History of the Bengali People: From Earliest Times to the Fall of the Sena Dynasty
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Niharranjan Ray
Translated by John W Hood
Orient BlackSwan, 660 pages, Rs 495
Bangalir Itihas: Adi Parva is a seminal history of the Bengalis. As much a work of literature as of history, this book is not a story of kings and their power but of the lives of ordinary people. Through detailed, methodical discussions on the origins of the various peoples, their language and literature, science, trade and commerce, religious practices and rituals, there emerges a vivid picture of society and its development through the passage of time.
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