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In the Himalayas of the Indian part of Kashmir three communities depend on the ecology of the Dal lake: market gardeners, houseboat owners and fishers. Floating Economies describes for the first time the complex intermeshing economy, social structure and ecology of the area against the background of history and the present volatile socio-political situation. Using a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, the author deals with the socioeconomic strategies of the communities whose livelihoods are embedded here and analyses the ecological condition of the Dal, and the reasons for its progressive degradation.
“…an authoritative, richly detailed, lavishly illustrated study….Recommended.” • Choice
“A unique, erudite and engaging study of local lives on and around the Dal Lake in Kashmir away from the violence that we hear about so much in news channels before the military crackdown and blackout of 2019.” • Raminder Kaur, University of Sussex
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Notes on Text
PART I
Chapter 1. The Valley of Kasmir and Dal Lake
Chapter 2. Kashmir’s Early History and the Conversion to Islam
Chapter 3. The Social Organization of Contemporary Kashmiri Muslim Society
Chapter 4. The Market Gardeners of the Lake: Early Accounts
Chapter 5. The Market Gardeners’ Economy Today
Chapter 6. The Productivity of Lacustrine Market Gardening
Chapter 7. The Houseboat Owner Community and the Development of Tourism on Dal Lake
Chapter 8. The Gad Hanz: The Last Fishers on the Dal
PART II
Chapter 9. The Degradation of the Dal: Causes and Impacts
Chapter 10. The Political Ecology of a Degrading Lake: A Paradise Lost?
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
Index