Welcome
SOAS is a leader in the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and our library with its Archives & Special Collections is the HEFCE-designated National Research Library for these regions of the world.
We are in the process of putting our collections of rare manuscripts, books, photographs, audio and film material on-line, to be freely available for everyone.
The first collection to be made available is the photographic archive of Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf (1909-1995). This collection is widely recognised as the world's most comprehensive visual documentation of tribal cultures in South Asia and the Himalayas.
All material on this site is freely available for non-commercial use under Creative Commons licence. Contact us if you need larger files sizes or a commercial use licence.
This Web site is under continual development, so please check back frequently for new features. If you find something that doesn't work or that you think would make a useful addition, please use the Feedback link at the bottom of the page.
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Ropi ritual
Apatanis conduct a ropi ritual when humans or certain animals are killed in a violent manner. In the past, the hands of a human victim were usually brought back to the killer's village and burned in front of a ritual hut during chanting and dancing. While this ritual is no longer celebrated for human deaths, it is still performed for the killing of jungle cats because Apatanis believe that these animals have close genealogical links with humans. As with humans, the ritual is intended to prevent retaliation by the victim's spirit or descendants.
