International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management Volume 10 • Issue 3 • July-September 2019 Book Review Raja Serfoji II. Science, Medicine and Enlightment in Tanjore Reviewed by Patricia Ordóñez de Pablos, The University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain ThisexcitingbookisabouttheenlightenmentintheIndiancolonialcontextunderthereignofRaja SerfojiIIofTanjore(1798-1832).Theauthor,Dr.SavithriPreethaNair,anindependentscholar basedinLondon,exploresculturalencountersinathrivingcontactzone,Tanjore(India).Through ofjourneyofsevenwelldocumentedchapters,thebookdiscussestheearlyyearsoftheyoungRaja ofTanjoreunderthecareofmissionariesoftheSPCK(SocietyofthePropagationoftheChristian Knowledge)andEuropeansandMarathascholars,theroleofTanjoreasacenterofEnlightenment insouthIndia,attractingcuriousEuropeanvisitors,anatomicalstudiesandscienceofelectricityand .naturalphilosophy,andfinallytravelsinandoutofTajore Theprotagonistofthisbook,RajaSerfojiIIofTanjore,waseducatedbytheDanishMissionary MrSchwartz,understoodtheEnglishlanguage,readEnglishnewspapersandhadanimpressive collectiononmanuscriptscoveringthefieldsofarts,literatureandmedicine(inSanskrit,Marathi andTamillanguages),partlyinheritedfromhisancestorsandpartlycollectedbyhim.Hislibrary .includedlargecollectionofEnglishliteratureonEuropeanEnlightenmenttoo IntheearlyXIX,thesouthIndiankingdomofTanjore,onthebanksoftheKaveri(Southeast India),flourishedasacentreofenlightenment,attractingawiderangeofinterestingvisitors(East IndiaCompanyofficials,Christianmissionaries,medicalpractitionersandnaturalists).Tanjorewas connectedtothemetropolisofLondonandtheprotestantHalleLutheranMission,theTranquebar missionariesandsomeoftheEastIndianCompany’ssurgeon-naturalists.Allofthemcontributedto ,thesocialnetworkofRajaSerfojiIIandtoacquisition,productionanddisseminationofknowledge culturallyenrichingTanjore.AmongotherimportantnodesinthesocialnetworkofSerfojiwere BenjaminTorin(1762-1839),WilliamBlackburne(1764-1839),thesurgeonsWilliamSomervell Mitchell,ThomasSevestreandBannatyneMacleod.MissionarieslikeC.F.Schwartz,JohnCaspar Kohlhoff(1762-1844)andDanishKohlhoff.ChristopherSamuelJohn(1747-1813),andalarge ,numberofskilledpeopleemployedatthepalaceasscholars,musicians,poets,doctors,gardeners .etc.thatcontributedtotheaccumulationofknowledgebytheRajaofTanjore  .Copyright©2019,IGIGlobal.CopyingordistributinginprintorelectronicformswithoutwrittenpermissionofIGIGlobalisprohibited  105 International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management Volume 10 • Issue 3 • July-September 2019 ,Inaddition,RajaSerfojiII’stravelsinandoutofTanjore,hiscuriousandculturalpilgrimage helped to sustain the cycle of knowledge accumulation during his time. During his “curious ,pilgrimage”,visitingCholacountry,thepagodasofTrichinopoly(IslandofSeringham,Palani -Rameswaram,Madura,Alagiri,Kasi-Rameswaram,Calcutta,Gaya,etc.,theRajaacquiredfirst handknowledgeofIndiaanditspeople,somethingessentialforaruler.Thetravelshadtwoclear ”.intentions:“discovery”and“pilgrimage Unfortunately,afterthedeathofRajaSerfojiII,Tanjorewashardlyabletocontinueasacentre .ofenlightenmentandculturalencounters Insum,thisinterestingbookcontributestoagreaterunderstandingoftheEnlightenmentinthe colonialcontextofIndiathroughthelifeandlegacyofRajaSerfoji,anunusualanduniquemanfor histimesandgeographiclocation.Thisbookwillbeofinteresttoacademicsandstudentsinthe fieldofhistory,anthropology,culturalandreligiousstudiesandIndianculturalstudies,historyof .medicineandscience,aswellasthegeneralreader Raja Serfoji II. Science, Medicine and Enlightenment in Tanjore Savithri Preetha Nair ©2012 by Routledge India 198 pp. $32.00 ISBN 9780415535045 106.