Gods Guns & Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity by Manu S. Pillai, Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar

This book must be read by all those history lovers who value diverse views of Hinduism.

This book is a thought-provoking exploration of power, politics, and ideology in India’s historical and contemporary landscape. While the writing style may take some time to get used to, it becomes more comfortable as the book progresses. Pillai weaves together historical insights with sharp analysis, making for a compelling read. The book challenges conventional narratives about some historical figures and encourages readers to view history with a critical lens. Overall, it is an engaging and insightful work for those interested in India’s past and present.

This book sets out to explore Hinduism as it evolved during the colonial period and it delivers well on the premise. It takes us on a journey from the early Portuguese colonists till independence, looking at Hinduism as viewed by the colonisers and the Indians themselves, culminating in Hinduism's role in nationalism. Well researched and relatively easy to read (it took me a while to get used to the writing 😅), it stays true to being historical recounting without venturing into opinion on a dicey topic. The interspersed sketches/photographs offer a nice reprieve from long passages, making the reading experience more pleasant. (About 300 pages of notes though - referred to some of them & I understand the need for easy access to references but still feel it could have been linked online, and make the book less unwieldy)

A superb book. Brings to life the manner in which Hinduism responded to colonial and evangelical pressures. I have a much better understanding of how and why Hinduism has survived repeated onslaught of foreign influences, resilience through adaptation.

Very nice.

The book is full of colourful characters and their encounters that shaped our history. As always , Manu Pillai’s book makes for an easy and entertaining read !!

This book provides an insightful exploration of the forces that have acted upon Hinduism since the arrival of Europeans. While much of our literary and journalistic discourse has focused on the challenges posed by invaders from Samarkand and across the Hindukush, relatively little attention in popular literature has been given to the excesses of European religious forces. This work addresses that gap.

Well researched and articulated.

The cover of the book is torn. It was supposed to be a gift. Now I don’t know what to do.