DOCSLIB.ORG

India Culture & Education

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

CHALLENGING FOR UCONN, BY UCONN STEREOTYPES This pamphlet was written by Kavitha Kannan, Deepthi Varghese, and Sara Ailshire in Don’t assume Indian international students collaboration with International Student and share the same language, religion, or cultural Scholar Services. background! India is home to over 400 languages, all the world’s major religions, and hundreds of unique cultures. Kavitha Kannan is a PhD student in the Department of Molecular and Cell The two official national languages of India are Biology at UConn, and was a member India Hindi and English, but that doesn’t mean that of the International Student Advisory everyone from India speaks Hindi or English. Culture & Education Twenty-two official languages are spoken across Deepthi Varghese is a PhD student in India’s twenty-nine states. Many people from the A Student’s Perspective the Department of Chemistry at UConn, east and south of India may not speak Hindi at and was a member of the International all. International Student & Student Advisory Board. Scholar Services Religious practices, even among members of the same faith, can differ depending on where Sara Ailshire is a PhD student in the in India they are from. What is an important Department of Anthropology at UConn religious holiday for Bengali Hindus may not and a Graduate Student Worker at ISSS. be as important to Hindu Malayalis or Gujaratis. Other common faiths in India include Islam, Buddhism, Jainisim, Christianty, Sikhism, and International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS) many more. supports the greater internationalization of the University of Connecticut through the development While many people in India are vegetarian, not and delivery of services and programs that help our everyone is. If you are planning an event in your international students, scholars, faculty and staff department, try and ensure that there is an accomplish their academic and professional goals at eggless vegetarian option available, and that UConn. dishes and their ingredients are clearly labeled. /UConnISSS India is famous for the sari, an attire worn by women, but that doesn’t mean everyone wears /UConnISSS one. Many people tend toward jeans or slacks, shirts, and sneakers or flats in their daily wear. Some people wear traditional clothing every day, while others only wear traditional clothes for special occasions—weddings, holidays, or International Student & Scholar Services 2011 HILLSIDE RD, U-1083 religious events. STORRS, CT 06269-1083 860.486.3855 [email protected] [email protected] • isss.uconn.edu ABOUT THIS BROCHURE COLLEGE IN INDIA UConn is fortunate to have many international Indian colleges are quite diverse. Students in students from India. India is the world’s largest Indian universities will meet their peers from democracy, home to over a billion people and all over India, surrounding countries, and an dozens of languages, religions, and cultures. increasing number of students from African Aside from Indian food and Bollywood films, countries. the vast majority of Americans know very little about India. ISSS worked with UConn students Compared to colleges in the United States, to compile the information found in this guide. students in Indian universities have less We hope you will find this helpful! SOCIAL CULTURE flexibility in choosing their classes, with many programs having a set curriculum for students. EDUCATION IN INDIA Student clubs in India are an important part of Students choose their majors before they begin student college life. Compared to the US, there their undergraduate education, and may have • The education system in India is divided may be less of a variety of student organizations, less flexibility in choosing their electives. into primary school (Grades 1-5), middle but the ones in place on Indian campuses tend school (Grades 6-8), general secondary to be quite large and can have considerable Students in India choose between college school (Grades 9 and 10), and upper power on campus. organized hostels, rented rooms (called paying secondary school (Grades 11 and 12) guest or PG), or living at home during their Popular sports in India include cricket, time in university. Women’s hostels in particular • The language of instruction can be either basketball, kabaddi, and tennis. Field hockey is are known for their strict and early curfews for English or the state’s native language. the national sport. students. • Secondary education in India is exam oriented: students take classes to prepare Many students living on their own for the first Why study in the U.S.? Students are drawn by for centrally-administered examinations. time in undergraduate or graduate school the opportunity to take classes and work with struggle with the same things as their American renowned professors in various fields. Students • Private schools are a very popular option counterparts: cooking, cleaning, laundry, and and families are willing to invest in a foreign in India, particularly for the middle classes. self-management. degree for the potential return on investment. Many private schools within India are Many students want to have a global modelled after the British private education Students in Indian colleges and universities face experience working with people from different system. Engish tends to be the medium an additional layer of social and institutional backgrounds in a different educational system, of instruction, and the curriculum tends scrutiny compared to their American peers. or by the opportunity to gain work experience to be more comprehensive, These schools Oversight of student behavior from hostels or in the United States after completing their also offer students the opportunity to degree. And finally, top ranked institutions participate in extracurriculars. rentals exceeds what is typical of American dorms or student rentals. Universities may in India like the IITs have highly competitive standardized entrance examinations; U.S. • Universities in India typically require contact the student’s parents for any number institutions present another compelling option students to pass college-administered of major or minor infractions, compared to the for completing the degree. admissions tests in addition to passing a stricter student privacy expectations in the US. final secondary school examination. [email protected] • isss.uconn.edu.
Recommended publications
  • Development of Infrastructure in Primary School in Sundarban Coastal Region

