Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971 marked the beginning of a new era of history for the Bangali nation. Modernization will prove especially difficult because of the high level of poverty, population, and illiteracy caused by centuries of foreign rule and oppression (O’Donnell 1). To better understand the socioeconomic factors complicating modernization, an in-depth analysis of Bangladesh history in relation to geography, culture, and economics might prove beneficial. This essay will also synthesize information from various sources and provide an ethical discussion of societal injustice caused by British and Pakistani colonization.
The long history of Bangladesh can be divided into four periods: Early History (1000 B.C. – 1206 A.D.), Mughal Rule (1206 A.D. – 1600 A.D.), British Rule (1600 A.D. – 1947), and the Current Era (1947 – Present) (Shrestha, 205). A common theme of conquest and subjugation unites these periods and provides insight into Bangladesh’s current state of affairs. The Early History of Bangladesh is characterized by empire control, namely that of the Mauryan, Gupta, Harsha, Pala, and Sena empires. The Mughal or Islamic rule started in 1202 with the Turkish conquest. During this period, especially during the 1500s and 1600s, Bangladesh was drained of its resources to maintain the Mughal army (Shrestha, 200).
Despite the exhaustive consumption of resources by the military, the inevitable decline of the Mughal Empire started by the 1600s and allowed for increased British influence. Under the supervision of the East India Trading Company, British authority eventually spread across India. By 1764, the British defeated the Moghul emperor and took control of present day Bangladesh without popular support. ...
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...ic prosperity to the destitute and impoverished. The hard problems that face Bangladesh, and developing nations like it, remind us that there is a long way to go before global solidarity can be achieved. The success of these nations depends on the continued global commitment to fight societal injustice and to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth for all.
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One country that had imperialism was India. By the mid-1880s, the British East India Company controlled three fifths of India. The cause of British domination was that the land was very diverse and the people could not unite and that the British either paid local princes or used weapons to get control. Positive effects of imperialistic rule in India were that the British set up a stronger economy and more powerful industries. They built roads and railroads. British rule brought peace and order to the countryside. They revised the legal system to promote justice for the Indians regardless of class. Indian landowners and princes, who still owned territory grew rich from exporting cash crops such as cotton and jute. The British introduced the telegraph and the postal system as a means of communication. These improvements and benefits from British rule eventually lead to Indian nationalism. The exposure to European ideas caused an Indian nationalist movement, the people dreamed of ending Imperial ...
Poverty is not just an issue reserved for third world countries. Instead, poverty is a multifaceted issue that even the most developed nations must battle
Throughout the nation’s 2000-year history, Cambodia, a developing Southeast Asian country located on the Indochina Peninsula, has experienced a number of glories and tragedies; as a matter of fact, it was until 1993 that the democratic election, supported by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), were conducted to restore peace in Cambodia under a coalition government (CIA World Factbook, 2013). In order to transform from the negative peace which is just the absent of direct violence to the positive peace meaning the absent of cultural and structural violence, Cambodia, the younger member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has been trying as hard as possible to address the problem of inequality with the obvious hope that if inequality is not natural, according to Hobbes, but rather constructed, there are probably chances to level down its impacts or even demolish its existence.
The Portuguese empire had advanced technology and good military strategies compared to the lands they conquered and used it to their advantage. The Mughal Indians on the other hand used mostly brute force and military strength to conquer. To maintain their empires the Mughal Indians and the Portuguese were very different. The Portuguese had their capital placed in Portugal and conquered in the New World. The Portuguese monarchy often sent lawyers and officials to the New World to carry out the government there. Unlike Portugal, the Mughal Indians had their capital within their empire and all power went to the sultan. This method proved to be faulty because with the growing empire, the sultan lost contact with his subjects and had a hard time maintaining his empire.
The Effects of British Imperialism in India One could approach this topic from two points of view: the British and the Indian. One could choose either party and find very different opinions. When British colonizers first arrived in India, they slowly gained more and more control in India through many ways, the most prominent being trade and commerce. At first, they managed India’s government by pulling the string behind the curtain. However, soon they had acquired complete rule over India, converting it into a true British colony.
By the year 1857 the British had established complete political control of India. As Western education was introduced and missionaries eroded Hindu society resentment among Indian people grew and it was joined by unease among the old governing class when the British decided to formally abolish the Mughal Empire.
“Bhojonbilashi” (roughly translated as gourmand) is a popularly used expression coined to delineate the people of Bangladesh to illustrate their love of indulging themselves in eating and consumption. In Bangladesh, it is run-of-the-mill to have four meals on a daily basis starting with a homemade breakfast, a heavy lunch followed by evening snacks at 7 pm, usually from the outside street vendors, and ending the day with an extravagant dinner which includes rice, lentils, meat (or fish) and vegetables. Everyday food preparation is a grand affair in the household with at least 2 to 3 accompaniments with rice.
There is no doubt that British imperialism had a large impact on India. India, having previously been an group of independent and semi-independent princedoms and territories, underwent great change under British administration. Originally intended to consolidate their hold on India by establishing a population that spoke the same language as their rulers, the British decision in the 1830s to educate Indians in a Western fashion, with English as the language of instruction, was the beginning of a chain of events, including a rise in Indian nationalism, that led to Indian resentment of British imperialism and ultimately to the loss of British control over India.
Shrestha, Nanda R. Nepal and Bangladesh: a World studies Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc, 2002
Savada, Andrea Matles. 1993. Nepal And Bhutan: Country Studies. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office.
Reduce poverty. 4. Project description: Bangladesh is an agro-based country, more than 80% people live in villages. They are mostly poor. Most of the people have only homestead.
As developed countries quench their thirsts for petrol, developing countries around the world are left behind, force to watch on without any help from the outside community. Being poor means to be disadvantaged in every single way. It means not being able to support yourself or your family or have the basic necessity to life. Without substantial help for these helpless people then we should be feeling guilty that we are living lives far better than what others are experiencing. Poverty may because by wars, disease or lack of education and infrastructure and the resulting consequences may be hunger, starvation, crime and ultimately death. If poverty is not eradicated then injustice will continue, increasing death tolls and lives.
Has anyone ever considered thinking about what the world is really going through? How many people don’t have the necessities in order to survive? If so, what are these people going through? Poverty is the state of one who lacks a standard or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Sometimes events occur that changes a person’s perspective on life. Poverty is one that can have a huge effect on not only one person, but also the people around him/her. Over half of the world is going through this tragedy and we, being the ones who created it, have the responsibility to end it.
Malieckal, Bindu. THE BANGLADESHI GENOCIDE IN ROHINTON MISTRY'S SUCH A LONG JOURNEY 28.2 (2008): 75-88. Dec. 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Nemoto, K. (n.d) 'The Rohingya Issue: A Thorny Obstacle between Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh.', p. 5.