although bangladesh only came into existence in 1971 , the land which is today bangladesh has strong ties to the middle east .

bangladeshis in the middle east form the largest part of the worldwide bangladeshi diaspora .

out of the 3,975,550 bangladeshis abroad approximately 2,820,000 live within the middle east , 0.075 % of the middle east population , with half of them in saudi arabia , and a quarter of them in the united arab emirates .

bangladeshis who come to the middle east are primarily guest workers or day labourers .

bangladesh is one of the largest labour suppliers to saudi arabia , in 2007 bangladeshi workers obtained the biggest share , with 23.50 per cent of the 1.5 million saudi arabia visas issued .

bangladeshis in the middle east

kiwi zane small shares his experiences with racism as an expatriate living in the middle east .
the middle east policy council is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to contribute to american understanding of the political , economic and cultural issues that affect u . s . interests in the middle east .
about 40 lakh bangladeshis are working in different countries in the middle east , including saudi arabia , the uae , qatar , oman , bahrain , iraq and libya .
racial discrimination exists in every country , but in the middle east , it ' s unique , writes zane small .
after living and travelling around the middle east for over a year now , i ' ve slowly become accustom to the active social trends . racial discrimination exists in every country , but in the middle east , it ' s unique .
societies for the first time since the middle ages and are reinforcing the pluralist texture in others .
estimates put the number of bangladeshis working in the gulf state at more than 150 , 000 .
mustafa malik , “islam in europe : quest for a paradigm , ” middle east policy , vol . viii , no . 2 , june 2001 , p . 103 .
dale f . eickelman , “the coming transformation of the muslim world , ” middle east review of international affairs , vol . 3 , no . 3 , september 1990 .
in most countries around the world , white people seem to be treated with the most respect . in the middle east , native arabs from the gcc region are treated with great respect , and then white people are sort of next in line . meanwhile indians , pakistanis , bangladeshis and filipinos , who , in the uae for example , together make up 52 . 48 per cent of the total population , are noticeably treated as lesser individuals .
oussama cherribi , “the growing islamization of europe , ” modernizing islam : religion in the public sphere in europe and the middle east , eds . john l . esposito and francois burgat ( new brunswick , nj : rutgers university press , 2003 ) , p . 195 .
the officially recorded flow of people from ( back then ) east pakistan to international destinations was , however , still quite small . the increasing outward orientation of bangladeshis after national independence in 1971 as well as the 1973 oil boom and thus an increasing need for cheap labor in the middle east then led to a rapid growth of international labor migration from bangladesh ( see figure 1 ) . in 1976 , only 6 , 000 bangladeshis left to work abroad . since then , the number of both temporary expatriate workers and permanent out - migrants has increased dramatically . between 1990 and 1995 , 1 . 2 million bangladeshis left the country to live and work abroad . out - migration increased to almost three million between 2005 and 2010 . in the year 2008 alone , 875 , 000 migrant workers were recruited from bangladesh
the author’s grandparents sitting with some of their children , including his mother age 9 , second from right , in the courtyard of their east pakistan home in the early 1950s .
the liberation war of bangladesh is indeed the most momentous event for the people who were once east bengalis , then east pakistanis and now bangladeshis : it conferred on us the pride of standing as an equal among the nations of the world . other subnational groups in both india and pakistan also chafed at the gross inequities committed by an imposing federated state . yet only in bangladesh did rebellion against such injustice and the idea of a distinct cultural identity — in this case , bengali and secular — lead to a new nation .
the home built in east pakistan by the author’s grandparents , when it was just one - story , c . 1950 . the same backdrop , in what is today called bangladesh , is packed with apartment buildings .
economic , social and cultural pursuits is also strengthening pluralist trends . pluralism will advance further in europe because of the recent incorporation of orthodox slavic and other east european peoples into the eu and in the united states from
i was born in bangladesh . studied in the usa . lived in the usa for 20 . . .
more than 36 , 000 people have returned from libya alone in recent weeks . an estimated 70 , 000 - 80 , 000 bangladeshis were working there before the current crisis .
according to the international organisation for migration ( iom ) , more than 36 , 500 bangladeshis have been repatriated from libya since the uprising against muammar gaddafi began .
the government ' s decision to join saudi arabia - led islamic military coalition will not lead to islamic state targeting bangladeshi expats in the middle eastern countries , said the expatriates ' welfare and overseas employment minister yesterday .
rabab fatima , head of the iom regional office in dhaka , said :
many of the bangladeshis who returned have unpaid wages in libya . some still have debts at home incurred during their passage to libya . so there is a sense of uncertainty in them about the future .
in contrast , bangladeshis’ response to partition can seem to verge on indifference . for us , aug . 15 , the day of india’s independence in 1947 , represents first and foremost the brutal murder many years later , in 1975 , of our own founding father , sheikh mujibur rahman . our seminal historical event is the liberation war of 1971 , during which up to three million bangladeshis may have been killed by the pakistani army and its local collaborators as they tried to crush the movement for independence .
but partition had paved the way . so while the importance of 1971 cannot be overstressed for bangladeshis , to think that partition has only been subsumed here by a bigger and more recent event also misses the point .
tens of thousands of bangladeshi migrant workers are returning home from strife - torn middle eastern countries , threatening social and economic turmoil in their homeland which relies heavily on expatriates for a large part of its national income .
dhaka , bangladesh — in 1948 , a year after the partition of india , my maternal grandparents moved from calcutta to dhaka , crossing from west bengal in india to east bengal , or east pakistan — now bangladesh . there , they built a tin - shed house in the new neighborhood of dhanmondi , known before only for its paddy fields ( dhan ) . at the time , the area was so desolate that every night my grandfather would fire his double - barreled shotgun to ward off foxes and thieves .
seven decades on , partition may be a bigger psychic presence for indians and pakistanis than it was in years closer to the event . for bangladeshis , who tend to gloss over its brutality as a pathology of the moment , it is but an echo of the distant past .
yet to write off the difference simply as a function of a majoritarian advantage is to miss a subtler point about who made the move and why . many hindus of east bengal had good reason to fear for their safety after horrific riots and rapes against them there in the late 1940s . but many of the muslims of west bengal , especially the more privileged ones , who crossed into east pakistan were often the more ambitious members of their families and came into the new country to seek new fortunes .
attitudes between different social grades are broadly similar to current pakistani migrants but middle - class voters ( abc1 ) are more likely than working class voters ( c2de ) to feel positive about the progress of integration for their children .
the contrast in the fortunes of my ancestors who moved to dhaka versus those who stayed back in calcutta is telling . my grandparents’ children in bangladesh have gone on to hold high offices at home and even internationally . the ones who entered business have enjoyed tremendous success . their cousins in calcutta , who are a minority there today , enjoy prosperous middle - class lives , mainly running small businesses . no one approaches the exalted heights reached by their relatives in the new country , or local hindus with comparable job qualifications .
but if they felt secure enough even then , why leave a year after partition ? the answer is quite simple : to them , east pakistan was not a land of exile , but a land of opportunity .
bangladesh ' s history is a history of migration . people have been mobile in the bengal delta region for centuries . patterns of contemporary labor migration go back to colonial times . every year , around 500 . 000 bangladeshis leave the country to work abroad . bangladesh ' s economy depends on the emigrants ' remittances .
you see , my grandparents , two muslims living in hindu - majority west bengal , did not move to east bengal out of fear . my grandmother came from a large and prosperous clan in a town adjacent to calcutta . she recalled that during religious riots in 1946 , men in her neighborhood guarded all its entrances , wielding swords . as muslims who held a dominant position in their muslim - majority corner of town , my grandparents didn’t face the terrible violence of the time .
the feedback you provide will help us show you more relevant content in the future .
“pakis” is a pejorative term for pakistanis , who made up nearly a third of the muslim population in britain . but because they were – and remain – in the vanguard of the muslim anti - racist struggle , their national label was used to identify muslim activists from everywhere . you seldom heard pakistanis , bangladeshis or turks referred to as “muslims . ” they all were “pakis . ”
nine million foreigners work in the kingdom , many of them from south asia , according to the last official figures released in 2015 .
i ' m expatriate through and through . born in south asia , raised in . . .
muhammad khalid masud narrated the incident to the author in london on september 9 , 1995 .
in the united states in 1980 , four out of 10 marriages of americans of european ancestry occurred across ethnic or religious boundaries .
and one in detroit showed that only 4 percent of muslims in that city were married to non - muslims .
he said the role of bangladesh in the coalition would be understood better after talks with saudi arabia .
the bangladeshi diaspora community includes people who have migrated to a foreign country as well as their children who have been born either in bangladesh or in the host country . the size of the diaspora population is thus much bigger than the immigrant population of the respective country . for example , 154 , 000 immigrants from bangladesh lived in the united kingdom in 2000 , while the uk’s national census in 2001 recorded 283 , 000 british citizens of bangladeshi origin . many bangladeshi diaspora members are well established in their host countries . many have started off as workers in factories , and now run their own restaurants , corner shops and other businesses . third or even fourth generation bangladeshi diaspora members in the uk are represented in the mainstream economy and the political system of the british government . similar observations are also reported for the usa
eleven migrant workers died of asphyxiation in saudi arabia on wednesday in a fire that engulfed the windowless house they shared , saudi authorities said .
