The Range of the River: A Riverine History of Empire Across China, India, and Southeast Asia

By Iftekhar Iqbal

With nearly 4 million square kilometers of basin areas, the Tibetan-Himalayan river system--including the Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Red, and Yangzi rivers--spans eastern South Asia, mainland Southeast Asia, and southern China, constituting one of the largest networks of rivers on the planet. The Range of the River explores the intertwined histories of these vast riverways, and the empires, human, and other-than-human forces that have shaped the history of Asia since the 1850s. Being both ethno-diverse and biodiverse, these rivers were not only sites of evolving trans-imperial contestations, but also communal and material exchanges among local communities. They were central to the emergence of transregional connections across Asia, serving as conduits for commerce, mobilities, and cultural exchanges that linked distant communities. This process cultivated a shared sense of connection to the rivers as a participatory commons that bridged diverse societies, political powers, and commercial interests.

Covering six large rivers of Asia flowing across eight countries, Iftekhar Iqbal argues that these river systems were at the heart of political economic pathos and pathways in Asia; an inclusive space where ordinary boatmen, travelers, pilgrims, peddlers, merchants, and explorers leveraged riverine networks to contest imperial power. This groundbreaking work reveals how rivers--often seen merely as a geographical setting of history--shaped the dynamics of imperial encounters, economic flows, and cultural entanglements.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1503641996
• ISBN13: 9781503641990
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Length: 272 Pages