Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta PDF
Preview Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta: The Making of Calcutta
Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta Whathappenswhenadistantcolonialpowertriestotameanunfamiliar 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 crit- ical 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 changeisnarratedalongsideemergentpracticesoflandspeculationand transformation in colonial law. Bhattacharyya demonstrates how this history continues to shape our built environments with devastating consequences,asshownintheBayofBengal’srecedingcoastline. is an assistant professor of history at DrexelUniversity.ShewasajuniorfellowoftheAmericanInstituteof IndiaStudiesandaformerresearchfellowattheInternationalInstitute ofAsianStudies,Leiden. 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ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108425742 :10.1017/9781108348867 ©DebjaniBhattacharyya2018 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2018 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. 978-1-108-42574-2Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. Contents List of Figures pageix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Almanac of aTidalBasin 1 1 Power and Silt 45 2 Drying the Delta 77 3 Notarizing Possessions 111 4 Commerce in Land 140 5 SpeculativeProperties 169 Conclusion: Disappearing Coastlines 201 Glossary 205 Bibliography 207 Index 235 vii
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