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MEYERS, ATfrada Elizabeth. 1940- THEODGRE BECK AND SAYYID AHMAD KHAN: THE MYTH OF PROVOCATEUR AND PUPPET IN MUSLIM SEPARATISM 1B75-T909.

The American University, Ph.D., 1973 History, modem

University Microfilms, A XEROX Com pany, Ann Arbor, Michigan

© 1974

ALFREDA ELIZABETH MEYDRS

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

iii THEODORE BECK AND SAYYID AHMAD KHAN: THE MYTH OF

PROVOCATEUR AND PUPPET IN MUSLIM SEPARATISM

I8T5-19O0

by

Alfreds Elizabeth Meyers

Submitted to the

Faculty of the School of International Service

of The American University

in P artial F ulfillm ent of

the Requirements for the Degree

of

Doctor of Philosophy

in

South and Southeast Asia Area Studies

Signatures of Committee:

C h airm an :

Dean ' / M em b er:

P a te : Jcj { j "73 Member: ( L h s v u d x^ * 5 . J . ^ ( u L s

1973

The American University Washington, D. C, THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

H 7 7 0 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The American University and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to bor­ rowers under rules of the Library,

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission lor extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT...... vi

INTRODUCTION...... 1

I. THE PLAY: INDIA FROM 1875 TO 1909 ...... 10

II. THE ACT: ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE INDIAN MUSLIM COMMUNITY...... 53

III, THE SCENE: INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ALIGARH MOVEMENT OF SAYYID AHMAD KHAN ...... 87

IV. THE ACTORS: THE MOHAMMEDAN ANGLO-ORIENTAL COLLEGE'S ENGLISH FACULTY ...... 129

V. THE HERO: THE BECK MYTH: THEODORE BECK, PROVOCATEUR OR PUPPET OF MUSLIM SEPARATISM? ...... 164

VI. THE STAR: THEODORE BECK, MISSIONARY ADMINISTRATOR ...... 219

CONCLUSIONS ...... 251

APPENDIX I: MUSLIM PARTICIPATION IN CONGRESS . . 25B

APPENDIX II: MUHAMMEDAN EDUCATIONAL CON­ FERENCE 1866-1906 ...... 259

APPENDIX III: MUSLIM ANJUMANS AFFILIATED TO THE UNITED INDIAN PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION 260

APPENDIX IV: COMPOSITION OF THE MOHAMMEDAN ANGLO-ORIENTAL COLLEGE STUDENT BODY, 1875-1009 ...... 262

iv V

TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued

P a g e

APPENDIX V: EUROPEAN STAFF OF MOHAMMEDAN ANGLO-ORIENTAL COLLEGE ...... 264

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 266 ABSTRACT

The roles of Theodore Beck and Sayyid Ahmad Khan in the

evolution of Muslim separatism in the Indian Sub-continent were cast in the perspective* perceptions* and events of late nineteenth century

Indian politics and by analyses of authoritarian paternalist Liber all am tempered by Social Darwinism. Theodore Beck (1859-1899)* second

Principal of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College* and Sayyid

Ahmad Khan (1817*1898)* the institution's founder and paramount figure in the Aligarh Movement, worked harmoniously for their shared aspirations for the regeneration of the Muslim community. They pre­ sented a particular vision of Anglo-Muslim interests predicated upon loyalty* English style education for Muslim aristocrats* and disapproval of popular politics and democratization of the raj.

Priorities established by Sayyid Ahmad Khan, with which

Theodore Beck concurred* were predicated upon the receptivity of the

British raj to Muslim initiative, and upon the mutual recognition of reciprocal Anglo-Muslim interests* These priorities underwent evalua­ tion, reinterpretation, and finally* repudiation. They were not, how­ ever* questioned by either Theodore Beck or Sayyid Ahmad Khan. But, in the process of reinterpretation* Theodore Beck and the English faculty became ensnared in Aligarh Muslim elite factionalism. Cordial

vi vii

Anglo-Muslim relations at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College

shattered in the first decade of the twentieth century, wrecked on

exclusivist definitions of identity. Eviction of the English faculty,

whose role was always circumscribed by Aligarh Muslim elite defini­

tions, emerged as a symbol of Muslim identity and post Sayyid Ahmad

Khan political maturity.

During the lives of Theodore Beck and Sayyid Ahmad Khan

political myth developed and Intruded upon Aligarh politics. Theodore

Beck, for fifteen crucial years (1884-1B99) Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College’s Principal, emerged as a figure in that political mythology*

He was identified as an external cause for Muslim factionalism and

separatism, as well as for the late entry of Muslims into agitational politics. Theodore Beck, the Victorian English loyal lieutenant of

Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who was a minor and unoriginal figure both in

English and Muslim circles, came to be presented as the provocateur of Muslim separatism, as the perverter of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, as the usurper of control at Aligarh, and consequently, as the personification of British duplicity and perversity. Functionally this characterization rested on the "'divide and rule'" thesis which later isolated an external scapegoat for Partition. Despite compelling evidence discrediting the

"divide and rule11 thesis, and despite the inadequacies and inconsisten­ cies in the myth of Theodore Beck, the fable has been perpetuated and has survived. Despite the myth's survival quotient, Theodore Beck viii

was* viewed in the context of the era, a minor figure in a movement restricted in both time and place. He was not particularly important in the definition of Muslim separatism. He was not original. In fact, despite the mythology* the definition of Muslim identity itself made

Theodore Beck a scapegoat. INTRODUCTION

In approaching the problem of this dissertation--the role of the

English faculty of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, and particu­

larly of the second Principal, Theodore Beck, in the evolution of Muslim

separatism--I have progressed from the general to the particular, from

the macrocosm of late nineteenth century Indian politics to the m icro­

cosm of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, In this way Theodore

Beck, the English faculty, the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College,

and Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Aligarh Movement are viewed in the perspec­

tive of the era in which they evolved and operated.

In Chapter I the climate of opinion in India at the end of the

nineteenth century is characterized. Three distinguishable elements

are immediately obvious. First, the Government of India and the

English civilian community were dominantly committed to the righteous­

ness, stability, and eternity of the British raj. This commitment was buttressed by attitudes of racial superiority which were in turn philo­

sophically justified by an authoritarian paternalism grounded on a rein­ terpretation of early nineteenth century liberalism. The British thought in racial categories, which designated such divisions as "virile warlike

Muslims" or "gregarious timid Bengalis. M The English community considered itself exiled and vulnerable, and feared the repetition of the

1 2

Mutiny of 1057, In this context a kind of kid glove approach to Muslims

emerged, predicated on both fear and responsibility.

Second, Indian demands for association and participation in the

governing of India gained momentum and were expressed through re­

gional and Indian National Congress auspices. Simultaneously, religious

revivalism expressed in such mechanisms as the Arya Samaj crystalized

communal consciousness, and led into or contributed to extremist poli­

tics. Articulated both In Congress and in extra-Congress propaganda

were religious themes of Hindu nationalism and a single Indian nation

defined in Hindu symbols.

Third, the Muslim community in India became increasingly

aware of its integrity, and came to define Its interests in relation to the

British and the Hindus, which were generally synonymous with the

Government of India and the Indian National Congress. In this process,

the Muslims designated themselves separate from both.

Summarizing generally, the British Government of India was

convinced its rule was rightfully destined to continue indefinitely; the

Hindu nationalists were determined that the tenure of the raj be limited;

the Muslim elites preferred the alternative of continued British rule,

but were preparing for the eventuality that Indian National Congress demands would prevail.

Looking specifically at the Muslim community's political con- sciousness, in Chapter II it becomes evident that Indian Muslims did 3

not present a united phalanx marching against Hindu or Congress

political demands. They were, rather, divided along regional and

sectarian as well as orthodox and modernist lines, in their definition of

a program for the community. The Muslim elites were capable of

acrimonious debate among themselves, and of constituting rival organi­

zations to express their concerns. Likewise, the argument of Muslim

breakaway from Indian or Congress politics is not defensible. Instead,

it em erges that separate Muslim consciousness and organization on a

regional basis, was evident before the organization of the Indian National

Congress, and that Muslim participation in Congress was limited

throughout the era. Notably, the Muslim mechanisms for educational,

social, and political advancement were communally based, and were

generally anti-Congress in their politics, While Muslims may have

lagged behind Hindus in certain areaa, organization of interest groups

on communal lines was not one of the areas.

