Dean Mahomed and the Bengal Army

Sep 11, 2023

Dean Mahomed, a fascinating historical figure, was the first Indian to publish a book in English and established England's first Indian restaurant. The podcast explores his various careers and discusses the challenges faced by European soldiers in India. It also delves into his experiences as an outsider in his own home and his ambivalent relationship with the East India Company.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Dean Muhammad: A Life of Diversity - Part 1

01:35 • 10min

Military Strategies and Organization of East India Company's Indian Infantry

11:17 • 8min

Conflicting Emotions and Promises: Mohammed's Experience with Baker's Entourage

19:22 • 3min

Experiences as an Outsider

22:12 • 8min

Resignation from the Bengal Army and Muhammad's Ambivalent Relationship with the East India Company

30:16 • 8min

Listener Emails, Social Media, and Advertisements

37:51 • 3min

Dean Mahomed was in northeastern India in 1759, and he had a life of unique experiences, starting with becoming part of the entourage of Anglo-Irish soldier Godfrey Evan Baker.

Research:

Bartlett, James. “Dean Mahomet: travel writer, curry entrepreneur and shampooer to the king.” History Ireland. Issue 5. September/October 2007. https://www.historyireland.com/dean-mahomet-travel-writer-curry-entrepreneur-and-shampooer-to-the-king/
Carpenter, Gerald. “The Travels of Dean Mahomet, The Travels of Dean Mahomet, a Native of Patna in Bengal, through Several Parts of India, while in the Service of the Honourable The East India Company. Written by Himself, in a Series of Letters to a Friend.” The Literature of Autobiographical Vol. 2. Diaries and Letters.
Dharwadker, Vinay. “English in India and Indian Literature in English: The Early History, 1579-1834.” Comparative Literature Studies , 2002, Vol. 39, No. 2 (2002). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40247335
Fisher, Michael H. "Mahomed, Deen [formerly Deen Mahomet] (1759–1851), shampooing surgeon and restaurateur." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 01, 2017. Oxford University Press. Date of access 22 Aug. 2023, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-53351
Fisher, Michael H. “From India to England and Back: Early Indian Travel Narratives for Indian Readers.” Huntington Library Quarterly , Vol. 70, No. 1 (March 2007). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/hlq.2007.70.1.153
Fisher, Michael H. “Representations of India, the English East India Company, and Self by an Eighteenth-Century Indian Emigrant to Britain.” Modern Asian Studies , Oct., 1998, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Oct., 1998). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/313054
Mahomet, Dean. “The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An Eighteenth-Century Journey through India.” Edited with an introduction and biographical essay by Michael H. Fisher. Berkeley: University of California Press, http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft4h4nb20n/
Mahomet, Sake Deen. “Shampooing, or, Benefits resulting from the use of the Indian medicated vapour bath, as introduced into this country, by S.D. Mahomed, (a native of India) : containing a brief but comprehensive view of the effects produced by the use of the warm bath, in comparison with steam or vapour bathing : also a detailed account of the various cases to which this healing remedy may be applied, its general efficacy in peculiar diseases, and its success in innumerable instances, when all other remedies had been ineffectual : to which is subjoined an alphabetical list of names (many of the very first consequence,) subscribed in testimony of the important use & general approval of the Indian method of shampooing.” Brighton, Casey & Baker. 1826. https://archive.org/details/b22374632/
Mixed Museum. “Sake Dean Mahomed and Jane Daly.” https://mixedmuseum.org.uk/amri-exhibition/sake-dean-mahomed-and-jane-daly/
Narain, Mona. “Dean Mahomet’s Travels , Border Crossings, and the Narrative of Alterity.” SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, Volume 49, Number 3, Summer 2009. https://doi.org/10.1353/sel.0.0070
O’Connell, Ronan. “Sake Dean Mahomed: the Muslim trailblazer who opened London's first curry house.” National News. 2/6/2022. https://www.thenationalnews.com/travel/destinations/2022/02/06/sake-dean-mahomet-the-muslim-trailblazer-who-opened-londons-first-curry-house/
Panigrahi, Tanutrushna. “Revisiting the Narrative Powers of the Global South through The Travels of Dean Mahomet.” Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities. https://dx.doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v12n3.25
Satapathy, Amrita. “The Idea of England in Eighteenth-Century Indian Travel Writing.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture. Purdue University. Vol. 14, Issue 2, June 2012.
Singh, Amardeep. “A Closer Look at Dean Mahomet (1759-1850).” Lehigh University. 9/6/2006. https://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2006/09/closer-look-at-dean-mahomet-1759-1850.html
Wills, Matthew. “Dean Mahomet: Travel Writer, Border Crosser.” JSTOR Daily. 5/16/2020. https://daily.jstor.org/dean-mahomet-travel-writer-border-crosser/

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