Bengali Americans
Bengali Americans are American nationals or residents who identify as Bengalis based on their ethnicity, language, and family history. They trace their roots to the historic region of Bengal, which is now split between Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Bengali Americans also belong to the broader group of modern-day Bangladeshi Americans and Indian Americans. Demographic estimates suggest that around 453,191 people in the United States speak Bengali as their main language or alongside other languages. This makes up about 0.14% of the population. Additionally, there are more than 600,000 non-resident Bangladeshi Bengalis living in the United States. New York City has long been the main center for Bengali settlement. By 2025, the city had over 250,000 Bangladeshi-born immigrants living in New York State. The number increases further when Bengalis originating from India are included. Since the 1970s, New York has become a key destination for Bengali immigrants.
Immigration
Available historical records indicate that immigration from Bengal to the United States began in the late nineteenth century. Over subsequent decades, individuals of Bengali origin arrived in diverse occupational and social contexts, including as textile traders, maritime workers who remained ashore after their vessels arrived, and, in later periods, as professionals with formal education.The First Phase (1881–1947)
Documented evidence indicates that Bengalis arrived in the United States in the 1880s. This period is commonly described in historical accounts as an early phase of Bengali immigration. During this time, migration occurred primarily through two occupational groups: silk traders, commonly known as chikondars, and maritime workers, known as lascars.Chikondars from Hooghly and the Expansion of the Silk Trade
In the mid-1880s, a group of Bengali Muslim traders from the Hooghly district of undivided Bengal arrived at the ports of New York and Baltimore. Contemporary accounts describe them as dealing in silk textiles, including embroidered shawls, tablecloths, and cushion covers. The embroidery style associated with these goods was known in Bengal as chikan, and vendors engaged in this trade were referred to in American sources as chikondars.Contemporary sources indicate that, during this period, certain categories of imported goods described at the time as “Oriental” attracted consumer interest in the United States. Within this commercial context, Bengali chikondars established trading activities along the New Jersey shoreline, including resort towns such as Asbury Park, Atlantic City, and Long Branch. Seasonal patterns of commerce are documented, with trading activity concentrated in northeastern resort areas during the summer months and shifting southward during the winter. Over time, New Orleans emerged as a central hub in this trade network. Contemporary newspaper reports document the presence of these traders in areas such as the French Market and Canal Street.
By 1910, contemporary records indicate that at least 50 Bengali merchants had established residences in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans. Silk textiles imported through these trading networks were used in local cultural events, including Mardi Gras celebrations. During the 1930s, this commercial activity diminished amid broader economic disruptions associated with the Great Depression and changes in textile production methods. These developments marked the decline of this early phase of Bengali commercial activity in the United States.
Lascars and the Settlement of Ship-Deserting Sailors
From the second decade of the twentieth century, a distinct pattern of Bengali migration became evident. Bengali sailors employed in the boiler rooms of British steamships, a labor category often associated with difficult working conditions, sometimes remained in the United States after their vessels arrived at American ports. These seamen, commonly referred to as lascars, predominantly originated from eastern Bengal, including the regions of Sylhet, Noakhali, and Chittagong.In 1900, the New York Post reported the presence of Indian sailors in the port areas of New York City. The report described instances of sailors remaining ashore after their vessels arrived, a practice referred to at the time as “ship jumping.” Similar patterns of maritime desertion were recorded in other major port cities, including New York, Boston, and San Francisco, where affected individuals relied on informal social networks while living outside formal immigration channels.
During the 1920s and 1930s, patterns of settlement associated with these former sailors expanded beyond coastal port cities. Over time, some individuals relocated to the United States' inland industrial regions. Documented settlements emerged in states such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, while others obtained employment as manual laborers in Detroit’s automobile manufacturing sector. This occupational shift from maritime service to industrial labor helped shape an early Bengali working-class presence in the United States.