    Development of Infrastructure in Primary School in Sundarban Coastal Region

    National Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development ISSN: 2455-9040 Impact Factor: RJIF 5.22 www.nationaljournals.com Volume 2; Issue 3; September 2017; Page No. 408-412 Development of infrastructure in primary school in sundarban coastal region Bablu Samanta Muralidhar Girls’ College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India Abstract Primary education is the base of education development and literacy. It is a basic need for people of any region. Primary schools are engaged to provide this education. After all infrastructure of the educational institution can give proper educational phenomena. Students come to school if the infrastructure is suitable. Parents also desire to admit their childes into school. Some regions are geographically backward such as Sundarban Coastal Region which has bad communication. In spite of lack of communication infrastructure of primary school is really improving. Peoples of this region are now responding to participate in educational program. This paper has investigated on infrastructure of primary school and its development. The study was administered on secondary data. Data sources were census report, SSA report and DISE report. The study selected 10 criteria which are playground, boundary wall, girls’ and boys’ toilet, drinking water, electricity, ramp, kitchen shed, student classroom ratio. The investigation revealed that girls and boys toilet, drinking water is the most developed infrastructure and very poor infrastructures are computer, student-classroom ratio and boundary wall. Keywords: development, educational infrastructure, DISE, boundary wall Introduction children and their parents. The Policy, therefore, calls for a The Sundarban is part of the world’s largest delta, with a drive for a substantial improvement of primary schools and network of tidal rivers, creeks, islands, mudflats, coastal provision of support services’ (NPE, 1986, 15).
  • Durga Pujas of Contemporary Kolkata∗

    Durga Pujas of Contemporary Kolkata∗

    Modern Asian Studies: page 1 of 39 C Cambridge University Press 2017 doi:10.1017/S0026749X16000913 REVIEW ARTICLE Goddess in the City: Durga pujas of contemporary Kolkata∗ MANAS RAY Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India Email: [email protected] Tapati Guha-Thakurta, In the Name of the Goddess: The Durga Pujas of Contemporary Kolkata (Primus Books, Delhi, 2015). The goddess can be recognized by her step. Virgil, The Aeneid,I,405. Introduction Durga puja, or the worship of goddess Durga, is the single most important festival in Bengal’s rich and diverse religious calendar. It is not just that her temples are strewn all over this part of the world. In fact, goddess Kali, with whom she shares a complementary history, is easily more popular in this regard. But as a one-off festivity, Durga puja outstrips anything that happens in Bengali life in terms of pomp, glamour, and popularity. And with huge diasporic populations spread across the world, she is now also a squarely international phenomenon, with her puja being celebrated wherever there are even a score or so of Hindu Bengali families in one place. This is one Bengali festival that has people participating across religions and languages. In that ∗ Acknowledgements: Apart from the two anonymous reviewers who made meticulous suggestions, I would like to thank the following: Sandhya Devesan Nambiar, Richa Gupta, Piya Srinivasan, Kamalika Mukherjee, Ian Hunter, John Frow, Peter Fitzpatrick, Sumanta Banjerjee, Uday Kumar, Regina Ganter, and Sharmila Ray. Thanks are also due to Friso Maecker, director, and Sharmistha Sarkar, programme officer, of the Goethe Institute/Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata, for arranging a conversation on the book between Tapati Guha-Thakurta and myself in September 2015.
  • Book Review of 'Shivali Tukdeo-India Goes to School: Education Policy

