ABSTRACT
The Sundarbans stretch from the Hooghly in the west to the Meghna on the east; and comprise the southern portions of the present districts of the 24 Parganas in India, Khulna and Bakarganj in Bangladesh. The sources of danger formed the underlying theme of the Sundarban punthi literature. One of the central motifs of the punthis under consideration is man's perpetual struggle with the wild animals, especially the tiger. The world of folk deities offers important insights into the character of past human settlements in the Sundarbans. The landscape of the Sundarbans today is a product of two opposite forces: conversion of wetland forests to paddyland versus the preservation of the forest in the reserves. The entire process of building a new port reveals a story of the expansion of the settlement in the jungle areas of the Sundarbans. The Sundarbans acquired a new meaning in the prose literature which developed in the twentieth century.
