ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

HistorySubscribe to History

The Historical Trajectory of Modern Assam

The Quest for Modern Assam: A History, 1942–2000 by Arupjyoti Saikia, New Delhi: Penguin, 2023; pp 852, `1,299.

Social Significance of Modern Gardens

The state must cultivate more parks to ensure greater social and environmental cohesion.

Bhairabi Prasad Sahu (1957–2022)

Bhairabi Prasad Sahu made path-breaking contributions to the study of the issues ranging from the history of regions, cultural aspects of the state, and legitimation strategies in premodern India to technology and social change. He also stood out for his consistent commitment to scientifi c historiography and the idea of public university.

A Dialogical Travel through History

From Volga to Ganga by Rahul Sankrityayan translated by V G Kiernan and Kanwal Dhaliwal and edited by Kanwal Dhaliwal and Maya Joshi, Delhi: Leftword, 2021; pp 380, `595.

B D Chattopadhyaya (1939–2022)

An overview of the intellectual trajectory and contributions of B D Chattopadhyaya, the departed historian and thinker, underscores his role as a crusader against the homogenised representation of Indic pasts.

Power and the Politics of a Hindu Upper Caste in Colonial Goa (1740–1961)

The relationship between the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and the Portuguese state has not drawn much scholarly attention. This paper examines the transformation of the numerically marginal, yet most highly placed GSBs in the Portuguese Goa. It focuses on the amicable and conflictive strategies of the community with the Portuguese imperial agents, the colonisers of Portuguese origin and the Goan Catholics. It studies internal contradictions, the caste networks and institutions in the context of competitive conditions in the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. These processes, the paper suggests, are critical in understanding the cultural and political prospects of the scribal communities; they help trace a complex history of language practices, the kind of influence their position and skills enabled, and the formation of a Hindu polity.

A Historical Understanding of Assam's Floods

In the case of the Assam floods, one must accept that flood is predetermined, which has always already occurred. The Indian government must acknowledge its 'failure' to understand the river's rhythm by recognising the flood as a 'national disaster'. The government's need to own such failure suggests that it is only in failing that we establish a new possibility.

Tantalisingly Intertwined and Complex

The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East by Sudeep Chakravarti, Simon and Schuster India, 2022; pp 399, `899.

Beyond Imperial Histories

An alternative historical research must be critical of the fixation with imperial histories.

Pages

Back to Top