Whoever writes a book on such a broad theme as this one is very much indebted to the assistance of others. I am very grateful for the contact I have had with experts in different areas of this extensive history. Bit by bit, more and more details were added to the story of the encounter of the Europeans with Hinduism. Gradually, the survey offered by this book thus emerged, and some lines began to take clear shape.
Some of the material on which this history is based is already old. That is of course the case with regard to the sources: travel accounts and reflections by those who visited this distant country in earlier centuries. But there were also many researchers working in this area in the past. For me, this meant that I—in addition to the books in my own library—had to get access to many older works. The staff at Leiden University Library proved once again to be very helpful, just as they were when I was working on my earlier book, Jesus as Guru, and managed to locate many works that turned out to be treasures for me. I am also grateful to the staff at the library of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for their extensive assistance.
Not all the material I needed to consult had been published, however. My search into the past therefore also led me to various archival institutions. The two large European mission archives provided indispensable material. The Frankesche Stiftungen in Halle made valuable writings digitally accessible, and the staff at the Basler Mission archives offered their ready assistance with documents that clarified the course their missionaries took in India.
In some areas, I needed special assistance. Drs Corstiaan J.G. van der Burg, who once upon a time initiated me into Sanskrit at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, was also willing to help me now with some difficult texts in that language. And in an entirely different area, Mr and Mrs Max and Sigrid Jansen in Naarden in the Netherlands helped me with reading some archival documents in the old German Suetterlin script.
I am happy that this book can also be published in the series Currents of Encounter, just as my previous work Jesus as Guru was. And, just as he did for that work, Dr. Henry Jansen once again took on the task of translating this book into English. I am deeply indebted to him for the work and care he devoted to this task.
Some foundations were willing to contribute to the costs of this publication: the Van Coeverden Adriani Stichting, the Stichting Van Eijkfonds, the Stichting Zonneweelde, and the J.E. Jurriaanse Stichting. I am very grateful for this financial support.
I am very happy that this book, which I have wanted to write for so many years, is now complete. It was written with a great deal of pleasure, and I hope that it will also be read with pleasure.
Jan Peter Schouten
Naarden, the Netherlands