Irrigation and State Formation in Hunza: The Anthropology of a Hydraulic Kingdom

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The book delves into the relationship between irrigation and political development in Hunza, a high-mountain kingdom. It posits that the state's emergence was closely tied to extensive irrigation projects initiated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Influenced by anthropological theories, particularly Karl Wittfogel's hydraulic hypothesis, the author examines how ecological factors and hydraulic agriculture shaped the region's socioeconomic and political structures. This insightful analysis is aimed at historians, anthropologists, cultural geographers, and South Asian experts.