Environmental History of the Bengal Delta: A Critical Review of Ecology, Floods, and Colonial Transformation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65826/JSAI.1.3.2026.135Keywords:
Bengal Delta, Colonial Ecology, Flood History, Environmental Transformation, British ColonialismAbstract
The Bengal Delta, created by the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna river system, is one of the most dynamic and populated flood plains of the world. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the British colonial interventions in the ecological and hydrological system of the delta, by means of land revenue policy, embankment and drainage works. It synthesizes 27 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and monographs 15 empirical studies of the Bengal Delta, 7 comparative and contextual studies and 5 theoretical anchors published between 1990 and 2025. Three themes are touched upon: adaptation to the floodplain before colonization, hydraulic transformation during colonization, and socio-ecological consequences over the long term. Until colonial times, Bengal was a robust social water system, which supported soil fertility, fisheries and crop production by regular inundation. Hydraulic modification for flood exclusion and revenue extraction, under colonial policies by Permanent Settlement (1793) affected sediment flow, hydrological connectivity and caused water logging, salinity intrusion, reduced fish productivity, soil degradation. Flood vulnerability in the delta is thus not only a consequence of climatic change, it is also the imprint of colonialism on water governance that continues to this day.
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