Today's Indians are completely unaware of contributions by Bengali groups (Muslims in large number among them) toward India's independence movement.
Bengalis were at the forefront of the rebellion against British rule, driven by a combination of economic, social, and political factors. Their efforts laid the groundwork for the broader Indian independence movement.
Interestingly Bengalis were the most educated in India in large numbers as well, because the Brits created the Bengali Baboo class as ruling proxies on one hand and leftist professors and academics on the other.
The Brits unknowingly created their own nemesis by creating this latter group of Bengali academics and intelectuals who were acutely aware of European Renaissance ideals, and thereby - equal rights. The Bengali social values, combined with European progressive thought, ran completely counter to British Raj colonial philosophy - and as such were soundly rejected by educated Bengalis on all walks of life.
The Bengal Renaissance, marked by figures like Rabindranath Tagore, blended traditional and modern elements to inspire nationalistic sentiment. Literature and art in this way became tools for cultural resistance against colonial values.
While in East Bengal, both early peasant uprisings led by Muslims like Titumir (1782-1831) and later student rebellions led by educated intellectuals like Surja Sen and Pritilata (Organizers of the Indian Republican Army and masterminds of the 1930 Chittagong Armory Raid) made British rule unbearably difficult, unlike other areas of India.
These were the main early reasons (among others)- on why the British decided to quit India.
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View attachment 21832
Indian Defense
