the recent scholarship on urban property in colonial India. Histories of c... more This article looks at the recent scholarship on urban property in colonial India. Histories of cities of British India have
been dominated by issues of racial segregation, discourse
of planning, ways of social control as well as negotiation
and resistance of the indigenous population in fashioning
the urban space. The new scholarship brings in economic
considerations of the state and the private actors squarely
to the foreground to argue that land and property was at
the heart of urban governance. Putting forward a materialist interpretation of the production of colonial urban
space, these histories provide a lens to view the complex
and complicated processes through which land turned into
commodity. The article discusses three major issues relating
to urban property regime as have been argued variously in
these writings: first, it looks at the very constitution of the
meaning of property and rights to property; second, it studies the various meanings of ‘value’ of a land; and lastly, it
considers the question of workings of the property market
in relation to housing and rent. The readings suggest that
specific political, socio-economic, and ecological context of
each city shaped much of the deliberations and responses
to the emergence and consolidation of a property regime.
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South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies
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The Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies
This article studies the making of one particular canal in the port-city of Calcutta during the e... more This article studies the making of one particular canal in the port-city of Calcutta during the early years of English East India Company rule in Bengal. Major Tolly, a Company-servant, proposed to undertake the arduous task of opening up a navigable route connecting Calcutta with the eastern districts of the province for better trade and communication facilities. In the process, he was hopeful of making a good fortune for himself as well. But the sailing was not smooth. Tolly had to enter into various negotiations with the Company government regarding land, the right to hold property in Calcutta, and the role of the Company in defining those rights. He also faced difficulties with the local zamindars regarding collection of tolls, and the issue of maintenance of the canal. The Company administrators were also not unanimous in their opinions regarding these issues, which sometimes compounded the problem for Tolly. Through a discussion of the material history of this canal, this arti...
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Anuradha Roy and Melitta Waligora (eds), Kolkata in Space, Time and Imagination, vol 1, New Delhi: Primus Books, 2019
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Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The article studies the role of education and training in the rehabilitation of Hindu refugees in... more The article studies the role of education and training in the rehabilitation of Hindu refugees in post-partition West Bengal. It shows how class, caste, and gender inflected the schemes of school education and training, the assumptions of government proposals and the belief of the bhadraloks. Schools occupied an important position in the refugee squatter colonies set up by the early migrants. On the other hand, for the subaltern refugees, depending solely on government help, schemes of agricultural and vocational training were deemed fitter, as that would help in economic rehabilitation faster. For the state, these refugees needed to contribute to the larger development projects of the period and become a labouring contributor to the society. These different experiences underline the ways through which social and cultural assumptions get reproduced even during extreme moments of crises. T his article focuses on two sites of concentration of the Hindu refugees who settled in West Bengal after the partition. First, it looks at the refugee colonies which were built and maintained by the refugees themselves, and second, the government-run refugee camps. It discusses the way schools were established and maintained in the colonies, the problems encountered by the residents, the rationale behind vocational training institutes, and the role of the government in rehabilitating the refugees. " Refugee " was not a homogeneous category; class, caste or gender identity of people often determined their status as refugees, and the government rehabilitation schemes drew clear correlation between caste and occupation. The refugees in these colonies belonged to a distinctly different class than those who were forced to take shelter in various government camps. These internal differences among the refugee population also shaped their approach towards education. A discussion of education, vocational training and occupation leads us to the crucial link between the discourse of rehabilitation and development in the initial decades of independent India.
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This article on the history of neighbourhoods (para) of colonial Calcutta considers the processes... more This article on the history of neighbourhoods (para) of colonial Calcutta considers the processes through which this peculiar spatial unit emerged in the colonial city, where community identities were fostered as well as contested. Seen as a place, a secured, stable location which helped in forming the community in an alien atmosphere, the para was a liminal space, neither a purely affective unit nor an administrative category, and neither a purely public or private domain. Borrowing liberally from each register to generate a unique spatial experience, paras were at the same time deeply exclusionary and also starkly patriarchal zones. The article brings forth these various strands in the history of the neighbourhood to enrich the understanding of colonial urbanism, Bengali society and culture.
