Medicine was transformed in the eighteenth century. Aligning the trajectories of intellectual and material wealth, this book uncovers how medicine acquired a new materialism as well as new materials in the context of global commerce and warfare. Bringing together a wide range of sources, this book argues that the intellectual developments in European medicine were inextricably linked to histories of conquest, colonization and the establishment of colonial institutions. This is the first book to trace the links between colonialism and medicine on such a geographical and conceptual scale. Chakrabarti examines the texts, plants, minerals, colonial hospitals, dispensatories and the works of surgeons, missionaries and travellers to demonstrate that these were shaped by the material constitution of eighteenth century European colonialism. This book will appeal to experts and students in histories of medicine, science, and imperialism as well as south Asian and Caribbean history.

The historical relationship between Scotland and India is a relatively unexplored part of colonial history. This project seeks to re-examine the interchange of ideas initiated in the 18th century by the Scottish Enlightenment, and the ways in which these ideas were reformed and shaped to fit the changing social fabric of Scotland and India in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this volume, the significance and influence both nations had on the other is examined and brought to light for the first time. With contributions from key individuals and institutions in both Scotland and India, the range of ideas that were interchanged between the two nations will be explored in the contexts of culture studies, history, the social sciences and literature.

Widow Burning In India, Also Known As Sati, Has Been For Centuries A Widely Known And Hotly Debated Phenomenon, Both Inside And Outside The Country. But Its More Universal Anthropological, Religious, Social And Political Contexts Have Been Neglected. In This Book, Sati Is Studied For The First Time In A Really Global Context. It Is Considered As One Among Many Manifestations Of Following Into Death Within A Ritualized And Public Act, Voluntarily Or Involuntarily. The Decisive Feature Is Thus Not The Manner Of Dying, But The Function And The Intent: That Is, To Accompany A Dead Person Into The Hereafter. The Custom Is Shown To Have Existed In Various Forms In Most Parts Of The World And To Have Combined Strong Beliefs In The Hereafter With Power Struggles In This World, Both Between The Sexes And Between Social Groups.

'Burning Women', written by Joerg Fisch, reveals how the ongoing practice of 'widow-burning' is not exclusively Indian but is a global phenomenon. The book also presents a complete history of the practice up to the present day.