The Unquiet River

A Biography of the Brahmaputra
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-0-19-946811-9
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 602 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 150 mm x 224 mm, Gewicht: 816 g

The unruly Brahmaputra has always been an agent in shaping both the landscape of its valley and the livelihoods of its inhabitants. But how much do we know of this river's rich past?
Historian Arupjyoti Saikia's biography of the Brahmaputra reimagines the layered history of Assam with the unquiet river at the centre. The book combines a range of disciplinary scholarship to unravel the geological forces as well as human endeavour which have shaped the river into what it is today. Wonderfully illuminated with archival detail and interwoven with narratives and striking connections, the book allows the reader to imagine the Brahmaputra's course in history.
This evocative and compelling book will be interesting reading for anyone trying to understand the past and the present of a river confronted by the twenty-first century's ambitious infrastructural designs to further re-engineer the river and its landscape.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Saikia, Arupjyoti

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Acknowledgements

- Note on Geography, Spelling, Illustrations, and Referencing Style

- List of figures and tables

- Introduction

- Part 1

- Chapter 1: The River and Its Floodplain Environment

- Chapter 2: Life in a Floodplain Environment

- Chapter 3: Boats on the River

- Chapter 4: The Ebb and Flow of Riverine Pursuits

- Part 2

- Chapter 5: Enter the Steamer

- Chapter 6: Redesigning an Enigmatic River

- Part 3

- Chapter 7: Unruly Landscapes, Fluid Geographies

- Chapter 8: Tea Plants Move to the Uplands

- Chapter 9: Jute in the Floodplains

- Chapter 10: In the Time of Earthquakes

- Part 4

- Chapter 11: Reining in the Recalcitrant River

- Chapter 12: The Nation's River

- Afterword

- Select Bibliography

- Index

- About the Author

Über Autor(innen)

Arupjyoti Saikia is Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in IIT Guwahati, India