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In this article I show how certain schemes of infrastructural development of a space often do not... more In this article I show how certain schemes of infrastructural development of a space often do not produce the desired effect, but instead they set in motion a whole range of activities that brings forth many other issues. Through the study of the building of the New Fort William and the project of construction of a dockyard in Calcutta in the second half of the eighteenth century, I focus on some of the key issues that shed light on the urban settlement in the post-Plassey period. The building of the New Fort William and the dockyard were important projects that shaped the space of the town. But the projects themselves did not have the intended effect on the settlement—the fort took a long time to get completed and the dockyard could not be built in the first attempt. The halted and aborted efforts did leave a mark on the space of the town, brought in new forms of labour regulations and put forth questions of proprietary rights of individual and the Company. These projects also shed light on the relationship between the Company settlement and the rest of the province.
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Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This article focuses on the bazaars of Calcutta in the late eighteenth century to bring out the t... more This article focuses on the bazaars of Calcutta in the late eighteenth century to bring out the tussle between the Company and the landowners over issues of land and customary collection. The debate regarding the bazaar reveals the concerns of the Company about rent and tax. Who had the right to tax, the individual proprietor of the land or the state? What were the limits of landowners' rights? These questions, I suggest, were linked to deeper debates over the meaning of terms and definition of categories. In this article, I explore how Company officials sought to understand the notion of the 'bazaar'. My discussion will develop through a focus on a particular dispute between two landowners in Calcutta where the Company had to intervene. Together, the long discussions in the Council, the examination of the sites, testimonies by the witnesses and the arguments put forward by the proprietors themselves—created a maze of documents, from which the Company tried to glean out the 'bazaar'.
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Book Reviews by Kaustubh Mani Sengupta
Reviews in History, 2020
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Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
University of Pittsburgh Press eBooks, Nov 22, 2022
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The India Forum, 2022
In 1921, Bengal witnessed the foundation of two universities: Visva Bharati and Dacca. The early ... more In 1921, Bengal witnessed the foundation of two universities: Visva Bharati and Dacca. The early years of the institutions give us a portrait of two unique models of education, learning, and pedagogy.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
History Compass, 2022
This article looks at the recent scholarship on urban property in colonial India. Histories of c... more This article looks at the recent scholarship on urban property in colonial India. Histories of cities of British India have
been dominated by issues of racial segregation, discourse
of planning, ways of social control as well as negotiation
and resistance of the indigenous population in fashioning
the urban space. The new scholarship brings in economic
considerations of the state and the private actors squarely
to the foreground to argue that land and property was at
the heart of urban governance. Putting forward a materialist interpretation of the production of colonial urban
space, these histories provide a lens to view the complex
and complicated processes through which land turned into
commodity. The article discusses three major issues relating
to urban property regime as have been argued variously in
these writings: first, it looks at the very constitution of the
meaning of property and rights to property; second, it studies the various meanings of ‘value’ of a land; and lastly, it
considers the question of workings of the property market
in relation to housing and rent. The readings suggest that
specific political, socio-economic, and ecological context of
each city shaped much of the deliberations and responses
to the emergence and consolidation of a property regime.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies
This article studies the making of one particular canal in the port-city of Calcutta during the e... more This article studies the making of one particular canal in the port-city of Calcutta during the early years of English East India Company rule in Bengal. Major Tolly, a Company-servant, proposed to undertake the arduous task of opening up a navigable route connecting Calcutta with the eastern districts of the province for better trade and communication facilities. In the process, he was hopeful of making a good fortune for himself as well. But the sailing was not smooth. Tolly had to enter into various negotiations with the Company government regarding land, the right to hold property in Calcutta, and the role of the Company in defining those rights. He also faced difficulties with the local zamindars regarding collection of tolls, and the issue of maintenance of the canal. The Company administrators were also not unanimous in their opinions regarding these issues, which sometimes compounded the problem for Tolly. Through a discussion of the material history of this canal, this arti...
