Biswamoy Pati's fascinating book examines dimensions of the social history of tribals and dalit outcastes in Orissa. It studies the impact of colonial agrarian settlements, adivasi strategies of resistance; indigenous systems of health, the colonial 'medical gaze'; fluidities of caste formations, appropriation by princely rulers of adivasi deities and healing methods; rituals of legitimacy adopted by these rulers; the development of colonial capitalism, as well as the role of marginalized groups in the national movement.

Biswamoy Pati taught Modern Indian History at the Department of History, University of Delhi. Over the years, he received numerous Honours, awards and Fellowships, the last of them being a Senior Fellowship at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (2015-2017).
He published extensively in terms of books, scholarly journals and edited collections. These include his monographs: Resisting Domination (1993), Situating Social History (2001), Identity, Hegemony, Resistance (2003), and South Asia From the Margins (2012). His edited collections include the landmark Health, Medicine and Empire (2001), besides India's Princely States (2007), The Rebellion of 1857 (2007) and The Great Rebellion of 1857 in India (2012). His latest volumes include Society, Medicine and Politics in Colonial India (2018) and the co-authored volume Health and Medicine in the Indian Princely States (2018). Dr Pati also occasionally wrote a Guest Column for The Telegraph, Bhubaneswar. He
tragically passed away in June 2017.