Jump to content

Sylhetis: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Line 11: Line 11:
==Artificially Bengali==
==Artificially Bengali==
Sylheti Diaspora is regarded as an artificially Bengali because of their distinct ethnicity which is more close to North India than Bengal; although, peoples of Sylhet and Bengal are ethnically and linguistically diverse and their lineage can be traced to varied peoples of antiquity including [[Semitic people|Semitic]], [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] and [[Sumer]]ian peoples. King of Assyria voyaged to Sylhet and established his kingdom consisting of isles of Bengal and Assam. Following the collapse of Assyrian kingdom in Sylhet, Aryan speaking people made advances and founded their kingdoms along the Surma-Barak Valleys. Sumerian origin names have been abbreviated, for example, the name "Sylhet" has derived from As Syriahat, Surma is a variant of Sumer and Assam (As Sam) is corrupt of Ash Sham. Until the medieval period, Bengal and Assam were part of the Kingdom of Syriahatta, which is written as Srihatta by some writers. To put things in historical perspective, until partition in 1947, Sylhetis were part of Assam in north-eastern British India, as it then was.<ref>Zia Haider Rahman, A Community Without Aspirations, The Guardian, 2 May 2007, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/02/yesterdaysawthepublication,</ref>
Sylheti Diaspora is regarded as an artificially Bengali because of their distinct ethnicity which is more close to North India than Bengal; although, peoples of Sylhet and Bengal are ethnically and linguistically diverse and their lineage can be traced to varied peoples of antiquity including [[Semitic people|Semitic]], [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] and [[Sumer]]ian peoples. King of Assyria voyaged to Sylhet and established his kingdom consisting of isles of Bengal and Assam. Following the collapse of Assyrian kingdom in Sylhet, Aryan speaking people made advances and founded their kingdoms along the Surma-Barak Valleys. Sumerian origin names have been abbreviated, for example, the name "Sylhet" has derived from As Syriahat, Surma is a variant of Sumer and Assam (As Sam) is corrupt of Ash Sham. Until the medieval period, Bengal and Assam were part of the Kingdom of Syriahatta, which is written as Srihatta by some writers. To put things in historical perspective, until partition in 1947, Sylhetis were part of Assam in north-eastern British India, as it then was.<ref>Zia Haider Rahman, A Community Without Aspirations, The Guardian, 2 May 2007, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/02/yesterdaysawthepublication,</ref>

==Caste and Class==
People of Sylhet are socially stratified into four caste, which is called [[chaturvarna]] and three social classes. Caste system derived from Hindu system of [varna] ‘colour’ and [jati] ‘ethnicity’, which divides people into four colours: White, Red, Yellow and Black. White people are Brahmans, who are destined to be priests, teachers and preachers; Red people are Kshatriyas, who are destined to be kings, governors, warriors and soldiers; Yellow people are Vyasas, who are born to be cattle herders, ploughmen, artisans and merchants; and Black people Shudras, who are born to be labourers and servants to the people of twice born caste <ref>Mahabharata (12.181)</ref>, <ref> Hiltebeitel, Alf (2011). Dharma : its early history in law, religion, and narrative. Oxford University Press. pp. 529–531.ISBN 978-0-19-539423-8</ref>. People from all caste denomination exist amongst Hindus in Sylhet.
Class system evolved amongst Muslims during halcyon days of the Mughal Empire and it is divided into three layers: Ashraf, Ajlaf and Arzal. Ashraf is the noble class destined to be priests, teachers, preachers, kings, governors, warriors and soldiers; Ajlaf is the buffer class destined to be cattle herders, ploughmen, artisans and merchants; and Arzal is the working class destined to labour and provide services to all others<ref> Habib, Mohammed (1358), The Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate</ref>.



==Notables==
==Notables==

Revision as of 13:53, 27 April 2016

The Sylheti diaspora refers to the descendants of ethnic Sylhetis who emigrated out of the Sylhet Division, Bangladesh, region to the rest of world. The Sylheti diaspora numbers around one million, mainly concentrated in Britain, North America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. A study from 2008 shows that, Britain have the largest number of Sylheti diaspora where 200,000 people speak Sylheti, which is 95% of total number of Bangladeshi people in UK.[1] According to the census of 2009 it shows the actual number is lot higher.[2] Sylhetis in the homeland have conversely affected by remittances send from across the world and the community has been suffering from lack of government initiatives causing development inertia.[3]

