Rise of Kshatriyas and Baishyas of Bengal

The Bengali bourgeoisie , a new class, came into being under the aegis of the English East India Company.During the early days of the company's rule the Bengalee merchant classes amassed money through transactions with it. This borne out by the popular reference to one "Gouri Sen", Dattas of north Calcutta, Boses of South Calcutta,  whose fabulous riches are still talked of . These businessmen formed the monied class  of Calcutta and Bengal.

But the Kshatriyas flourished in another way.They, like their ancestors of yore, being the intellingtsia of the Hindu community, deemed it fit to serve under the East India company. A few of them rose to eminence though  through the Company's service or through ancillary institutions establishd by the same.
The distance of time between the Mughal conquest of India and East India Company's rule in our country is fairly great. The Kshatriyas and Baishyas of Bengal had fought along with the Pathans against the Mughals and on being defeated, had lost their formal proud position as land lords of the country. The Mughals under Mansingh sought to bring about a rupture in the Hindu society and set the Rahri-Brahmins against the Kshatriyas. Thus a class struggle ensued in which the Kshatriyas and Baishyas went down. The consequence was that no big Kshatriyas Zamindar was any longer to be found in the whole Bengal during the Mughal period excepting only the Dinajpur Raj Estate, included at that time in the kingdom of Cooch Behar, was saved. But with the establishment of the English rule, the Kshatriyas and Baishyas of the surrounding areas of Bengal   adjusted themselves to it. And those who built connections with the ruling English power propered. Thus the Kshatriyas in Calcutta who mostly belonged to the Dakshin-Rahri sect became increasingly important. Later on, with the spread of English education they took to English learning. They had learnt Persian in the past now they became proficient in English in the new circumstances.. As a result a liberal group arose in the midst of the Bengal bourgeoisie. This group became attracted to the religious and social reforms of the time initiated by Rammohan Roy and his followers . Rammohan had Kshatrya and Baishya associates from the very beginning.. The Tattobodhini Sabha and the Brahmo Samaj had Kshatriyas in the leading positions. . Indeed Kshatriyas contributed largely under the influence of the strong propaganda launched by the Christian missionaries to the reform movements of the day. Their lot was social ostracism. Meanwhile, under the directive of Rev. Grant Duff an attempt was being made to create an ethnic change in them which wotrked well for a long time. 
As a dialectical contradiction there arose the Brahmo reform movement from within the Hindu society serving as a bulwark against the Christian onslaught. It may, however, be argued that the movement was mainly on the intellectual level. The late Dr. Sundarimohan Das, a leading light of this movement the early years  of the Brahmo Samaj had been spent in, fighting Christian propaganda and hence it had hardly  any time to go to the masses.The conservative Hindu society, however, locked ashance at these religious reformers. It was the liberal burgeois young men who came forward to become religious reformers.