Research Catalog
Empire and ecology in the Bengal Delta : the making of Calcutta
- Title
- Empire and ecology in the Bengal Delta : the making of Calcutta / Debjani Bhattacharyya.
- Author
- Bhattacharyya, Debjani
- Publication
- Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2018.
- ©2018
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFE 18-7631 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Description
- xvi, 241 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm
- Summary
- What happens when a distant colonial power tries to tame an unfamiliar terrain in the world's largest tidal delta? This history of dramatic ecological changes in the Bengal Delta from 1760 to 1920 involves land, water and humans, tracing the stories and struggles that link them together. Pushing beyond narratives of environmental decline, Bhattacharyya argues that "property-thinking," a governing tool critical in making land and water discrete categories of bureaucratic and legal management, was at the heart of colonial urbanization and the technologies behind the draining of Calcutta. The story of ecological change is narrated alongside emergent practices of land speculation and transformation in colonial law. Bhattacharyya demonstrates how this history continues to shape our built environments with devastating consequences, as shown in the Bay of Bengal's receding coastline.
- Series Statement
- Studies in environment and history
- Uniform Title
- Studies in environment and history.
- Subject
- British Occupation of India (1765-1947)
- 1765-1947
- Climatic changes > India > Kolkata
- Human ecology > India
- Climatic changes
- Human ecology
- Ganges River Delta (Bangladesh and India) > History
- India > History > British occupation, 1765-1947
- Bengal (India) > History
- Kolkata (India) > History
- Asia > Ganges River Delta
- India
- India > Bengal
- India > Kolkata
- Genre/Form
- History.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-233) and index.
- Contents
- Introduction : almanac of a tidal basin -- Part I. Environmental Consolidations: 1. Power and silt ; 2. Drying a delta -- Part II. Legal Maneuvers: 3. Notarizing possessions ; 4. Commerce in land -- Part III. Unreal Estate: 5. Speculative properties -- Conclusion : disappearing coastlines.
- Call Number
- JFE 18-7631
- ISBN
- 9781108425742
- 1108425747
- 9781108443340
- 1108443346
- LCCN
- 2017059343
- 40028300816
- OCLC
- 1017607378
- Author
- Bhattacharyya, Debjani, author.
- Title
- Empire and ecology in the Bengal Delta : the making of Calcutta / Debjani Bhattacharyya.
- Publisher
- Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2018.
- Copyright Date
- ©2018
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Series
- Studies in environment and historyStudies in environment and history.
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-233) and index.
- Chronological Term
- 1765-1947
- Other Standard Identifier
- 40028300816
- Research Call Number
- JFE 18-7631