Retracing Buchanan’s Journey from Mangalore to Baindur
In 1801, the Scottish physician and botanist Francis Buchanan undertook a remarkable journey through the Canara region, documenting the agricultural, rich natural, and cultural landscapes he encountered. Retracing his route from Mangalore to Byndoor provides a fascinating glimpse into the historical, agricultural, ecological, and social mosaic of the region over two centuries ago. This article […]
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Buchanan, George Gunton and a Divergent View of the Great Divergence
George Gunton proposed a demand-centric theory to explain the root cause for the divergence between countries. Effectual demand that arises from social wants becomes the precondition for capital investment and growth in real wages. While social wants in the West and East were almost on par until the thirteenth century, the advent of free towns […]
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Retracing Buchanan’s Journey
It is almost two decades now that we began retracing Francis Buchanan’s Journey. Although we are far from having completed the entire route, the experience so far has been fascinating, persuading us to study history in ways that we might have otherwise missed. In this lecture delivered at the Bangalore International Centre, Dr. Sashi Sivramkrishna […]
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A Long Morning
In February 1800, Dr. Francis Buchanan, on his survey of southern India had visited Honnavar, a small coastal town in the present-day district of Uttara Kannada in the state of Karnataka. He had recorded the importance of fishing as a commercial activity but had little to say about the lives and livelihoods of the fishers. […]
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A Life at Sea
In February 1800, Dr. Francis Buchanan, on his survey of southern India had visited Honnavar, a small coastal town in the present-day district of Uttara Kannada in the state of Karnataka. He had recorded the importance of fishing as a commercial activity but had little to say about the lives and livelihoods of the fishers. […]
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