Concentrating specifically on the Aligarh Movement, one of the

Muslim educational cum political regional organizations, in Chapter HI,

attention is drawn to a series of conclusions. First, the Aligarh

Movement was, in essence, regional. Second, as might have been

anticipated, the Movement encompassed various opinions, and was fraught with tensions throughout its history. Third, the movement was

dominated by Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who defined the reigning ideology in the 1960's and lBTQ's and maintained that idealogy until his death in 4

1898. Fourth, that philosophy, expressed through a variety of institu­

tions, was loyalty to the British, education of the Muslim aristocracy,

and abstention from popular politics.

Significantly, in arguing his case for Muslim loyalty, Sayyid

Ahmad Khan reacted to the thesis advanced by W, W. Hunter, Sayyid

Ahmad Khan addressed himself to the problem of convincing the British

that virile Muslims were not bound to revolt. They were, in actuality, potentially admirable citizens of the raj wiu* needed education to appreciate the benefits of British rule, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who came from the North West Provinces where Muslims were relatively advan­ taged, harped on the aspects of the Hunter thesis which characterized

Muslims as disadvantaged. While stressing self-help and self-control,

Sayyid Ahmad Khan also appealed to British responsibility for the con­ dition of the community, and thus, British obligation to assist in Muslim regeneration. In his appeal, Sayyid Ahmad Khan utilized the fears and predilections of the authoritarian liberal administrator to advance his own definition of Muslim best interests.

In Chapter IV, turning specifically to the English faculty at

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, one discovers that their role was circumscribed by Aligarh Muslim elite definitions of their place, and that they were controlled from the outset by their employers. The fac­ tionalism within the Aligarh Muslim elite oligarchy, played out in the maneuvers of the Board of Trustees and the alumni, combined with the 5

English faculty definition of their indi spans ability to make that faculty extraneous to the College and to Muslim identity. In fact, Muslim identity came to be defined in the context of evicting the English faculty from the College,

The Muslim leadership of the College and the College's English faculty came to distrust one another. Respective views crystallized along differing political and intellectual assumptions. The faculty retained authoritarian paternalist attitudes; the Aligarh Muslim elite articulated Muslim identity and self sufficiency. The raison dT@tre for the English faculty ceased to exist, and, consequently, by 1919, ao did that faculty.

The limited and restricted role played by the English faculty in the increasingly popular Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College educational experience stimulates the intriguing question--Why did its Principal of fifteen crucial years, Theodore Beck, come to be identified as the pro- v cateur of Muslim separatism? 1 examine the Beck myth in Chapter V, and in Chapter VI and VII 1 look specifically at Theodore Beck's biog­ raphy and philosophy. In the last two chapters the profile of a Victorian

Englishman predominantly concerned with education, centrally located in the authoritarian liberal paternalist tradition, and wholly identified with Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Aligarh definition of Muslim communal

Interests, emerges. Considering Theodore Beck in the context of the restricted and controlled role of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental 6

College faculty and in the light of the authoritarian liberal tradition I

conclude that the second Principal of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College was in his lifetime a loyal, effective, but not particularly star­

tling lieutenant of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and in his afterlife a convenient

scapegoat to excuse or Ignore the realities of Muslim distinctness and

political separatism , as well as the implicitly communal orientation of the Aligarh Movement from its inception. Theodore Beck has been mushroomed out of all proportion to his effect, and are simply not par­ ticularly important in the evolution of Muslim separatism.

Operating as a leit motif, but not directly the subject of this dissertation, is the cliche of 1'divide and rule,11 The accusation of

British use of "divide and rule" is part of the fuel which energizes the

Beck myth and elevates the position of the Principal, and his sucessorg, to the role of provocateurs of separatism. Through the "divide and rule" conception confrontation with the inherent divisions in Indian society, and the inherent conflicts within the Muslim Aligarh elite, is avoided, and the official Indian National Congress and Aligarh ideologies main­ tained. Notably the evidence presented in the first three chapters argues against the "divide and rule" myth, for the data illustrates the strong currents of Muslim initiative and control in defining their interests as separate, and does not support the contention of British control of the Muslim elite. 7

In researching this dissertation, I am deeply indebted to the staff of the Library of Congress and the Indian Office Library for their assistance, I am also extremely grateful to the officers of the Indian

National Archives in Delhi and to the staff of the Maulana Azad Library of Aligarh Muslim University* In addition to bringing valuable sources to my attention, members of the Aligarh University devoted much interest to my project and translated several key sources from Urdu for my use.

Since doing the Initial research I have had the invaluable oppor­ tunity to participate in three panels at Association for Asian 3tudles

Conferences. Through these contacts I have had access to the work of others specializing on the Indo-Muslim community. Margaret Case, in her dissertation, "The Aligarh Era, 11 has concentrated upon the organi­ zation of the Muslim community in the late nineteenth century, and has focused upon the definition of Sayyid Ahmad KhanTs philosophy of loyal - ism and education, David Lely veld has researched the first generation of Aligarh graduates. While concentrating upon their family and geographical backgrounds and their activities after College, he has viewed their lives in the College, and thus presents the Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College and its staff from a Muslim student4 s eye per­ spective. Edward D. Churchill has looked extensively at the records, activities, and achievements of one Aligarh institution, the Muhamme- dan Educational Conference, and provides detailed corollary B

information upon the Aligarh philosophy. This information substan­

tiates the consistency of the Aligarh philosophy of education and loyal-

ism, the regional character of the movement, and the Aligarh problem

of factionalism* My own perspective, which focuses upon the English

faculty in relation to the Aligarh Muslim elite* the Aligarh Movement's

institutions, and the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College's students,

fits well into the attention given to late nineteenth and early twentieth

century Aligarh Muslim politics by these scholars.

Also included in the field of research in Indo-Muslim community

is work in progress by Karen Leonard* whose specialty is the Hyderabad

government and whose assistance has been most valuable in suggesting later avenues of research. Gail Graham* who has concentrated upon the Khilafat Movement has contributed useful comments on my work,

and Barbara Metcalf, whose attention is directed to the Deoband School,

and Thomas Metcalf, have both stimulated me with provocative com­

m entary.

Several fascinating and significant aspects of Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College activities and associations, and of English faculty influence upon English opinion, have been suggested by the research. These must await additional time and resources. Intriguing, for instance, is the role which Theodore Morison, former faculty mem­ ber and Principal of the College* played in formulating the Morley-

Minto Reforms of 1909 and in propagandizing his India views in England 9 in his subsequent distinguished career at home. Also of interest would be the intellectual effect of former faculty member T. W, Arnold's scholarly works on Islam had in shaping English perceptions of Muslims and of India. W. A. J. Archbold's reaction to hie Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College debacle would be intriguing to pursue, and within India, the relation of the Nizam of Hyderabad to Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College might prove moat significant. CHAPTER I

THE PLAY: INDIA FROM 1B75 TO 1909

The years from 1875 to 1909 witnessed a remarkable and rapid

growth of Indian political organization, a spate of administrative

reforms, and Increasing friction among the British Indian Government, the Hindu elites, and the Muslim notables. Numerous elements coagu­ lated to produce an increasingly crystalline and brittle social and political prism in which the British, the Hindus, and the M uslims formed the three major facets. While much of the definition of identity and interest within each community was independent, at numerous key points the increasingly articulated philosophies effected one another and interacted with one another. It is in this general context of defining contending contending positions that the three abstract actors--British,

Hindu, and Muslim--can be delineated.

