Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 17:57:24 -0400
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From: "Steven A. Leibo, The Sage Colleges" <leibo@cnsvax.albany.edu>
Subject: H-ASIA: Obituary: Dr R Suntharalingam )
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From: "Paul H. Kratoska" <hispaulk@leonis.nus.edu.sg>
Subject: Obituary: Dr R Suntharalingam

Obituary: Dr. R. Suntharalingam

From Paul H. Kratoska, on H-Asia list, 22 jun 1998

It is with deep regret that I write to report the death of Dr R. Suntharalingam, a specialist on Indian history who taught at the National University of Singapore from 1960-75, and at Universiti Sains Malaysia from 1975 until his retirement at the age of 55 in 1991.

Dr Suntharalingam received his primary and secondary education at Mahmud School in Raub, Pahang, and at Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur. He graduated from the University of Malaya at Singapore in 1960, earning a First Class Honours Degree in History, and obtained his Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 1966. A specialist on Indian history, in more recent years he also published on historiography, and wrote his later books and articles in Bahasa Malaysia, the national language of Malaysia, to increase historical awareness among students in Malaysia.

After his retirement Dr Suntharalingam was honoured by his friends and colleagues with a festschrift; see Abu Talib Ahmad and Cheah Boon Kheng, eds., Isu-isu Pensejarahan: Esei Penghargaan kepada Dr. R. Suntharalingam [Issues in Historiography: Essays Honouring Dr R. Suntharalingam]. Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 1995.

His publications include:

Books

R. Suntharalingam. Politics and Nationalist Awakening in South India, 1852-1891. Association for Asian Studies Monograph no 27. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1974.

______. Indian Nationalism: An Historical Analysis. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1983.

______. Pengenalan kepada Sejarah [Introduction to History]. Kuala Lumpur: Marican and Sons, 1985.

______. Pensejarahan Barat [Western Historiography]. Petaling Jaya: Penerbit Fajar Bakti, 1987.

Articles

______. "The Madras Native Association: a study of an early Indian political organization", The Indian Economic and Social History Review 4,3 (1967): 233-53.

______. "The Salem Riots, 1882. Judiciary versus Executive in the mediation of a communal dispute". Modern Asian Studies 3,3 (1969): 193-208.

______. "The `Hindu' and the Genesis of Nationalist Politics in South India, 1878-1885", South Asia no. 2 (Aug. 1972): 64- 80.

______. "Kongres Kebangsaan India, 1885-1905: perjuangan untuk siapa?" ["The Indian National Congress, 1885-1905: Struggle for Whom?"], in Nasionalisme: satu tinjauan sejarah. Petaling Jaya: Penerbit Fajar Bakti, 1985, pp. 155-75.

______. "Karl Marx, India dan Teori Kolonialisme" [Karl Marx, India and Theories of Colonialism], in Cheah Boon Kheng and Abu Talib Ahmad, eds., Kolonialisme di Malaysia dan negara- negara lain. Petaling Jaya: Penerbit Fajar Bakti, 1990, pp. 17-58.

______. "Pembunuhan Rand: kekerasan dalam nasionalisme India" ["The Rand Killing: Violence in Indian Nationalism"]. In Qasim Ahmad, ed., Kekerasan dalam sejarah: masyarakat dan pemerintah. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1993, pp. 217-40.

Paul H. Kratoska
Department of History
National Univeristy of Singapore