. in 2014 , 426 , 000 people migrated to work in another country – most often on temporary labor contracts .
catholic and jewish assimilation into host societies occurred in two stages . the first stage , as noted , consisted in their shedding ethnic identities and evolving as religious communities . in the second stage , which for many jews is still in progress , they regrouped again into secular national mainstreams .
firefighters put out a blaze in an old house lacking windows for ventilation . eleven people died of asphyxiation , and six others were injured
in the southern province of najran , the civil defence said in a tweet .
in the united states a large new wave of european immigration began in the early 1870s and stopped by the 1920s . by then , the 1870s immigrants had mostly retired and their grandchildren had come of age . sociologist
there’s also a similar ‘off - spring effect’ in public attitudes to the integration of all groups referenced in the study , where the younger generation is viewed as integrating significantly better than their parents . in this case , overall attitudes to the pakistanis show the biggest shift from negative to positive impressions of integration between the generations .
when i was growing up , such stories struck me as nothing more than proof that my grandfather was eccentric and a visionary . but how we fashion our family history also reflects our collective memory . and when years later i began to examine , for a research project in comparative literature , why bangladeshis relate to partition differently than do indians and pakistanis , i found clues to an answer right in my family lore .
is embedded in islamic pluralism . and it would impede the social integration necessary for social
by far the biggest differentiator in attitudes to pakistani integration , however , is contact .
the muslim birthrate in europe is three times higher than the european average , and muslim immigration continues . a brookings institution researcher says the eu
umma solidarity can be seen in action when a picnic is arranged by my mosque in laurel , maryland ; when a campaign is organized by the german milli gorus organization to introduce islamic courses in german public schools ; or when protests erupt against an attack on muslims or islam , as in march 2003 , in cairo , amman , islamabad , dhaka , kuala lumpur and jakarta against the u . s . - led war in iraq .
k . anis ahmed is a writer based in bangladesh and publisher of the dhaka tribune .
most popular now | 17 , 029 pages were read in the last minute .
;
– plays a part in what is happening , but it’s far from the whole story .
in fact “black pride” has replaced the african american aspiration for assimilation with white america . one writer says the 1995 million
the government did not act wisely in making such an important decision without any discussion at any level , not even in parliament , said cpb president mujahidul islam selim and general secretary syed abu zafar ahmed yesterday in a statement .
he was briefing the media at probashi kalyan bhaban in the capital ' s iskaton on the ministry ' s programmes on international migrants day today .
perhaps most important is the strength of the pakistani economic story in these figures , which could offer some headlights to the wcop and other community leaders .
in the united states , religion never really left the public square and is now being patronized indirectly by the bush administration through its “faith - based” programs . in france , where secularism has become “an alternative faith , ”
with 7 million people across 140 countries , pakistan has a large diaspora . over 1 million of these live in the united kingdom , making it the second largest community of overseas pakistanis in the world after saudi arabia .
among other things , the fragmentation of their political units by northern european invaders in earlier centuries .
in other words , british concerns towards the cultural separation of pakistanis is not wholesale across the community , and a large section of the public sees the positive integrating effect of longer settlement on the younger generations .
the ottomans , whose conquest of the byzantine balkans and asia minor began in the 1290s , combined islamic pluralist concepts with the byzantine pluralist tradition . rights of religious minorities were written into byzantine
the umma spirit , too , may appear in a momentary encounter between muslims who are perfect strangers .
in the united states , you still hear some people describe themselves as irish americans or russian jews .
after the second world war , the united kingdom faced labor shortages and therefore began to attract labor migrants of the commonwealth states . young men from bangladesh , in particular from the sylhet region , thus left for the uk , mostly settled in london , and contributed to meeting the increasing demand for cheap labor . this initiated chain migration of further workers and family members to the uk in the 1950s , 1960s and 1970s , and led to close transnational connections between bangladesh and the uk .
an anonymous female indian expat , whose father has been working in dubai for the past 27 years , replies to the question , first mentioning the good side of life for her family in dubai , which includes : designated shopping areas , excellent eateries , tax - free salary , and the opportunity to live in a nice centralized ac apartment .
the embassy called the police , who managed to restore order and arrested some of the workers . the others fled .
that ' s the positives . the negatives on the other hand are disheartening . she points out that indian ' s are
treated like s . . . in dubai .
there are two classes of indians in dubai : the blue - collar indians and the white - collar indians .
the national economy and migrants’ families are highly dependent on the regular financial transfers by migrants , and they are thus vulnerable to ruptures of the money flows . ninety percent of the money that is being sent to bangladesh by its migrants and the diaspora comes from ten countries , 58 percent from the gulf states alone ( see table 3 ) . economic crises and rising unemployment in the destination countries ; unsuccessful negotiations of the sending government with migrant - receiving nations about labor recruitment , payment levels and labor standards ; political changes that limit the access of bangladeshi migrants to overseas labor markets , such as the restriction of male labor migrants in the united arab emirates ( in 2012 ) ; or political crises , such as the civil war and economic breakdown in libya , where tens of thousands of bangladeshis had worked before 2011 – all of these factors can lead to an abrupt reduction of temporary labor migrants in a country and thereby impact the overall flows of remittances . decreasing remittances can also be partly explained by the changing role that remittances play for diaspora communities . on the one hand , upward social mobility of migrants in the host society connected to access to higher paid jobs can increase the overall volume of remittances . on the other hand , as the case of the uk indicates , better social and economic integration of the second and third generation of people with bangladeshi origin may lead to a stronger social identification with the host country , to the loosening of transnational ties and a decreasing willingness to send money to bangladesh .
unlike earlier muslim movements led by towering statesmen and elaborate organizations for political independence or religious reforms , the current ferment is fueled mainly by individuals and local groups for self - improvement as much as social renewal . during my frequent trips through the muslim world , i ran into many young muslims with secular education who were studying the quran and prophetic traditions on their own . very few did so in the 1960s , when i was attending college in what was then east pakistan ( now bangladesh ) . this past july , i met members of a “muslim club” in dhaka who were raising funds to help put poor children through school . in faisalabad , pakistan , altaf hussein and his friends are campaigning for the enrollment of muslim girls in school , ignoring orthodox islamic scholars’ ruling against female education . in bursa , turkey , my former translator mehmet ertan is working with a group of volunteers who supply islamic literature to crimean muslims , while looking after chechen refugees .
consulate and a british bank in istanbul , killing 27 people . bush’s state visit had been scheduled months earlier to celebrate what had been expected , if a bit presumptuously , to be an unmixed victory in the anglo - u . s . war in iraq . the bombings were the turks’ revenge against the invasion of that muslim country , said a statement issued on the bombers’ behalf .
second , in western societies , race remains an enduring barrier to non - white groups’ assimilation into the white mainstream . racial tensions have in fact increased in post - cold war europe . even in the united states , civil - rights laws and citizen activism for a half - century have failed to draw african americans or native americans into the white mainstream , even though most of these minorities share its faiths .
of the 15 million people who crossed the borders of bengal and punjab , in western india , at the time of partition , only 700 , 000 moved to east bengal , most of them from west bengal , with smaller numbers from bihar and uttar pradesh . bengali muslims suffered less violence than other groups . for many of them the move was voluntary , indeed opportunistic . and their hope of a better future , rather than the mere search for a safe haven , has given rise to a different kind of memory about that period : one less laden with grief and often taut with the excitement of new possibilities .
hello , im shakera . currently living in kuala lumpur with my . . .
muslim youths’ reformist orientation . in traditional muslim societies , for example , borrowing and lending money on interest is judged unislamic . how does a muslim operate in a
in an article for the guardian , mawuna remarque koutonin , social activist for africa renaissance , highlights the prejudiced use of
hierarchical words
created for the purpose of placing white people in an esteemed category of their own when relocating to a foreign country .
during the flight , piscatori argued that the umma concept is only a muslim aspiration . in the real world , he said , muslims have all along been fighting and killing one
the young men and women who have been forced to return will find their financial and social capital severely depleted . in a country where remittance plays such a huge role , this also means less cash in the local economy .
mr . malik , a washington journalist , is researching the evolution of muslim communities in north america and western europe .
i am working as test automation lead engineer in iconnect360 sdn bhd . . . .
morocco , to participate in a conference on islam . in london he met james piscatori , an american scholar on islam ( now teaching at oxford university ) , who had also been invited to the conference , and from there the two traveled
the argument indicates a sea change in british perception of muslims . in the early 1970s , when i lived in britain , muslim immigrants from south asia and elsewhere had frequent run - ins with anti - immigrant gangs . and right - wing activists , led by enoch powell , a jingoistic member of parliament , would demand that the “pakis” be shipped “back home . ”
said ibn ahmed , a judge in the then muslim city of toledo , spain , quoted in bernard lewis , the muslim discovery of europe ( new york : w . w . norton & co . , 1982 ) , p . 68 .
