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DIPAK GHOSH
Vidyasaagar university
Humanities Social Sciences

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Caste, Custom, and Social Control in Rural Bengal during the Colonial Period DIPAK GHOSH
HISTORICAL: Journal of History and Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026): History and Cultural Innovation
Publisher : Perkumpulan Dosen Fakultas Agama Islam Indramayu

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.58355/historical.v5i2.245

Abstract

This research article explores the intricate relationship between caste hierarchy, customary practices, and mechanisms of social control in rural Bengal during the colonial period. While colonial historiography has traditionally emphasized political authority, economic exploitation, and administrative transformation, the everyday social processes through which power was exercised at the village level have often remained underexamined. This study argues that caste and custom were not merely survivals of a pre-colonial social order but dynamic institutions that actively structured rural life and mediated colonial authority. Through the regulation of labor, gender relations, ritual practices, and access to resources, caste-based norms and customary rules functioned as effective instruments of social discipline. Colonial administrators, far from dismantling these indigenous institutions, selectively recognized and codified them to facilitate governance with minimal coercion. Drawing upon colonial census reports, district gazetteers, ethnographic writings, and modern historical scholarship, this article examines how caste and custom reinforced social hierarchy while simultaneously becoming sites of negotiation and resistance. By foregrounding social control as a key analytical category, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of the social history of colonial Bengal and highlights the complex interaction between indigenous society and colonial power.
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