In the early nineteenth century, the south Indian kingdom of Tanjore, which had come under the control of the East India Company, flourished as a 'centre' of enlightenment. This book traces the contours of the Tanjore enlightenment, which produced a knowledge that was at once modern and deeply rooted in the indigenous tradition. The chief protagonist of this first ever full-length study on Tanjore at the turn of the nineteenth century is Raja Serfoji II (r. 1798--1832), in whose world science and God coexisted comfortably. Tanjore at this time was a thriving contact-zone, linked to several...
In the early nineteenth century, the south Indian kingdom of Tanjore, which had come under the control of the East India Company, flourished as a 'cen...