The dominant mood characterizing the British official and non­ official community in India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was generally defined by elements of commitment to the righ­ teousness of the British Empire, faith in the justifiable endurance of the raj, belief in the superiority of English standards of civilization, con­ fidence in the inferiority of all non-white populations, and presumption

10 LI

that inferiority necessarily implied a responsibility to Great Britain for tutelage and trusteeship. In short, the governing philosophy for the

British community in India rested on two imperatives--Social Darwin­

ism, the conflict ideology, and authoritarian liberalism energized by

paternalism, Together, and intricately intertwined, these elements

activated British Indian Government policy and the philosophy of govern­

ment servants, military commanders, private businessmen, and mis­ sionaries. The playing out of the assumptions of Socialism Darwinism and authoritarian liberalism was reflected in the Government of India's legislation and in the imperial expansion of Great Britain in which the

Indian Army was involved. Social Darwinism energized authoritarian paternal liberalism; the interaction of the not entirely compatible philosophies was the core of Victorian Englishmen. Social Darwinism justified both imperialism and racism, and buttressed the belief in the dilatory pace with which non-white populations might eventually evolve toward a standard of civilization acceptable to Englishmen which might then justify non-white association with the British, *

Before proceeding with the discussion of specific events in India which reflect the Social Darwinian and authoritarian liberal philosophy,

^With any discussion of dominant mood, the caution and qualifier that notable exceptions are found as critics is essential. Such individ- uala as Allen Oct avian Hume, William Wedderbum, Henry Cotton, or Annie Beg ant, to mention a few, cannot be classified as subscribers to the general mood of the era. 12

definition of both these terms and some of their implications is

essential. Looking specifically at the philosophies one notes that

Charles Darwin's^ The Origin of the Species, published in 1859, and

subtitled The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life

had been transformed by its author and by others into a treatise on

society; the concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest,

when applied to social phenomena, vindicated the separation of superior

and inferior races, maintenance of the status quo against internal or

external pressures for reform, and the shouldering of the manifest

destiny of the White Man's Burden,

In the Victorian era, when race and culture were dangerously 2 and closely linked, the impact of the theory of evolution had profound

effect. Biological theory and science were applied to the study of man.

This was not particularly surprising, for Darwin had come to his state­

ment of the theory of evolution through reading the conflict theory of

classical economics interpreted in demographic terms by Thomas R.

Malthus (1766-1834), and thu3 had derived his biological theory from g the Malthusian theory of population,

^Charles Darwin (1809-1802), 2 Christine Bolt, Victorian Attitudes to Race (London; Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1071), p. 9. 3 Don Martindale, The Nature and Types of Sociological Theory (Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company, 1960), p. 162, as Charles Darwin himself commented, "In October, 183B. . , I happened to read, . , 13

Charles Darwin set forth the basic premises that all creatures

are in competition to survive and that natural selection will operate to

preserve the most fit, he applied his own theories to man in The

Descent of Man published in 1871. The "struggle for existence" resulted

in the "survival of the fittest" through "natural selection" of the "most favoured races, " The test was simply "success, " Racial superiority,

moral improvement, and technological achievement were part of the same package. That man has been at the level of pure subsistance where natural laws of selection operated was implicitly assumed, Man's superiority to other creatures derived from "intellectual faculties, "

"social habits, " and "corporeal structure, The powers of "observa- „2 tion, memory, curiousity, imagination and reason operated, and in the process of natural selection and survival of the fittest, man gained intelligence, which lead to language, complex social life, tools, and use of fire. The logical inference of this analysis was that culture was

Malthus on Population [Essay on the Principle of Population, published 1798], and being well prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes on, . , it at once struck me that under these circumstances favorable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavorable ones to be destroyed. The result would be the formation of a new species. Here, then, I had at last got a theory by which to work, 11 Francis Darwin, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin (New York: D, Appleton, 1887) cited in Ibid., p. 147.

^Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (New York: D, Appleton, 1880), pp. 48-49,

2lbid. 14

indirectly the result of natural selection. * Race and culture were thereby linked. Superior culture derived from superior race. 2 In their discussion of social evolution Darwin and others isolated the paradox that while natural selection produced a superior animal, a superior animal also created a society which tended to destroy its own biological superiority. This, Darwin lamented, was accomplished by keeping the weak alive.

1 Martindale, Nature and Types of Sociological Theory, p. 163. 2 While the statement of evolutionary theory is associated with Charles Darwin, he was not the single-handed initiator and propagator of the theory which justified racial stratification. The Frenchman, Arthur de Gobineau (1815-IB62) viewed race as the key to history, and the inequality of races as the explanation for the destinies of peoples. He stressed that racial mixing produced hybreds which might be "beauti­ ful without strength, strong without intelligence, or, if intelligent, both weak and ugly," Clearly, Mr, Gobineau disapproved of interracial mix­ ing. H, S. Chamberlain (1855-1927) and G, Vacher de Lapouge (1854- 1936) articulated racism more explicitly. Chamberlain discussed descent from a pure stock, and Lapouge, who believed there was no pure race, advanced br achy Cephalic indices as m easures of racial creativity, and contended that given these factors, education could work no long run influence on temperament and character. However, the chief popularizer of Darwinian evolution in social stratification was Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), who argued not that natural selection operated in society, but that it ought to. According to Spencer, the fundamental fact of all societies was the ratio of men to land; the ratio determined the possibility of human development. A population of high intelligence, great social ambition, and self respect, could be expected to increase in economic power and average level of comfort rather than in numbers. Furthermore, inequality of classes and societies was normal. Martindale, Nature and Types of Sociological Theory, p. 167; De Gobineau, The Inequality of Human Races (1915 ed., London), cited in Bolt, Victorian Attitudes to Race, p. 10; Herbert Spencer, Social Statistics and the Man Versus the State (New York; D. Appleton, 1908), p. 150 cited in Martindale, Nature and Types of Sociological Theory, p. 164, 15

We civilized men. , * do our utmost to check the process of elimination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we insLitute poor laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the liie of everyone to the last moment. . . . Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind .... This must be highly injurious to the degeneration of a domestic race, but except­ ing in the case of man himself, hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed. ^

The wiser choice, from the vantage point of natural selection, allowed natural competition to operate to produce continuing improvement.

Social welfare programs for the alleviation of human misery interfered with natural laws. The poor were disadvantaged because they were inferior and should be allowed to eliminate themselves.

Translated internationally, superior economic power and social stratification resulted in landholding by the more intelligent and ambitious, this meant the White Man’s Burden, The external expression 2 of Social Darwinism was imperialism, an aggressive demonstration of confidence in self and race.

* Darwin, The Descent of Man, pp, 133-134. 2 The connections between racism, Darwinism, nationalism, and imperialism were fortified by such theorists as Francis Gaiton (1822- 1911} who stated able fathers produced able children; Karl Pearson (1857-1936) who viewed biological factors as dominant in man's evolu­ tion and saw these as wholly sufficient explanations of racial progress and national degeneracy; and August Weissman, who saw natural selec­ tion as the sole cause of organic evolution. The decline of aboriginal populations was viewed as evidence of the accuracy of Darwin’s survival of the fittest--the civilized and uncivilized cannot mix. The result of confrontation was the inferior giving way to the superior. Herbert Spencer, Social Statistics and the Man Versus the State, pp, 170-172; Bolt, Victorian Attitudes to Race, pp. 11, 20; A. P. Thorton, The Imperial Idea and Its Enemies {London: Macmillan, 1959), passim. i s

Nonetheless, the racial interpretation of human history, which justified Imperialism, also manifested an element of fear. Superior races might undermine that superiority by mixing their purity. Struggle was the natural operation of the process of selection. Stratification was the normal organization of society. In the "war of races . . . some

Victorians began to question whether the victory must always go to the

‘superior1 race.To compensate for this uncertainty, and to preclude the eventuality, aloof and domineering attitudes were justifiable. Since

2 the Victorian cultural hierarchy placed Englishmen above all others, the choice of isolation was legitimate. Thus, Darwinism in its various guises provided an interpretation of human history which posited sup­ erior over inferior and which supplied a mechanism to amalgamate nation, race, culture, and imperial expansion. The best, m easured in skull types, technological inventions, or control of land, had the right, or even the obligation, to expand, control, and allow the operation of natural laws of survival of the fittest. Thus the British raj was legiti­ m ized.

Implicit in Darwinism and Social Darwinism was the assumption that evolution occurred over vast periods of time, This prem ise lent credence to the assertion that all sound development must be gradual, with the added suggestion that the more unhurried the change, the more

Victorian Attitudes to Race, p. 21.

aIb ld .. p. 27. 17

valid the eventual result, * Darwinism implicitly assumed that man

was simply a highly evolved species whose capacities were responses to his environment. Thus, man became a conditioned being, the prod­ uct of his environment, and confined by it, a theory to which late nineteenth century psychological investigation lent support. These assumptions girded the other main plank of Victorian mentality-- paternalist authoritarian liberalism.

