This is the second edition of a remarkable study of a young woman's defiant stand against Hindu orthodoxy and the colonial legal establishment in late nineteenth century India. It revolves around a suit for 'restitution of conjugal rights' filed against Rukhmabai, who was married at age eleven and refused to go and live with her husband. Based on extensive archival research, this lucid and engaging account captures the dramatic unfolding of the litigation, as well as the huge social and political debate set off by it. The narrative skillfully weaves together the details of the case with larger issues of gender and law, colonialism, culture, reform, and modernity. This edition includes a new Afterword in which the author analyses a vexatious libel case into which the rival party dragged Rukhmabai with a view to breaking her will, even before the original suit had been settled.

About the Author
Sudhir Chandra was formerly Senior Fellow, Centre for Social Studies, Surat, Gujarat and Visiting Professor, Institute for the Study of Languages & Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He is the author of Continuing Dilemmas: Understanding Social Consciousness (2002), and The Oppressive Present: Literature and Social Consciousness in Colonial India (1992, OUP) and Dependence and Disillusionment: Emergence of National Consciousness in Later 19th Century India (1975).


Book Information
ISBN 9780195695731
Author Sudhir Chandra
Format Paperback
Page Count 282
Imprint OUP India
Publisher OUP India
Weight(grams) 317g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 16mm