Orient Blackswan (formerly Orient Longman India, commonly referred to as Orient Longman), is an Indian publishing house headquartered in Andhra Pradesh.
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.
Established in 1948 as Longman Green by the UK publishing company Longman, it was taken over by Raja Rameshwar Rao, who bought the majority shareholding and became the company chairman in 1968. Rao retained the majority holding till 1984. The company's board included Khushwant Singh and the Patwardhans of Pune.Aditi Rao Hydari is an Indian film actress who is also from two royal lineages of Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari and Raja J Rameshwar Rao of erstwhile Wanaparthi princely state of Andhra Pradesh.
The "Indianisation" of Orient Longman's management during this period was also reflected in its product, where Indian writers found an increasingly prominent place.
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.
Famous quotes containing the word orient:
“Of all that Orient lands can vaunt,
Of marvels with our own competing,
The strangest is the Haschish plant,
And what will follow on its eating.”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)