Orient Blackswan

Orient Blackswan Pvt. Ltd. (formerly Orient Longman India, commonly referred to as Orient Longman), is an Indian publishing house headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana.[4][5]

Orient Blackswan
StatusActive
Founded1948 (1948)
FounderThomas Longman
Country of originIndia
Headquarters locationHyderabad, Telangana
DistributionWorld wide
Key peopleJ. Nandini Rao (Md)[1]
J. Krishnadeva Rao (Director)[2]
Publication typesBooks and academic journals
Nonfiction topicsHumanities, social science, behavioral science, education
Owner(s)J. Rameshwar Rao[3]
Official websiteorientblackswan.com

The company publishes academic, professional and general works as well as school textbooks, of which the "Gulmohar" series of English-language schools books grew popular. It also publishes low cost reprints of foreign titles.[6]

History

Established in 1948 as Longman Green by the UK publishing company Longman, it was taken over by J. Rameshwar Rao, who bought the majority shareholding and became the company chairman in 1968.[7] Rao retained the majority holding till 1984. The company's board included Khushwant Singh and the Patwardhans of Pune.[8][9]

The "Indianisation" of Orient Longman's management during this period was also reflected in its product, where Indian writers found an increasingly prominent place. Also during this period various subsidiaries came about such as Orion Books, and Gyan Publishings which sprang up as entrepreneurial enterprises from individuals based in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata such as B.K. Todi, Saugat Biswas, Varun Tamble and many others.

Disputes

In 2006, the Pearson Education group, which holds a minority stake in Orient Longman as well as the rights to the "Longman" brand worldwide, sued Orient Longman asserting its claim on the brand. In 2008, Orient Longman agreed to drop the "Longman" suffix in an out-of-court settlement, and the company was renamed Orient Blackswan.[10] Megha Kumar was a Rhodes Scholar. Her book explores sexual violence against Muslim women in Ahmedabad during three large episodes of communal violence in 1969, 1985, and 2002.

Accusations of Censorship

In 2014, Orient Blackswan decided to halt the sale and distribution of Megha Kumar’s book Communalism and Sexual Violence: Ahmedabad Since 1969 - even after printing and selling copies of the book.[11] This decision was made after fear of a lawsuit by the quasi-militant Hindu 'Indianisation' or 'safrponisation' group Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti (SBAS) or The Committee for the Movement to Save Education, spearheaded by Dinanath Batra who also succeeded in getting Penguin Books India to withdraw form sale several books by Wendy Doniger, the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of History of Religions at the University of Chicago.[12]

References
  1. Eur (2002). The Far East and Australasia 2003. Psychology Press. p. 496. ISBN 9781857431339.
  2. "Narayana students excel in Spell Bee contest". The Hans India. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  3. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd (19 March 2019). From a Shepherd Boy to an Intellectual: My Memoirs. SAGE Publications India. p. 233. ISBN 9789381345429. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  4. Bora, Purabi (19 October 2008). "Orient Longman reborn as Orient Blackswan". The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. "Orient Blackswan Private Limited Details". The Economic Times. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  6. "about Orient Blackswan". Orient Blackswan.
  7. Indian Book Industry, Volume 24, Issues 3-4. Sterling Publishers. 1995. p. 32.
  8. Khushwant Singh (2005). he Collected Short Stories of Khushwant Singh. Orient Blackswan. p. 4. ISBN 9788175300446.
  9. R.E. Mark Lee (30 September 2016). Knocking at the Open Door: My Years with J. Krishnamurti. Balboa Press. p. 130. ISBN 9781504365031. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  10. "Orient loses Longman". The Telegraph. 15 January 2008.
  11. https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/z4QMri42Jp9vQqHR3mgsuN/The-book-will-come-out-one-way-or-another-Megha-Kumar.html
  12. McComas Taylor, "Hindu Activism and Academic Censorship in India," South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 2014, pp 1-9, https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2014.956679

Bibliography
  • "About us". Orient Blackswan. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
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