Visions of Hindu Kingship in the Twilight of Mughal Rule

13th Gonda Lecture by Monika Boehm-Tettelbach
25 November 2005
Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam

At the turn of the eighteenth century, following the decline of the Mughal Empire, Hindu states were asserting themselves by re-defining the foundations of their rule, namely the concept of Hindu dharma. By this period Bhakti groups had, for some two centuries, been re-defining what, to them, were the content and societal implications of religion. They did this in various ways that were often seen as threatening towards traditional concepts of proper religious and public demeanour. This was felt to erode the very basis of Hindu statecraft, and therefore needed to be redressed.

A case in point is the state of Savâî Jaisingh (1700-1743), who sought to define a Vaisnava sanâtana dharma capable of sustaining Hindu rule at a juncture perceived to be the turn of an epoch. The lecture will focus on his objectives, especially on those individuals who master-minded these and represented the intellectual ecumene, that had some of its nodal points in Braj and Banaras, in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

In conclusion, lines of contrast and continuity in the conceptions of the late pre-colonial sanâtana dharma and those of the ensuing colonial period will be drawn.

Monika Boehm-Tettelbach (author's name: Monika Horstmann) is Professor in Modern South Asian Studies (Languages and Literatures) at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, and head of the department. She is interested in Bhakti religion in its literary as well as historical and political aspects, mainly in northern India. Her books include Dâdû. Lieder (1991) and In Favour of Govinddevjî: Historical Documents Relating to a Deity of Vrindaban and Eastern Rajasthan (1999). She is currently writing a book entitled An der Wende der Zeit: Herrschaftskonzept und Religion bei Savâî Jaisingh.

Admission to the lecture is free. Those who want to attend the lecture are requested to give notice to the secretariat of the Gonda Foundation, Antwoordnummer 10785, 1000 RA Amsterdam (tel. 020-5510 782), e-mail: bernadette.peeters@bureau.knaw.nl. Only those who attend the lecture will receive the publication.

More information: www.knaw.nl/cfdata/agenda/agenda_detail.cfm?agenda__id=650