The Himalayan Border Region : Trade, Identity and Mobility in Kumaon, India

Christoph Bergmann

ISBN 10: 3319806319 / ISBN 13: 9783319806310

Published by Springer International Publishing, Springer International Publishing, 2018

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - Drawing fromextensive archival work and long-term ethnographic research, this book focuseson the so-called Bhotiyas, former trans-Himalayan traders and a Scheduled Tribeof India who reside in several high valleys of the Kumaon Himalaya. The area islocated in the border triangle between India, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR,People's Republic of China), and Nepal, where contestations over politicalboundaries have created multiple challenges as well as opportunities for localmountain communities.Basedon an analytical framework that is grounded in and contributes to recentadvances in the field of border studies, the author explores how theBhotiyas have used their agency todevelopa flourishing trans-Himalayan trade under British colonial influence; to assertan identity and win legal recognition as a tribal community in the politicalsetup of independent India; and to innovate their pastoral mobility in thecontext of ongoing state and market reforms. By examining theBhotiyas' trade, identity and mobilitythisbook showshow and why the Himalayan border region has evolved as an agentive siteof political action for a variety of different actors.

Seller Inventory # 9783319806310

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Himalayan Border Region : Trade, Identity and Mobility in Kumaon, India
• Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Springer International Publishing
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3319806319
• ISBN 13: 9783319806310
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 155H x 12D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 155 millimeters height by 12 millimeters depth
• Weight: 324 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Drawing from extensive archival work and long-term ethnographic research, this book focuses on the so-called Bhotiyas, former trans-Himalayan traders and a Scheduled Tribe of India who reside in several high valleys of the Kumaon Himalaya. The area is located in the border triangle between India, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR, People’s Republic of China), and Nepal, where contestations over political boundaries have created multiple challenges as well as opportunities for local mountain communities.Based on an analytical framework that is grounded in and contributes to recent advances in the field of border studies, the author explores how the Bhotiyas have used their agency todevelop a flourishing trans-Himalayan trade under British colonial influence; to assert an identity and win legal recognition as a tribal community in the political setup of independent India; and to innovate their pastoral mobility in the context of ongoing state and market reforms. By examining the Bhotiyas’ trade, identity and mobilitythis book showshow and why the Himalayan border region has evolved as an agentive site of political action for a variety of different actors.

About the Author

Christoph Bergmann is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Geography at the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University (Germany). As an interdisciplinary scholar with particular expertise in the domains of social anthropology and geography, much of his work has sought to establish a locally and historically contextualized understanding of stakeholder activities in High Asia and, more recently, Sub-Saharan Africa. He adopts an actor-oriented approach to scrutinize processes of border-making and to unravel geographically and socially uneven patterns of development, with a particular focus on the knowledge, aspirations and agendas of those considered as socio-economically or socio-culturally marginal.