Country | |
Publisher | |
ISBN | 9780367360696 |
Format | HardBound |
Language | English |
Year of Publication | 2019 |
Bib. Info | xviii;261p.; 23 cm. Bibliography Includes Index. |
Product Weight | 440 gms. |
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Long before Calcutta was ‘discovered’ by Job Charnock, it thrived by the Hugli since times immemorial. This book and its companion Colonial Calcutta, is a biographical account of the when, the how and the what of a global city and its emergence under colonial rule in the 1800s. Ranjit Sen traces the story of how three clustered villages became the hub of the British Empire and a centre of colonial imagination. He examines the historical and geopolitical factors that were significant in securing its prominence and its subsequent urbanization which was a colonial experience without an antecedent. Further, it sheds light on Calcutta’s early search for identity — how it superseded interior towns and flourished as the seat of power for its hinterland; developed its early institutions, while its municipal administration slowly burgeoned.