An Exploration of the Origins of the Nineteenth-Century Sugar Industry and Its Trading System in the Kotchandpur Area of Jessore
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Geographically, Bangladesh is located in the world's largest delta. Both salt and sugar have been produced commercially in Bangladesh since ancient times. A history review shows that although the history of the salt industry is more than a thousand years old, the origin and development of the sugar industry is relatively recent. In the mid-19th century, the date-sugar industry originated in the greater Jessore district of British India, which is now in Bangladesh. Kotchandpur Thana was the largest sugar production and trading centre of Jessore region. Kotchandpur Thana is now an upazila town in Jhenaidah district of Khulna Division of Bangladesh. Mr. Blake, a European, set up a sugar factory in Burdwan, India (now a district in West Bengal). At the end of the eighteenth century, he established a factory at Kotchandpur. At that time, two types of sugar were produced in Kotchandpur – Dhulua sugar and Puka sugar. Dhulua sugar was yellowish, not grainy, and relatively less clear than Puka sugar. When the sugar business changed hands around 1842, its ownership passed to Mr. Newhouse. Mr. Newhouse was of Scottish descent. Some of the sugar factories of Newhouse in Kotchandpur and the tomb of his family still survive. This study will investigate the origin of the sugar industry and its business system in Kotchandpur and the greater Jessore districts. There will also be a discussion on the history of the Newhouse family involved in the development of the sugar industry. Since much quantitative and visual data on the sugar industry of Jessore region is still available, this study will be conducted following a mixed research methodology combining qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Authors: Mahfuz, Abu Darda, Ridoy, Nazmul Alam
Institutions: University of Dhaka, Comilla University
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7084996782
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