Indian Muslim minorities and the 1857 rebellion : religion, rebels and jihad
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Indian Muslim minorities and the 1857 rebellion : religion, rebels and jihad
（International library of colonial history, 24）
I.B. Tauris, 2017
Available at 2 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
While jihad has been the subject of countless studies in the wake of recent terrorist attacks, scholarship on the topic has so far paid little attention to South Asian Islam and, more specifically, its place in South Asian history. Seeking to fill some gaps in the historiography, Ilyse R. Morgenstein Fuerst examines the effects of the 1857 Rebellion (long taught in Britain as the 'Indian Mutiny') on debates about the issue of jihad during the British Raj. Morgenstein Fuerst shows that the Rebellion had lasting, pronounced effects on the understanding by their Indian subjects (whether Muslim, Hindu or Sikh) of imperial rule by distant outsiders. For India's Muslims their interpretation of the Rebellion as jihad shaped subsequent discourses, definitions and codifications of Islam in the region. Morgenstein Fuerst concludes by demonstrating how these perceptions of jihad, contextualised within the framework of the 19th century Rebellion, continue to influence contemporary rhetoric about Islam and Muslims in the Indian subcontinent.Drawing on extensive primary source analysis, this unique take on Islamic identities in South Asia will be invaluable to scholars working on British colonial history, India and the Raj, as well as to those studying Islam in the region and beyond.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Religion, Rebels, and Jihad
Theoretical Framing
A Note on Language
Chapter Outline 1
1. The Company, Religion, and Islam
Religion before Rebellion
“Watershed Moment”: the Great Rebellion
Greased Cartridges and Chapatis: the Anxiety of
Religious Conspiracy
Muslim Memories of the Great Rebellion
Conclusions
2. Suspect Subjects: Hunter and the Making of a
Muslim Minority
Bound to Rebel: Making Muslims a Minority
Indian Musalmans and Hunter: Author of Empire
Laws, Literalism, and All Muslims: Hunter’s Claims
Favorable Ruling, Unfavorable Interpretation
Conclusions
3. “God save me from my friends!”: Syed Ahmad Khan’s
Review on Dr Hunter
Sir Syed on the Great Rebellion
An Academic Rejoinder to Indian Musalmans
A Legalism of His Own: Sir Syed on Hunter’s Use of
Islamic Law
On Muslim Loyalty
On Literalism, Wahhabism, and Jihad
Conclusions
4. Rebellion as Jihad, Jihad as Religion
Defining Jihad
Making Muslims Jihadis
Jihad in Imperial India and the Great Rebellion
Conclusions
Conclusion Religion, Rebels, and Jihad: Legacies and
Ongoing Impact
Epilogue 1857 from Today’s Vermont
by "Nielsen BookData"