Read more
This book examines the social and cultural history of Bengal through two major themes - the intellectual and cultural dimension, and the socio-economic changes from the ancient to the postcolonial.
List of contents
Foreword. 'Bhaskarda' - Personal Reminiscences of a gentle teacher, scholar and soul. Introduction.
Part I: Aspects of Society, Economy, and Religion of Pre-modern Bengal 1. Currency in Early Bengal
2. Archaeological Sites in a Constructed Landscape: Case Histories from Rarh Bengal
3. Perspectives of Historical Biographies in Early India
4. The act of D¿na or Deyadhamma: Patronage to Buddhist monasteries in early Bengal (c.5th cent. CE to 13th cent. CE)
5. Confluence of Creativity and Spirituality: A Study of Some Arabic Inscriptions of the Bengal Sultanate
6. Challenges in Studying Social History of Medieval Bengal
7. Medical Literature from Early Medieval Bengal: Making of a Regional Tradition
Part II: Exploring Life and Culture in Modern Bengal 8. Three Overlapping Frontiers in Early Modern Bengal: Religion, Agrarian, Imperial
9. The Cultural Dynamics of Rahr: Defiance and Decline.
10. Who Owns the Past? Contestation on Mahabodhi Temple
11. Patriotism and a Poet in the Colonial World: Rabindranath Tagore and Nationalism
12. Calcutta: The Emergence of a Science City (1784-1896)
13. 'They' Wanted to Live: Lens, the Witness
14. 'For the Recovery of His Health:' The East India Company and the Problem of Tropical Invalidism
15. Disease and Disruption in a Bengal District: Fever, Agriculture and Peasantry of Burdwan, 1863-1921
About the author
Achintya Kumar Dutta is Professor of History, The University of Burdwan, and former post-doctoral Commonwealth Fellow at School of Oriental and African Studies, London (2002-03). He was a Visiting Researcher at the Brocher Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland (2022). His research interests include socio-economic history and history of science and medicine in modern India. His recent publications include
Trauma in Public Health: Tuberculosis in Twentieth-century India (2018),
Connecting Nations: Politico-cultural Mapping of India and Southeast Asia (co-edited, 2019),
Dreadful Diseases in Colonial Bengal: Cholera, Malaria and Smallpox A Documentation, (co-edited, 2021), and
Explorations in Colonial Bengal: Essays on Religion, Society and Culture (edited, 2023).
Subhayu Chattopadhyay is an Assistant Professor, Department of History, Visva-Bharati. His area of specialization is 'History of Science and Technology in Colonial and Post-Colonial India' and 'Social and Cultural History of Colonial and Post-Colonial India'. He has co-edited a book titled Mapping the Path to Maturity: A Connected History of Bengal Bengal and North-East (New Delhi, 2018).
Summary
This book examines the social and cultural history of Bengal through two major themes — the intellectual and cultural dimension, and the socio-economic changes from the ancient to the postcolonial.