the son of a palestinian muslim immigrant to the united states , for example , would marry the daughter of a lebanese or kuwaiti muslim , but very rarely the daughter of a palestinian christian . in britain , according to sociologist muhammad
and get off to a great start in your new country . selected for you by urltoken
inherent hostility to muslims . the bush administration is using the patriot act to harass them . like the jacques
second , in their industrial workplaces technology helped them routinely rationalize the outcome of human actions , diminishing their reliance on supernatural intervention in life . once secularized , they would have fewer qualms about marrying and assimilating into other religious
government curbs on the use of religious symbols in schools are stimulating religious fervor among muslims , catholics and jews . it all bolsters
the umma was born in the arabian town of yathrib in the 620s as an interfaith defense alliance among muslims , christians and jews to protect that town against invaders from mecca . the prophet muhammad and his followers had migrated to yathrib , renamed medina , to avoid persecution in their native town of mecca . eventually the umma evolved as a muslim community comprising a variety of meccan and medinese tribal elements and remained ethnically pluralist . since 656 , when a bloody rebellion broke out against the third islamic caliph , uthman , the umma has
versus the rest” or daniel lerner’s “mecca or mechanization , ” are of little use in understanding this transformation . they obscure or even distort the immense spiritual and intellectual ferment that is taking place today among the
but the same numbers also highlight a bigger challenge , which is that beyond the terms of personal interaction , the pakistani community has a long way to go in fostering a broader perception of successful integration .
societies concede minorities a range of opportunities to foster their cultures while discriminating against them in other ways . france and germany are among the countries where minorities suffer relatively greater legal and social disabilities . even in these countries there is little overt pressure for assimilation . in general , western societies are on an irreversible course of pluralization , and the most obvious force behind it is the growth of non - western minorities , especially the muslims , the fastest growing of all .
a 1990 study showed only 0 . 1 percent of non - hispanic whites in the united states were married to blacks . neither were blacks much more interested in racial mixing : only 2 percent of them had nonblack spouses .
dr . bishawjit mallick is research associate at the institute of regional science at the karlsruhe institute of technology , germany . in his dissertation , he analyzed social responses to climate risks in bangladesh ' s coastal areas . currently , his research focuses on risk - oriented spatial planning and climate - induced migration processes in bangladesh . email : bishawjit . mallick @ urltoken
. people of bangladeshi origin are also active in the media , for example , in the uk , the usa , canada , germany , and in malaysia , where bangladeshi newspapers are published on a regular basis . bangladeshi national festivals are arranged by the diaspora community as a part of cultural exchange in the host countries . such cultural festivals , the bangla language , bengali food and also muslim religious practices , for instance fastening during ramadan , are crucial for re - producing bengali identities . it is also important to note that many bangladeshi immigrants have not cut their ties to family members
back home
in bangladesh . frequent communication with family and friends , regular visits to bangladesh , the transfer of financial resources , and the maintenance of international social networks and kinship relations has led to the emergence of
transnational social fields
, which shape the everyday life of both the diaspora communities
abroad
and the family members
back home
. in the past four decades , international labor migration and transnational ties have contributed significantly to transformations inside bangladesh
mr islam told the bbc bengali service that the motive for the attack was linked to wages not being paid .
dr ahsan mansur , executive director of the policy research institute , a dhaka - based thinktank , said :
remittance is six times the official development assistance and 11 times the foreign direct investment in bangladesh .
saw “islam . . . transcend [ ing ] the present ethnic diversity” in his country and emerging as a faith - based community .
along helped social and religious causes , but the proliferation of individual interest in islamic activism , which often promotes the renewal of traditional islamic norms , represents a massive qualitative shift in muslim thinking . peter mandaville asserts that muslims are “taking islam into their own hands . ”
e . j . dionne jr . , “in france , scarves and secularism , ” the washington post , december 23 , 2003 .
interestingly , they are also seen as less threatening in general and less corrupt than eastern europeans .
but if we see them also intermarrying in large numbers so as to blur their ethnic and religious identities , we would say they have also blended structurally . in other words , they have assimilated .
islamic beliefs , practice , festivals and other symbols enable the muslim immigrant to revisit his old self and environment in a most intimate sense .
the rioters also slightly injured two bangladeshi civilians who were visiting the embassy , ambassador nazrul islam khan told the bbc .
– with a judeo - christian social milieu . ernest gellner obviously had the western concept of secularism in mind when he wrote : “islam is unique among world religions in being , so far , clearly incompatible with the widely held secularization thesis , which maintains that the social and psychic hold of religion diminishes with industrialism . ”
this community is hardly new ; people from the region have been settling in the british isles for 400 years , and long before pakistan was founded – as it happens by a migrant to london , muhammad ali jinnah , who first trained as a barrister at lincoln’s inn before leading the new state to independence in 1947 .
i m frm bangladesh . i m staying in malaysia . i want to tranfar to . . .
more than 700 bangladeshi workers have stormed their country ' s embassy in kuwait , causing damage inside .
comparisons with other minorities examined in the same study demonstrate that britons tend to rank pakistanis lower down the integration hierarchy than other groups such as eastern europeans or those of african background .
in the last half century , it has also become many things : the second largest ethnic minority in the united kingdom ; a rich contributor to the cultural , political and entrepreneurial life of the country ; and a source of significant national insecurity , as some of the most serious terrorist threats to britain still emanate from pakistan and afghanistan . the diaspora is moreover an important currency of engagement and ‘soft power’ between britain and pakistan itself , whose importance to uk foreign policy could hardly be overstated , from trade and afghan reconstruction to nuclear proliferation , radical islam and great power rivalry in asia .
some argue that the enormity of that later war suborned the memory of the earlier split . this may be true , but it is not the entire story .
the bbc ' s gulf correspondent julia wheeler says that the workers were able to get inside the building and damage property .
good can be found in every culture and religion , with those willing to alter trends of the past to make things better for the emerging generation . basic respect for everyone , regardless of their gender , race , religion or sexuality , is the change i wish to see in this world . this brings me to the issue of ' expats ' and ' refugees ' .
i don ' t want to come across as hateful towards privileged whites or arabs , or the uae for that matter , because that would be contradictory . my best friend here in dubai is from a privileged emirati family , one of the friendliest and welcoming families i have ever met . the uae is also a very brave country , lighting up the burj khalifa in the colours of the belgian flag to pledge its support , unlike any other arab state .
few places epitomise the devastating effect as well as bashail , a town of 3 , 500 people in barisal district in southern bangladesh . twelve of its young men have returned from north africa since march , most with harrowing tales of hunger and physical deprivation .
in fact , the claim of “european exceptionalism” is largely a colonialist concept . few europeans thought of themselves as exceptional until they began ruling over other peoples by dint of superior military machines and organization . in attaining their knowledge base and military prowess , says hugh
( gcc ) are the most important destinations for bangladeshi laborers . from 1980 to 2010 , the number of migrants who annually left for work in the gulf states increased tenfold from 25 , 000 to more than 250 , 000 per year
muslim ethnocultural patches are bound to look different from the rest of the umma quilt .
arshadul islam , an official in the expatriates ' welfare and overseas employment ministry , said each returnee would be given a cash grant of 50 , 000 taka ( £414 ) . but he said :
ultimately , the solution is to find employment for them . they are in a bad situation .
there is absolutely no distinction in the way they are treated ,
she writes .
when i fly to dubai , at the airport i am treated just the way the indian manual labourers are . . . like cattle .
she recounts being pushed and shoved to make way for whites and arabs at the airport .
the event is the brainchild of arif anis malik and his colleagues at the world congress of overseas pakistanis ( wcop ) , a dynamic umbrella organisation that was recently established to help pakistani diasporas around the world with improving relations , increasing participation and braving realities in their lands of adoption .
bangladeshi labour migrants arrive at the airport in bangladesh ' s capital dhaka carrying presents after working abroad for extended periods of time . ( © benjamin etzold )
faruk sikder sells fruit from a cart in dhaka , bangladesh , after being forced to flee libya . photograph : syed zain al - mahmood for the guardian
i came from bangladesh . i am here for as a student . i am study in bsc . . .
a survey in denmark found that only 5 percent of muslim youths would be willing to marry non - muslims .
despite his traumatic experience in libya , sikder hopes to return when the war has finished .
i hope the government will think of sending us back after the fighting stops ,
he said .
i still have a contract there .
in any case , muslims are stopping at the second stage of cultural transmutation . instead of assimilating , they are “integrating” into host societies . before looking into the factors that militate against muslim assimilation , a word about assimilation and integration . assimilation means the cultural and structural merger of ethnic or religious categories . in the united states , for example , when we see reformed jews and protestants working , socializing ,
in most societies muslims have taken rather wide liberty to adapt their faith to their environment . arab muslims hold on to pre - islamic tribal values and structure , despite islam’s revolutionary doctrine of social equality . in iran , muslims have cultivated the shii sect of islam . shii
reason the children of catholic and jewish immigrants assimilated into western national mainstreams was the absence of a cultural wellspring to forestall the erosion of their distinctive cultural life . in the midnineteenth century , when irish catholics migrated to new england , they were cut off from their native land and cultural life almost permanently . the only cultural liaison they could have with ireland was through occasional letters from relatives and perhaps a visit or two with them in their entire lives .
observe different holidays , celebrate different festivals and , more important , have a strong disinclination toward marrying non - jews . in that case , sephardic jews are mixing with protestants culturally but not blending with them structurally . the two groups have integrated but did not assimilate . pluralism characterizes the relationships between groups that are integrated well without assimilating . in this example , the sephardic jews have a pluralistic relationship with the protestants .
according to the national population and housing census , 2 . 8 million bangladeshi household members were living abroad in 2011 . 95 percent of them were men . the fact that these migrants are still considered
household members
and not
emigrants
indicates the temporary nature of these labor movements . the survey shows that more than 500 , 000 migrant workers had returned home between 2006 and 2011 , a time period in which 3 . 5 million had left the nation
muslim leaders in britain condemned his comment while some britons defended him . clare short , who had resigned from prime minister
nearly one billion muslims , reducing it in most cases to a fanatical rejection of everything modern , liberal or progressive .
