The Identity Crisis of Bengali Muslims in Indian Subcontinent (1000 CE -2000 CE): A Critical Approach to Bengali Ethnicity

Abstract

This article explores the various discourses on forming Muslim Bengali identity from the Eleven century to the twenty century. It becomes hardened and used in multiple politically mobilizable forms in Bengal politics. This study engages numerous articulations of the Muslim Bengali identity to show the changing representations of what qualifies as Muslim Bengali and who played role as major key figures of Muslim Bengali Nations from 1200 CE to 1999 CE. It also critically engages with new knowledge production. For instance, the different forms of non-fictional Bengali literature, and the views of the English-educated Urdu speaking and Sanskrit elites of Bengal. These writers wrote about the collaborative of forces acting upon the formation of a Muslim Bengali identity. While literature played an essential role in developing an initial awareness among Muslims, Bengali identity preparations' developments and processes diverse in different sites, thereby producing new shades on Muslim Bengali identity. This study uses qualitative and quantitative methods to see the identity crisis among Bengal Muslims. This article shows the historical traces that play vital role for identity crisis among Bengali Muslims.