Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography is a book that explores the terrain of the Indian subcontinent in an interesting way. It tries to explore the lands within the country by looking at it in a historical perspective.

The book is thus, literally, a history of the country’s geography. The author, Sanjeev Sanyal, dives into the many stories, legends, and facts that concerns India’s past, and discusses about how some of them came into being. The book looks at past events and questions how they have played a role in the country’s current geographical state. The author asks a lot of uncommon questions in the book, which have been drawn from stories and legends of the past. Rivers, mountains, valleys and cities are examined to draw answers to some of the little known and often unasked questions about our country. Some of these questions include: Did the great flood which is a legend in India actually happen?; Why did Buddha walk all the way to Sarnath for his sermon?; Why was the highest mountain named after George Everest?; How did the Europeans map India?; How did the British build the railways across the subcontinent?; and What was it like to sail on an Indian Ocean merchant ship in the fifth century AD?