( lahore , pakistan : islamic publications , 1967 ) , p . 13 ; abu husayn al - basri quoted in
personal contact is also a key differentiator in perceptions of integration . those who know members of the community in their own lives are likely to have a positive view of integration but strong majorities with no personal link see pakistanis as less well integrated than other minorities that have settled more recently , suggesting that a deeper history of settlement and participation has yet to translate into comparative reputational advantage in key regards .
when masud emerged from the customs gate , he complained to the waiting piscatori that the airport people had given him “a hard time . ”
then there is the umma factor and the communications revolution , which also are helping shore up the western islamic space against assimilationist pressure . one
in the same survey , we asked several filter questions about whether respondents knew people from a pakistani background among their friends and family , work colleagues or other acquaintances .
significant , too , was another assumption reflected in the brouhaha over the istanbul bombing . neither macshane nor any other briton demanded that any british muslims be sent “back home . ” britons accept muslims as part of their
notwithstanding , the issue has doubtless been amplified in recent years by the familiar effect of hard times , where blame is pointed towards migrants and minorities as an economic threat to jobs , housing and government tax receipts .
according to un data , more than 7 . 8 million people of bangladeshi origin were living in 89 countries of the world in the year 2013 . the main host countries are india ( 3 . 2 million bangladeshi migrants ) , saudi arabia ( 1 . 3 million ) , the united arab emirates ( 1 . 1 million ) , malaysia ( 350 , 000 ) , kuwait ( 279 , 000 ) , and the united kingdom ( 240 , 000 ) ( see table 2 ) .
two years later , he built the first brick and concrete house in the area , which soon enough filled up with one - and two - story bungalows , each with its own lawn . his house looked no different from the others , but it harbored a surprising secret : he had built it with a foundation that could support seven stories . as far back as 1950 , he had told my grandmother , “a day will come when you won’t be able to see anything but people in this city . ” and indeed , while at some point other lovely houses in the neighborhood had to be torn down in order to be built back up taller , his children just added new floors .
which proclaimed an exclusive african american social agenda , “was the symbolic end of [ the ] age” of the assimilationist campaign marked by the 1963 march to washington led by martin luther king , jr .
bangladesh ranks seventh in the list of the world’s top remittance - receiving nations . the remittances bangladeshi migrants and diaspora members send home to their relatives contribute significantly to household incomes and to bangladesh ' s gross domestic product ( gdp ) . according to the bangladeshi government , remittances amounted to us $ 13 . 8 billion in 2013 , they accounted for more than nine percent of the country ' s gdp . the total sum of remittances has steadily increased from 1980 ( us $ 339 million ) to 2012 ( us $ 14 . 2 billion ) . 2013 was the first year to register a decline ( 2 . 3 percent less compared to the previous year ) . in 2014 , remittances re - increased to us $ 14 . 9 billion ( see figure 3 ) .
diplomats and staff at the embassy , located in surrah , 10km ( six miles ) south of kuwait city , were not hurt but several fled towards a nearby police station .
muslims are discarding their forebears’ ethnic symbols ( language , dress , food , customs ) and forming interethnic muslim communities . “while previous generations accepted the primacy of ethnic and national ties in the practice of their religion , ” writes a researcher , “muslims in europe today often feel that these networks conflict with the universal bond of islam . . . . islamic ties , for these young muslims , refer exclusively to the concept of umma , or community of believers . ”
as well as attitudes to the pakistani community , we posed some similar questions to separate samples about people from eastern europe , from african countries , and from muslim countries in general .
has been the main source of contemporary islamic resurgence . the islamic revival is also being fueled by such other factors as the challenge of u . s . military and political domination of much of the muslim world , israeli occupation of palestine and the stranglehold of autocratic governments and orthodox muslim religious establishments . but the forward - looking spirit of individual muslims is the most striking feature of this movement . most of the
the workers were employed by a kuwaiti cleaning company and destroyed furniture , windows and documents , a security officer at the scene told the afp news agency .
natalia , a former colleague of mine from india , unexpectedly opened my eyes to racial imbalance in the workplace . in the office she was bubbly , vibrant and steadfast . she always brightened the mood - a great person to have around . despite the fact that we were both hard workers , each with a tertiary education , i later discovered that natalia was paid far less than i was . she also struggled to obtain a necessary work visa from the employer , which was terribly unfair . it was awful to witness her anguish and disappointment trying to sort out her visa issues . i think it ' s safe to assume that natalia ' s difficulties in the workplace were attributed to her race and gender .
clifford geertz , local knowledge : further essays in interpretive anthropology ( new york : basic books , 2000 ) , p . 67 .
. from 2005 to 2010 alone , the gulf states attracted more than 1 . 5 million bangladeshi workers , that is 52 percent of all international movements from bangladesh . most of them migrated to the united arab emirates ( uae ) ( 647 , 000 ) , saudi arabia ( 523 , 000 ) , and qatar ( 154 , 000 ) ( see figure 2 ) . since the united arab emirates introduced further restrictions for male labor migrants in 2012 , the number of male bangladeshi workers going there decreased rapidly , while the number of female labor migrants to the uae quadrupled . both male and female labor migration to oman and qatar increased rapidly in recent years . these two states were the two most important destinations for short - contract migrant workers from bangladesh in 2014 .
wikipedia defines an expatriate as :
a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person ' s upbringing .
from this description , one would expect that all people , regardless of where they come from , would be considered an ' expatriate ' when living in a foreign country . wrong .
the government has been concerned enough to take out a $ 40m ( £25m ) loan from the world bank to help the migrants get back on their feet .
and , incredible as it seems , a dutch scholar estimates that one day “muslims are expected to outnumber non - muslims in europe . ”
dr . benjamin etzold is research associate and lecturer at the department of geography of bonn university , germany . he wrote his dissertation on street trading in the mega city dhaka and was part of a research project on climate change , hunger and migration in bangladesh . his research foci are development geography and migration studies with a focus on social vulnerability and labor conditions . email : etzold @ urltoken
no longer perceived solely as an ‘immigrant’ religion , islam is claiming the right not only to exist but also to flourish within the boundaries of the european union . ”
five of the six early ottoman monarchs were born of greek mothers . the syncretism eventually tapered off as the ottomans attended to furthering islamic culture and islamizing state laws .
pakistanis are seen as better integrated than people from muslim countries in general , suggesting the diaspora has overcome wider fears about the cultural challenge of muslim integration , at least to some extent . the progress of pakistani integration is also seen as dramatically improving from one generation to the next , and to a greater extent than for those from eastern european or african backgrounds .
stay updated on the go with the daily star news app . click here to download it for your device .
secondly , he has to be familiar with the customary law of the land and “exigencies of human life . ”
however , the community is also seen as playing a more positive economic role overall compared with the other groups .
most work in menial jobs , many as cleaners . they have few rights , but provide much needed foreign income to their families at home .
peter schywartz , inevitable surprises : thinking ahead in a time of turbulence ( new york : gotham books , 2003 ) , p . 64 .
in summary , this study suggests that a majority of britons tend to think that pakistani migrants are not integrating well into british society . the trait most commonly associated with people from a pakistani background is that they keep to their own , and substantially more so than either african or eastern european communities , at least according to respondents in this study .
now the 22 - year - old is eking out a precarious existence selling fruit on the streets of dhaka after leaving libya with nothing but the clothes on his back .
islam enjoins muslims to use independent judgment , i . e . conduct ijtihad , to determine islamic rules in a new environment . a muslim can be a mujtahid ( one who performs ijtihad ) if he fulfills two basic conditions . first , he must devote enough time and energy to the study of the quran and examples of the prophet to consider himself competent for the task .
i cried when they took a portable levelling machine i had bought . i had hoped to earn a living with it back in bangladesh .
member states of the gulf cooperation council ( gcc ) source : bmet database , wage earners remittance inflows : country wise ( monthly ) in 2014 , urltoken ( accessed : 8 - 17 - 2015 ) .
differences between ‘contacts’ and ‘no contacts’ is further pronounced in attitudes to the next generation , with 63 % of those who know pakistanis among friends and family saying the next generation is integrating well , versus 32 % saying not well , while the ‘no contacts’ are divided between 40 % saying ‘well’ versus 41 % saying ‘not well’ .
a spokesman for the protesters is reported to have complained that they had not been paid for the last five months .
bangladesh is a country where the united nations estimates around half the 130 million population earns about a dollar a day .


