Bongal

This article is about an appellation for outsiders in Assam. For the people from eastern Bengal, see Bangal. For the urban ethnic quip used to denote middle-class Bengalis in India, see Bong (term).

Bongal is a term used in Assam to refer to outsiders.[1] Assam has been settled by colonial officials (amlahs) from Bengal pre-Independence and Hindu Bengali refugees in the post-Independence periods. The Muslims peasants from East Bengal settled in Assam are now referred to as Miya. The term lent the name to the Bongal Kheda movement of the 1950s and 1960s which sought to drive out non-Assamese competitors and to secure jobs for the natives.[2]

  1. ^ "The word Bongal is used in a wide sense in Assam. It does not refer to Bengalis alone. It embraces all outsiders." (Chakravarti 1960:1193)
  2. ^ "The movement known as Bongal Kheda sponsored by Assamese job-seekers to drive out non-Assamese competitors, assumed the air of a dignified and respectable agitation(Chakravarti 1960:1193)