    Book Review of 'Shivali Tukdeo-India Goes to School: Education Policy

    Book Reviews 157 Shivali Tukdeo, India Goes to School: Education Policy and Cultural Politics. Springer India, 2019. xii+138 pages, €89.99 (HB). ISBN: 9788132239550. DOI: 10.1177/0973184920973939 Educational policies are a key area of interest for educational researchers because they have profound implications in shaping the direction and destiny of the involved communities. The book, India Goes to School, provides a concise and chronological account of key turning points in terms of education policy from the colonial era up to the formation of the Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) 2019. The book comprises seven chapters that explore the trajectory of development of the educational landscape of India, starting with colonial experiences and moving on to post-independence events such as the rise of a national system of education, massification of education, privatisation, mobility, globalisation, migration, the Indian diaspora and the role of non- governmental organisations (NGOs). Most policy studies usually focus on categories such as access, enrolment, retention, dropouts, identifiable and measurable indicators and challenges of implementation. In contrast, this book which is centred on the cultural politics of education in India is an important addition to the growing scholarship aimed at analysing policy formulation, their circulation across different contexts and their translation into workable programmes and schemes. It distinguishes itself from other similar volumes by going beyond conventional accounts that provide an exhaustive chronological description of India’s educational journey. Instead, it engages the readers to question the relationship of educational policy with cultural politics. This connecting thread is used to weave a distinct narrative that explores the connections among power, authority, role, response and impact of policy knowledge on different stakeholders.
  • Military Education in India: Missing the Forest for the Trees Prakash Menon

    Military Education in India: Missing the Forest for the Trees Prakash Menon

    Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses No.1, Development Enclave, Rao Tula Ram Marg Delhi Cantonment, New Delhi-110010 Journal of Defence Studies Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.idsa.in/journalofdefencestudies Military Education in India: Missing the Forest for the Trees Prakash Menon To cite this article: Prakash Menon (201 5): Military Education in India: Missing the Forest for the Trees , Jo urnal of Defence Studies, Vol. 9, No. 4 October-December 2015, pp. 49-69. URL http://idsa.in/jds/9_4_2015_MilitaryEducationIndia Pleas e Scroll down for Article Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.idsa.in/termsofuse This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re- distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDSA or of the Government of India. Military Education in India Missing the Forest for the Trees Prakash Menon* India’s Professional Military Education (PME) system is weighted towards the tactical level in all stages of professional development. This results in inadequate exposure of its senior leadership to strategic studies, thus inhibiting the provision of qualitative advice at the strategic level. While combat as an instrument of warfare is focused on at all levels, it fails to relate to war as an instrument of politics. It underlines the absence of an effort to build a broader vision that incorporates the entire constellation of forces.
  • Immigration and Identity Negotiation Within the Bangladeshi Immigrant Community in Toronto, Canada

    Immigration and Identity Negotiation Within the Bangladeshi Immigrant Community in Toronto, Canada

