EPISODE · Jun 11, 2026 · 7 MIN
Bengal's Cotton Revolt: The Weavers Who Defied the Empire
from The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History · host Fexingo
In 1769, while the Great Famine was consuming Bengal, another crisis was brewing in the weaving villages of Dhaka and Murshidabad. The East India Company, hungry for profit after winning the Diwani, began squeezing Bengal's legendary muslin weavers with brutal contracts, price-fixing, and violence. This episode follows the little-known story of the weavers' revolt of 1769–70 — a desperate uprising of artisans who set fire to Company warehouses and faced down the sepoy regiments. We meet the weavers of Junglee Bazaar, the French trader Jean-Baptiste Chevalier who documented their plight, and the British officials who debated whether to crush or conciliate. It's a story of resistance before the better-known Sannyasi and Fakir rebellions, and it reveals how the Company's first taste of absolute power in Bengal turned craftsmen into rebels. #BengalWeaversRevolt #MuslinWeavers #EastIndiaCompany #Diwani #Dhaka #Murshidabad #JungleeBazaar #JeanBaptisteChevalier #GreatBengalFamine #1769Revolt #BengalHistory #ColonialResistance #ArtisanRebellion #SouthAsianHistory #FexingoHistory #Weaving #CompanyRaj #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
What this episode covers
In 1769, while the Great Famine was consuming Bengal, another crisis was brewing in the weaving villages of Dhaka and Murshidabad. The East India Company, hungry for profit after winning the Diwani, began squeezing Bengal's legendary muslin weavers with brutal contracts, price-fixing, and violence. This episode follows the little-known story of the weavers' revolt of 1769–70 — a desperate uprising of artisans who set fire to Company warehouses and faced down the sepoy regiments. We meet the weavers of Junglee Bazaar, the French trader Jean-Baptiste Chevalier who documented their plight, and the British officials who debated whether to crush or conciliate. It's a story of resistance before the better-known Sannyasi and Fakir rebellions, and it reveals how the Company's first taste of absolute power in Bengal turned craftsmen into rebels. #BengalWeaversRevolt #MuslinWeavers #EastIndiaCompany #Diwani #Dhaka #Murshidabad #JungleeBazaar #JeanBaptisteChevalier #GreatBengalFamine #1769Revolt #BengalHistory #ColonialResistance #ArtisanRebellion #SouthAsianHistory #FexingoHistory #Weaving #CompanyRaj #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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Bengal's Cotton Revolt: The Weavers Who Defied the Empire
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