RELIGIOUS CONVERSION MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA

Studies of religious conversion and religious conversion movements have >

rapidly become a central issue in scholarly debate, including discussions

about the nature of religious and social change. What is conversion and

how and why do conversion movements take place? How far was

conversion the result of individual or corporate crises? What was the

relationship between the converts’ earlier world of ideas and practice and

his or her new-found faith? Did conversion involve a ‘burning of

bridges’, or was it simply entrance into an additional socio-religious

circle? How far did conversion encourage upward social mobility, or

stimulate economic and political change?

The papers compiled in this book, which are based on a reading of fresh and original

source material, address these and other issues with specific reference to

South Asia in the nineteenth century. They range from studies of

conversion to Christianity among Muslims, Hindus of diverse

backgrounds and Dalits, to an exploration of conversion and non-

conversion experiences among Indians and Europeans who experimented

with Theosophy, a movement which came into prominence in India

during the third quarter of the nineteenth century.

This volume will be of particular interest not only to those concerned ith socio-religious and cultural developments in South Asia, but is also relevant for scholars attempting to understand the religious conversion

phenomenon in other parts of the world.
ISBN: 0700704728
Publisher: CURZON