    IMMIGRATION AND IDENTITY NEGOTIATION WITHIN THE BANGLADESHI IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY IN TORONTO, CANADA by RUMEL HALDER A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Anthropology University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba Copyright © 2012 by Rumel Halder ii THE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES ***** COPYRIGHT PERMISSION IMMIGRATION AND IDENTITY NEGOTIATION WITHIN THE BANGLADESHI IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY IN TORONTO, CANADA by RUMEL HALDER A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Copyright © 2012 by Rumel Halder Permission has been granted to the Library of the University of Manitoba to lend or sell copies of this thesis to the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and to LAC’s agent (UMI/PROQUEST) to microfilm this thesis and to lend or sell copies of the film, and University Microfilms Inc. to publish an abstract of this thesis. This reproduction or copy of this thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner. iii Dedicated to my dearest mother and father who showed me dreams and walked with me to face challenges to fulfill them. iv ABSTRACT IMMIGRATION AND IDENTITY NEGOTIATION WITHIN THE BANGLADESHI IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY IN TORONTO, CANADA Bangladeshi Bengali migration to Canada is a response to globalization processes, and a strategy to face the post-independent social, political and economic insecurities in the homeland.
  • Enrolment of Women in Higher Education: a Comparative Study on Women's Equity in Governance and Employment Status in India

    Enrolment of Women in Higher Education: a Comparative Study on Women's Equity in Governance and Employment Status in India

    Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 21 Issue 5 Women as Enablers of Change Article 7 August 2020 Enrolment of Women in Higher Education: A Comparative Study on Women's Equity in Governance and Employment Status in India Anita C. D. Ravindran Follow this and additional works at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation C., Anita and Ravindran, D. (2020). Enrolment of Women in Higher Education: A Comparative Study on Women's Equity in Governance and Employment Status in India. Journal of International Women's Studies, 21(5), 65-78. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol21/iss5/7 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2020 Journal of International Women’s Studies. Enrolment of Women in Higher Education: A Comparative Study on Women's Equity in Governance and Employment Status in India By Anita C.1 and D. Ravindran2 Abstract Many research studies, globally, suggest that a rise in the rates of higher education of women enhances their living standards and decision-making powers. Education has served as a powerful tool for empowering women. Having higher women’s representation in governance should enable the empowerment of women. The Gross Enrolment Ratio [GER] of Indian women has shown a steady rise in the past two decades.
  • The Role and Impact of Private Schools in Developing Countries: a Response to the DFID-Commissioned "Rigorous Literature Review"

    The Role and Impact of Private Schools in Developing Countries: a Response to the DFID-Commissioned "Rigorous Literature Review"

    Tooley J, Longfield D. The Role and Impact of Private Schools in Developing Countries: A response to the DFID-commissioned "Rigorous Literature Review". London: Pearson, 2015. Copyright: © The authors. Permission is granted under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC by 3.0) licence to replicate, copy, distribute, transmit or adapt all content freely provided that attribution is provided as illustrated in the reference below. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA. Link to report: https://research.pearson.com/articles/role-and-impact-of-private-schools.html Date deposited: 04/04/2016 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License Newcastle University ePrints - eprint.ncl.ac.uk The Role and Impact of Private Schools in Developing Countries: A Response to the DFID-Commissioned ‘Rigorous Literature Review’ James Tooley and David Longfield March 2015 The Role and Impact of Private Schools in Developing Countries: A Response to the DFID-Commissioned ‘Rigorous Literature Review’ James Tooley and David Longfield ABOUT PEARSON visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ Pearson is the world’s leading learning com- 3.0 or send a letter to Creative Commons, pany. Our education business combines 150 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California years of experience in publishing with the lat- 94305, USA. est learning technology and online support. We serve learners of all ages around the globe, Suggested reference: Tooley, J. and D. Longfield employing 45,000 people in more than seven- (2015) The Role and Impact of Private Schools ty countries, helping people to learn whatever, in Developing Countries: A Response to the whenever and however they choose.
  • 3Rupture in South Asia