Paternalism, predicated upon the superiority of the patron, generally defined the management of the affairs of people by individuals who considered themselves more knowledgeable and aware of the best interests of their subjects than the subjects themselves. In the early nineteenth century, the paternalist had sought to preserve Indian institu­ tions from the frontal assault of militant reformist liberals who envisioned the construction of a new society. Paternalists, as conser- 2 vatives, opted for history and experience to protect Indian society against the imposition of abstract, alien, and possibly harmful, prin­ ciples. While disagreeing on specifics such as the preservation of the aristocracy, paternalists generally contended that British rule rested upon the impression of invincibility rather than on affection of the

^Richard Hofstadter, Social Darwinism in American Thought {Boston; Beacon Press, 1955), p, 6, 2 Eric Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India (Oxford; Clarendon P ress, 1959), p, 15, IB

people, * Furthermore, the task of government was ’’protection, ” not 2 innovation or regulation. In this, paternalists harmonized with classic

liberal advocacy of minimal government interference in the operation of

society, and conformed with authoritarian liberal interpretations of government responsibility to guarantee the rights of ’’true" Indians.

The central dogma of the paternalist mentality, was the assump­ tion that those who tramped the country, who were "on the scene" knew more and better the needs and interests of the silent majority, the peasant, than did any administrator (or the peasant). Since the man in the district knew the pulse of India, his view should prevail. Personal­ ism was the key to paternalism, for the peasant needed fatherly guid­ ance, simplified explanations of government, and a particular agent to whom to turn. The paternalist was the ma~bap administrator. Ironi­ cally, personalism contributed to the elaboration of a large bureaucracy, which tended to isolate the agent from the peasant, and which merged with the press of efficiency advocated in authoritarian liberalism.

Paternalism became patronizing. Paradoxically, paternalism reinforced 3 portions of utilitarianism. Thus, amalgamation of paternalism with the liberalism paternalists of the early nineteenth century had opposed,

^ ir John Malcolm, cited in Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India, p. 16. 2 Thomas Munro cited in Ibid., p. 19,

3Ibid., pp. 21, 23-24, 281. 19

was relatively uncomplicated as liberalism became tem pered by Social

Darwinism in the latter half of the century.

Operating through an elaborate bureaucracy developed gradually

by the English adaptation of the Hindu, Muslim, and B ritish modes of

rule in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Victorian English­

man in India considered his rule an enlightened despotism imposed with

a certain degree of altruism on an inferior populous 1'whether or not the

people wanted or appreciated the gift. Those in government employ

were discharging a service, dutifully, to an India which "would always 2 require Britain's benevolent despotism, but which might eventually

come to appreciate that necessity. The existence of an elaborate bureaucratic structure, and the perpetual indispensibility of an alien

structure, while definitely contrary to the classical statement of liberal

philosophy, rested upon a reinterpretation of classic liberalism

mediated with paternalism and Darwinism.

European liberalism, emerging in conjunction with the classical

economic statement of laissez-faire, may be traced to the combined

effect of the industrial revolution and the French Revolution, Liberalism matured in the context of the systematic scientific method in vogue in

^Benita Parry, Delusions and Discoveries: Studies on India in the British Imagination, I860-1930 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972), p. 15.

2Ibld. 20 the nineteenth century; it found a classic statement in John Stuart Mill* in the first half of the century, Germinal liberal doctrine asserted non­ interference in the functioning of natural laws and was anti-imperial by implication. Liberalism disapproved of wars of conquest, and asserted confidence in man's ability for self-government and self-control; its basic principle stressed the liberty of the individual person from undue governmental interference in his individual interest or utility, Man reasoned freely and independently for his own best interests, which, when functioning freely, resulted in the general best interests. Since man could reason, liberals placed a premium upon parliamentary representative government, rational discussion, reasonable legislation, 2 responsible ministries, and impartial administration, all as mechan­ ism s to advance the best interests of the individual. In implementing these values, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly assumed primary importance.

However, liberals were not democrats, they feared excesses of mob rule such as the French Revolution and justified restricted suffrage

3 based on property. Dedicated to the concept of progress achieved through the growth of wealth and scientific advancement fostered through

*John Stuart Mill and his father, James Mill, were both employees of the East India Company, J. S. Mill was trained in the school of Jeremy Bentham and was a friend of Carlyle. 2R. K. Palmer, A History of the Modern World (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1957), p. 432,

3Ibid., p. 433. 21 the spread of education liberals advocated education of individuals to appreciate progress, increased wealth, and science, Logically desir­ able orderly change* resulted directly, and rational man, realistically evaluating his own interests, evolved the capability of reasonable dis­ cussion through parliamentary Institutions. By extension, when applied to India, liberal principles promised eventual representative institutions and self-government, after education had worked to reveal man's potential.

In the course of the nineteenth century, as the social effects of industrialism became manifestly revealed by parliamentary enquiries, and particularly evident in the last quarter of the century, classical liberalism was reinterpreted into authoritarian liberalism, a philosophy of state intervention; in short, a positive state with paternal qualities, 2 in which private and public interests were coterminus was envisioned.

Socialist plans for community organizations, and novels focusing on 3 social change and misery appeared. At the end of the nineteenth cen­ tury, critics of laissez-faire capitalism had affected both Tories and

Liberals; the distinction between the two blurred, although the former

*Falmer, History of the Modern World, p, 433. 2 See for instance Robert Owen, Report to the County of Lanark (Glasgow; The University Press, 1821), passim. 3 See Mrs. Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Thomas Carlyle, or Karl M arx. 22

couched intervention in terms of patronage and the latter called

interference "assistance'* to the people. ^

Liberalism as absorbed into a Conservative point of view came

to be understood as a means, path, or discipline in the service of a 2 higher end, which was Empire. Accompanying the decline of enthusi-

asm for free trade and the rise of nationalist competition for world m ar­

kets and colonies, the empire was viewed as the arena in which to extend

3 a state’s mission or duty. This disposition toward empire came to dominate policy. The government, having enlarged its role in social 4 and economic matters, in responsibility for the population, accom­ modated a convenient degree of paternal altruism. The state could legitimately restrict, for their own benefit, the freedom of individuals.

Simultaneously, the empire could be justified as providing freedom for less evolved individuals. In short, the colonials were brought under control of altruistic paternalism. Such was the rhetoric which sup­ ported the extension and maintenance of a stable alien system of rule in

India, and which reinforced emphasis in the late nineteenth century upon

* Guido de Ruggerio, The History of European Liberalism (Boston: Beacon Press, 1959), p. 151.

2Ib id ., p. 140,

3Ibid. 4 Palmer, Wfstory ofjthe Modem World, p. 609. 23

the technological aspects of rule and industry. The regulatory pro­

vision for the efficient and effective operation of an active state domi­

nated official activity.

Also as a reinterpretation of classical liberalism, education

became an area for governmental attention, not private initiative.

However, man had been discovered to be irrational, a product of evolu­

tion, and a conditioned animal. The facile assumption that education

produced an immediate positive result* gave way to conviction that educa­

tional results would be both minimal and extremely gradual. The

evidence of persistence of Indian custom in the face of educational opportunities, or the testament of the 1857 debacle were advanced as unfortunate but indisputable evidence of man's intractability in the face of opportunity, ^

The Mutiny, whether remembered in sobering reality as an adult experience, or with an element of unreality which the passage of time and tales afforded, leant itself to propaganda and myth. A miser­ able regional and uncoordinated Mutiny acquired symbolic value. It represented the perfidity and unworthinesa of the "natives, " and their lack of respect for British men, English women, and Western power. The Victorian saw Indian codes and habits "as aberrations from a human norm which they defined in terms of their own standards. " The Mutiny was a particular manifestation of that aberration, and confirmed the belief that in India remained "vestiges of a primordial, dark and instinc­ tual past which, , , [Victorian] society had left behind on its evolution to civilization." The Mutiny phobia justified patently unjust treatment of Indians. The literature of English writers in India reflected ideas and images of the fear of "subjects who had once rebelled" and "could do so again" as well as of subjects who were "perverts threatening to invade and seduce the white world. " The Mutiny, in both versions, was a reminder of the vulnerability of the English community in India. [British born population in India in 1881 was 100, 000; in L911 it was 24

The conviction that conflicting interests could not be reasonably

accommodated replaced enthusiasm for rational discussion and com"

promise; both parties were confined by their conditioning. Since

conditioning made change impossible, persuasion was hopeless, ^ The

irrational components, particularly of inferior man, and Darwinian

"fitness" came to be stressed. Since discussion was non-productive,

compulsion by physical force was a viable, and possibly exclusive,

alternative. The association of men inferior to and different from

Victorian gentlemen in the governing of the Empire was neither practi­ cal nor efficacious.

