Kultur- og menneskesyn

This chapter explores Henning Engelhart’s evolving views on culture and humanity, culminating in his unpublished manuscript Reflections on the Spread of Enlightenment among the Indians (1788–1789). Written as a response to a prize question from the Tranquebar Society—of which Engelhart was secretary—the manuscript presents his most developed vision for enlightening the local Indian population. Engelhart rejected prevalent European notions that climate or innate racial traits determined character, arguing instead that ignorance was a product of social and cultural structures, not nature, and could be remedied through education. He proposed a locally led “university” with public lectures in law, history, religion, astronomy, and elements of European knowledge, aiming to prepare Indians for both civic rights and eventual Christian conversion.

Engelhart’s ideas reflected Enlightenment influences, especially from works such as Raynal’s Les deux Indes and German cameralist thought, as well as the practical reformist ethos of European patriotic societies. He extended principles of equality and civic rights beyond Europeans to Indians—an unusually radical stance in colonial South India. While other members of the Tranquebar Society often held more deterministic or paternalistic views, Engelhart maintained that mutual respect and education could transform colonial relations. Although his proposals were never implemented and the Society soon dissolved, his writings reveal that late 18th-century Tranquebar was not solely focused on trade and governance but also engaged with contemporary debates on the moral and intellectual potential of non-Europeans.