Interreligious Encounter and Proselytism in Pre-Mughal Bengal.

The Jesuit father Nicolas Pimenta’s report mentions one of the first Christianmissions to Bengal (1598–1604). Based on fresh translations of the chapters in the report describing the Bengal mission, this article examines interreligious relations in contemporary Bengal characterised by the dialectic of coexistence and disjunction. Local kingship or lordship was the keystone in the structure of interreligious coexistence in Bengal. The Christian preachers carried an incompatibilist and exclusivist approach to interreligious relations that was at odds with the inclusivist and compatibilist approach prevalent among the Bengal lords. The welcome accorded to the preachers by the lords reflected the inclusive approach. The eventual persecution and expulsion of the fathers was due to political exigencies rather than interreligious antagonism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]