Govind Narayan's Mumbai

‘As a record of Mumbai's nineteenth-century history, as a text of urban consciousness, Mumbaiche Varnan is superb... a striking feature of Govind Narayan's book is its unalloyed enthusiasm for the city. As he moves from topic to topic, now describing its urban form and then sketching its social architecture, a strong undercurrent of admiration for the city runs through the text.’

Gyan Prakash, from his Foreword

The expansion of Mumbai over the last four centuries has been documented in great detail by both contemporary writers and historians. The change of name from Bombay to Mumbai on the eve of the twenty-first century has produced a renewed interest in the city and its people. However, this publication offers an alternative, unique and authentic voice. Quite simply, it is a book about the city like no other. Govind Narayan’s Mumbaiche Varnan was the first full account of Bombay in any language, written just before the explosive growth and renovation of the city.

Guiding the reader on a tour of the sights and sounds of an emerging city struggling to shake off colonialism and wrestling with the formation of its own budding identity, Narayan’s beguiling book offers descriptions of Mumbai’s daily life, its people and its institutions: the parts of the whole that come together to create this diverse and vivacious place. In addition to a detailed structural overview, the author provides a ground level account of the street life and market places rife with gambling and criminal activity. In every sense, this valuable text is a rare and enthralling glimpse into a fascinating period and place otherwise lost to time.

Govind Narayan’s Mumbai, translated into English for the first time, is essential reading for anyone interested in the city. Fully illustrated and with a detailed glossary and biography of the author, this remarkable historical document will prove particularly valuable to students of South Asian and Indian history.

Govind Narayan (1815–1865) was a native of Goa and came to Mumbai in 1824. He soon established himself as one of the leading authors of his age.

Murali Ranganathan lives and works in Mumbai. After having worked in various jobs, Murali turned to research. Govind Narayan's Mumbai is his first publication.

Gyan Prakash is Professor of History at Princeton University. Anthem South Asian StudiesAnthem South Asian Studies provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the region, past and present.

'Etched in this portrait of death and ruin are the outlines of a remembered city. Its shape peers through the images of the creaking infrastructure, eroded institutions… As a record of Mumbai’s nineteenth century history, as a text of urban consciousness, Mumbaiche Varnan is superb.' —from the Foreword by Gyan Prakash, Professor of History at Princeton University

'Essential: Ranganathan has done everyone interested in Indian history, and in Mumbai in particualr, a great service by translating and editing Govind Narayan's 1863 masterpiece… An explanatory foreword from noted historian Gyan Prakash rounds out the translation of this indispensable 19th century text.' —S. L. Hoglund, ‘Choice’

'Ramanathan’s brief biography and bibliography add to the value of this window on nineteenth century Bombay, and his inclusion of photographs of the mid-nineteenth century aptly illustrate some of Govind Narayan’s observations. In all, this is a valuable resource for those who wish to explore urban life in mid-nineteenth century India through the eyes of a sharp and knowledgeable observer.' —Janaki Nai, Professor of History at the Centre of Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, in ‘Studies in History’

The expansion of Mumbai over the last four centuries has been documented in great detail by both contemporary writers and historians, yet this narrative stands out as an alternative, unique and authentic voice. Quite simply, it is a book about the city like no other. Govind Narayan’s ‘Mumbaiche Varnan’ was the first full account of Mumbai in any language, written just before the explosive growth and renovation of the city.

Guiding the reader on a tour of the sights and sounds of an emerging city struggling to shake off colonialism and wrestling with the formation of its own budding identity, Narayan’s beguiling book offers descriptions of Mumbai’s daily life, its people and its institutions: the parts of the whole that come together to create this diverse and vivacious place. In addition to a detailed structural overview, the author provides a ground level account of the street life and market places rife with gambling and criminal activity. In every sense, this valuable text is a rare and enthralling glimpse into a fascinating period and place otherwise lost to time.

Translated into English for the first time, and fully illustrated and with a detailed glossary and biography of the author, this edition does full justice to this remarkable historical document.

The first ever book on Mumbai written in the Marathi language, this is a historically fascinating and revealing urban biography of nineteenth-century India.

An engaging, important text calling for the reform of economics and pushing for the discipline to become an honest and effective tool for democracy.

The articles in this book have been selected for their importance to the reform movement and for their accessibility to the general reader. Intelligibility is one of the movement's two keystones. "Real economic problems" concern real people, so their analysis must be made intelligible to an educated general public if real democracy is to function.   The second keystone of the post-autistic movement is pluralism. All analysis proceeds on the basis of concepts that admit only a partial view of the economy, thereby predetermining the set of possible conclusions. This requires economists to begin to develop an ethos of honesty regarding the limitations of their chosen approaches. In engaging and thought-provoking prose, the 66 chapters of this book bring these and other conflicts out into the open and place them in the context of the major issues of the 21st century.

Guiding the reader on a tour of the sights and sounds of an emerging city struggling to shake off colonialism and wrestling with the formation of its own budding identity, Narayan’s beguiling book offers descriptions of Mumbai’s daily life, its people and its institutions: the parts of the whole that come together to create this diverse and vivacious place. This valuable text is a rare and enthralling glimpse into a fascinating period and place otherwise lost to time.

Govind Narayan (1815–1865) was one of the leading authors of his age, producing a series of original books that were principally designed to strengthen the moral fibre.

Murali Ranganathan lives and works in Mumbai. After having worked in various jobs, Murali turned to research. ‘Govind Narayan's Mumbai’ is his first publication.

Gyan Prakash is Professor of History at Princeton University.

Contributors include: Frank Ackerman, Ana Maria Bianchi, Jorge Buzaglo, Bruce J. Caldwell, Ha-Joon Chang, Robert Costanza, Herman E. Daly, James G. Devine, Peter Dorman, Edward Fullbrook, James K. Galbraith, Daniel Gay, Yves Gingras, Bernard Guerrien, Shaun Hargreaves Heap, Robert Heilbroner, Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Goutam U. Jois, Steve Keen, Reiner Kummel, Dietmar Lindenberger, Robert Locke, Anne Mayhew, Matthew McCartney, Deirdre McCloskey, Julie A. Nelson, Gilles Raveaud, Jacques Sapir, Mehrdad Vahabi, Richard Wolff and more.