Handling of Diversity in Early Modern India?

Abstract

The notion of plurality amongst the Indian population is one of the most prominent features of early modern German discourse on India. This article combines the concepts ‘diversity’ and ‘transculturality’ to analyse how German speaking mercenaries of the Dutch East India Company perceived this plurality. These mercenaries were a specific group of travellers, quite different from the well-known, erudite globetrotter. I analyse the group labels that mercenaries used to describe, understand and categorise India’s diverse population. The categories that the mercenaries used reflected their own understanding and fluidity of the terms nation, religion and social status. In contrast to the assumed relevance of religion and social status for early modern societies, the authors predominantly chose the term ‘nation’ for the different people in India. Moreover, their notion of a ‘nation’ did not imply a social hierarchy, but rather a juxtaposition. Based on this evidence, this article concludes that the organisation of diversity depended crucially on the individual author and his social position.