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  3. Religion, Enlightenment and Empire
  • Cited by 3
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      09 December 2021
      16 December 2021
      ISBN:
      9781009039192
      9781316510636
      9781009017688
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039192
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.687kg, 368 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.55kg, 368 Pages
      • Subjects:
      History of Ideas, British History after 1450, History, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
      Series:
      Ideas in Context
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    Subjects:
    History of Ideas, British History after 1450, History, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
    Series:
    Ideas in Context
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    Book description

    In the second half of the eighteenth century, several British East India Company servants published accounts of what they deemed to be the original and ancient religion of India. Drawing on what are recognised today as the texts and traditions of Hinduism, these works fed into a booming enlightenment interest in Eastern philosophy. At the same time, the Company's aggressive conquest of Bengal was facing a crisis of legitimacy and many of the prominent political minds of the day were turning their attention to the question of empire. In this original study, Jessica Patterson situates these Company works on the 'Hindu religion' in the twin contexts of enlightenment and empire. In doing so, she uncovers the central role of heterodox religious approaches to Indian religions for enlightenment thought, East India Company policy, and contemporary ideas of empire.

    Awards

    Winner, Intellectual Society for Intellectual History's Inaugural Constance Blackwell Prize

    Reviews

    ‘[A]n exemplary work demonstrating how lesser-known figures contributed in significant ways to eighteenth-century European thought and imperial history.’

    R. J. W. Mills Source: Intellectual History Review

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