Conversion and Spirit Possession in 19th-Century Bombay Presidency

Abstract Baba Padmanji Mulay’s (1831–1906) conversion to Christianity in Bombay Presidency is located in an evolving intellectual domain of confrontation between missionaries, reformers, and conservatives. This competitive atmosphere placed early converts in a state of crisis, squeezing them between British missionaries and Marathi, mostly upper-caste Hindus. Given this context, Padmanji’s rise to eminence is reflected in his ideological writings on women’s emancipation, and in his autobiographical encounter with spirit possession. This article reads Padmanji’s ideology and spirit possession anecdote as a demonstration of the Indian Christian predicament that saw a move to refashion community identity as masculine and chivalrous.