Sacrificing People: Invasions of a Tribal Landscape

Felix Padel

Orient Black Swan Press

504 pages, Rs 750

An updated edition of a classic case study in colonialism, The Sacrifice of Human Being: British Rule and the Konds of Orissa. This edition analyses the role of missionaries in Orissa’s Kandhamal district, where the Konds are concentrated, and puts into historical perspective the murderous events of 2007, when violence exploded in the district, especially against Christians. Padel’s work is increasingly relevant in the face of environmental destruction due to bauxite mining in the Orissan mountains.