Revisiting Astral Science in Colonial Bengal

The aim of this workshop is to highlight the scientific developments in Bengal, a province in India under colonial rule where two religious thinkers played an important role. Father Eugène Lafont (1837-1908), a Belgian Jesuit, came to India in 1865 and started teaching science in the newly established St. Xavier’s College of Calcutta, the then capital of British India. In St. Xavier’s College, he established one of the first modern science laboratories of modern India and dedicated himself to the promotion of science education with a holistic approach of assimilating the ideas of the West and the East. His interactions with the Indian science advocates like Mahendralal Sircar and Jagadish Chandra Bose helped him to facilitate scientific consciousness based on the discourses of astronomy. Being a passionate astronomer, he established an observatory in St. Xavier’s College to encourage research and was a part of the colonial education system in Bengal as an acclaimed scientist.

Father Lafont dedicated his life to promoting science education in India, guided by the motto of his college, ‘nihil ultra,’ which means ‘nothing beyond. His love for Lord Jesus culminated in his efforts to enlighten society with scientific knowledge, encouraging the colonized to move beyond their long-held beliefs in superstitions and fallacies. His active involvement in education facilitated the development of indigenous science in India, influenced by the Western scientific revolution.

With an aim to contextualizing the theme, we also need to highlight the life and works of Bimala Prasad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur (1874-1937), the founder of the Gaudiya Math and Mission, who established the ‘Saraswat Chatuspathi’ in colonial Calcutta in 1897 to promote Vedic astral science. His expertise in science played a pivotal role in mobilizing Gaudiya Vaishnavism in modern Bengal, thus creating a niche for scientific nationalism and religious revival. This workshop will explore the history of the first Bengali astronomical journals in modern India published by Siddhanta Sarasvati and also delve into the almanacs printed by the Gaudiya Vaishnava community. It will shed light on the intellectual movement initiated by Bimala Prasad, or Bhaktisiddhanta, which had a secular and rational approach essential for understanding his religious philosophy.

Both Lafont and Sarasvati were significant figures in the fields of astronomy during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were religious thinkers who had a keen interest in science. To understand the history of science in modern Bengal, it is important to interpret their ideas, particularly in the context of colonial intervention and the influence of Western Enlightenment.

Tinni Goswami holds a Master’s Degree in History and a Ph.D. on „Public Health and Sanitation in Colonial Bengal, 1880-1947“ from Jadavpur University in  India. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Postgraduate Department of History at St. Xavier’s College (autonomous), Kolkata. Additionaly, she serves as a Guest Faculty in the PG Department of History at Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, West Bengal.  She worked as a Guest Faculty at the Post–Graduate Department of History (Evening), Jadavpur University from 2010-2013, 2018- 2022, and 2024- June, 2025.

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