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While change has been endemic to the cultural life of the Hindus from the outset, it was in the modern era, with the advent of British colonial rule in India, that this change had its most far-reaching consequences. In this engaging narrative, scholar Amiya P. Sen makes this complex historical process accessible to a wide audience for the first time.
In “Colonial Hinduism”, scholar Amiya P. Sen, a historian and course professor at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, explores the myriad ways that Hindu society changed during the colonial era and up until the present-day.
Sen begins with an overview of colonial Hinduism, examining the practice of Hinduism before the British arrived and how profoundly Hindu religious ideas and social practices changed during the colonial era. Alongside nationalism, a new Hinduism was wrought through modern institutions of higher learning, larger communication networks, the growing importance of print, and the spectacular growth of vernacular languages and literature.
The colonial state played an active role in most of these changes. However, Hindus were not passive recipients of these changes and there were significant responses and adaptations to western thought and practice. Sen highlights how religious reform naturally led to impactful social reforms that persist to this day.
In “Colonial Hinduism”, scholar Amiya P. Sen, a historian and course professor at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, explores the myriad ways that Hindu society changed during the colonial era and up until the present-day.
Sen begins with an overview of colonial Hinduism, examining the practice of Hinduism before the British arrived and how profoundly Hindu religious ideas and social practices changed during the colonial era. Alongside nationalism, a new Hinduism was wrought through modern institutions of higher learning, larger communication networks, the growing importance of print, and the spectacular growth of vernacular languages and literature.
The colonial state played an active role in most of these changes. However, Hindus were not passive recipients of these changes and there were significant responses and adaptations to western thought and practice. Sen highlights how religious reform naturally led to impactful social reforms that persist to this day.