The Bangladeshi Problem: Historical Dynamics and Political Consequences
Migration from East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) into Assam represents one of the most profound and contested developments in modern Northeast Indian history. From its colonial beginnings in the late 19th century to the upheavals of the 20th century, this migration reshaped Assam’s agrarian economy, altered its demographic balance, and created enduring anxieties over culture, language, and identity. Colonial Encouragement and Early Movements (1891–1911) The earliest large-scale movement of East Bengali peasants into Assam began in the 1890s . The British colonial administration, seeking to boost land revenue, encouraged landless cultivators—primarily Muslims from Mymensingh district —to settle on Assam’s fertile but sparsely populated floodplains. British officers often described the Mymensingh cultivators as “ hardy, industrious, and skilled in wet-rice cultivation ,” qualities that contrasted with their view of Assamese peasants as “indolent.” In the words of one colonial administ...