Bengali Harlem
Racially discriminatory legislation in the early twentieth century, including the Immigration Act of 1917 and the Immigration Act of 1924, imposed significant legal restrictions on immigration and naturalization for Asian populations in the United States. Within this legal context, Bengali immigrants were frequently excluded from white residential areas and consequently resided in neighborhoods with other marginalized communities. Historical accounts document Bengali settlement in predominantly African American and Puerto Rican areas, reflecting broader patterns of residential segregation during this period.In neighborhoods such as Harlem and the Lower East Side, historical studies document instances in which Bengali men formed family ties through marriage to African American and Latina women. Historian Vivek Bald has used the term Bengali Harlem to describe the social milieu that developed from these interethnic households. Scholarly accounts note that these families often encompassed multiple religious and cultural traditions, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of their members.
By the 1940s, Bengali residents were present in neighborhoods such as Harlem. Contemporary accounts refer to individuals, including Habib Ullah, an immigrant from eastern Bengal who is reported to have arrived in the United States via Boston in the 1920s and later settled in New York City. During the 1940s, he operated a restaurant called Bengal Garden in Manhattan’s Theater District. Historical sources note that the establishment functioned as a meeting place for members of the Bengali community during this period.
The documentary film In Search of Bengali Harlem examines the history of Bengali Harlem. The film runs 84 minutes and incorporates both color and black-and-white footage. It was directed by Vivek Bald and Alaudin Ullah, and produced by Susannah Ludwig, Bald, and Ullah.
The Second Phase (1948–1970)
The Partition of British India altered the political boundaries of Bengal and influenced subsequent patterns of migration. In the United States, the Luce–Celler Act of 1946 authorized a limited annual quota of 100 immigrants from India. Although numerically small, this legislation represented a partial modification of earlier restrictions on Asian immigration.The period between 1948 and 1960 is commonly characterized in historical accounts as a transitional phase in Bengali migration to the United States. During these years, migration increasingly included individuals with advanced educational backgrounds, particularly students who entered the country on government-sponsored scholarships, including programs administered by the Pakistani state. Some of these students remained in the United States after completing their studies, contributing to longer-term settlement patterns.
A significant shift in immigration patterns followed the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, commonly known as the Hart–Celler Act. This legislation ended the national-origins quota system and introduced immigration criteria that emphasized occupational skills, educational qualifications, and family reunification. In the years that followed, immigrants from Bengal, then divided between East Pakistan and West Bengal, were increasingly represented among professional and academic entrants to the United States, including individuals in fields such as medicine, engineering, and higher education.
Historical scholarship has described this phase as one characterized by the migration of individuals with advanced education and professional training. During this period, Bengali immigrants were admitted to the United States primarily through educational qualifications and occupational criteria, contributing to the growing presence of professionally trained individuals of Bengali origin in the country.
The Third Phase: Bangladesh’s Independence (1971–1990)
The Liberation War of Bangladesh influenced subsequent patterns of Bengali migration to the United States. In the period following the conflict, conditions associated with displacement, political uncertainty, and economic disruption contributed to the migration of Bangladeshi refugees and professionals to the United States.During the 1970s, approximately 4,000 Bangladeshi nationals were officially recorded as immigrants in the United States. Immigration levels increased further in the early 1980s, and by the beginning of that decade, the Bangladeshi population in New York City was estimated at around 15,000. Migration during this period included not only individuals admitted through professional and employment-based channels but also families entering under family reunification provisions, contributing to changes in the social composition of the Bangladeshi immigrant population.
During this period, some Bangladeshi immigrants relocated from New York City to cities such as Detroit and Atlantic City, where employment was available in sectors including automobile manufacturing, gaming, and hospitality. At the same time, Bangladeshi settlement expanded in Los Angeles. This presence acquired an organizational dimension with the establishment of the Bangladesh Association of Los Angeles in 1971, which served as an early example of formal community organization among Bangladeshis on the West Coast of the United States.
Taken together, developments during this third phase were associated with changes in the scale, composition, and geographic distribution of the Bangladeshi immigrant population in the United States. Migration during this period increasingly included family-based settlement alongside earlier professional migration, contributing to a more diverse and geographically dispersed community in subsequent decades.