Studies in Microhistory: Political Movements in Some Parts of India and Bangladesh (1857-1947)

In Studies in Microhistory, M.S. Bhattacharya considers the micro aspects of the great political movements in the Indian subcontinent and illustrates the difference of mindset, attitude and aspirations between the national protagonists and their sub-regional followers. Bhattacharya proposes that the local or Sub-Regional Movements often merged with the great mass movements without loosing their own features. Moreover, national leadership sought to accommodate the sub-regional movements wherever possible with a view to strengthening their own position and did not interfere with the local character of such movements. But the prevalent idea of historiography overlook these features which is a sort of abuse of history. To illustrate the view, the author focuses on the innermost areas of political expressions, at times even to the extent of domestic trivia having any bearing on local political movements.