Nineteenth century Bengal society and Christian missionaries

By Abhijit Dutta

Subjects: Social conditions, Missions, History

Description: The book deals with Christian Missionary involvement with and reflections on society in 19th Century Bengal, whether indigenous or European. Christian Missionary analysis of the native Hindu character and caste, along with Hindu superstitions (both ordinary and sanguinary), have been furnished in detail. Missionary interaction with the Hindu elite like Raja Rammohan Roy and the Derozians is also sought to be vividly portrayed in the study, together with Missionary depiction of the position of women in Bengal and the state of enlightenment among them. Also focused in the theme are Missionary endeavours to ameliorate the ranks of the ignorant Bengali female by providing them with the rudiments of knowledge. The Missionary depiction of European society with its numerous shortcomings also forms a significant subject matter of the book. Lastly, the reactions of the Bengali society, whether Hindu or Muslim, to Christian Missionary enterprise has been revealed with precision and detail. It is a well-documented and thought-provoking study.