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This book presents an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the history of northern Bengal. Northern Bengal, despite having a rich historical past and geo-cultural heritage, is yet to receive unbiased attention from serious academic scholarship. The chapters in the book examine hitherto unexplored or little-explored issues across time of northern Bengal's pluralistic society and culture while drawing on various approaches and methodologies to arrive at an alternative historical understanding. This volume examines themes such as the historical landscape and geo-political contours of the region, its society, and culture, as well as the religious ideas prevalent in this sub-region through the lens of sculptures and mosques.
Rich in archaeological and literary sources, epigraphic evidence, and archival materials, the book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of Indian history, South Asian history, cultural studies, gender studies, history of the 'marginalized', environment studies, modern history, and colonial history. This volume represents a crucial history of the 'local' in the global context.
List of contents
Introduction I. Environmental Factors and Geo-Political Contours 1. Situating Names in Contexts: Shifting Geopolitical Contours of the Pundra 'Subregion' in Early Bengal 2. Human Nature Interface in the Dakshin Dinajpur Region of West Bengal: A Study of Early Medieval Settlement Dynamics 3. War, Environment, and the Rise of Islam in Medieval North Bengal II. Society, Culture, and Melting Pot 4. Strategic North Bengal: A Crucial Contributor to India-Bangladesh Relations 5. Two Coin Hoards of the Bengal Sultans from Northern Bengal: Discovery, Collection and Historical Importance 6. War, armed forces, and society in North Bengal: A Colonial Perspective 7. Rethinking the History of Public Health and Medicine in Colonial Northern Bengal (1869-1947) III. Sculpture, Monument, and Religiosity 8. Buddhist iconography in North Bengal: the stone images 9. Brahmanical Images from Northern Bengal: Situating Coactions of Style, Iconography and Ideology 10. The Sultanate Mosque at Hemtabad: Revisiting a Forgotten Monument IV. Story of the 'Marginalized' 11. Indo-Bangla Enclaves and the Story of Making and Un-Making of Women's Agency 12. A Study of the Tea Garden Workers of North Bengal: A Historical Perspective Appendix: Karatoyamahatmya, the English Translation
About the author
Dipsikha Acharya, Ph.D., teaches in the Department of History, at the University of North Bengal, India. She is the recipient of the Indian Council of Historical Research Post Doctoral Fellowship (2015-17). Though her core area of interest includes various themes of ancient Indian history and archaeology, she studies various issues of the history of the environment and that of science and technology. Her major publications comprise her authored book,
Iron in India: History and Historiography, 2022 besides several research articles and book chapters published in reputed journals and edited volumes.
Sudip Khasnobish (Ph.D.) is Assistant Professor in the Department of History, at Rajganj College, Jalpaiguri, India. He has received an M.Phil. and PhD degree from the University of North Bengal. Presently, he is working on the ICHR-sponsored Major Research Project titled 'Mass Participation and Anti Colonial Resistance in a Frontierland: Northern Bengal (1770-1947)'. His works have been published in reputed journals, like
Journal of Indian History,
Karatoya,
Itikatha, etc.
Chanchal Adhikary, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor at the Department of History, Kurseong College, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. He has done M.Phil from the University of North Bengal, and a PhD. from the University of Calcutta. He has recently published a book on the
Rise of Islam in Cooch Behar and several research papers in national and internationally reputed journals such as
South Asia Research,
Contemporary Voice of Dalit,
Indian Historical Review, etc.
