The Social and Cultural Location of the Kerani in the Empire

This chapter explores the unique location of the kerani in nineteenth-century Calcutta. It charts the development of Calcutta as a different urban space than the earlier cities of Murshidabad and Dhaka. The chapter also engages with the important question of the middle class in India and whether the kerani may be fitted into this rubric. It tries to answer the important question whether the kerani may be considered a bhadralok.