The British Discovery of Hinduism in the Eighteenth Century

This book reprints some of the most significant English contributions to the early European understanding of Hinduism.

P. J. Marshall (Edited by)

9780521092968, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 January 2009

324 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

One of the incidental consequences of the success of British arms in eighteenth-century India was the appearance of a number of publications which reflect the intense curiosity of contemporary Europeans about strange peoples, their manners and religions. Of the three principal religions of India, Hinduism attracted the most attention. European contact with Islam was several centuries old, while few travellers could identify Buddhism with any certainty. This book reprints some of the most significant English contributions to the early European understanding of Hinduism.

1. Chapters on 'The Religious Tenets of the Gentoos' John Zephaniah Holwell
2., 'A Dissertation concerning the Hindoos' Alexander Dow
3. 'The Translator's Preface' to A Code of Gentoo Laws Nathaniel Brassey Halhed
4. 'Letter to Nathaniel Smith', from The Bh?gv?t-G??t? Warren Hastings
5. 'The Translator's Preface', from The Bh?gv?t-G??t? Charles Wilkins
6. 'On the Gods of Greece, Italy and India' William Jones
7. 'On the Hindus' William Jones
8. 'On the Chronology of the Hindus' William Jones.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]