IAFS 1000

19th Century India:Debating Muslim Education

Outline

• 1857 Uprising

• Indian Muslim debates re. education

–Aligarh

–Deoband

Muslim Debates over Education

• two schools: Aligarh and Deoband

• significance: diversity of Indian Muslims

1857 “Mutiny”/War of Independence/Uprising

• Significance: Br distrust of Muslims

• Landlords, peasants, disinherited princes

• Threat to Indian Army

• 1858: British Crown takeover

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia05/india_sm05.gif

Aligarh: MuhammadanAnglo-Oriental College (est 1875)• Founded by Sir Syed Ahmed

Khan• Modeled on British schools• Both Muslim and Hindu

students• Training for Muslim leaders• Combined Islamic and

Western education

Syed Ahmed Khan• Islam need not be hostile to Christianity• Hindus and Muslims not inherently

incompatible: “India is like a bride which has got two beautiful and lustrous eyes—Hindus and Mussalmans”

• Harmony depended on British rule: “for the peace of India . . . the English Government should remain for many years—in fact for ever!”

Deoband (est. 1867)

• Purifying Islam

• Traditional Muslim education (based in Wahhabi traditions)

• Middle- and lower-class Muslims

• No British support

• Largely apolitical

• Seen as a guardian of Islam

Themes

• 1857 uprising led to British distrust of Muslims

• Indian Muslims never a monolithic group (e.g. Aligarh vs. Deoband)