    3Rupture in South Asia

    3Rupture in South Asia While the 1950s had seen UNHCR preoccupied with events in Europe and the 1960s with events in Africa following decolonization, the 1970s saw a further expansion of UNHCR’s activities as refugee problems arose in the newly independent states. Although UNHCR had briefly been engaged in assisting Chinese refugees in Hong Kong in the 1950s, it was not until the 1970s that UNHCR became involved in a large-scale relief operation in Asia. In the quarter of a century after the end of the Second World War, virtually all the previously colonized countries of Asia obtained independence. In some states this occurred peacefully,but for others—including Indonesia and to a lesser extent Malaysia and the Philippines—the struggle for independence involved violence. The most dramatic upheaval, however, was on the Indian sub-continent where communal violence resulted in partition and the creation of two separate states—India and Pakistan—in 1947. An estimated 14 million people were displaced at the time, as Muslims in India fled to Pakistan and Hindus in Pakistan fled to India. Similar movements took place on a smaller scale in succeeding years. Inevitably, such a momentous process produced strains and stresses in the newly decolonized states. Many newly independent countries found it difficult to maintain democratic political systems, given the economic problems which they faced, political challenges from the left and the right, and the overarching pressures of the Cold War. In several countries in Asia, the army seized political power in a wave of coups which began a decade or so after independence.
  • Indian Higher Education System: Challenges and Suggestions

    Indian Higher Education System: Challenges and Suggestions

    Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education Volume 3 Number 4 Electronic Journal for Inclusive Article 6 Education Vol. 3, No. 4 (Summer/Fall 2015) 2015 Indian Higher Education System: Challenges And Suggestions Sahil Sharma Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi, India Purnendu Sharma Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi, India Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/ejie Part of the Disability and Equity in Education Commons, and the Special Education and Teaching Commons Repository Citation Sharma, S., & Sharma, P. (2015). Indian Higher Education System: Challenges And Suggestions, Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, 3 (4). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education by an authorized editor of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sharma and Sharma: Indian Higher Education System: Challenges And Suggestions Indian Higher Education System : Challenges And Suggestions Sahil Sharma*, Purnendu Sharma** *Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engg., Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi, Solan. ** Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Maharaja Agrasen University, Baddi, Solan. Abstract Higher education system plays an important role for the country’s overall development which includes industrial, social, economic etc. Indian higher education system is third largest in the world. The role of Indian higher educational institutes such as colleges and universities in the present time is to provide quality based education in the field of education, research etc to empower youth for self sustainability. This paper includes the key challenges that India is currently facing in higher education and also includes some initiatives taken by the government to meet those challenges.
  • EDUCATION in INDIA – Accountability, Duty and Responsibility of Law Makers, Teachers and Students

    EDUCATION in INDIA – Accountability, Duty and Responsibility of Law Makers, Teachers and Students

    International Journal of Applied Environmental Sciences ISSN 0973-6077 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016), pp. 37-42 © Research India Publications http://www.ripublication.com EDUCATION IN INDIA – Accountability, Duty and Responsibility of Law makers, Teachers and Students Dr. D. S. Selvakumar Professor, School of Social Science, VIT University, Vellore-632014, Tamil Nadu, India. Abstract Public education in India today must be seen in the context of the commitments that we, as a nation, made towards the education of our children through our Constitution. For over three decades, successive governments in India have projected three pillars of our development – electricity, roads and water (bijli, sadak and paani). The political masters must accept Education as the fourth pillar which has the power to change our status from a developing nation to a developed nation.. The reality is that teachers as a group are in some measure politically empowered but, both as a group and as individuals, professionally disempowered. Most teachers see themselves as accountable to their ‘superiors ’and not to their students., almost two-third of our universities and 90 per cent of our colleges are rated as below average on quality parameters. This paper makes an attempt to analse the present conditions of Education in India and the accountability, duty and responsibility of various stake holders like Lawmakers, Teachers and students. Keywords: education, India, lawmakers, teachers, students, accountability Introduction India’s school education system is among the largest in the world that deals with 1. 4 million schools, over 25 million children, 7 million teachers and about 1. 5 million education functionaries supporting the schools from outside.
  • Decoding the New Education Policy

