As the first Bengalee Archbishop of South Asia, Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC, made a remarkable contribution in the expansion of Christian missionary activity in Bengal through all the three political regimes that Bangladesh went through. In the four hundred years of the history of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh, his appointment as the archbishop not only highlights his role in serving the Catholic Church, but also the importance of Catholic missionary activities in Bangladesh. To explore the history of Protestant missionary activities during the last century, research was carried out and books were published. These scholarly activities left a noticeable gap in the area of the history of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh. This book is a bold attempt to fill in that gap, which led to serious research culminating in the publication of this book. What makes this book remarkable and outstanding is the use of unused sources to reconstruct the life and times of Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly in the sociopolitical background of Bangladesh, especially his role in the liberation war of 1971. His heroic role in the liberation war indelibly earned him a place in the mainstream history of Bangladesh.

'The Bengal Borderland' constitutes the epicentre of the partition of British India. Yet while the forging of international borders between India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma (the 'Bengal Borderland') has been a core theme in Partition studies, these crucial borderlands have, remarkably, been largely ignored by historians.

In 1921 a traveling religious man appeared in eastern British Bengal. Soon residents began to identify this half-naked and ash-smeared sannyasi as none other than the Second Kumar of Bhawal--a man believed to have died twelve years earlier, at the age of twenty-six. So began one of the most extraordinary legal cases in Indian history. The case would rivet popular attention for several decades as it unwound in courts from Dhaka and Calcutta to London. This narrative history tells an incredible story replete with courtroom drama, sexual debauchery, family intrigue, and squandered wealth. With a novelist's eye for interesting detail, Partha Chatterjee sifts through evidence found in official archives, popular songs, and backstreet Bangladeshi bookshops. He evaluates the case of the man claiming, with the support of legions of tenants and relatives, to be the long-lost Kumar. And he considers the position of the sannyasi's detractors, including the colonial government and the Kumar's young widow, who resolutely refused to meet the man she denounced as an impostor. Along the way, Chatterjee introduces us to a fascinating range of human character, gleans insights into the nature of human identity, and examines the relation between scientific evidence, legal truth, and cultural practice. The story he tells unfolds alongside decades of Indian history. Its plot is shaped by changing gender and class relations and punctuated by critical historical events, including the onset of World War II, the Bengal famine of 1943, and the Great Calcutta Killings. And by identifying the earliest erosion of colonialism and the growth of nationalist thinking within the organs of colonial power, Chatterjee also gives us a secret history of Indian nationalism.

This book examines the impact of Partition on refugees in East and Northeast India and their struggle for identity, space and political rights. In the wake of the legalisation of the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019, this region remains a hotbed of identity and refugee politics. Drawing on extensive research and in-depth fieldwork, this book discusses themes of displacement, rehabilitation, discrimination and politicisation of refugees that preceded and followed the Partition of India in 1947. It portrays the crises experienced by refugees in recreating the socio-cultural milieu of the lost motherland and the consequent loss of their linguistic, cultural, economic and ethnic identities. The author also studies how the presence of the refugees shaped the conduct of politics in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura in the decades following Partition. Refugees, Borders and Identities will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of refugee studies, border studies, South Asian history, migration studies, Partition studies, sociology, anthropology, political studies, international relations and refugee studies, and for general readers of modern Indian history.

The book Dhaka Megacity: Geospatial Perspectives on Urbanisation, Environment and Health presents the use of geospatial techniques to address a number of environmental issues, including land use change, climatic variability, urban sprawl, population density modelling, flooding, environmental health, water quality, energy resources, urban growth modelling, infectious diseases and the quality of life. Although the work is focused on the Megacity of Dhaka in Bangladesh, the techniques and methods that are used to research these issues can be utilized in any other areas where rapid population growth coupled with unplanned urbanization is leading to environmental degradation. The book is useful for people working in the area of Geospatial Science, Urban Geography, Environmental Management and International Development. Since the chapters in the book cover a range of environmental issues, this book describes useful tools for assisting informed decision making, particularly in developing countries.

Using first-person accounts of Hindus and Muslims in a remote Bangladeshi village, the author analyzes a large-scale riot that profoundly altered life in the area in the 1950s. She provides a glimpse into the hearts and minds of the participants and their families.