Natural law and confessional cultures of slavery in Tranquebar, 1706-1800

Natural law and confessional cultures of slavery in Tranquebar, 1706-1800.

To what extent were colonial experiences with slavery, specifically the experiences of a Christian mission community, articulated with reference to the European natural law tradition?

In addressing this question, the project examines the discourses as well as the practices regarding colonial slavery and the slave trade in the Danish-English-Halle mission in Tranquebar in south-east India, from its beginning in 1706 until 1800.

Throughout the period, German missionaries as well as Tamil and European individuals who came into contact with the mission community, or were members, dealt with issues of slavery and the slave trade in Danish Tranquebar.

The challenge of the project lies in studying these instances and examining the references to the theory of natural law that come up in the source material, including norms protagonists claimed to be self-evident in their view.

Consideration of these two aspects, i.e. the practices of slavery and their theorisation, depends on a rigorous analysis of the agency of the German missionaries, the Tamil population and the members of the Danish colonial trading company in Tranquebar. The former aspect generally pertains to the field of cultural history, the latter to legal and intellectual history.

By combining both approaches, the key insight to be gained by the project lies in revealing how colonial cultural practice – specifically, confessional cultures - took up the European intellectual debate on natural law.

The impact lies in a deeper understanding of the cultural entrenchment of societal values by highlighting reflections on practices of slavery in the Tranquebar colony and its Danish-English-Halle mission.