La Ilustración india: sus orígenes, naturaleza e ideas: The Indian Enlightenment: its origins, nature and ideas

Mario López Areu

doi:10.12795/araucaria.2023.i52.10

Authors

Mario López Areu Universidad Pontificia Comillas https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7949-3295

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12795/araucaria.2023.i52.10

Keywords:

Ilustración, India, Rammohun Roy, Jotirao Phule, Compañía de las Indias Orientales

Abstract

This paper explores the origins and nature of the Indian Enlightenment, which reformist ideas set the foundations of modern Indian political thought. Its origins coincide with the expansion of the British East India Company’s rule and the ideas of enlightened orientalism. Colonialism, we argue, kick-starts a debate among Indian intellectuals regarding the traditional social order and the need for its reform. The paper makes a distinction between a moderate Indian Enlightenment that aims to modernise India while preserving its civilisation roots, and a radical one, which looks to reformulate the entire social and philosophical edifice. To do so, the paper analyses the thought and activism of two prominent Indian thinkers, the liberal Rammohun Roy and the radical Jotirao Phule. The article concludes that the Indian Enlightenment is an Enlightenment on its own right. While it is influenced and enters into a dialogue with Western modernity, it also develops its own debates and reform proposals. The paper also aims to contribute to the expansion of the intellectual history of the Enlightenment to other parts of the world, beyond the West.

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