The pervasive mood of paternal authoritarian liberalism in the bureaucracy of late nineteenth century India was reflected explicitly in the 2 writings of James Fitzjames Stephen, and Sir John Strachey, Lieutenant

123,000. Statesm an's Year Book (1914), p. 130, The census of 1911 reported total Europeans in India as 199, 836. This figure includes Anglo-Indians and non-British born European population.] The Mutiny and the lasciviousness of IndianB justified the "barricade" of Englishmen in their own community. P arry , Delusions and Discoveries, pp. 3-6.

^Palmer, History of the Modern World, p. 610. 2 James Fitzjames Stephen (1829-1894), historian, political philosopher, publicist, and lawyer, was Legal Member of the Viceroy’s Council from 1869 to 1872, the only two and a half years he spent in India. Stephen was Judge of the High Court from 1879 until 1891. Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India, passim .; Parry, Delusions and Discoveries, passim.; R. J* Moore, Liberalism and Indian Politics (1872-1922) (London: Edward Arnold, 1966), passim . ; C. H, Philips, H. R. Singh and B, M, Pandry, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, 1858-1947; Select Documents (London: Oxford University, 1902), pp. 57-60. 25

Governor of North West Provinces, advisor to the Viceroy, and 2 friend of Sayyid Ahmad Khan and James Fitzjames Stephen. Janies

Sir John Strachey (1823-1907), who personally contributed financial support to Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, was active in the preservation of many ancient monuments in North West Provinces during hia tenure as Lieutenant Governor of the province (1874*1876). He was a friend of James Fitzjames Stephen, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and Allen Octavian Hume, An advocate of authoritarian liberal tradition, he authored India, Its Administration and Progress, first published in 1888 and subsequently reissued in 1903 and 1911. John Strachey, who advised both Lord Mayo and Lord Lytton, had been educated at Haileybury in 1840. He was appointed to the Bengal Civil Service in 1842. During his professional career he was Collector in Moradabad in 1854, Chief Commissioner of Oudh from 1866 to 18 68 , and a member of the Viceroy's Council from 1868 to 1874, and again from 1878 to 1880, John Strachey was knighted in 1872, retired from the Indian Civil Service in 1880, and was subsequently a member of the India Council in London from 1885 until 1895, It was during his tenure as Lieutenant Governor that John Strachey advised the govern­ ment to give Sayyid Ahmad Khan the large piece of land on which the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College was founded. For his support of the venture, John Strachey was considered as '’Savior of the Moham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College, " a description used in the Fund Commit­ tee’s greetings to Auckland Colvin on March 10, 1888, It is for John Strachey that the central building of the College, dedicated in 1894, was nam ed, John Strachey considered Englishmen representatives of "bellig- erant civilization" which had to wage constant warfare against "strange barbarisms, horrid customs, and cruel superstitions, ancient sur­ vivals, ready at any moment to start into activity." John Strachey, India, Its Administration and Progress (London: Macmillan, 1911), p. 189; 432; Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India, pp. 282; 300; 305; Briton Martin, New India, 1885: British Official Policy and the Emer­ gence of the Indian National Congress (Berkeley: University of Califor­ nia, 1969), pp. 55-59; The Pioneer Mail, November 22, 1894, pp. 16- 17; Parry, Delusions and Discoveries, pp. 283-284.

^Sayyid Ahmad Khan (October 17. 1B17-March 27, 1B&B) was the son of Mir Muttaqi. Sayyid Ahmad served the East India Company in Agra from 1839 to 1841, in Mainpuri from 1841 to 1842, at Fatehpur Sikrl between 1842 and 1846, at Delhi from 1846 to 1854, and in Bijanour betw een 1854 and 1858. Previous to 1857 Sayyid Ahmad edited 26

Fitzjames Stephen, legal member of the Viceroy’s council from 1869 to 1872, manifests in his opinions on law and on India the effect of the newspaper Sayyid-ul" Aknbar and wrote pamphlets with a traditional orientation. In 1858, he wrote ftisala Ashab-i-Baghawat-i-Hind, The Causes of the Indian Revolt, in which he delineated the causes of that Mutiny and pointed out that the Muslims were not specifically respon­ sible for the uprising. In addition, he took the position that the Muslims were not inherently disloyal because of the tenets of Islam, that they were loyal subjects of the Crown, and that their disadvantaged position, educationally, economically, and socially, needed a remedy. In short, Sayyid Ahmad argued that reform, not retribution, was the course most logical for the Muslims and the British. B agh aw at - i -- Hind was trans­ lated into English in 1873 by Sir Auckland Colvin, Lieutenant Governor of North West Provinces, a friend of Sayyid Ahmad and Colonel Graham, biographer of Sayyid Ahmad, The essay thus became part of the reser­ voir of English language sources available to administrators and policy makers in India in the 1870fs. Sayyid Ahmad Khan's public career was both long and distinr guished. In 1B63 he founded the Scientific Society at Ghazipur; in 1866 the Aligarh Institute Gazette began publication under his auspices; in 1869 Sayyid Ahmad accompanied his son to London, where Sayyid Ahmad observed English society and British educational institutions. After returning from England, Sayyid Ahmad concentrated his attention upon the establishment of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College and other ancillary institutions for Muslim regeneration. Sayyid Ahmad retired after thirty-seven years government service in July, 1876, to devote himself to Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. In 187B Sayyid Ahmad was appointed by Lord Lytton as a member of the Viceregal Council; in 1880 Sayyid Ahmad was reappointed to the body by Lord Ripon. In 1882 Sayyid Ahmad was an active participant in the Hunter Educational Com­ mission, before which he testified. Five years later, in 1887, Sayyid Ahmad was appointed to the Public Services Commission, and in 1898 he received the K*E.S« L from Queen Victoria. A partial catalog of Sayyid Ahmad's activities includes Honorary Secretary of the Trustees, Secretary of the Muhammadan Educational Conference, Honorary Secretary of the Defense Association, editor of The Aligarh Institute Gazette, and contributor to Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq. With reference to the College Sayyid Ahmad prepared the budget, drafted reports for the Government, prepared agendas of the meetings of the Fund Committee and the Trustees, distributed the proceedings of these meetings, carried on all correspondence with the Government, the 27

evolutionary theory and paternalism, Stephen viewed the Government of

India as an absolute government founded not on consent but on conquest,

a product of European ideas totally alien to India. ^ He further stated

"K . . our government implies at every point the superiority of the con- 2 quering race. ,n Its charge and responsibility was introduction of the

essential parts of belligerant European civilization to a country at once 3 ignorant Mto the last degree, " "under the domination of grovelling 4 5 superstition, " lethargic, fatalistic, and indifferent. Stephen objected

parents, and the Trustees. He also involved himself in the collection of funds, the plans for buildings, and the maintenance of accounts. Sayyid Ahmad Khan apparently became a quellerous older gen­ tleman. He la described as a ’’virtually absolute, " "imperious aristo­ crat, 11 who "brooked neither interference nor opposition,Fr "would admit no a ssistan ce , 11 and "became erascible." Margaret H. Case, ’’The Aligarh Era: Muslim Politics in North India, 1860-1910" (unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, 1970), p. 222, quoting Kennedy, Personal Reminescences, p. 151. Sayyid Mahmud and his father quarrelled; Sami'ullah Khan and Sayyid Ahmad quarrelled; Mohsin- ul-Mulk and Sayyid Mahmud had differences; and Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Viqar-ul-MuLk disagreed. For details of Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s life, see Shan Muhammad, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan; A Political Biography (Meerut: Meenakshi Prakashan, 1969), pp. 40-54; 54-86; Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Sayyid Ahmad Khan (New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Infor­ mation and Broadcasting, Government of India, 1966), pp. 157-158; Sheikh M. Ik ram, Modern Muslim India and the Birth of Pakistan (1858- 1951) (Lahore; Sh. Muhammad A shraf, 1965), pp. 15-66!

