Negotiating History in Colonial Bengal: Bhaktivinod's Krsna-samhit

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between historical consciousness and colonial Bengali religious thought, arguing that though critical historical consciousness may be considered unique to the colonial period, it did not seize Bengali bhadraloka religious thought as comprehensively as it is often believed to have done. It does so by examining the thought of Kedarnath Datta Bhaktivinod, a prominent Bengali bhadraloka Vaiṣṇava leader of the period. In his earliest major Vaiṣṇava work, the Kṛṣṇa-saṁhitā, we find Bhaktivinod addressing the modern concern for history and its relation to the mythical narratives of purānic texts. By highlighting (i) evident tensions within the text, and (ii) significant revisions made to a later edition of the text, the article attempts to problematise the notion that critical historical consciousness is a definitive marker of rupture between pre-colonial and colonial religious thought in Bengal.

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