When Is the ‘Early Modern’?

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores two transitional moments within north Indian Digambar Jain literary culture: the first between the medieval into the early modern in the early-seventeenth century, and the second between the early modern and the modern in the late-nineteenth century. It looks at the life of Banārsīdās (1587–1643) of Agra for information on the first transition, and the lives of Pārasdās Nigotyā of Jaipur (fl. 1838–1874) and Nāthūrām Premī of Bombay (1881–1960) for the second. By examining changes in education, language choice, practices of translation, audience, and the material medium of textual production, the chapter shows some defining factors in these transitions. At the same time, the chapter demonstrates the limits in the periodization of early modern and modern. It argues that the line between the early modern and the modern is not an absolute one, but instead a matter of geography, social location, and even personality.