The Unquiet River

Description

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.

About the Author

Arupjyoti Saikia is a professor of history at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India.

Table of contents

Acknowledgements    

Note on Geography, Spelling, Illustrations, and Referencing style

List of Figures and Tables

Introduction

Part 1

1 The River and its Floodplain Environment

2 Life in a Floodplain Environment

3 Boats on the River

4 The Ebb and Flow of Riverine Pursuits

Part 2

5 Enter the Steamer

6 Redesigning an Enigmatic River

Part 3

7 Managing the Quagmire

8 Tea Plants Move to the Uplands

9 Jute in the Floodplains

10 In the Time of Earthquakes

Part 4

11 Reining in the Unquiet River

12 The Nation’s River

Afterword

Bibliography

Index

About the Author