* Parry, Delusions and Discoveries, p. 15. 2 James Fitzjames Stephen, "The Foundation of the Government of India, M Nineteenth Century, LXXX (1883), p. 566; cited in Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, p. 57, Ibid. , p. 58; Stokes, English Utilitarians and India, p. 280, ^Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, p. 58. **Ibid., pp. 57-60. 28

to any tear or shame in acknowledging the grounds of British govern­

ment;^ the government Introduced the essentials of peace, order, sup­

remacy of law, enforcement of contracts, public works, and development

of the army. Combining c Las flic ally liberal, and authoritarian Liberal

emphases, Stephen asserted as inseparable the rule of law and strong 3 government. The rule of law itself would complete its civilizing m is­

sion, one assumes, ever so gradually. In the meantime, extreme 4 danger attached to any shift in the basis of British government in India,

Representative institutions were anathema. Government incorporating

"native principles of life or of government" would include "heathenism and barbarism." Consequently, the English equation of good govern­ ment and representative government neither applied nor was advisable in India. On the contrary, "absolute government has its own merits and 0 conveniences , , , , " particularly in a multi-racial society.

^Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, p, 58.

2Ibid. 3 Stokes, English Utilitarians and India, p, 277. 4 Ibid.; see also Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, p» 57. 5 Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, p. 57,

6Ibid,, p. 58. 29

I do not think that the permanent existence of such a G overn­ ment as ours in India must in itself be a bad thing; that we ought not to desire its permanence even if we can secure It; and that the establishment of some kind of parliamentary system instead of it is an object which ought to be distinctly contemplated, and as soon as it is practicable, carried out. 1

In summary, British principles were superior, should prevail, and

necessitated retention of authoritarian power indefinitely. Association

of Indiana with Englishmen in government contaminated the purity and

legitimacy of British rule, and was unwise and impossible. Paternalism

and Social Darwinism jockeyed obviously, both in the attitude expressed

and in the vocabulary utilized to convey Stephen's views,

Although Social Darwinism, paternalism , and authoritarian

liberalism had divergent origins and owed their inspiration to various

antecedents, and although the three were not entirely compatible, Social

Darwinism, paternalism and authoritarian liberalism merged into an

ainalgum which activated the attitudes and responses of Victorian

England and its servants. Instinctive responses to racial categorization, which justified imperial expansion, and conscious advocacy of imperial extension to discharge racial superiority operated un apologetic ally in the late nineteenth century, in the British raj on the Indian sub­ continent. Thus John Strachey, following Stephen, stressed the insur­ mountable diversities of India, which he defined as Ma name which we

* Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, p. 58, 30

give to a great region including a multitude of different countries*

Strachey claimed the English had not destroyed an Indian nation for one

had never existed;

When we say that we cannot always* in our government of India, ignore differences of race, this is only another way of saying that the English in India are a handful of foreigners governing 250 millions of people . . * , the fact rem ains that there never was a country, and never will be, in which the government of foreigners is really popular, , , not only in our own interests, but because it is our highest duty toward India itself, we intend to maintain our dominion. We cannot foresee the time in which the cessation of our rule would not be the signal for universal anarchy and ruin, and it is clear that the only hope for India is the long continuance of the benevolent but strong government of Englishmen, 2

In short, Strachey stated that portion of the official creed which had reinterpreted John Stuart Mill's proposition that the proper rule of a 3 divided people was exercised by an unlimited, impartial, and cul­ turally superior ruler, into an argument for perpetual retention of 4 authority by an alien British rule.

* Strachey, India, p* 2, 2 Ibid*; also cited In Stokes, English Utilitarians and India, pp. 284-285* 3 J. S* Mill looked upon Indian character as passive and slavish. Memorandum of the Improvements in the Administration of India During the Last Thirty Years ^London, 1B58), p. 40, cited in Bolt, Victorian Attitudes to Race, p. 171. ^Francis G* Hutchins, The Illusion of Permanence: British Imperialism in India (Princeton; Princeton University, 1967), pp. 125- 136; 197 ff.; see Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India, pp. 281- 285; 288 ff. It is also significant that it is precisely this reworking of Mill's theory which Sayyid Ahmad Khan used to justify and support his opposition to the Legislative Councils Bill in 1890* 31

In summary, the "official confession of faith'^ distilled a set of

a s sumptions upon which were premised both the imperial stance of the

British anti the separate and inviolable position of the English- First, the English represented a belligerent and superior civilization; the testimony was technical and material accomplishments as well as the conquest of India. Second, the English could be justifiably proud of their accomplishments, but to preserve them, must remain necessarily separate from the inferior races which they ruled. Mixing and associa­ tion were precluded. The lascivious nature of dark peoples threatened the white bastion, and the result of mixing, as confirmed by psuedo scientific genetic evidence, and testified to by the decline and disinte ­ gration of Mughul power, would be the production of a weak hybrid,

Kaei.aJ. separatism and discrimination were the modus vivendi of British

Indian relations. Third, the English, hy virtue of their superiority, were responsible for the governance of the raj and for the provision of education and opportunity to the less fortunate. Herf-in operated the paternal altruism of state intervention, mediated through ihr excuse of bringing "civilization" to India. Hereon rested the official rhetoric of

"duty" and "exile" to an alien land. Fourth, however, the effects of that education, if evident at all, would be extremely gradual, the pro­ cess of evolution being, by definition, slow and painstaking. The

1 Parry, Delusions and Discoveries, p. 43. 32

Indians, who were inferior, could not be expected to appreciate fully

the principles of B ritish governance, and if they claim ed to, those p re

tentions were ludicrous and grounded on misapprehension or ignorance.

Ir. turn, the inability to appreciate the merits of British governance

meant that authoritarian methods to curb Indiana' potentially dangerous,

volatile, and primordial unrestrained, and effeminate natures, were

justifiable. Man was, after all, irrational. To incorporate Indian prin­

ciples (and personnel) in government was to incorporate heathenism.

Eventually the inferior might well give way to the superior, in the m ean­ time compulsion remained legitimate. Fifth, the true Indians were the silent majority, the peasant. Having accepted this proposition, it was then possible to deny the legitimacy of Indian nationalists claiming the privileges of classical liberal ideology and asserting that they repre­ sented India and should be associated in governing. However, to but­ tress and reinforce the assumption, the sixth tenet in the official catechism was introduced--the babus were, by virtue of iheir effeminate nature, incapable of resolving the regional and communal divisions in

India. For the British, who thought in racial categories and isolaled such entities as ’'spirited Hindustani, " ’'martial Sikh. ” "ambitious

Maratha, " ’’calculating Bengali, " or 1|proud Ilajput, 'r^ the diversity in

*The catalog is from Sir Monier Monier-Williams, Indian Wisdom, but it is simply representative of British epithets used by Englishmen more generally. 33

India lead naturally to the seventh proposition of the code, India was not a single political community and was not capable of presenting a majority. Therefore, the perpetuation of the British raj emerged as both beneficial and essential. The interlocking and mutually reinforcing elements of this attitude manifested themselves in the operation of the raj and in the justifications offered for its maintenance. They per­ meated the writings of individuals involved in the administration and in the creators of its literature. Repeated as truisms in the lives and utterances of lesser official and unofficial Englishmen, the assumptions of this creed aggravated and exasperated Indian nationalists variously.

