This is the first major study of gender and property in South Asia. In a pioneering and comprehensive analysis Bina Agarwal argues that the single most important economic factor affecting women's situation is the gender gap in command over property. In rural South Asia, the most significant form of property is arable land, a critical determinant of economic well-being, social status, and empowe…
An honorary professor of Sanskrit and Hindu law at Fort William College in Calcutta, and a key figure in the foundation of the Royal Asiatic Society, Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765–1837) became Britain's foremost orientalist during the early nineteenth century. Taking up the reins of Sanskrit scholarship following the death of Sir William Jones (1746–94), Colebrooke made several substantial …
Published in 1801, this work is largely based on the first Malay–English dictionary, published 100 years earlier by Thomas Bowrey. A member of the Asiatic Society, although not recognised as a Malay scholar, James Howison seems to have lent his name to this version, produced in order to fill the gap caused by the scarcity of copies of the earlier dictionary. Since the British East India Compa…
Marathi, an official language of Maharashtra and Goa, is among the twenty most widely spoken languages in the world. The southernmost Indo-Aryan language, it is also spoken in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Daman and Diu, and is believed to be over 1,300 years old, with its origins in Sanskrit. First published in 1810, this dictionary of Marathi (then known as Mahratta) was compiled by…
This is the 1826 edition of the Burmese–English dictionary compiled from a grammar and other manuscripts written by the American Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson (1788–1850), with additional content by fellow missionaries Felix Carey and James Coleman. Prepared by the Baptist Mission Press while Judson was imprisoned on suspicion of spying in Ava, it is the fruit of his work towards makin…
The language of Bangladesh, West Bengal and parts of Tripura and Assam, Bengali is the sixth most spoken language in the world. A member of the Indo-Aryan family, with its origins in Sanskrit, it has over 230 million speakers. Published in 1825, this is the third volume of a revised three-part dictionary of Bengali, compiled by the Baptist missionary William Carey (1761–1834) during his time …
The language of Bangladesh, West Bengal and parts of Tripura and Assam, Bengali is the sixth most spoken language in the world. A member of the Indo-Aryan family, with its origins in Sanskrit, it has over 230 million speakers. Published in 1825, this is the first volume of a revised three-part dictionary of Bengali, compiled by the Baptist missionary William Carey (1761–1834) during his time …
Published in 1812, this study of Malay in its written form was begun during William Marsden's service with the East India Company in Sumatra (1771–9). He continued his textual work in England upon his return, thus putting his practical knowledge into a solid scholarly frame. An expert in Asian languages and an outstanding Malay scholar in the English-speaking world, Marsden (1754–1836) was …
In this ground-breaking account of the political economy and cultural meaning of blood in contemporary India, Jacob Copeman and Dwaipayan Banerjee examine how the giving and receiving of blood has shaped social and political life. Hematologies traces how the substance congeals political ideologies, biomedical rationalities, and activist practices.Using examples from anti-colonial appeals to blo…
A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. What are the pleasures of reading translations of South Asian literature, and what does it take to enjoy a translated text? This volume provides opportunities to explore such questions by bringing together a whole set of new translations by David Shulman, noted scholar of South Asia. The translated selectio…