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Anuradha Roy and Melitta Waligora (eds), Kolkata in Space, Time and Imagination, vol 1, New Delhi: Primus Books, 2019
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The article studies the role of education and training in the rehabilitation of Hindu refugees in... more The article studies the role of education and training in the rehabilitation of Hindu refugees in post-partition West Bengal. It shows how class, caste, and gender inflected the schemes of school education and training, the assumptions of government proposals and the belief of the bhadraloks. Schools occupied an important position in the refugee squatter colonies set up by the early migrants. On the other hand, for the subaltern refugees, depending solely on government help, schemes of agricultural and vocational training were deemed fitter, as that would help in economic rehabilitation faster. For the state, these refugees needed to contribute to the larger development projects of the period and become a labouring contributor to the society. These different experiences underline the ways through which social and cultural assumptions get reproduced even during extreme moments of crises. T his article focuses on two sites of concentration of the Hindu refugees who settled in West Bengal after the partition. First, it looks at the refugee colonies which were built and maintained by the refugees themselves, and second, the government-run refugee camps. It discusses the way schools were established and maintained in the colonies, the problems encountered by the residents, the rationale behind vocational training institutes, and the role of the government in rehabilitating the refugees. " Refugee " was not a homogeneous category; class, caste or gender identity of people often determined their status as refugees, and the government rehabilitation schemes drew clear correlation between caste and occupation. The refugees in these colonies belonged to a distinctly different class than those who were forced to take shelter in various government camps. These internal differences among the refugee population also shaped their approach towards education. A discussion of education, vocational training and occupation leads us to the crucial link between the discourse of rehabilitation and development in the initial decades of independent India.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This article on the history of neighbourhoods (para) of colonial Calcutta considers the processes... more This article on the history of neighbourhoods (para) of colonial Calcutta considers the processes through which this peculiar spatial unit emerged in the colonial city, where community identities were fostered as well as contested. Seen as a place, a secured, stable location which helped in forming the community in an alien atmosphere, the para was a liminal space, neither a purely affective unit nor an administrative category, and neither a purely public or private domain. Borrowing liberally from each register to generate a unique spatial experience, paras were at the same time deeply exclusionary and also starkly patriarchal zones. The article brings forth these various strands in the history of the neighbourhood to enrich the understanding of colonial urbanism, Bengali society and culture.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In this article I show how certain schemes of infrastructural development of a space often do not... more In this article I show how certain schemes of infrastructural development of a space often do not produce the desired effect, but instead they set in motion a whole range of activities that brings forth many other issues. Through the study of the building of the New Fort William and the project of construction of a dockyard in Calcutta in the second half of the eighteenth century, I focus on some of the key issues that shed light on the urban settlement in the post-Plassey period. The building of the New Fort William and the dockyard were important projects that shaped the space of the town. But the projects themselves did not have the intended effect on the settlement—the fort took a long time to get completed and the dockyard could not be built in the first attempt. The halted and aborted efforts did leave a mark on the space of the town, brought in new forms of labour regulations and put forth questions of proprietary rights of individual and the Company. These projects also shed light on the relationship between the Company settlement and the rest of the province.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
This article focuses on the bazaars of Calcutta in the late eighteenth century to bring out the t... more This article focuses on the bazaars of Calcutta in the late eighteenth century to bring out the tussle between the Company and the landowners over issues of land and customary collection. The debate regarding the bazaar reveals the concerns of the Company about rent and tax. Who had the right to tax, the individual proprietor of the land or the state? What were the limits of landowners' rights? These questions, I suggest, were linked to deeper debates over the meaning of terms and definition of categories. In this article, I explore how Company officials sought to understand the notion of the 'bazaar'. My discussion will develop through a focus on a particular dispute between two landowners in Calcutta where the Company had to intervene. Together, the long discussions in the Council, the examination of the sites, testimonies by the witnesses and the arguments put forward by the proprietors themselves—created a maze of documents, from which the Company tried to glean out the 'bazaar'.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Reviews in History, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact