Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction of Religion

Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction of Religion
ISBN-10
0198037295
ISBN-13
9780198037293
Category
Religion
Pages
260
Language
English
Published
2005-04-28
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Author
Brian K. Pennington

Description

Drawing on a large body of previously untapped literature, including documents from the Church Missionary Society and Bengali newspapers, Brian Pennington offers a fascinating portrait of the process by which "Hinduism" came into being. He argues against the common idea that the modern construction of religion in colonial India was simply a fabrication of Western Orientalists and missionaries. Rather, he says, it involved the active agency and engagement of Indian authors as well, who interacted, argued, and responded to British authors over key religious issues such as image-worship, sati, tolerance, and conversion.

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