The Travels of Dean Mahomet by Dean Mahomet

Read today, the Travels offer a glimpse into the mind of an Indian servant of the British Empire, with all the duality that suggests. The definitive contemporary edition comes with an introduction and biographical essay by historian Michael Fisher, which helps contextualize Mahomet’s comments. Mahomet accompanied the Company on its travels along the Ganga, where it tried to bring people under its rule, and his account of these places provides a rich and fascinating record of many aspects of life in India during that time. The book covers a period of 15 years, from 1769 to 1784, and describes in painstaking detail his travels with the English East India Company where he served as an officer. Dean Mahomet’s Travels was published in 1793-94 in Cork, Ireland, following his immigration from India.

It seems appropriate to begin with the book that is credited with being the very first one written in English by an Indian. Connected to India, outside the list of the usually-read, and, inevitably, fascinating, these are books you may have missed, skipped, or forgotten – and are worth visiting, or revisiting. These are the books lying in your metaphorical bottom-shelf.

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The Travels of Dean Mahomet by Dean Mahomet