Draft:Polycoloniality
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Comment: Please do not remove past AfC decline templates. These are left for future reviewers so that they can review your draft and check that any prior concerns have been addressed. Removing these templates can make it more difficult for your draft to be accepted. Thank you. —ClaudineChionh (she/her · talk · email) 12:09, 15 September 2026 (UTC)
Polycoloniality is a scholarly concept to describe the presence of multiple European colonial powers in the same region. Indian scholar Saugata Bhaduri developed the concept principally in relation to the history of Bengal, arguing that accounts of colonialism focused primarily on British rule can overlook the earlier and concurrent presence of other European powers.[1]
Concept
[edit]The concept derived from Bhaduri’s book titled 'Polycoloniality: European transactions with Bengal from the 13th to the 19th century', which examines the activities of several European powers in Bengal and argues for a more plural account of the region’s colonial history. Polycoloniality draws attention to the coexistence of different European colonial and commercial presences rather than treating British rule as the sole framework for understanding Bengal’s colonial past.[2]
Bhaduri is using the term systematically in South Asian contexts since 2009.[1] He further notes that the term ‘‘polycolonial’’ predates his work, citing earlier uses by Jack Chen and Amy Turner Bushnell.
Reception and criticism
[edit]Debajyoti Biswas reviewed the 'Polycoloniality: European transactions with Bengal from the 13th to the 19th century' in the journal of Postcolonial Studies and situated its argument within a critique of binary or Manichaean approaches to colonial history.[2] Arup K. Chatterjee discussed the concept in The Hindu, examining its account of Bengal in terms of the presence of several European powers and its challenge to accounts centred exclusively on British colonial rule.[3] Focusing on reception history in South Asian polycolonial contexts, Darren Cronshaw explored the ‘Great Commission’ of Matthew 28:18–20.[4] These South Asian polycolonial contexts also encouraged to reinterprete cultural heritage sites.[5]
Ananya Jahanara Kabir and Esha Sil subsequently discussed Bhaduri’s concept of polycoloniality in "Global Food History." They argued that "polycoloniality" identifies the presence of diverse European powers in Bengal but remains primarily descriptive and does not adequately explain the cultural processes resulting from their interactions with local communities. They proposed "Creole Bengal" as an alternative framework for examining those processes.[6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Bhaduri, Saugata (2020). Polycoloniality: European transactions with Bengal from the 13th to the 19th century. New Delhi: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-93-88271-41-7.
- 1 2 Biswas, Debajyoti (2023-07-03). "Postcolonial exigency: interrogating the Manichean model of coloniality through a polycolonial lens: Polycoloniality: European transactions with Bengal from the 13th to the 19th century, by Saugata Bhaduri, New Delhi, Bloomsbury, 2020, 241 pp., Rs. 1299 (HB), ISBN 978-93-88271-41-7". Postcolonial Studies. 26 (3): 480–482. doi:10.1080/13688790.2021.1996022. ISSN 1368-8790.
- ↑ Chatterjee, Arup K. (22 August 2020). "Polycoloniality in Bengal and Marquezian Histories". The Hindu.
- ↑ Cronshaw, Darren (2016). "A Commission 'Great' for Whom? Postcolonial Contrapuntal Readings of Matthew 28:18–20 and the Irony of William Carey". Transformation. 33 (2). Sage Publications, Ltd.: 110–123. ISSN 0265-3788.
- ↑ "From a Belgian port to Bengal: The forgotten story of Austria's colonies in India: None".
- ↑ Kabir, Ananya Jahanara; Sil, Esha (2026-05-04). "Confecting Creole Bengal, from Sandesh to Rosogolla : Textural Transformations and Sonic Recall". Global Food History. 12 (2): 163–181. doi:10.1080/20549547.2025.2583656. ISSN 2054-9547.
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