midhurst brickworks is a former brickworks situated to the south-west of midhurst , west sussex in england .

the works were sited close to the ( now closed ) midhurst common railway station on the midhurst to petersfield ( l.s.w.r. ) railway line .

the works were established in 1913 , on land owned by the cowdray estate , and closed in 1985 .

from 1938 , the company traded as midhurst whites after their main product , white bricks made of sand and lime , which was obtained from the cocking lime works , 5 km ( 3 mi ) south .

midhurst brickworks

between 1913 and 1985 , the midhurst brickworks famous for producing
midhurst white
bricks , was situated close to the former midhurst common railway station .
in our own factories , cremer whiting in faversham , kent , and pitsham brickworks in midhurst , west sussex .
talks are being set up to look at designing a master plan for future development of the old brickworks and west sussex county council’s highways depot in midhurst .
the brickworks , situated next to the long gone midhurst common station , had it’s own little 2 ' 6
gauge “railway” to transport the materials back and forward .
yes , provided that we are given adequate notice of your arrival ( 24 hours minimum please ) . please call our head office number not the brickworks on 01403 785141 to arrange and appointment . unfortunately , we are unable to guarantee saturday visits . to obtain a map to locate the brickworks please click on the following links for
motor rail 4 - wheel petrol mechanical 2 ' 6
gauge locomotive ( works no . 6035 built in 1937 ) fitted with an austin 12 petrol engine engine , at midhurst whites ltd . brickworks on 27th march 1970 . this locomotive is now preserved by the moseley railway trust on the apedale railway in staffordshire .
midhurst is a low crime area within west sussex , which itself has a crime rate well below the national average .
in a ‘wild west
atmosphere of sand and pine trees midhurst whites carry on their activities of making whiter - than - white bricks . their works , situated by the long - closed midhurst common station on the truncated remains of the ls
the naughty parishioners of midhurst were busy at the wicket , bowling googlies when they should have been in church on that particular sunday .
midhurst common - quarry area - an old brick works factory . more infomation : urltoken midhurst is situated in the wealden greensand , which lies between the south downs and the low weald . the town is located in the rother valley : the river rother flows east - south - east to join the river arun near pulborough , from which point the river flows southwards to reach the sea at littlehampton . the london and south western railway ( lswr ) opened a single - tracked branch line from petersfield to midhurst in 1864 , with a station c . 800m from the town centre . in 1866 , the london brighton and south coast railway ( lbscr ) extended the 1859 horsham - petworth branch line to the town , and in 1881 a line was built to connect midhurst directly to chichester . the midhurst - lavant section of the latter closed in 1935 , the petersfield - midhurst branch closed in 1955 , and the petworth - midhurst branch closed in 1964 . see more : file : / / / c : / users / linda / downloads / midhurst _ eus _ report _ and _ maps . pdf
the walk to and from work was a colossal round trip of 18 miles , so he took digs at no 89 south street , midhurst .
midhurst was chosen as the location gaillardia because train passenger services had been withdrawn but the track and station buildings were still used for goods traffic .
this robert hudson & co ltd , ' go - go ' type 2 ' 6
gauge petrol / paraffin mechanical locomotive , works no . ht45913 built in 1932 , was in the company of an ex - army truck ( 1200l ) at the midhurst whites brickworks in sussex , both abandoned by the time of my visit on 23rd march 1969 . the hudson locomotive was fitted with a fordson engine and is now on display at amberley museum . the ' midhurst whte ' brick , as seen on the building behind , was an exceptional engineering brick , having a high compressive strength .
by this time , only a single grade 1 porter was retained at bishops waltham . he was responsible for dealing with the various traders , loading and unloading of wagons and all the paperwork relating to the station . although goods traffic began to decline after ww2 the station still handled considerable coal and mill traffic . by 1953 the goods shed had been taken out of use and rented to duke & son for use as a grain store . the brickworks siding was lifted in 1947 , and by 1956 the brickworks had closed and scrap dealer meon valley metals took over the works site . for a while they used the branch for outgoing scrap metal .
cowdray park estate owns property all over the midhurst area . these buildings are all easily recognised by their bright saffron yellow paintwork . but why was this colour chosen ?
hg well’s mother was in service at a country pile up the road called uppark and young hg was apprenticed to cowap’s chemist shop , in church hill , midhurst .
midhurst grammar school was founded in 1672 as a charity school for 12 poor protestant boys by a local man called gilbert hannam . what did gilbert do as a living ?
1 . in contributing towards the maintenance of any isolation hospital or ward which may be established for the parish of midhurst or otherwise towards the isolation of cases of infectious disease .
the midhurst curfew garden preservation fund . by a declaration of trust dated 18 february 1925 amy brooks declared that , being desirous that the curfew garden shall not be sold or built upon but shall be held for all time for the purpose of maintaining the ancient custom of ringing the curfew in midhurst , settled a sum of £180 2½ per cent . consolidated stock upon trust , the income ( so long as the garden remains unsold and unbuilt upon ) to be received by the vicar and churchwardens of midhurst and applied at their discretion in the following objects or any of them
midhurst town trust . by a scheme of the charity commissioners dated 4 february 1910 it was provided that the properties consisting of the town hall , the market place , the pound , and the parish stocks , all at midhurst , shall be administered and managed by a body of trustees therein constituted , and that any residue of income of the trust , after payment of the expenses of management , repairs , and insurance , and all other charges payable in respect of the properties shall be applied by the trustees for some public purpose or purposes in midhurst to be approved by the commissioners .
midhurst brick in sussex produced the white bricks that saw much use in internal lightwells and on staircases . i rather like the typography - the use of the stacked bricks to emphasis the ' 4 ' is rather neat .
midhurst was chosen as a film location for the 1958 comedy carlton brown of the f . o , starring terry thomas and peter sellers . what was the name of the fictional island , that the town “played” in the movie ?
the curfew charity . it appears from a report dated 1 june 1860 to the charity commissioners that a person ( name unknown ) having in the olden time lost his way and gained the town of midhurst by hearing the curfew bell , in gratitude gave a quarter of an acre of land situate in knockhundred row , midhurst , towards the tolling a curfew bell in the parish church , which has since been done at 8 p . m . , except during the war .
so how did you do ? are you a mine of information when it comes to midhurst or in a mire over the answers . more difficult that you thought it would be ? never mind , just cheat and look them up here !
midhurst has a population of 4 , 914 , comprising 2434 households ( average size 2 people ) and 3477 economically active residents . of the 1027 economically inactive residents , 673 or two - thirds ( 65 . 5 % ) are retirees .
60 . in 1390 the prioress of easebourne , margery pygon , gave leave for nicholas , chaplain of midhurst , to be buried beneath the bell - tower before the altar of blessed mary in the chapel of st . mary magdalene of midhurst : add . chart . 53723 . cf . suss . rec . soc . xliii , 218 . the further invocation of st . denis , added in modern times , occurs ( alone ) in 1764 : ecton , thesaurus , 53 .
gilbert had arrived in midhurst , during the english civil war when he was on the side of the parlimentarians , presumably as he didn’t fancy having to wear a big hat and long curly wig , preferring instead the “short back and sides” of the roundheads .
midhurst ( in the sussex dialect : medhas ) is a market town and civil parish covering 333 hectares in west sussex . it lies on the river rother 20 miles inland from the english channel , and 12 miles north of the county town of chichester .
county councillor for midhurst , gordon mcara said the town council was hoping to take the lead in getting the cowdray estate and the county council together to come up with a ‘bigger picture’ giving the best commercial value on the last big development site in the town .
midhurst whites are the calcium silicate bricks which were made in a brick works based in the town which opened in 1913 . they are pale yellow - white and have been used , amongst other things , in the construction of the light wells at battersea power station .
midhurst is a market town servicing its rural hinterland through many small businesses , shops , restaurants and cafes . its primary economic activities , in terms of employment , are wholesale and retail businesses including motor mechanics , construction , hotels , food and drink and office administration .
2 . in contributing towards the maintenance of any cottage hospital established for any area comprising the parish of midhurst , upon such terms , as far as may be , as to enable the trustees to secure the benefits of the hospital for poor patients of the parish .
in 1291 the chapel of st . denis within the former castle of midhurst was mentioned , and also the ' chantries of midhurst in the chapel of st . thomas ' . ( fn . 71 ) the latter was probably the chapel of the hospitallers , as of the four services which the priest was to celebrate in 1515 two were the feast of st . thomas ( 29 december ) and his translation ( 7 july ) , and the ornaments of the chapel included an alabaster tablet of st . thomas of canterbury . ( fn . 72 )
the revd . frank tatchell by his will dated 20 august 1932 devised his freehold cottage at midhurst known as mint cottage to the vicar and churchwardens to be used as a residence of the curate , verger , or other church official for the time being as the vicar may decide .
