Book Reviews : SANJAY SHARMA, Famine, Philanthropy and the Colonial State: North India in the Early Nineteenth Century, Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 256

Abstract

a systematic chronological study of either politics or economics. The ’new economy’ appears without almost any comment on the old economy. Agrarian relations are covered in the most cursory manner. So are agricultural change, plantations and migrations, the major transformative forces in colonial Assam. True, these subjects have been dealt with in other well-known works, but a discussion was needed for the sake of completeness and for the reader to get a perspective on what is offered. One thus gets a rather partial view of both the new economy and the new polity. The presentation is rather poor. There are no maps, tables appear without titles and sources, and the informal writing style, while making the book very readable, gives rise to expressions that can leave some readers puzzled. The Garos’ ’periodic killing spree’, the Bhutias’ ’unpredictable and haughty’ temper, needed at least some historically grounded account. Having discussed the limitations, it needs to be stated that the three chapters that I find the strongest in the book do count as significant contributions. That, together with the great readability of the book, makes it a welcome addition to the