Both Hinduism and Hindutva are relatively modern words. Hinduism as a term began to appear towards the end of the eighteenth century. According to some, it was first used by Raja Ram Mohan Roy (c. 1772-1833) but recent research seems to suggest that it may have been used earlier by Charles Grant (1746-1823). Similarly, the use of the term Hindutva was popularised by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966) in the twentieth century. For a while it was thought the word may also have been coined by him, but recent research suggests that it was used earlier, towards the end of the nineteenth century, by Chandranath Basu (1844-1910). Whatever the precise genealogy, however, they are relatively modern terms. What I wish to recognise by emphasising this is, that both the terms appear in the context of India’s encounter with ‘modernity’ during British rule, when India was exposed to such modern influences as colonialism, capitalism, science, Christianity, rationalism, and so on. It, therefore, m...
