Thread by @amitangshu

In the 19th century, a Bengali Shudra widow had outwitted The British East India Company & protected the #Ganga as a #commons for fishing rights, using Anglo-Saxon #capitalism’s potent weapon — private property. My story on Rani Rashmoni.
thehindu.com/society/the-sh…

I have grown up with this understanding that Bengali's are bad at business, we are somehow too intellectual & idealistic to survive the rough & tumble world of commerce. Poppycock! If you study 19th century Bengali capitalists, they amassed huge wealth & power through trade.

Rani Rashmoni thrived in an upper caste male dominated world of commerce with a strong moral compass. Her philanthropy was legendary. She was deeply empathetic of the plight of the underprivileged - the only landlord of her time who actively divested from indigo cultivation.

She was an exact opposite to the Tagore's. The Carr-Tagore company profited immensely from the indigo trade, in spite of the horrors inflicted on farmers. It is believed that Rabindranath Tagore had some his grandfathers indigo trade documents burnt to protect the family legacy.

Reproducing a photo of the iron pillar to which the chains that Rashmoni used to barricade the Hooghly was tethered. Ghosh, G. P. (1960). Rajeshwari Rasmoni (1st ed.). Jogmaya Prakashani.

Just a clarification here, Samaresh Basu's #Ganga was originally published in the magazine Janmabhoomi in 1957. It was published as a separate book in 1974, which I have cited. Thanks to @senarijit for flagging the issue with the dates with me. Much appreciated.

To clarify, nowhere do I mention Rashmoni is forgotten. She enjoyed a permanent place in the lives of the subaltern & the TV serial has brought her home to millions. The article critiques her marginalization from historical narratives, where UC men are given priority.

The article is an effort to bring her history to a wider, pan-Indian audience.