Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib Kindle Edition

I finally finished this ~600pg. beast of a book last night. I'll start off my review with some personal context - I'm a white man from the Southern U.S. who had only some prior knowledge of Bengal. Very little, I now realize, but not none. I'm going to India this Fall for a study abroad through my university, and since we'll be visiting Kolkata (among other places), I thought it'd be a wise idea to have as much knowledge before we head to India.

In brief, for any readers looking for a quick review? "Woah." This book delivers far more information than I could possibly digest through a single reading. I strongly recommend it - it's written in such a way that, even if you aren't looking to hike a Himalaya's worth of details, the book can still be skimmed through, and the chapters are organized and titled such that it's easy to find and reference them for info on a specific time-period, and it includes a thirteen-page index if you're looking for more specific mentions.

"From the Mahabharata to Mujib" is not at all an exaggeration, as Sengupta's history stretches all the way from the archaeological and mythological prehistory of the Bengal region and people, to the chaotic years of Partition towards the 1970's, culminating in the killing of Mujib in a coup in 1975 (I think - it was early in the morning when I finally finished). I would say that the level of detail in the book becomes finer and finer up to the very end, when it begins to summarize extremely complicated events that, I suspect, are still highly controversial (if not highly classified) in many of the relevant countries. This is not to say it's a direct and unvarying progression - certain periods are relatively glossed over, and others are given more detail due to their prominence in Bengali history. There are also a number of very enlightening digressions from the progress along the timeline to focus in on relevant cultural phenomena and figures, such as periods of literary flourishing like the Bengal Renaissance, key figures like Subhas Chandra Bose, Mujibur Rahman, and Rabindranath Tagore, et al.

I should again note that, due to general lack of prior knowledge, a great many of the names, places and events found in this history I had never heard of, or had heard of but was only vaguely aware of. As such, it was extremely helpful to have the digressions and the elaborations on the importance of the various literary and political periods, cultural developments, religious movements and influences, etc. However, many of these names will likely remain indistinct to me, until such time as I've built up further awareness of the geography and political history of South Asia - I have no idea where many of the cities, towns, and districts mentioned in the book are/were, and dearly wish more illustrations and maps had been provided with the book. Only three maps are found in the very beginning of the book, depicting Ancient Bengal, Bengal in the 1800's, and a map of the districts of Bengal at the time of Partition. While helpful, I'd have preferred more.

In terms of writing style, I found it avoided being dry or dull, even when dealing with relatively mundane information, and to clearly and concisely relate the information throughout the book. Although I am likely much less able to detect nuances of biases and perspectives that may be present in the work, simply from approaching it as an outsider mostly unfamiliar with the events in question, it appears to me as though Sengupta has taken care to avoid falling into partisan posturing, for which I am grateful as I am finding that seems lamentably common in South Asian history and politics.... Can make it very difficult to get a strong and accurate picture of what actually happened or is happening, and can also be difficult to detect when unfamiliar with the nuances and perspectives at play when the bias isn't blatant. So, I'm pleased to find this seems to have been written with an eye towards impartiality.

The book also seems quite well-sourced, with about fifteen pages towards the end to dedicate to footnotes, and 129 sources listed in the six-page select bibliography. These latter appear to be drawn from a mixture of both outside and native perspectives, as well as conflicting viewpoints which were often discussed and elaborated on in-book. I also noted when looking up the author that Nitish Sengupta held various positions in Indian government, including as an MP in the Lok Sabha representing West Bengal - as a result, I would assume the man had both direct and indirect personal knowledge of a fair amount of the latter-period material in the book, having lived from 1933 to 2013 and published a number of other books.

I also felt a clear, almost dread-filled and ominous sense of looming and growing disaster as the days leading up to Partition (both of Bengal, and of former British India). I felt the book did an excellent job of explaining and elaborating on the hows, the whos, and the whys of the time period leading up to the tragedies of the Partitions... I've found it frequent for South Asian historians (foreign to the region or domestic to it) to assign blame to one particular party or to pinpoint one key event as a pivotal moment after which Partition became inevitable. The latter years covered in the book became difficult to read as one political misstep, one missed opportunity for cooperation and coexistence, one mistake and one act of malevolence after another until it became clear to both the participants in the events themselves, and the reader, that Partition could no longer be averted and an undivided India would not survive Independence.

The author also provides a great deal of scathing and damning insight into and information on the role of the British in India, both in their deliberate and almost-total dismantling of Bengal's economy to fuel their own industrial revolution and rise to global empire, and in their manipulations of the native population groups to privilege and/or disenfranchise various groups at various times, in their interests of attempting to keep India (and Bengal) divided against itself and to attempt to create loyal and pliable social classes.

I could go on, but honestly, all in all, I feel I've said enough to sum up the book. I found it extremely enlightening, insightful and informative, and I suspect it will prove equally useful when I am actually *in* West Bengal in terms of providing historical and cultural context. It has also provided me with several other "leads" of further reading I hope to get around to before going abroad, or to follow up on while there or on my return home.

This is so far the best history book for Bengal. Covers much details. This is very informative and with good references.

Rich history of Bengal.

A very informative book.