Name: Dr.

Moinuddin Ahmed, ID: 2161051004

BOOK REVIEW
Chapter -3 – Economy and Society: The Myth and Reality of Sonar Bangla
The state of Health and disease (page 56-66)
The chapter is about how ecology and society interacted as they got changed during the period.
Objective is to understand the shifts, over the last colonial century from relative economic and
social vibrancy to the acute lack of wellbeing including poverty, famine, disease and social
unrest. In looking at the social implication Iqbal explain ecological changes that includes
separate treatment of the social categories. Iqbal has managed to give an idea of how the changes
in ecological regimes were affecting and in turn were adapted and resisted by different social
group. This chapter turns to production and wellbeing. the picture is slightly blurred by reliance
on the evidence of British observers, all convinced of the benefits of free trade and by the board
of revenue consistent animus against zamindari market dues based on transaction rather than
ground rents. But suitable skepticism is shown over the optimism of the Dufferin report (1888)
regarding the reasonable comfort of the semi landless and a paucity of the landless Laboure’s. It
was observed that people generally exposed to extreme heat in Bengal were liable to apoplexy,
paralysis, inflammatory fever, extreme languor, depression of spirit, exhaustion of bodily
strength as well as mental strength and sudden attacks of cholera. It is suggested that despite
lower mean temperature than on the island plains, high humidity encouraged malaria and cholera
epidemics, worst of all women kept in seclusion (perhaps an echo of the miasma theory of
disease). In that hot climate nature people considered fruit and juice, and consumed less food.
other factors to contribute cholera and malaria epidemic was style of housing, poorly ventilated
living spaces. Finally, reclamation introduced larger population into areas vulnerable to flooding
and cyclone. On the other hand this book endianness the relative prosperity , low indebtedness
and lack of socioeconomic differentiation that others also have focused in the eastern deltaic
districts of Bengal , later contributing to an emerging Muslim and Hindus into the active deltaic
areas , where they had previously been scarce , and how significant numbers engaged directly in
agriculture . In this chapter provides a prehistory of these condition, which cannot have appeared
from nowhere. The it argues was ecologically suited to rice and jute, price competition and
reclamation opportunity enhanced many cultivator’s independence. Though zamindari influence
was felt socially, there were few very wealthy families but large numbers many Muslims, also
namasudras , badayas , buna engaged in reclamation and benefiting from jute production . The
region experienced high population growth, not only from inward migration, but also from live
births, the availability of work for family members and probably improved nutrition.
Insufficiency of food generally supplemented by the personal efforts of individual members of
the family who went fishing in the neighboring beels kept poultry and livestock and made some
profit by selling livestock as well as eggs and milk. The stable agricultural condition led to the
in-migration of many settlers into the eastern parts of Bengal contributions to an overall
agricultural improvement. Independent peasant cultivators, who spurred the production of
agricultural surpluses in jute and rice and developed innumerable commercial markets in the
region . It was in fact this layer of fairly successful independent cultivators that author argues
who subsequently ended up providing the political backbone and made up the multitudes for the
Farazi movement.
Strength
This portion of the chapter clearly demonstrate reclamation of land, soil nature in different
month related to disease, food habit, demographic response after cyclone, social inclusion of
different classes, cultural transformation, economy of peasant.
Weakness
1.After effects of epidemic disease like cholera and malaria and poor ventilation related disease
and their health effects were not described properly.
2.After effect of cyclone were only deaths but no other health effect related to cyclone was not
described.