Converting Colonialism


Book Description

Series: Studies in the History of Christian Missions (SHCM) In this volume, leading historians of Christianity in the non-Western world examine the relationship between missionaries and nineteenth-century European colonialism, and between indigenous converts and the colonial contexts in which they lived. Forced to operate within a political framework of European expansionism that lay outside their power to control, missionaries and early converts variously attempted to co-opt certain aspects of colonialism and to change what seemed prejudicial to gospel values. These contributors are the leading historians in their fields, and the concrete historical situations that they explore show the real complexity of missionary efforts to "convert" colonialism. Contributors: J. F. Ade Ajayi Roy Bridges Richard Elphick Eleanor Jackson Daniel Jeyaraj Andrew Porter Dana L. Robert R. G. Tiedemann C. Peter Williams







A History of Christianity in India


Book Description

This book traces its subject from the death of Aurunzib to the so-called Indian Mutiny. The history of India since 1498 is of a tremendous confrontation of cultures and religions. Since 1757, the chief part in this confrontation has been played by Britain; and the Christian missionary enterprise has had a very important role.




The Governor's Residence in Tranquebar


Book Description

The history of contacts between India and Europe tends to be dominated by the British, but Denmark also played a role on the subcontinent in the colonial era. This book offers insight into that history via a close look at one very specific part of it: the house in which the Danish colonial governor lived in Tranquebar, on the Coromandel Coast. We meet the governors and their Indian staffs and see their interactions with traders, temple priests, and princely delegates. With the help of hundreds of illustrations from the period, the resulting book is a fascinating portrait of the vibrantly multicultural life of a small colonial outpost in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.




The Nayaks of Tanjore


Book Description




Constructing the Colonial Encounter


Book Description

This book offers a systematic analysis of the violent clashes between the South Indian 'right' and 'left' hand caste divisions that repeatedly rocked the European settlements on the Coromandel Coast in the early colonial period. Whereas the Indian population expected the colonial authorities to intervene in the disputes, the Europeans were reluctant to get involved in conflicts which they barely understood. In the nineteenth century the significance of the divisions diminished, a development that has long puzzled historians and anthropologists. In addition, this study addresses the larger issue of the nature of colonial encounters. The rich material relating to these disputes convincingly demonstrates how Europeans and Indians, as they sought to incorporate each other into their own social structure and conceptual universe, participated in a dialogue on the nature of South Indian society.







The Indian Trade at the Asian Frontier


Book Description

This volume provides rich insights into workings of the Indian mind arguing that Indian merchants in the medieval and the early modern period were in no way inferior to other traders and Europeans in terms of their commercial operations and business acumen drawing on a wide range of sources. This book throws a new light on growth and development of Asian Trade on Sea and Land unearthing new evidence from Danish and Russian sources.




Electric Feather


Book Description

The Tranquebar Book of Erotic Stories is an unadulterated, edgy look at sex and passion.




Christians and Missionaries in India


Book Description

The subtle complexities of Christian missionary activity in India from the 16th through the 20th centuries are discussed in 16 articles by scholars of religion, history, and anthropology in Denmark, Sweden, the UK, France, Australia, India, and the US. An introduction and an overview to the diverse Christian groups in India are provided by Frykenberg (emeritus, history, U. of Wisconsin-Madison). Other topics include the first European missionaries on Sanskrit grammar, the Tranquebar mission, the German missionary education of two 19th- century Indian intellectuals, two articles on the Santals, and several papers that describe missionary interference in traditions of caste.--From publisher's description.