Explicitly the basic assumptions of the creed of late nineteenth century

India drew their inspiration from the philosophies of Social Darwinism and liberalism, tempered by socialism, paternalism, and nationalism. *

Recently a number of scholars, appro aching the subject of English Victorian imperialism from various perspectives have utilized a wide variety of materials to treat the discussion of Victorian attitudes and assumptions. Among the most noteworthy of these scholars* works are Thornton, The Im perial Idea and Its E nem ies; V, G, Kiernan, The Lords of Human Kind: Black Man, Yellow Man, and White Man in an Age_ of Empire (Boston; Little, Brown and Company, I960); Asa Briggs, Victorian People; A Reassessment of Persons and Themes 1651-1867 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 19701; Ronald Robinson and John Gallagher with Alice Denny, Africa and the Victorians; The Official Mind of Imperialism (London; Macmillan, 1967); Bolt, Victorian Attitudes to Race; and, with more specific reference to India, Michael Edwardes, Bound to Exile (New York: Fraeger, 1969); Hutchins, The Illusion of Permanence, and Parry, Deluaions and Discoveries. These authors delineate the public school ideology and ideal, the merger of aristocratic and middle class social strata as the result of unprecedented British industrial success, the origin of India's adminis­ trators as middle class sons with aristocratic pretentions, the strong 34

From whichever angle the creed was approached, the standards of judgment were British,and deviations from these expectations were defined as suspect and inferior. The conflict and eventual clash of these assumptions with the aspirations of nationalists, defined on dif­ ferent grounds, precipitated the definition of disparate Hindu, Muslim, and British positions. Viewed in the perspective of Social Darwinism and authoritarian liberalism, specific government policies of the late nineteenth century may be seen as manifestations and institutionaliza­ tion of the reigning ideology.

In 1B75 Disraeli was Prime Minister and Lord Northbrook was his Viceroy in India, In 1876 Victoria was proclaimed Empress of

India, Imperialism was maturing* Lord Lytton's appointment followed

Northbrook's resignation. Delegated by Disraeli and Salisbury to make the Russian question “an imperial, not an Indian one in the minds of

Indian officials, the Viceroy concentrated upon external policy and shaped domestic policy to foster external interests, ^ In executing his commitment to regulatory rule, and the confidence in the viability and justice of the British empire. These authors point out not only the influence of the gospel of work and technology, but also the profound influence of secularist Social Darwinist attitudes to race and culture which legitimized racial stratification and exclusiveness, and which justified the extension and maintenance of empire. Both Darwinism and industrial success (which were linked) contributed to the commitment to duty and sacrifice, and to the patronizing arrogance of Englishmen in India and out.

'‘Martin, New India, p. 8 . 2Ibid. 35

mission, the vital classes, as he defined them, were the chiefs and the

princes. The emergent middle classes, predominantly Hindu, were

largely ignored. Also in pursuit of this external policy, Lytton intro­

duced two particularly disturbing measures- -the Vernacular Press Act

of 1B78 and an Arms Act--and he dispatched Indian troops against

Muslim powers in Afghanistan and Malta. These actions, in the first

instance defined the in ferio r status of Indians, and in the second p ro ­

moted imperial expansion at the expense of non-Europeans; they were

justified and explained in term s of Social Darwinist imperatives and

authoritarian liberal considerations.

The conservative, imperial tone of Anglo-Indian politics was

only briefly relieved when Gladstone unseated the Beaconfield govern­

ment and assumed office in 18BO. The forced resignation of Lord

Lytton made way for the appointment of Lord Ripon as India's Governor

General. During the Ripon administration Lytton’s Vernacular Press

Act was repealed (1802), 1 Lytton's Arms Act was modified and the Ilbert

Bill, which implied equality of Englishmen and Indians, was introduced.

Britiah-lndian troops w ithdrew from Afghanistan (1881), and education

* Promulgated March 14, 1878 by the Governor General's Legislative Council to control seditious and rapidly growing Indian language presses, this act had been supported by Sayyid Ahmad Khan. His support was justified and based on the belief that the press had abused its freedom.and had been offensive to both the native gentry and the government's administrators. This and similar positions of support for the Indian Government cast Sayyid Ahmad as a perfect native gentle­ man. M. S. Jain, The Aligarh Movement; the Origin and Development, 1858-1906 (Agra: Sri R am M ehra and Company, 1965), p. 137; Case, ,1The Aligarh Era, " 36

at the primary and Becondary levels was encouraged. W. W. Hunter's

Education Commission toured India. 1 and solicited Indian opinion

regarding the priorities and directions of education in India. The per­

sonality of Ripon and his actions, summed up in the philosophy that ''the

good government of India and the material and moral progress of her

peoples were to take precedence over ambitious imperial schemes in

2 Central Asia 11 captured the imagination of particular Hindu Indian

elites, and the Viceroy departed India in 1884 ,Tamid unexampled expres- 3 a ions of Indian goodwill . ' 1 However, a succession of increasingly con­

servative Governors General, gradual disillusionment on the part of

Indians, and increased momentum of communal tension reflected in

communal rioting and revivalist movements such as the Arya Samaj and

Theosophy followed this interlude.

In 1900 the Conservative Prime Minister was Salisbury, and the

Viceroy, Lord Curzon, the archetype of imperialists. In 1901 Victoria was dead, but Imperialism was at its apex. English expansion in Asia

and Africa buoyed confidence in British superiority, and legitimized the

*The Education Commission which submitted its report in 1883, made its North West Provinces headquarters at Aligarh, had Sayyid Mahmud as a member, and listened to testimony from Sayyid Ahmad. Sayyid Ahmad stressed self-help and self ^responsibility. 2 Martin, New India, p. 11. 3 Percival Spear, The Oxford History of Modem India 1740-1947, Part III of The Oxford History of India (Oxford; Clarendon Press, 1965), p. 246, 37

tenets of Darwinism and authoritarian liberalism. Curzon, in 1904,

authored the Universities Act and the Partition of Bengal, and presided

over an India which recalled accumulated experiences of the defeat of

the llbert Bill by Anglo-Indian pressure *1 and recurrent Hindi-Urdu 2 cont rove ray < Institutionalizing the impression that India was subordi­

nate to imperial interest and its citizens second class pawns to the

In the case of the llbert Bill, Sayyid Ahmad Khan joined in the general Indian support (not popular agitation, however) of the Bill which increased the jurisdiction of Indian magistrates over European civilians. This support was based on Soyyid Ahmad's belief that Indians shared equal legal rights as subjects of the British Crown with the British in India. Furthermore, the Mahomedan Literary Society, the National Mahomed an Association* the British Indian Association, the Indian Association, the East Bengal Association, and the Vakils 1 Association jointly sponsored a memorial for the llbert Bill on March 6, 1803* Case, "The Aligarh Era, " pp. 160-161. On March 9* 10B3, Sayyid Ahmad Khan stated in the Legislative Council that uWhatever the exigencies of former times may have been, 1 hope, my Lord, that a century and a half of British rule has brought us to that stage of civiliza­ tion when there is every reason for minimising race distinctions, at least in the general law of the land* My Lord, I, for one, am firmly convinced that the time has come when the entire population of India, be they Hindu or Muhammadan, European or Eurasian must begin to feel that they are fellow subjects;. . , that their claims to protection lie, not in their nationalities or their creeds, but in the great privilege common to all--the privilege of being loyal subjects of the august Sovereign whose reign has brought peace and prosperity to India.f< Zafarul Islam and Joel M. Woldman, 1'Indian Muslims and the llbert Bill: 1083-1884, 11 Asiatic Society of Pakistan, Journal, VIII (December, 1963), pp. 138- 137. See also Shan Muhammad, ed., Writings and Speeches of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (Bombay: Nachiketa Publications, L td ,, 1972), pp. 164-170. 2 The Hindi-Urdu controversy is often cited as one facet in the British favoritism for Hindu or Muslim factions in the freedom struggle, and as evidence to demonstrate 1'divide and rule. " The issue is far more complex. Indeed, the controversy did contribute to the definition of Muslim consciousness of vulnerability, but the equation is not direct. 3B

interests of Englishmen, these actions created rancour among articu­

late Indian elites, and may both be viewed as events which affirmed the

Social Darwinist and imperial position regarding India and Indians.

