In the Malay World: A Spatial History of a Bengali Transnational Community (Global South Asians) - Hardcover

Gazi Mizanur Rahman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1009446096 ISBN 13: 9781009446099

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2025

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Gazi Mizanur Rahman teaches at the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh and the North South University, Bangladesh. His research focuses on various areas, including connected histories between South and Southeast Asia, world history, ethnic identity studies, mobility studies, and transnational history. He has worked as a researcher at the BRAC University in Dhaka.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009446096
• ISBN 13: 9781009446099
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 318