Religion and the Modern State: Reflections on Indian History

[IWM]

Sudipta Kaviraj
Religion and the Modern State:
Reflections on Indian History
Monthly Lecture

Indian history is interesting for an understanding of the relation between religious diversity and political power, because India saw intense religious diversity and conflict from ancient times.

The lecture will first analyse a case of the conflict between Vedic religion (Hinduism) and Buddhism and the evolving response of political authorities to a form of religious diversity that became both philosophically and socially increasingly intense. Political rulers responded mainly by not taking sides, and giving freedom for religious disputation, and occasionally, patronage to both sides. Interestingly, the response of rulers to the religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims in medieval India was quite similar. Philosophers and religious thinkers often went beyond and developed systems of thought combining elements from the two systems.

The coming of modernity altered the relation between religion and politics by fundamentally altering the nature of the state and the nature of identities. Yet, it will be suggested that modern political life in India derives institutional designs from the history of pre-modern secularity. The lecture will focus on four historical moments: the Vedic-Buddhist conflicts in ancient India, Hindu-Muslim exchanges in medieval India, the coming of the modern state and re-creation of identities, and the politics f seculairty in modern India.

Sudipta Kaviraj is Head of the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures Department, Columbia University, New York. He recently published the book The Imaginary Institution of India: Politics and Ideas (Columbia University Press, 2010).

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24. Mai 2011
Beginn: 18:00
Eintritt frei!

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