Beads of Arunachal Pradesh: Emerging Cultural Context

Beads of Arunachal Pradesh: Emerging Cultural Context describes the cultural importance of different beads among the people of North-East India in general and Arunachal Pradesh in particular. The tradition of beads has been embedded in the lives of the people of North East from time immemorial. The continuing popularity of beads have led to the manufacturing of spurious products. Despite the onslaught of globalisation even in rural areas, the popularity of beads has not diminished among the people. Beads are used as a bartering item and usually take the place of money even now. The book describes the economic, cultural and ritual significance of beads; their historical relation to migration and popular beliefs; classification mechanism; legends and history around them; and ethnic specifications. The oral history, gender questions, social dynamics, and even inter-, as well as intra-tribal relationships, have been described in detail in the book. With a number of beautiful images the book makes for an interesting read and acts as a guide for those who are interested not only in beads but also in the history and culture of the North East.

Sarit K. Chaudhuri & Sucheta S. Chaudhuri

Sarit K. Chaudhuri is Director of National Museum of Mankind, IGRMS, Bhopal. During 2003–05, as a postdoctoral fellow he worked in a collaborative project of SOAS, British Museum, CCRD, and Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier he also worked with AnSI, Shillong, as well as with Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh as professor and head, Department of Anthropology. He has published 9 books and 52 research papers.