Ganges : The Many Pasts of an Indian River / Sudipta Sen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sen, Sudipta, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ganges River (India and Bangladesh)--Civilization.

Ganges River (India and Bangladesh).

Ganges River (India and Bangladesh)--History.

Ganges River (India and Bangladesh)--Environmental conditions.

Ganges River (India and Bangladesh)--Description and travel.

Ganges River Valley (India and Bangladesh).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 445 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A sweeping, interdisciplinary history of the world's third-largest river, a potent symbol across South Asia and the Hindu diaspora Originating in the Himalayas and flowing into the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges is India's most important and sacred river. In this unprecedented work, historian Sudipta Sen tells the story of the Ganges, from the communities that arose on its banks to the merchants that navigated its waters, and the way it came to occupy center stage in the history and culture of the subcontinent. Sen begins his chronicle in prehistoric India, tracing the river's first settlers, its myths of origin in the Hindu tradition, and its significance during the ascendancy of popular Buddhism. In the following centuries, Indian empires, Central Asian regimes, European merchants, the British Empire, and the Indian nation-state all shaped the identity and ecology of the river. Weaving together geography, environmental politics, and religious history, Sen offers in this lavishly illustrated volume a remarkable portrait of one of the world's largest and most densely populated river basins.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1. The World of Pilgrims

Chapter 2. Ganga Descends

Chapter 3. Digging Out of Prehistory

Chapter 4. Rise of the Warring Kingdoms

Chapter 5. Guardians of the Middle Country

Chapter 6. The Goddess of Fortune

Chapter 7. Crucible of Empires

Chapter 8. the Making of the Agrarian Heartland

Chapter 9. The Ganges in the Ag e of Empire

Epilogue. The Two Bodies of the River

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

Other Format:

Print version: Sen, Sudipta. Ganges.

ISBN:

0-300-24267-0

0300242670

9780300242676

OCLC:

1076877442