City and River in South Asia

Presentation

South Asia, with two of the world's largest river basins, is heir to a long urban history. Numerous holy cities, considered the abodes of divine forces, developed on shores that were also conducive to the establishment of capitals and the growth of trade centers.

Through the analysis of seven city/river pairs, from the plains of the middle Indus in Pakistan (Sehwan Sharif) to that of the Brahmaputra in Assam (Guwahati), from the Ganges and Yamuna valleys (Benares and Delhi), to that of the Vaigai in South India (Madurai), via the Narmada basin in Central India (Amarkantaka and Omkareshwar), the book explores the multiplicity of visions and emotions that continue to give rise to specific practices and developments on urban riverbanks.

This collective volume offers a multidisciplinary reflection on this singular heritage, now threatened by population explosion and pollution, and on the contradictory contemporary perceptions of devotees and tourists, local populations and national decision-makers, slum dwellers and middle-class urbanites.

Director and manager

Anne Viguier is a historian, India specialist and researcher at CESSMA (Centre d'études en sciences sociales des mondes africains, américains et asiatiques).

Harit Joshi is lecturer in Hindi at Inalco, researcher at the Centre d'études en sciences sociales sur les mondes africains, américains et asiatiques (CESSMA).

215 pages
16 x 24 cm
Publication: 25/05/2016
ISBN: 9782858312689