Early History

Sylheti diaspora emerged due to a need for an economic sustenance, young men searching for better employment elsewhere led to the foundation of Sylheti Diaspora. In the heyday of the British Raj, when young men from the land of Sylhet worked as lascars in the British merchants marine, some jumping the ship in London in search of better life and others found alternative routes to enter the motherland, causing chain migration and eventual settlement in working-class neighbourhoods of London’s East End. Many of the Sylheti men moved on and found better working conditions in industrial cities and towns such as Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Oldham and so on.[4] Sylhet is a seafaring nation; going to the sea is in the blood of all Sylheti and it was a daredevil adventure for Sylheti young men until the land reform forced upon them by the British Raj in 1793 CE as part Permanent Settlement Act of 1793, which altered the entire social, political and economic landscape of the country and going to the sea became a necessity. Young men from Sylhet boarded ships mainly at Kolkata, Mumbai and Singapore. Some of these early Sylheti seamen visited Britain and America and sought employment; although by virtue of Magna Carta Libertatum, there were no legal restriction on them to enter and leave Britain freely, some authors have played the ship jumping rather disproportionately without realising that the Sylheti seamen knew they could visit the motherland without making any declaration of intent, which was required to enter the USA. The early recorded history indicates a strong connection between Sylheti Diaspora and the Sylheti seamen.[5]

Artificially Bengali

Sylheti Diaspora is regarded as an artificially Bengali because of their distinct ethnicity which is more close to North India than Bengal; although, peoples of Sylhet and Bengal are ethnically and linguistically diverse and their lineage can be traced to varied peoples of antiquity including Semitic, Dravidian and Sumerian peoples. King of Assyria voyaged to Sylhet and established his kingdom consisting of isles of Bengal and Assam. Following the collapse of Assyrian kingdom in Sylhet, Aryan speaking people made advances and founded their kingdoms along the Surma-Barak Valleys. Sumerian origin names have been abbreviated, for example, the name "Sylhet" has derived from As Syriahat, Surma is a variant of Sumer and Assam (As Sam) is corrupt of Ash Sham. Until the medieval period, Bengal and Assam were part of the Kingdom of Syriahatta, which is written as Srihatta by some writers. To put things in historical perspective, until partition in 1947, Sylhetis were part of Assam in north-eastern British India, as it then was.[6]

Caste and Class

People of Sylhet are socially stratified into four caste, which is called chaturvarna and three social classes. Caste system derived from Hindu system of [varna] ‘colour’ and [jati] ‘ethnicity’, which divides people into four colours: White, Red, Yellow and Black. White people are Brahmans, who are destined to be priests, teachers and preachers; Red people are Kshatriyas, who are destined to be kings, governors, warriors and soldiers; Yellow people are Vyasas, who are born to be cattle herders, ploughmen, artisans and merchants; and Black people Shudras, who are born to be labourers and servants to the people of twice born caste [7], [8]. People from all caste denomination exist amongst Hindus in Sylhet. Class system evolved amongst Muslims during halcyon days of the Mughal Empire and it is divided into three layers: Ashraf, Ajlaf and Arzal. Ashraf is the noble class destined to be priests, teachers, preachers, kings, governors, warriors and soldiers; Ajlaf is the buffer class destined to be cattle herders, ploughmen, artisans and merchants; and Arzal is the working class destined to labour and provide services to all others[9].


Notables

References

  1. ^ Benjamin Zeitlyn (September 2008). "Challenging Language in the Diaspora" (PDF). Bangla Journal. 6 (14): 126–140. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  2. ^ Neighbourhood Statistics (2007). "Lead View Trend". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  3. ^ Yong, T.T.; Rahman, M.M. (2013). Diaspora Engagement and Development in South Asia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 108. ISBN 9781137334459. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  4. ^ Claire Alexander, Joya Chaterji and Annu Jalais, The Bengal Diaspora: Rethinking Muslim Migration, p.2, Routledge (2015) London.
  5. ^ Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers: Life Stories of Pioneer Sylheti Settlers in Britain, Caroline Adams, Tassaduq Ahmed and Dan Jones , THAP (1987), London, ISBN 978-0906698143
  6. ^ Zia Haider Rahman, A Community Without Aspirations, The Guardian, 2 May 2007, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/02/yesterdaysawthepublication,
  7. ^ Mahabharata (12.181)
  8. ^ Hiltebeitel, Alf (2011). Dharma : its early history in law, religion, and narrative. Oxford University Press. pp. 529–531.ISBN 978-0-19-539423-8
  9. ^ Habib, Mohammed (1358), The Political Theory of the Delhi Sultanate
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Sylhetis&oldid=717403312"