How Rains, Rivers, Coasts, and Seas Have Shaped Asia’s History

Sunil Amrith’s new book, Unruly Waters: How Rains, Rivers, Coasts, and Seas Have Shaped Asia’s History, explores the tremendous influence of water in defining Asia’s past, shaping it’s present, and determining it’s future. From Unruly Waters: “Despite its ferociously wet climate of monsoons and cyclones, Asia contains less usable freshwater than any continent except Antarctica. Nevertheless, more than half the world’s population calls Asia home. . . . In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith boldly reimagines Asia’s history through the stories of rains, rivers, coasts, and seas – and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to tame and control them. From the nineteenth century to the present, dreams and fears of water have informed visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to transform nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations. . . . In an age of climate change, Unruly Waters is an urgent new perspective on the history of Asia, and essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how the continent’s past shapes and constrains its possible futures.

Looking out from India, Amrith shows how dreams and fears of water shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations.

Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, Unruly Waters is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Asia’s past and its future.

Sunil Amrith is Mehra Family Professor of South Asian Studies and Professor of History, and a Director of the Joint Center for History and Economics at Harvard University. His research is on the trans-regional movement of people, ideas, and institutions, and has focused most recently on the Bay of Bengal as a region connecting South and Southeast Asia. Amrith's areas of particular interest include the history of migration, environmental history, and the history of public health. He is a 2017 MacArthur Fellow, and received the 2016 Infosys Prize in Humanities.