September 21, 2009 New Archaeologist Times
 

THOMAS HOBBES EXPOSED

THOMAS HOBBES SECRET MISSION TO INDIA

Jeff Fortune

  
Above: The recently unearthed travel journal of Thomas Hobbes, detailing his mission to India
Image Source: Jemima's Journal


Hobbes' Impression of Dasaratha's Succession

Vali and Sugriva demonstrate a classic power struggle in ancient India

Bhishma abdicates the throne for his father

Asking for Krishna's Help
It seemed like just another ordinary day to Ramesh Chitti, the owner of a rare-antiquities store in downtown Mumbai. He had just received a random lot of books from a local estate sale and was cataloguing them according to subject and author, when he reached for the leather-bound, hand-written journal. Because cows are sacred animals in India, he knew the book was out of place. As he began reading it, he also knew he had something extraordinary on his hands.
The book is a travel journal, used as a diary for specific journeys - and this one was written by Thomas Hobbes, the famous political philosopher of the 17th century. Hobbes is best known for his work, The Leviathan, in which he detailed the idea of a social contract where self-interested individuals come together by giving up some of their individual rights in order to form a civil society. He was despised during his lifetime, due largely to his support of the monarchy that was overthrown at the height of the English civil war in January of 1649. Hobbes was long thought to 		have spent his exile in France. The journal tells a very different tale and sheds some light as to the source of his longstanding support of the monarchy.
We will explore the rewriting of history and political philosophy in this four part expose as scholars pore over the contents to decipher their implications. Below are two of the earliest entries:

March 9, 1649
I have been given a mission by Charles II. Barely 18 years old, my king has travelled to Edinburgh to gain the allegiance of the Scots following the tumultuous uprising led by Oliver Cromwell. The poor child witnessed his father's execution barely a month ago and was prevented from being proclaimed king by the British Parliament. The Scots, on the other hand, have proclaimed him king. So, while he stages his return to power in England, I am to travel to India with the East India Company incognito to write an analysis for my lord concerning the future possibilities of loyal subjects there. I have been writing on the principles of political and natural 		law and am to apply these principles to understanding the power structure in India and to give recommendations to how England might better establish Herself in this strange land.

April 3, 1649
To maintain secrecy, I have arrived on a Dutch freighter in the city of Kozhikode, in southern India. I am told that this is the "city of spices." I immediately set out to hire a translator. He seems sympathetic to my missions, but, honestly, that could just be the money talking. When I asked him about the history of kings of this land, he told me about a distant province called Ayodhya. He was born and raised there and was versed in the wisdom and history of its kings. He told me of an ancient king, Dasaratha. By his descriptions, this was a monarchy similar to that of England. His stories about the problems of succession are interesting and I will have to give more though on how (or even IF) a ruler can maintain the legitimacy of his rule when a successor is chosen.
 
 
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