    Decoding the New Education Policy

    COVID-19 SERO-SURVEYS POLITICS AYODHYA FROFar from herd NTLINEimmunity 34 Wreckers as builders 30 AUGUST 28, 2020 I NDIA’S NATIONAL MAGAZINE HTTPS://FRONTLINE.THEHINDU.COM RS.125 Decoding the New Education Policy It is a deadly cocktail of the Hindutva agenda and the World Bank model of knowledge prepared to suit the needs of corporate job markets V OLUME 37 NUMBER 17 AUGUST 15-28, 2020 ISSN 0970-1710 HTTPS://FRONTLINE.THEHINDU.COM COVID-19 COVER STORY HUMAN RIGHTS Bhima Koregaon case: At the mercy of the market Victims of vendetta 79 NEP 2020 greatly increases the scope of WORLD AFFAIRS India&China: private participation in education, ig- Fragile truce 85 Far from herd immunity 34 nores the country’s pluralistic tradi- Latin America: Suffocating democracy in the Andes Strategy: Gloating in defeat 39 tions, and furthers the neoliberal Disease surveillance: How the poor die 42 agenda of designing a profit-oriented Prisons: Breeding grounds for coronavirus 48 system that serves corporate interests. 4 Controversy: COVID ventilators, who cares? 51 88 Interview: Hagia Sophia issue: Prof. K. Srinath Reddy 54 Triumph or tragedy? 91 Communalism: OBITUARY Christians as target 58 Sa. Kandasamy: Global distress 60 Profound yet simple 93 POLITICS C.S. Seshadri: Music of the spheres 95 CINEMA “Run Kalyani”: Patriarchy in perspective 99 CONSERVATION Ram temple: Wreckers as builders 30 Rajasthan crisis: RELATED STORIES Over to Assembly 67 Decoding the Hindutva agenda 9 SOCIAL JUSTICE High on rhetoric 14 Interview: Thangam Western Ghats: The great Thennarasu, DMK leader 63 Interview: Prof. Krishna Kumar 18 Indian hornbill air show 102 Timeline worries 21 JAMMU & KASHMIR Whose Sanskrit is it anyway? 25 COLUMN Silent rage 71 Interview: Prof.
  • CONSTRUCTION of BENGALI MUSLIM IDENTITY in COLONIAL BENGAL, C

    CONSTRUCTION of BENGALI MUSLIM IDENTITY in COLONIAL BENGAL, C

    CONSTRUCTION OF BENGALI MUSLIM IDENTITY IN COLONIAL BENGAL, c. 1870-1920. Zaheer Abbas A thesis submitted to the faculty of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved by: Yasmin Saikia Daniel Botsman Charles Kurzman ABSTRACT Zaheer Abbas: Construction of Bengali Muslim Identity in Colonial Bengal, c. 1870-1920 (Under the direction of Yasmin Saikia) This thesis explores the various discourses on the formation of Bengali Muslim identity in colonial Bengal until 1920s before it becomes hardened and used in various politically mobilizable forms. For the purpose of this thesis, I engage multiple articulations of the Bengali Muslim identity to show the fluctuating representations of what and who qualifies as Bengali Muslim in the period from 1870 to 1920. I critically engage with new knowledge production that the colonial census undertook, the different forms of non-fictional Bengali literature produced by the vibrant vernacular print industry, and the views of the English-educated Urdu speaking elites of Bengal from which can be read the ensemble of forces acting upon the formation of a Bengali Muslim identity. I argue that while print played an important role in developing an incipient awareness among Bengali Muslims, the developments and processes of identity formulations varied in different sites thereby producing new nuances on Bengali Muslim identity. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..1 Debate on Bengali Muslim identity…………………………………..............3 I. CENSUS AND IDENTITY FORMATION: TRANSFROMING THE NATURE OF BEGALI MUSLIMS IN COLONIAL BENGAL…………16 Bengali Muslim society during Muslim rule………………………………18 Essentializing community identity through religion………………………23 II.