The Inordinately Strange Life of Dyce Sombre

Fisher, Michael H.:
The Inordinately Strange Life of Dyce Sombre : Victorian Anglo-Indian MP and Chancery “Lunatic” / Michael H. Fisher. - New York : Columbia University Press, 2010. - xx, 396 S. : Ill., Kt.
ISBN 978-0-231-70108-2
US$ 27,50
DDC: 328.41092

Beschreibung
The descendent of German and French Catholic mercenaries, a Scots Presbyterian subaltern, and their secluded Indian wives, David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre (1808-1851) defied all classification in the North Indian principality where he grew up. He also lived as the adopted child of a Muslim courtesan, a woman who would transform herself into the wildly successful, Catholic ruler of a small, cosmopolitan kingdom.
   In his youth, Sombre took great advantage of his privilege, yet upon his mother's death he lost all political power. Nevertheless, Sombre continued to live lavishly while in exile, touring India, China, and Europe on his inheritance. Sombre eventually settled in London and married the daughter of an English Protestant Viscount. He bought himself election to Parliament, but was expelled for acts of corruption.
   Accusations of spousal mistreatment led to Sombre's arrest and confinement. Termed a "chancery lunatic," he fled to France and spent years reclaiming his sanity and fortune. Sombre's efforts set new precedents for international and medical law. Trials revolved around whether Sombre was sane or crazy, Indian or European, with doctors and jurists clashing over the very definition of these terms. Sombre's heritage sparked debate decades after his death. In this absorbing biography, Michael H. Fisher recovers this strange life. Through Sombre's incredible story, modern conceptions of race, privilege, and empire begin to take shape. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Acknowledgements. ix
Abbreviations. xi
List of Illustrations and Maps. xiii
Genealogical Chart for David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre. xvii
Cast of Other Major Characters. xix
Introduction: Questioning Categories. 1
PART 1: ASIA
   1. The State of David's Origins. 13
   2. The Childless Begum's Possible Heir. 33
   3. Heir Apparent to a Doomed Principality. 49
   4. Made Rootless. 71
   5. The Last of Asia. 87
PART 2: EUROPE
   6. To Britain. 119
   7. A Viscount's Daughter. 137
   8. Encountering the European Aristocracy. 157
   9. Dyce Sombre in British Parliament. 173
   10. Lunacy. 201
   11. Lunatic Only in England, Sane Elsewhere. 231
   12. Travelling, Publishing, Challenging and Expiring. 277
   13. Legacies. 317
Notes. 329
Bibliography. 363
Index. 379

Autor
MICHAEL H. FISHER is Robert S. Danforth Professor of History at Oberlin College. He is the author of The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An Eighteenth-Century Journey Through India and Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers in Britain, 1600-1857. Profile page.

Quellen: Columbia University Press; WorldCat; Amazon (Deutschland); Library of Congress; Google Books