Rammohun Roy


Book Description

Raja Rammohun Roy (1774—1833) was a great champion of liberty and civil rights in colonial India. He was also a true cosmopolitan who envisioned a world without borders. A tireless crusader for religious and social reform, Rammohun attempted a progressive reinterpretation of Hinduism and tried to improve the lot of socially marginalized groups such as women. Yet, in spite of his lofty public presence, Rammohun was a hugely controversial figure. He shocked the Hindu orthodoxy by his support to the abolition of Sati, offended evangelists by separating the moral message of Christ from the purely theological, and was often dragged into legal disputes over family property. By the time of his death in Bristol, he was as much resented as respected, both at home and abroad. Using relatively unexplored sources, this elegant and accessible new biography by Amiya P. Sen paints a fascinating portrait of one of the legendary makers of modern India.




Asian Biblical Hermeneutics and Postcolonialism


Book Description

The volume contributes a postcolonial perspective to such topics as textual production, commentarial writings and translations in colonial times, and then moves on to inspect Eurocentric notions embedded in current western biblical interpretation especially in projects such as "Jesus Research." It also contains an overview of and introduction to one of the most challenging and controversial theories of our time, postcolonialism--a theory that gives mediation and representation to Third World people. Though long established in cultural studies, postcolonial theory has not previously been seriously applied to Asian biblical interpretation.




Rammohun Roy and the Making of Victorian Britain


Book Description

This book investigates Rammohun Roy as a transnational celebrity. It examines the role of religious heterodoxy - particularly Christian Unitarianism - in transforming a colonial outsider into an imagined member of the emerging Victorian social order It uses his fame to shed fresh light on nineteenth-century British reformers, including advocates of liberty of the press, early feminists, free trade imperialists, and constitutional reformers such as Jeremy Bentham. Rammohun Roy's intellectual agendas are also interrogated, particularly how he employed Unitarianism and the British satiric tradition to undermine colonial rule in Bengal and provincialize England as a laggard nation in the progress towards rational religion and political liberty.




Political Thinkers of Modern India


Book Description




Makers of Modern India - Raja Ram Mohan Roy


Book Description

" Makers of Modern India: Raja Rammohun Roy" is a rich exploration of the life and influence of this visionary figure. The book navigates through Roy's captivating biography, spotlighting his political liberalism, transformative journey, and significant social reforms. It delves into his novel perspective on science in the Vedas, his pivotal role in shaping the Brahmo Samaj, and his contribution to the Bengal Renaissance. The chapters also unravel Roy's engagement with Upanishads and meditation, offering a holistic view of his lasting legacy as a reformer who catalyzed India's modernization.




Text and Tradition in South India


Book Description

Essays on Telugu and South Indian literature and culture by distinguished Telugu scholar Narayana Rao. Velcheru Narayana Rao’s contribution to understanding Indian cultural history, literary production, and intellectual life—specifically from the vantage of the Andhra region—has few parallels. He is one of the very rare scholars to be able to reflect magisterially on the precolonial and colonial periods. He moves easily between Sanskrit and the vernacular traditions, and between the worlds of orality and script. This is because of his mastery of the “classical” Telugu tradition. As Sanjay Subrahmanyam puts it in his Introduction, “To command nearly a thousand years of a literary tradition is no small feat, but more important still is VNR’s ability constantly to offer fresh readings and provocative frameworks for interpretation.” The essays and reflections in Text and Tradition in South India bring together the diverse and foundational contributions made by Narayana Rao to the rewriting of India’s cultural and literary history. The book is for anyone interested in the history of Indian ideas, the social and cultural history of South India, and the massive intellectual traditions of the subcontinent.




Rise of Reason


Book Description

This book offers one of the first critical evaluations and in-depth analysis of the intellectual movement in Maharashtra in the 19th century. Arguing against the prevalent view that Indian rationality was imported from Europe through the colonial agency, it traces the rational roots of the movement to indigenous intellectual traditions and history. It also questions the centrality assigned to the ‘Bengal Renaissance’ as being the representative of the contemporary intellectual movement in the country. Strongly grounded in primary research, this volume brings forth many new facts and facets into the scholarly discourse on topics such as the idea of ‘Drain’ and the rise of Indian nationalism, so far seen as a predominantly political process divorced from its cultural dimensions. It re-examines the view that cultural consciousness that preceded political agitation was a separate sphere of activity and suggests that both were integral stages of anti-colonialism in the country. The author maintains that rationalism and nationalism were closely connected as a means-and-end continuum. He also provides a new and substantially different understanding of the 19th-century intellectuals Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Pandita Ramabai among others. Lucid, accessible and thought provoking, this book will interest scholars and researchers of modern Indian history, Indian political thought, sociology, philosophy and Marathi literature.




Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000


Book Description

This Volume Is A Modernist Study Of India'S International Relations, Which Traverses Pre-Colonial, Colonial And Postcolonial Perspectives. Its Fourteen Chapters Discuss Varied Subjects Related To South Asia'S Regional And International Relations, Like: (I) The Institutionalization Of British Paramountcy In India And Its Effect On The Region'S External Relations, As Well As Indigenous Responses To Colonial Rule (Ii) The Influence Of Domestic Variables Upon India'S International Relations (Iii) The Interspersing Of Ethnic, Economic And Religious Factors In The Making Of The British Indian Empire, And Later, Of The Indian State (Iv) The Paradigms Of Nature, Culture, State-Making On The One Hand, And Political Ecology And Cultural Politics Of Natural Resources On The Other (V) The Changing Character Of Foreign Corporate Involvement In India (Vi) The Development Of Science And Technology In India And The Activities Of The Armed Forces In India (Vii) The Fostering Of Formal Arrangements Such As Saarc Or Safta In South Asia And Informal Challenges To India'S Security From Non-State Actors (Viii) The Economic, Political And Cultural Consequences Of Globalization For India During The Imperial-Colonial Phases (Ix) The Evolution, In Creative Writing, Of A Discourse On The World Outside India And On India'S Relationship With It. This Volume Will Be Of Interest To Scholars And Students Of South Asian Studies, History, Political Science And International Relations, And Defence Studies.




The Bible and Empire


Book Description

Sugirtharajah explores the complex relationship between the Bible and the colonial enterprise.