This book is a collection of papers on suicide and self-immolation, reprinted from the almost forgotten Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, published in 1886-1936. The book carries a Foreword by Professor Ashis Nandy on death and self in culture.
Part I includes nineteen papers, analysing statistics of suicides committed in Bombay (now Mumbai) from 1886 to 1907, classified by religion, gender, age, month, date, cause and means of suicide, etc. The data is presented in a number of tables, often with remarks on individual cases. Launched by Edward Rehatsek, a Hungarian scholar who had made Bombay his home, the papers were continued after his death by the Parsee scholar, Bomanjee Byramjee Patell.
Part II includes seven general essays: one is on suicide and old age in a comparative perspective, and another on suicide in ancient India. The question of self-immolation of Hindu widows, commonly referred to as sati, is discussed in three of the essays. Of special interest is the essay on the Sati of Ramabai, widow of Madhavrao Peshwa. Two essays deal with the issue of selfimmolation of persons in religious contexts.
About the Author
EDITORS
A.M. Shah is former Professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of
Economics, University of Delhi. He
has been felicitated with the
Lifetime Achievement Award by
the Indian Sociological Society, the
Swami Pranavananda Award by the
University Grants Commission, a
National Fellowship by the Indian
Council of Social Science Research,
and the Distinguished Service Award
by the University of Delhi. He has
been a Visiting Fellow at several
universities and institutes in India
and abroad and has authored and
edited many books on a variety
of subjects. His books and papers
on household and family in India
are collected in an omnibus (Delhi,
2006).
Lancy Lobo is currently the Director,
Centre for Culture and Development,
Vadodara. He has earlier served as
the Director, Centre for Social
Studies, Surat. He has conducted
extensive studies on dalits, tribals,
OBCs and minorities in rural and
urban Gujarat. He has authored,
co-authored and edited seventeen
books.
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