Primus Books - Faith and Reason: Cultural Discourse in Nineteenth-Century Bengal

In nineteenth-century Bengal, the discourse on faith and reason emerged as a critical site for the reinterpretation of Hinduism. Confronted with colonial rule, Christian missionary attacks, and the rationalist ideals of the European Enlightenment, a new class of Bengali Hindu intellectuals sought to reinterpret their religious tradition. Through appeals to ancient Sanskrit texts, a critique of ritual excess, and a language of ethical universalism, they reimagined Hinduism as a rational, moral, and spiritual tradition—capable of standing alongside modernity. This redefinition laid the cultural groundwork for early Indian nationalism, positioning a reformed Hinduism as the foundation for a modern Indian identity. Yet, in doing so, it also excluded the lived religious practices of the subaltern classes—bhakti devotion, folk deities, and local rituals. Faith and Reason explores the tensions between elite reformist discourse and popular religious life, revealing how Hinduism in colonial Bengal was not a fixed or unified system, but a contested and evolving field. By bringing together intellectual history and the embodied faith of ordinary people, this study offers a nuanced portrait of a tradition in transformation, and of a society grappling with the meaning of belief in a rapidly changing world.