ABSTRACT
What is known today as Uttarbanga or ‘North Bengal’ has historically been one of the world’s greatest migratory routes and it is only with the reorganization of international borders since the early twentieth century that such migrations are expected to come to a complete stop. The region in postcolonial times has been a standing witness to contestation over many a homeland claim and homeland imaginary. I argue that the liminal and fluid nature of the region is best represented in the figure of a nomad who is constantly on the move without a home to return to and is shuttling across a variety of identities without being able to decisively embrace any one of them.