44 . for the descent of the manor generally , see sir w . st . john hope , cowdray and easebourne priory ; g . e . watson , ' the bohuns of midhurst ' in genealogist , n . s . xxviii ; and suss . arch . coll . xx .
the name midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as middeherst , meaning
middle wooded hill
, or
( place ) among the wooded hills
. it derives from the old english words midd ( adjective ) or mid ( preposition ) , meaning
in the middle
, plus hyrst ,
a wooded hill
.
the testator , by the second codicil to his will , also devised his cottage known as no . 6 little ashfield to the governing body of the midhurst nursing association to be used as a hostel or residence for the association ' s nurses . the property was sold in 1938 . the endowment of the charity now consists of a sum of £450 3 per cent . defence bonds . by an order dated 1 june 1943 the charity commissioners established a scheme for the regulation of the charity , under which there shall be four managing trustees and the yearly income shall be applied towards the salaries of the nurses of the midhurst , easebourne , and west lavington nursing association .
sir david owen in his will , made in 1530 , desired a chantry of two priests to be founded in the church , the priests to be appointed by the dean of chichester , the prioress of easebourne , and the ' vicar ' of midhurst ; ( fn . 65 ) but there is no evidence that this was done .
in 1862 he established the bishops waltham clay company for the manufacture of bricks and terracotta . he was also heavily involved with the bishops waltham railway company , set up to link his brickworks ( and the town ) with the main london - southampton line . with the opening of the railway , bishops waltham was once again developing into a prosperous market town , being home to several agricultural suppliers , merchants and a cattle market and abbey mill which was built in station road in 1862 . helps also financed the town ' s water works as well as the coke and gas works which lit the town and the station from 1864 . he also provided the land for the royal albert infirmary which opened in 1865 .
although midhurst gave its name to a rural deanery , the church remained a chapel of easebourne ( q . v . ) , whose chaplain was appointed by the prioress . at the dissolution it passed into the gift of the owners of the cowdray estate as a perpetual curacy . in 1557 sir anthony browne , as owner of a number of rectories and advowsons , proposed to endow or augment vicarages in all of them , including midhurst , with the tithes of the rectories , reserving the advowsons . ( fn . 63 ) he also proposed to found two chantries , one at battle and the other at the altar of st . john the evangelist in the parish church of midhurst . the royal licence was duly given on 12 june , but if any steps were taken to carry out the proposals they came to nothing on the death of queen mary a little more than a year later . nearly 200 years later , in 1747 , everard levitt left £100 for the purchase of lands to augment the living , so that the incumbent should have prayers on wednesday and friday . ( fn . 64 )
since most sensible folk would keep quiet about this , we assume john was not blessed with brains either , since his punishment was to walk through the streets of chichester , midhurst and lewes , wearing only a shirt , shoes and a strip of linen around his waist , whilst carrying a faggot . ( a bundle of sticks ) , before carrying on to chichester cathedral .
owing to the influence of the lords montague at cowdray midhurst was a centre of roman catholicism . thus in 1621 there were about forty households of recusants here . ( fn . 35 ) in 1634 john arismandy appointed john cope and richard shelley to administer certain moneys after his death to provide a priest for the poor catholics of midhurst , to say masses every week for his soul and ' my lords auncestors ' . this deed was found in the 19th century in a box hidden in the chimney of an old house with rosaries and other religious objects . ( fn . 36 ) in 1642 the ' protestation ' in support of the church of england was signed by 207 men in midhurst , but 54 ' recusant papists ' refused at first to sign it . two days later 35 of these did sign , ( fn . 37 ) probably excepting , either expressly or mentally , the special clause denouncing the roman faith , as did their colleagues at easebourne , ( fn . 38 ) where there was an equal number of recusants . the present roman catholic church , built in sandstone in the early english style , was erected in 1869 within the liberty of st . john . ( fn . 39 )
the charity of henry court , founded by deed dated 8 may 1869 , is regulated by a scheme of the charity commissioners dated 5 september 1893 as varied by schemes of the said commissioners dated 2 august 1898 and 4 july 1924 . by the scheme of 1893 the governors for the time being of the midhurst grammar school were appointed to be trustees of the charity and it provided that the income shall be applied in apprenticing poor boys , natives of midhurst , who have always resided there , and who have completed their 13th but not their 15th year , as indoor apprentices . by the scheme of 1898 , if proper applicants for indoor apprenticeships are not forthcoming the trustees may apply such income in apprenticing duly qualified poor boys as outdoor apprentices . the annual income of the charity amounts to £27 10 s . 2 d .
the midhurst bell is still rung , according to a report in 1860 , because a lost traveller , in olden times , was saved when he heard the bell and found the town . he was so grateful he gave a quarter of an acre of land in knockhundred row to the town in order to keep the bell tolling . the income of which pays for the ringer to ring the bell , the repair of the bell and the maintenance of the tower , belfry and curfew .
the norman st . ann ' s castle was built on a bluff overlooking a ford over the river rother and a major crossroad , on the site of an earlier saxon settlement . the castle dates from about 1120 , although the foundations are all that can now be seen . the castle , the parish church of st . mary magdalene and st . denis , together with south pond , the former fish - pond for the castle , are the only three structures left from this early period . the parish church is the oldest building in midhurst .
as early as 1384 dower was assigned to cecily widow of sir john de bohun in ' the manor of midhurst called coderay ' . ( fn . 51 ) from the time when sir david owen began the building of the great house the manor , as distinct from the borough , of midhurst was often called cowdray . in 1528 sir david sold the bohun estates to sir william fitzwilliam , reserving the right to live at cowdray , but permitting sir william to build there , provided he was not inconvenienced by the work . ( fn . 52 ) his son sir henry owen pointed out that sir david had only a life interest , but himself conveyed the reversion to sir william . ( fn . 53 ) the latter , created earl of southampton in 1537 , died in 1542 and left the estates to his half - brother sir anthony browne . he died in 1548 and was succeeded by his eldest son , sir anthony , who was created viscount montague in 1554 and lived until 1592 . his eldest son having died shortly before him , midhurst and cowdray passed to his grandson anthony maria and from him in unbroken succession to george samuel , 8th viscount montague , who was drowned in 1793 when rashly attempting to shoot the rapids of the rhine . as he left no issue the estates passed to his sister elizabeth mary , who married william stephen poyntz . he died in 1840 , leaving three daughters , by whom the property was sold to the 6th earl of egmont . from the 8th earl it was bought in 1908 by sir weetman pearson , created baron cowdray in 1910 and viscount in 1917 , and is now held by the 3rd viscount .
george ognell ' s poor charity was established in 1596 by the said george ognell , of crullfield ( warws . ) , who enfeoffed 12 trustees in tenements , amounting to some 160 acres , in the neighbourhood of midhurst for the benefit of the poor of that town . it is regulated by a scheme of the charity commissioners dated 20 february 1880 , which appoints a body of trustees to administer the charity and apply the income under various heads for the benefit of deserving and necessitous persons resident in the parish . the annual income amounts to £138 10 s . 0 d .
michael bageley , ( fn . 66 ) who represented the borough in parliament in 1399 , in 1422 founded a brotherhood which supported a morrow - mass priest in midhurst church . ( fn . 67 ) it held lands yielding £14 10 s . 6 d . in 1523 , ( fn . 68 ) bequests being made to the brotherhood of the holy rood before and after that date . ( fn . 69 ) two wardens collected the money and accounted for it to the town bailiff ; when the seizure of lands given for ' superstitious ' purposes was imminent , the ' maisters of the town ' caused the lands to be conveyed to them by a new deed and so managed to retain them . ( fn . 70 )
midhurst was a ' free borough ' and in 1278 was said to have been so from time beyond memory . ( fn . 9 ) it was governed by a bailiff , ( fn . 10 ) who was elected by the burgesses from among themselves and presented to the lord ' s steward at the annual court baron of the manor of midhurst . ( fn . 11 ) with him were associated a number of burgesses , but the constitution , and even the numbers , of this council cannot be traced . dallaway ' s statement that ( in 1815 ) ' they have a common seal ' ( fn . 12 ) is at least doubtful , the only item of municipal insignia remaining in the hands of the town trust being a silvergilt mace , presented in 1736 by sir henry peachey . disputes over the rights of the burgesses were settled in 1409 by an agreement under which sir john de bohun ( and his feoffees ) conveyed to michael bageley and six other named burgesses and their successors the right to take the market tolls and to hold both the three - weekly courts and the two ' law days ' by their steward in the name of sir john and his heirs , by payment of 40 s . yearly . if they failed for a whole year to hold the courts the agreement should lapse , and if they neglected to keep the streets and ditches in order the lord ' s manorial officers should take measures against offenders but should hand over any fines to the burgesses . ( fn . 13 ) this arrangement was confirmed in 1537 by sir william fitzwilliam . ( fn . 14 )
in the 12th century enjuger and savaric de bohun granted a rent of 1 mark from a mill at midhurst to the abbey of waverley ; ( fn . 27 ) and this was transferred by the monks to anthony de beck , bishop of durham , in 1289 . ( fn . 28 ) when sir john de bohun died in 1284 he owned the north mill ( near the bridge over the rother ) , worth 40 s . , and the south mill ( of which the pond lies below the castle hill ) , worth 6 s . 8 d . ( fn . 29 ) in 1311 the value of the two mills had risen to £8 . ( fn . 30 ) a contract was made in 1467 by sir humphrey bohun with nicholas wykford for rebuilding the north mill as a corn and malt mill . ( fn . 31 ) the tithes of both mills had evidently been granted to the knights hospitallers , as they were included in the lease of the chapel in 1515 to robert gybrisshe made by sir thomas docwra , prior of the order . ( fn . 32 )
the bailiff held the assize of bread and ale , appointing two ale - tasters yearly , and acted as clerk of the market . ( fn . 15 ) a market existed from an early date , for in 1223 when the bishop of london complained that savaric de bohun had taken tolls in the market of midhurst from his men of lodsworth who were exempt from such tolls under a charter of king john , savaric replied that his ancestors had been seised of the tolls before the date of the charter . ( fn . 16 ) there was a weekly market on tuesday in 1288 , ( fn . 17 ) but under a grant made to viscount montague in 1681 the market was to be held on alternate tuesdays . ( fn . 18 ) by 1792 the weekly market day was thursday , ( fn . 19 ) and there was still a market for corn on that day in 1878 , ( fn . 20 ) but by 1888 it was apparently no longer functioning . ( fn . 21 ) the grant of 1681 included fairs on lady day ( 25 march ) , st . margaret ' s ( 20 july ) , and st . luke ' s ( 18 october ) . the first and third continued ( allowing for the change in the calendar in 1752 ) until 1888 , but the july fair is replaced in 1792 by whit tuesday and in 1888 by 19 may .
