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

01 September, 2011

Nitish Sengupta

Penguin Books India,

656 pages with 4 pages of illustrations, R650

The confluence of two major river systems, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, created the delta of Bengal—a land known as a centre of trade, learning and the arts from the days of the Mahabharata through the span of ancient dynasties. During the medieval era, Muslim dynasties introduced a unique culture. The 18th-century colonial conquest opened the modern chapter of Bengal’s history. The author traces the formation of Bengali identity through the Bengal Renaissance, the growth of nationalist politics and Partition.