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Synopsis The book is a critical historical and sociological account of the famous river-island Majuli created centuries ago by the river Brahmaputra. Separated  from the mainland society of Assam being encompassed all around by a large water body of that great river, the island nurtures a typical traditional social and culture systems that crystallized since the middle age when the rulers of Assam made it a land of the Vaishnava preachers and founded there, on their behalf, grand religious institutions called Satra. In the 20th century, especially in the post colonial period, geography and society of the islands, its institutional structure and social stratification have been significantly impacted upon by the forces of change created mainly by modernization, demographic change and globalization. The work looks at the evolution of the society in the island and its value systems during the last few centuries, and its response to the forces of changes in the modern times.