there are two versions of the story . one , the sub prioress of easbourne priory was a bit put out when henry vlll chucked her and her fellow nuns out in , the dissolution of the monasteries and cursed whoever took the land next . step forward sir william fitzwilliam , earl of southampton , who was building cowdray at the time .
two , sir antony browne , owner of cowdray between 1542 to 48 , was cursed by a rather aggrieved monk , after he pulled down battle abbey church , which he happened to own as well .
but which ever may or may not be true , on tuesday 24th september 1793 , cowdray house , which was by then owned by george samuel browne , the eighth viscount , caught fire , after a careless chippy left a piece of smouldering charcoal on some wood shavings . aided by the strong winds the whole place burned down .
owner george thought he’d had a lucky escape as he was busy trying to shoot some dangerous falls in a tiny boat at laufenburg , germany with his mate charles sedley burdett . you can guess where this is heading ? neither was ever seen again . presumably drowned .
it has long been the custom to paint the woodwork on properties owned by large estates the same colour , to show they are owned by the estate .
when the second viscount cowdray , weetman harold miller pearson , inherited cowdray in 1927 he thought it would be a nice idea to have all the woodwork of estate cottages bright yellow .
however , the gaillardia or blanket flower is a plant from the sunflower family named after m . gaillard de charentonneau , an 18th - century french magistrate .
we aren’t sure why the writers of the film carlton browne of the f . o . gave the name to the former british colony long forgotten by the foreign office . but they did and when valuable mineral ores are found on the island , the russians become interested and the inept cadogen de vere carlton - browne is sent to ensure british rule continues , unsuccessfully as it happens , sparking a revolution .
to aid the filming an old 1870’s engine , “terrier” tank no . 32640 was sent from brighton engine shed and starred as the train which was divided by a painted white line when the island was partitioned into two .
for those of you who have more than a passing interest in brickwork . . . . the bricks were made by mixing calcium lime with fine siliceous aggregate ( whatever that might be ) and water . the mixture is then moulded at high pressure and finally cured with steam .
after the war he decided to stay on and started a local weaving and coverlet making business .
what made him decide to start a charity school for twelve poor boys we can’t say , but we bet they had nicely woven uniforms , cosy beds and weren’t short of a carpet or two .
however , they weren’t the first sussex residents to risk the wrath of god for the game .
church records show that in 1611 two parishioners in sidlesham failed to attend church on easter sunday because they were busy playing cricket . they were fined 12d each and made to do penance , presumably by being forced to watch continuous re - runs of england’s world cup defeat by south africa… .
the word comes from the french couvre feu and it means to cover a fire .
william the conqueror is generally given credit for imposing the curfew bells , rung from local churches to tell people to rake their ashes and put the fires out , so the town didn’t burn down overnight . however , it may well have not been him , but it was he who imposed heavy penalties on those who took no notice .
kings edward l and lll both made laws saying no - one could carry arms on the streets after the bell was tolled and now the word curfew is associated with naughty people who have to wear electronic tags and go to bed early , until they learn to be good .
except for the war , the bell has rung every sunday , funded by the massive annual income of £4 10s… . .
ernest howard shepard started as a contributor to punch in 1907 and worked his way up to first cartoonist . it was while he was at punch that he was recommended to aa milne as an illustrator for some children’s verses . milne wasn’t convincved and at first , charmingly , described shepard’s style as “perfectly hopeless” but soon came round .
shepard based pooh bear , not on milne’s son’s bear but on his own son graham’s bear , a fellow called growler , who came to a rather slobbery end in a dog’s mouth some years later .
the pair ( milne and shepard , not the bear and the dog ) never became close , shepard later saying “i never knew him intimately . it was difficult to get beyond the façade
but milne did arrange for shepard to receive a share in the royalites , thus making him pretty well off , which was nice .
however , karma eventually caught up with mr milne for his less than kind comments . when the house at pooh corner was published , one reviewer for the new yorker , in her column the
constant reader
, wrote that
tonstant weader fwowed up .
poor old john was not only blessed with a very unfortunate surname , but he also wasn’t sure he believed in the virgin mary , that the body of christ was present in the eucharist or that only a confession to a priest could save his soul .
bbc sussex , broadcasting house , queens road , brighton , east sussex , bn1 3xb . e - mail : sussex @ urltoken bbc surrey , broadcasting centre , guildford , surrey , gu2 7ap . e - mail : surrey @ urltoken reception : 01273 320400 phone in : 08459 570057 for sussex and 0370 411 1046 for surrey breakfast
6
gauge rail system on three levels - lower , where the final products are marshalled ; middle , where sand is excavated ; and upper , where the disused pit is reclaimed .
when the lswr track was lifted the firm decided to extend the middle level and , by means of a cutting and an embankment , crossed over the lswr trackbed to open up a new pit . this new line is about 300 yards long and was constructed from materials from the abandoned lime in the old pit . it is virtually level except for the last few yards to the working face where it drops sharply . a rail
built buffer stop has been erected here . the rail is flat - bottomed , about 50 lbs . per yard , and spiked direct to ex−b . r . sleepers ; it gives a fairly smooth ride .
this centre line is worked by a 4−wheel simplex diesel locomotive ( works number 8981 ) and two skips , bringing back about four tons of sand each journey . the sand is tipped at the western end of the works and , after washing , is nixed with cement and moulded in the pressing sheds . the bricks pass to the lowest level of the works where they are fired .
the waste from the manufacture is passed via a conveyor belt to the upper line where it is fed into a half - dozen skips . two of the latter have inside frames and the rest outside . the 4−wheel simplex petrol locomotive ( no . 6035 ) which works here is housed in a small corrugated iron shed at one end of the line . it propels two skips at a time along about 200 yards of temporary track around the lip of the disused pit where the spoil is tipped .
returning to the lowest level , there is quite a complex arrangement of prefabricated track which serves the two storage sheds . there are a large number of well - sprung flat wagons , which are more broad than they are long . newly made bricks are taken on these from the kilns , via a traverser , to the sheds for storage or loading on to lorries . a now disused branch runs between the two storage sheds , through the bushes , across the road and down to the also disused lswr goods shed . here , in the good old days , the bricks were transferred for rail shipment .
two locomotives work on the lowest level . the largest , and more commonly used , is an unusual 4−wheel hudson petrol whose outside frames reach almost to the ground . it tows wagons around by means of a chain which keeps the wagons at a distance as though silage , not bricks , was their load . the other locomotive on this level is another 4−wheel simplex petrol , no . 6023 .
all four locomotives are painted grey ; the simplexes have wooden cabs but the hudson has a canopy only . heavy repairs are done during the firm‘s annual holidays in august . the locomotives work reliably and , despite their drab livery , add greatly to the coniferous forest which alone makes a visit to the works well worth while .
“with the knowledge of the south downs national park authority we want to sit down and come up with a master plan , ” he said .
