ABSTRACT
The introduction provides an overview of the exchanges between an influential North Indian polity, the Kachvāhā dynasty, and the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sect, a prominent Hindu sect in North India in the early modern era. The political status of the Kachvāhās in the Mughal regime granted them the facility to support their religious interests in North India. Subsequently, the Kachvāhās were pivotal in aiding the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava community to establish their roots in Vṛndāvana, transforming the location into the headquarters for the sect in North India. This section also introduces the primary research topic that this book addresses, namely the nature of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava theology in relation to polity and public engagement during the reign of Jaisingh II. The introduction also outlines the primary method of research adopted to address this question which is text-historical, entailing a two-fold approach, a close reading and examination of Sanskrit primary sources, including some from manuscript collections, combined with an exploration of the key themes in these works in consideration of the wider political context. These works were born in a precise historical context; thus, to fully appreciate these works, this book adopts an approach that smudges the boundaries between history, religion and politics.
