Under the Raj : Prostitution in Colonial Bengal

by Banerjee, Sumanta

• ISBN13: 9781583670354
• ISBN10: 1583670351
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Monthly Review Press

Summary

Like other pre-colonial socio-economic formations, the profession of prostitution underwent a dramatic change in Bengal soon after the British take-over.Under the Rajexplores the world of the prostitute in nineteenth century Bengal. It traces how, from the peripheries of pre-colonial Bengali rural society, they came to dominate the center-stage in Calcutta, the capital of British India--thanks to the emergence of a new clientele brought forth by the colonial order.Sumanta Banerjee examines the policies the British administration implemented to revamp the profession to suit its needs, as well as to screen its practitioners in a bid to protect its minions in the army from venereal diseases. He also analyzes the class structure within the prostitute community in nineteenth century Bengal, its complex relationship with the Bengalibhadraloksociety--and, what is more important and fascinating for modern researchers in popular culture--the voices of the prostitutes themselves, which we hear from their songs, letters, and writings, collected and reproduced from both oral tradition and printed sources.

Table of Contents

Prologue	1	(17)
Introducing Phulmoni And Her Sisters	18	(19)
British `Sahibs' And `Native Women'	37	(14)
White Mars And Black Venus	51	(21)
The `Beshya' And The `Babu'	72	(33)
Voices From The Pit	105	(21)
The Burden Of The `Bhadralok'	126	(16)
Official Laws Versus Unofficial Needs	142	(35)
Epilogue	177	(15)
Notes	192	(24)
Select Bibliography	216	(5)
Index	221