Yale University Press
Ganges: The Many Pasts of an Indian River
Key Metrics
- Sudipta Sen
- Yale University Press
- Hardcover
- 9780300119169
- 9.5 X 6.4 X 1.2 inches
- 1.75 pounds
- History > Asia - India & South Asia
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
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.
Author Bio
Sudipta Sen is professor with the department history at the University of California, Davis. His teaching focus includes Indian civilization, modern India, comparative perspectives in Middle East and South Asia, Introduction to Middle East & South Asia.
Professor Sen is a recipient of Fulbright-Nehru Academic Excellence Award 2020-2021.
Research Interests
Late Mughal and British India, British Empire; Environment and Ecology
Education
Ph.D. (Distinction), Department of History, University of Chicago, June 1994
M.A. in Social Science, Department of History, University of Chicago, December 1988
M.A., April 1988, Post-graduate Department of History, Calcutta University, Calcutta
B.A. (Honors), June 1985, Department of History, Presidency College, Calcutta
Source: University of California, Davis
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