The occult world of Bengalis The Theosophical movement in colonial South Asia and its global entanglements 1882-1942

This dissertation explores the Theosophical movement in colonial Bengal and the role of Bengali Theosophists in the global history of religion between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth century. The Theosophical movement’s rise in South Asia must be studied against British imperialism and global capitalism. In this respect, this work proposes a new theoretical framework, called the “Theosophical Capital,” for understanding the utilisation of colonial resources. The author suggests that the theory of Theosophical Capital provides a framework to understand how the Theosophical movement utilised various social, cultural, and financial resources from Bengal and elsewhere in colonial South Asia to develop itself and thrive in the global religious marketplace. While on the one hand, the movement received financial and logistical support from the colonial bourgeoisie to develop its organisation in South Asia, on the other hand, with the help of native Theosophists, it promoted Indian traditions, such as Tantra, Yoga, and Vedanta, and translated pre-modern Indian texts to strengthen its position as a champion of ancient wisdom in the global occultist discourse. Simultaneously, the colonial middle class used the Theosophical movement as their social and cultural capital for political activities and literary works and to develop global intellectual networks. Thus, it could be said that the theory of Theosophical Capital is a dual-purpose tool which helps us understand how the Theosophical movement and the colonial Bengali middle class utilised each other for their mutual benefit. The work provides a new perspective to the study of esotericism in a global context.