ABSTRACT
Modernity as a global normative mentality is characterised by respect for the autonomy of the individual person, the physical inviolability of the person’s body, and freedom for the individual to develop his or her talents and be able to flourish. India became an independent nation-state after an increasingly radical anti-colonial struggle that lasted from the beginning of 1900 till Independence in 1947. Indian nationalism was born in the early nineteenth century as a result of British paramountcy in the Subcontinent. Rammohun’s Vedanta seems to have primarily addressed the modernisation of the Hindu individual, a modernisation which includes individual liberty and emancipation from traditional religious impediments. Both Hinduism and religion need to be discussed in the context of the nineteenth century introduction of these terms in India and in European scholarly writing about India, and regarding the modern use of Hinduism as a term for one of the great world-religions.
