The historic
success of Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield in 1911 motivated the Bengali
community to stand united against the decision of partition. It made them believe
that the mighty British could also be defeated. However, a new trend was
emerged in the first decade of 20th century which created a
‘sub-regional’ sentiment in the game of football in colonial Bengal. The sub
regional sentiment divided the Bengali community into two groups- – Ghoti, the
residents of westerly districts of Bengal, and Bangaal, people of the eastern
districts of Bengal. The cultural difference was evident between these two
groups. The Bangaals were known for their simple and spontaneous behaviour. The
majority of this group was displaced from their roots and was forced to live in
Calcutta as ‘outsiders’. The Ghotis, on the other contrary, were considered by
many as soft- spoken, art loving ‘insiders’ of Calcutta. Rabindranath Tagore,
in his short stories, described this cultural difference between the urban
Ghoti and rural Bangaal communities as:
“We were from
the country and had not learnt to scoff at everything with precocious levity of
the boys of Calcutta and therefore our faith was unshakable. The persons of our
association delivered speeches and we bagged for subscriptions from door to
door, caring nothing for the midday sun nor for meals, distributed handbills in
the streets, arranged chairs and benches for the meetings and rolling up our
shirt sleeves got ready to fight it out with anybody who said a word against
our leaders. The city boys duly noted these characteristics and ragged us as
East Bengal fools.”
The landed
properties were the main source of income of the rural gentry residing in the
eastern districts of Bengal. The upper caste Hindu Brahmin, Vaidy and Kayastha
were the landlords, while the Muslims and lower caste Hindus were the peasants.
Except a few, like the zamindars of Bhagyakul, Nawab of Dacca, most of the
landowners had small landed properties. These small landowners were adversely
affected due to the rise of population and pro-tenancy legislation since 1859.
These resulted in further fragmentation of land and increasing pressure of
population on fragmented land, due to which there was a fluctuation in rental
income. This was evident in the latter years of the 19th century.
This was combined with a price hike of the essential commodities which took
place in the beginning of the 20th century. Due to these adverse
economic conditions, an intense migration took place from the eastern districts
of Bengal to Calcutta. These migrated people were looking for service and
professional jobs in British bureaucratic set up. However, majority of them
were unable to find their fortune in Calcutta. They were forced to live in
crowded mess- houses and were involved in low paying clerical jobs and legal
assignments. They observed the sophistication of the ‘wealthy’ Calcutta, but
were completely detached from it. They were in search for an identity in an
unknown city.
The partition of Bengal in 1905
made the rural gentry of the eastern districts insecure and as a result they
participated in Swadeshi and other political movements. Prior to that,
organized politics was controlled by the urban politicians who mainly focused
on urban-centric issues. The district politics was evolved around the local
issues which had no place in the organized urban politics.
The partition of Bengal in 1905 established a link
between these two types of politics which reduced the gap between organized
urban politics and localised districts politics. This gap was further reduced
with a constitutional reform in 1919 which introduced electoral politics and
forced the urban-centric leaders to understand the local issues. To win the
minds of the rural people of eastern Bengal, these leaders put stress on the
‘sub-regional’ sentiment and football became a medium for achieving this
purpose. The Ghotis started rallying behind Mohun Bagan while the Bangaals
found their ‘sub-regional’ sentiment in East Bengal. This was further
encouraged by the political leaders who started supporting either of these two
clubs based on their origins.
Therefore, it can be said that the social,
economical and political factors created a ‘sub-regional’ sentiment in football
in colonial Calcutta which replaced the nationalistic sentiment created with
the success of Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield in 1911.
East Bengal Club was set up due to a controversy in
a match between Jorabagan Club and Mohun Bagan in the Coach Behar Cup Football
Tournament in 1920. In that match, Shri Sailesh Bose, a prominent player of
Jorabagn and a resident of East Bengal, was dropped. In reply to this, Shri
Bose decided to leave the club. Shri Suresh Chowdhury, the Vice- President of
Jorabagn and the Zamindar of Nagerpur, also decided to resign from his post in
protest. Shri Chowdhury then convinced the influential people of eastern
districts of Bengal, residing in Calcutta, to set up a club which would provide
an identity to their own people. With the initiatives of Shri Chowdhury and
with the support of Professor Sarada Ranjan Roy, Raj Bahadur Tarit Bhusan Roy
of Bhagyakul, the East Bengal Club was established on 1st August
1920. The Club provided a ‘sub- regional’ identity to the Bangaal community and
gradually established their supremacy in the game of football in colonial
Calcutta.
In the year of inception, East Bengal emerged as
the winner of the Hercules Cup, a six-a-side tournament which was held at the
Shyam Park. However, the club struggled to find a place in the Calcutta
Football League due to the strict rules imposed on the entry of Indian clubs
into the league. In a ‘sub-regional’ gesture, Shri Gopal Roy, Raja of Tajhat,
withdrew his team and shifted his players to East Bengal to provide the latter
an opportunity to participate in the second division of the Calcutta Football
League. East Bengal secured third place in the second division. The club gained
popularity by defeating Mohun Bagan in the Khagendra Shield Tournament and
Aryans in the final of the Sachin Shield. In the first year, East Bengal proved
its worth by winning seven trophies in different tournaments.
In 1925, East Bengal played in the first division
of the Calcutta Football League as the third Indian club. The club became the
only club to receive an invitation to participate in the Durand Cup held in
Simla. The success of the club attracted the influential people, like the Raja
of Santosh, Manmatha Roy, Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, to extend their support to the
club.
East Bengal, which was set up in protest of the
discriminatory policy taken against the players from eastern Bengal, gave birth
to a great rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal which was a reflection
of the sub-regional sentiments of the Ghotis and Bangaals.
The nationalistic sentiment which was created with
the success of Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield in 1911 was replaced by a
‘sub-regional’ sentiment which emerged with the setting up of East Bengal in
1920. The people of eastern districts of Bengal, who earned their livelihood
from their landed properties, were forced to migrate to the ‘sophisticated’
Calcutta due to economic pressure. However, they failed to find a comfortable
living in Calcutta and were confined to low-paying clerical and legal jobs.
They were searching for an identity in an unknown city. East Bengal, which was
set up in protest of discriminatory behaviour against the players of eastern
districts of Bengal in the Jorabagan club, provided a ‘sub-regional’ identity
to these migrated people. The cultural differences between the people of
wealthy western districts of Bengal, known as ‘Ghoti’, and the people of
eastern districts of Bengal, known as ‘Bangaal’, were reflected in the game of
football in the form of the rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. This
rivalry still prevails and is a reason for the popularity of football in Bengal
as well as in India.
