The Anachronistic Sovereign: Harnessing Tradition and Temporality in 18th-Century Bengal

In August 1734, Jai Singh II of Amber performed the ancient Ashvameddha ritual, unseen in India for centuries, sparking widespread acclaim and inspiring claims of a new Satyayuga amidst the Kaliyuga. Two decades later, Raja Krishnachandra Ray of Nadia, Bengal, boldly performed the agnihotra and Vajapeya sacrifices, asserting his sovereignty in a politically turbulent Bengal. Yet, Colonial and nationalist histories of the region would frame this last event as an example of the anachronic and backward-looking character of Bengali Hindu elites at the end of the eighteenth century. Moreover, colonial sources would stress that in Bengal, in a context of political turmoil and with so many actors vying for power, any claim to independent sovereignty was immediately inconsequential.

Yet, the choice of performing Vedic rituals in a region with no tradition of Vedic learning complicates this simplistic colonial narrative. This paper explores the performances of Vedic sacrifices in Bengal during the eighteenth century to argue that these engagements with ancient traditions functioned not only as a means to ascertain political power and identity separated from Mughal political legitimacy, but also as a way of making sense of the rapidly changing world and the encroachment of new worldviews coming from Europe. Newly revealed sources show that Krishnachandra was interested and conversant in astronomy, geography and history, and that he was aware, like Jai Singh II, of the scientific revolutions taking place in Europe. Could the appeal to tradition be a way to harness these worldviews into a new (and different) Satyayuga? This paper not only challenges colonial narratives but also highlights the dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation in the construction of political and cultural identity outside the Empire.