Open Access

Maria Sofia Moritz

• The dissertation deals with the South Asian members of the Theosophical Society between the landing of the founders Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott in India and Jiddu Krishnamurti`s declaration of independence from the Theosophical Society in California. This is also the trajectory of the work - from colonial South Asia to the new world. It follows its South Asian heroes in their global biographies on the paths of the Theosophical Society and far beyond. Though this is not an institutional history one can learn that the Theosophical Society was part of most progressive movements around the turn of the century - be it women`s emancipation, vegetarianism or new education - and fostered the relationship between the "East" and the "West". The non-Eurocentric perspective throws light on the influential but underrepresented South Asian personnel. The study can be an enriching read for scholars of Global History, South Asian History, Religious Studies or Esoteric History.