“the two sites could be combined to provide more housing , recreational use and an expanded recycling depot . ”
the county council wants to sell the highways depot , used for the storage of salt , to raise part of the funds needed for a ‘super hub depot’ the focal point of a restructure of the highways service .
the proposals designed to transform the way the service operates , have been labelled ‘radical and far - reaching’ by the county council .
the super hub , said a report to the environmental and community services select committee due to be held yesterday ( january 14 ) : “will be the single biggest change in our transformational plan , but will allow us to realise huge benefits to staff , contractors , sub - contractors , other service areas and partners and , ultimately , our customers . ”
although the location of the depot has not been revealed , it is set to be ‘at a location with convenient main road access links to all parts of the county’ .
as the council is intending for highway workers to be based in the areas in which they work , the super hub would be for office - based staff and storage of materials .
a ‘significant’ reduction in current staff budgets’ is also set to take place in the highways department .
the county council has revealed a £1 . 3m cut to its highways staff budget for the 2015 / 16 financial year .
in 2013 additional temporary funding was made available to help address a ‘backlog of customer enquiries’ built up during the harsh winter of 2012 / 13 .
this has meant enquiry volumes are back to normal and next year’s budget will not include £814 , 000 for the temporary staff . the council also opened a customer services hub at bognor regis in october .
officers said as well as axing the temporary posts they had to offset the cost of the new facility . they were “designing a staff structure that will allow us to function within these constraints . ”
the original castle of st ann ' s was abandoned by 1317 , and replaced by a castle across the rother in the parish of easeborne . this in turn was rebuilt as cowdray house in the early 16 th century . in the late eighteenth century cowdray park was landscaped by capability brown . cowdray house was destroyed by fire in 1793 leaving the ruins we see today which have been immortalised in the paintings of jmw turner . cowdray ruins was the subject of a major conservation project and opened to the public in spring 2007 .
the parish church of st mary magdalene and st denys was once the only permanent building within the market square ; now the square is the heart of the town and lined with residential and commercial properties .
the old town hall , an early 19 th century building on the south side of the square , is now an attractive coffee shop . in an alcove beneath the steps on the outside of the building you can still see the town stocks and pillory , last used in 1859 .
the old market hall , a 16 th century timber and brick building which stands in the middle of south street , housed the original grammar school , founded in 1672 . the school later moved to the building which now forms part of the south downs national park authority ' s headquarters on north street , where hg wells was among its best known former scholars .
just like any other website , routeyou makes use of cookies and similar technology to collect information about your preferences and your usage of the website . only by doing so can we offer you an optimal user experience .
we also use cookies to serve you with personalised advertisements . advertisements are necessary in order to offer you this service for free . if you prefer to use the website ad free , then you have the option to upgrade to a paid myrouteyou plus account , which also offers some advanced functionality .
whatever you choose , we will always respect the privacy and security of your information in accordance with our privacy and cookie policy .
i want to continue using the site for free by allowing personalised advertisements . i want to upgrade to a myrouteyou plus account to use the site without advertisements .
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd xhtml 1 . 0 transitional / / en
urltoken
sussex industrial history archive ( pdf reader required ) all published volumes of sih in pdf format n . b . opens a slower connection faster mirror
issues 2 , 3 and 5 £1 each , issue 17 £1 . 50 , issues 19 , 20 , 21 and 22 £2 . 25 each , issues 23 and 24 £2 . 50 each , issues 25 and 26 £2 . 75 each , issues 27 and 28 £2 . 95 each , issues 29 , 30 , 32 , 33 and 34 £3 . 95 each . issues 31 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 and 40 £4 . 25 each . issues 41 on - £5 . 00 each
uk post and packing extra , 1 . 50p for one issue plus 65p for each subsequent copy . for a list of the articles in volumes no longer available for sale see sussex industrial history 25 ( 1995 ) . the honorary secretary is prepared to quote for photocopying articles in these issues . also available : f . gregory , a sussex water mill sketchbook £6 . 95 post free m beswick , brickmaking in sussex ( revised edn . 2001 ) £12 . 95 post free h . t . dawes , the windmills and millers of brighton ( 2nd edn . ) £4 . 95 ( £6 . 50 incl . post and packing ) alan h . j . green , the history of chichester ' s canal £7 . 50 ( £9 . 50 incl . post and packing ) orders with remittance ( payable to : sias ) to : peter holtham , 12 st helens crescent , hove , bn3 8ep
send mail to martin ( at ) pastfinder . uk - note not . co with questions or comments about this web site . copyright © 2001 - 17 sussex industrial archaeology society , martin b snow and contributors - all rights reserved . e & oe last modified : march 28 , 2017
a history of the county of sussex : volume 4 , the rape of chichester . originally published by victoria county history , london , 1953 .
as in most other live towns , the oldest buildings survive chiefly off the main thoroughfare . in north street , which is the high street of the town , nearly all the buildings have been rebuilt or altered from the 18th century onwards . a peculiarity is that the main road ( a 286 ) from london to chichester enters the town as a side - turning at the bridge over the river rother and after passing through north street is suddenly diverted by a sharp bend eastwards through the narrow knock hundred row to pass southwards through lion street and the market square , the roadway on either side of the isolated old market hall and buildings north of it being narrow and dangerous . the apparent continuation southwards of the main road through north street , rumbold ' s hill , ( fn . 6 ) and the mint merely comes to a dead end at bepton ; and the continuation of north street northwards ( a 272 ) passes through easebourne village to turn eastwards through cowdray park for petworth . west street starts from the market square , crosses the north - south roadway at the junction of rumbold ' s hill and the mint to continue westwards as the main road ( a 272 ) to petersfield .
lion street has ancient buildings on its west side but , except for the bottleneck north end of it , was widened in the 18th century , either by the frontage being set back to that of the parish church or by the demolition of most of a 17th - century island . two buildings of this island still survive by the market square at the south end of lion street and facing west street . the old market hall stands south of these . there are some old buildings in west street , and in wool lane which runs northward from west street to a fork with rumbold ' s hill . all the ancient buildings were of timber - framing , of which the old market hall , the spread eagle hotel ( west of it ) , and several others are good , if not very ornate , examples .
the old market hall stands isolated , south of west street and west of the market square . it is now used as an estate agent ' s offices and the upper story is a private residence ; this upper story was the first home of the grammar school founded by gilbert hannam in 1672 . ( fn . 7 ) it dates presumably from 1552 , when sir anthony browne granted to the burgesses a vacant space , 70 by 30 ft . , in the market on which to build a market house , ( fn . 8 ) but it has been much renovated and altered ; the lower story , which presumably was open - sided originally , is closed with modern timber - framing , windows , & c . the upper story is jettied on the north front and east and west ends on moulded bressummers supported by shaped brackets . the front is of two bays with square framing . in each bay is a three - sided bay - window on shaped brackets and with pedimental heads . the two main gable - heads also project on stop - moulded bressummers and brackets and are of square framing . the east and west ends are similarly treated except for the windows , which were flat and are now blocked . the south elevation is in one plane and the west half is of timber - framing with a tile - hung gable - head ; the east half is of brick and has a chimney - stack . that the building extended one bay farther southwards originally is borne out by the positions of the two long diagonal ceiling beams in the lower story .
the spread eagle hotel includes an l - shaped building of timber - framing at the corner of west street and south street , dating probably from the 15th century , and a mid - late 17th - century building south of it , facing eastwards towards south street . the timber building was apparently the inn originally but was abandoned when the 17th - century part was built and became shops . the east front of it has a jettied upper story on shaped brackets and the north half has a projecting gable - head . the framing is mostly plain rectangular panels , with fairly close - set studding in the south half . the windows have been renovated and fitted with lattice glazing . the north side has heavy curved braces below the wall - plate . the west half is still a separate shop and a tiled pentise or hood to the whole length is a reminder that the east half has also been a shop . it has two projecting windows on coving or brackets and a doorway between them . it is now part of the two lounges that occupy all the east range . these have open - timbered ceilings with heavy chamfered beams and wide flat joists . the northern chamber has a 7½ft . west fire - place of stone in which is an iron fireback with the stuart royal arms . the south end of the range has some abnormally heavy timbers with straight braces . in the upper story are queen - post roof trusses and straight wind - braces to the purlins . in some of the upper windows is a good deal of collected 17th - century flemish heraldic and other glass ( 1612 to c . 1640 ) .
the southern part of the hotel is of red brick with stone angle - dressings and plain architraves to the windows . it is of two stories , attics , and cellars . the southernmost room is lined with late - 17th - century oak panelling , also the room above , and there is some reset early - 17th - century panelling . behind is an 18th - century wing of whitened brickwork . part of it—the dining - room—has a wide fire - place and old ceiling beams .
the swan inn and an adjoining building are the remains of a 17th - century island north of the market hall and west of the market square . the inn has plastered walls and the upper story of most of the east front is jettied , but the south block is modern .
the shop and house next north appears to date from earlier in the 17th - century than the inn . the walls are plastered : the east and west ends have jettied upper stories and projecting gable - heads . there was another building north of it and its present north wall was the party wall . it is of ancient timber - framing with curved struts , and two fire - places are exposed ; the upper has moulded brick jambs and a four - centred head .
the building west of this block at the corner of lion street is modern but the next north of it in the narrow part of the street next the island may be of 15th or early - 16th - century date , judging from the moulded bressummer to the jettied upper story : it is a small building with a frontage of about 16 ft . and has timberframing to both stories .
the next north ( two shops ) is a plastered building with a jettied upper story on curved brackets of the 17th century ; it has modern windows . a longer building adjoining , now a house and two shops , was probably one tenement of early - 17th - century date and was evidently an inn ( ' the lion ' ? ) . the southernmost part projects a little ; it has a jettied upper story and a gablehead , the barge - boards of which are carved with a pierced foliage pattern . it is all plastered , as is also the northern extension , which is also jettied above the two modern shop - fronts . in front of the gable is the iron bracket for the former inn - sign .