Manu Pillai on his book Gods, Guns and Missionaries, the evolution of Hinduism and Hindu-Christian encounters under colonialism

Manu Pillai's latest book, Gods, Guns and Missionaries traces the making of the modern Hindu identity under the influence of colonialism.Manu Pillai’s latest book, Gods, Guns and Missionaries traces the making of the modern Hindu identity under the influence of colonialism.Who is a Hindu? This question has bewildered many for centuries.

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Hinduism has through the years gone through several layers of evolution. As European power grew in the Indian sub-continent in the 16th and 17th centuries, the religion underwent yet another process of reimagination. Manu Pillai’s latest book, Gods, Guns and Missionaries traces the making of the modern Hindu identity under the influence of colonialism. In this interview, he speaks about the Hindu-Christian encounter which resulted in modifications on both sides, how the European perception of the unique culture had much to do with the socio-political events of the time and the rise of militant Hinduism. Excerpts:

Was there a sense of being a Hindu in the precolonial era? If so, how did the religious identity emerge and evolve?

Yes, there was. For instance, in Eknath’s 16th-century Hindu-Turk Samvad, a Brahmin and a Muslim debate one another. The latter lampoons the epics, the Vedas, temple worship, sadhus, ritualism and much else. The Brahmin similarly attacks the Islamic goat sacrifice, the call to prayer and points to the contradictions he sees between Quranic teachings and Muslim conduct. So yes, people did possess outlines for both groups. And yet, awareness of being Hindu did not mean that the term itself was used with uniformity across the country. It was a fuzzy, shape-shifting, evolving phenomenon. It was only in the modern period — under colonialism and in the encounter with Christianity — that solid boundaries emerged.

You write that when Europeans first encountered Hinduism, their ideas of the religion, “were shaped by their own cultural and political preoccupations”. Could you explain?