Hindu-Christian interaction in Pondicherry,1700-1900

Abstract

This paper focuses on the interaction between the Hindus and Christians of Pondicherry between 1700 and 1900, showing how Christianity gained a foothold among the Hindus. On the one hand, pressures, preferences and persuasion were used by the French to induce conversions, while on the other hand certain cultural, social and moral aspects of Hinduism, like vegetarian ism and the caste system, made conversions difficult. The high-handed methods of some French colonisers and missionaries also slowed down the conversions. The paper brings out both the legendary tolerance of the Hindus and Hinduism, and the intolerance exhibited by egalitarian ideologies like Christianity, which pay scant regard to diverse cultural, moral and religious traditions and beliefs. The paper also rejects the theory that there is a symbiosis at work between the Hindus and Christians and affirms the distinctive existence of a Judeo-Christian-Islamic, and a Hindu-Buddhist, world.