The rapid decline of the exchange value of the rupee, the assump­

tion of the debts of the Second Afghan War (1878-1880), the use of

Indian troopa on Malta during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and

in Egypt in 1882* each subordinated Indian to imperial interests. The

reimposition of the income tax, the enhancement of the salt tax, and

Urdu was the language of pragmatism, not culture, for Indian Muslims. Persian and Arabic were the tongues of the educated man. The 1867 campaign initiated by Benares Hindus to replace Peraian-Urdu with Hlndi-Devanagri is cited as "the first occasion he [Sayyid AhmadJ felt that the time for the parting of ways between the Hindus and the Muslims had come, '* Nizami, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, p, 78; Ikram, Modern Muslim India and the Birth of Pakistan, pp. 36-37; Khalid Bin Sayeed, Pakistan: The Formative'Phase (1857-1948), 2nd ed, (London; Oxford University, 1068), p. 18 citing Altaf Husain Hali (Hay a t-e - Javed) Sayyid Ahmad's biographer. The implication of the issue was that Muslims were foreigners in India, while Hindus were the indigenous nation. The question was raised with the Hunter Commission in 1882. but the govern­ ment took no action. The issue of foreign origin of Muslims was, clearly, complicated by the fact that the Muslim elite did often trace its ancestry, and calculate its status, on its Arabian, Persian, or Fathan origin. The script rivalry, which became synonomous with the assertion of a "national" language--Hindi in Devanagri--gained momentum from 1809 to 1900, when the government of North West Provinces accepted Devanagri as the court script. In response to the government resolution issued April 18, 1900, a short-lived Urdu Defense Association, which urged the withdrawal of the resolution, was formed with Mohsin-ul-Mulk as president. The Honorary Secretary of the Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College Trustees resigned the presidency of the Defense Asso­ ciation when the government protested the connection of the college with politics, ^The Indian army served in China, Persia, Ethiopia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Egypt, and East Africa during the late nineteenth century. See James Morris, Pax Britannlca: The Climax of an Empire (1968), 30

the reduction of import duties on Lancashire and Manchester cotton

coincidentally with the above measures of British imperial policy*

demonstrated that Indian domestic and economic interests were

definitely subordinate to those of the metropole. Both the series of

wars and the domestic measures touching the economy came simul­ taneously with a series of famines and the outbreak of plague. The

Government of India responded to both with authoritarian* paternal efficiency. Plague inspectors with sweeping powers were appointed in

1897. The same year the haj pilgrimage was cancelled. The famine relief measures developed in the course of the nineteenth century were utilized to alleviate suffering. However* whether the measures were necessary* effective* or legitimately implemented was debated. In combination with the various international and domestic measures which defined India and Indians' inferiority to Britain, they provided foci around which antagonized and articulate Indians organized, and to which these Indians responded.

Terrorist murder of the Poona plague inspector Walter Charles

Rand in 1897 in Maharashtra, ostensibly encouraged by Lokamanya

Tilak's writings in the vernacular press, and terrorism and awadeshi in Bengal encouraged by Extremists connected with the Indian National

Congress following the Partition in 190^ symbolized an increasingly tension ridden social prism. The flaring of violence aggravated latent uneasy British fear for physical security and justified autocratic 40 repression on the grounds of safety and stability of the raj* Violence testified to the ungratefulness and the inferiority of Indians, and the inferiority testified to absence of capacity to appreciate the benefits of

British rule, or to claim participation in that rule. Once again, the authoritarian liberal, Social Darwinian analysis of the world of social relationships had proof. Tilak found himself expeditiously tried and convicted of sedition.

In the context of the late nineteenth century English perception and conviction of a permanent em pire, which

seemed to increase in proportion to its fragility, and to serve many people as a defense and retreat from reason long after the course of events had proved its impossibility, 1 articulated Indian grievances and self-awareness found expression in disparate religious, social, cum political mechanisms. In its effort to insure the ’’cherished way of life” or the status quo of Indian society, the Government of India had fortified and appeased the aristocracy.

Institutionalizing the philosophy were the taluqdari land settlements, the

Royal Titles Act of 1876, the Indian High Courts Act of 1862, and the

Indian Councils Act of 1862, all of which associated selected members of the aristocracy with the ruling institution. To enhance the favoured position of the aristocracy a Statutory Civil Service was introduced in

1879. While refusing simultaneous civil service examinations in

1 Hutchins, The Illusion of Permanence, p. xii. 41

England and India, and lowering the age of civil service examinations

in Britain/ official vocabulary identified the rapidly increasing English 2 educated middle class, the products of the Anglicized higher educational

Actually 1870 had marked the beginning of a policy detrimental to the English educated Indian middle class. The East India Company college at Haileybury had been closed in 1853, and competition for the Indian Civil Service Instituted, The age limit was reduced from 23 to 21 in 1070 and from 21 to 19 in 1876, The English educated Indian middle class a sse sse d the Lowering of the examination age for the civil service as a measure directed at them. A recent study of recruitment for the Indian Civil Service documents that the ICS was considered the province of second rate minds, and that "the record indicates that this [detriment to Indian chances] must have been purely a secondary (though perhaps not unhappy) consideration in Salisbury's thinking , 11 The concern was primarily the attraction of better men in England, and signing these candidates before graduation guaranteed their entrance into the service. See Bradford Spangenberg, MThe Problem of Recruitment for the Indian Civil Service During the Late Nineteenth Century , 11 Journal of Asian Studies, XXX (February. 1971), pp, 347- 348, p. 351. 2 B, B, Misra, The Indian Middle Classes (London: Oxford University, 1961), p, 283. M r. M isra includes in his general definition of Indian middle classes the body of merchants, agents, and proprietors of modern trading firms, the bulk of salaried executives, the higher salaried officers of a wide group of institutions and societies such as chambers of commerce and educational bodies, the main body of civil servants and other public servants, the members of the principle recognized professions such as lawyers, doctors, professors, and journalists, the holders of middle grades of proprietary tenures of land, the body of well-to-do shopkeepers and hotel keepers, groups of rural entrepreneurs engaged in plantation industry, the main body of full-time students engaged in higher educational and university levels, the main body of clerks and other non-manual workers, and the upper range of school teachers and the officers of local bodies, social and political w orkers, M isra, The Indian Middle C laases, pp. 12-13. From these various components, and emphasized in my use of the term in this dis­ sertation, are the English style educated. Important to my use of the term Is that while the jati status of individuals of the middle class may, in fact, be high, their class status is determined by their education and economic success, not by the traditional indicators of status. By virtue 42 scheme instituted by Bentinck, Macaulay, Trevelyn, and Mill, as a 2 3 ''microscopic minority, M a term coined by Lord Dufferin in 1008.

of their educational experience and their definition of hierarchy, these leaders of the middle class articulate their aspirations in the context of acceptance of and by English standards. The following table indicates the rapid expansion of the higher education ay stem and B, A, competitors for prestigious posts in govern­ ment service.

Number Number B, A, Candidates, Total B. A. Year Colleges Students Passed Candidates 1864 64 126 1870 175 1073 55 4, 499 165 362 1800 404 1881 85 1884 470 1086 n o 10,530 1093 156 IB, 571 1907 1935 4750 1911 166 In a twenty year period (1873-1893) candidates more than tripled. Analysed regionally, between 1809 and 1894, Calcutta produced 1,695 B. A, passes, while Allahabad and Punjab together contributed 808. Total passes in all categories from matriculation to civil engineering, medicine, and law stacked 18, 945 Calcutta aspirants against a combined Allahabad and Punjab total of 9,518. That represents a two-to-one pro­ portion. Ibid,, pp, 203; 296; 301; Martin, New India, pp. 4-5. ^Martin, New India, p. 1; Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India, Chapter I, passim; Bruce T. McCully, English Education and Origins of Indian Nationalism (Gloucester; Peter Smith, 1966), p, 306. Lord Lytton writing to Lord Salisbury suggested that "the Baboos [Bengalis], whom we have educated to write semi"seditious articles in the Native press . . . really represent nothing but the social anomaly of their position . 11 Cited in Anil Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Competition and Collaboration in the Later Nine­ teenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968), p, 134, Lord K im berly in 1884 referred to educated Indians as "a small clique of Bengalis, " Cited in Martin, New India, pp. 9-10. ^Lord Dufferin embodied in his professional experience a num­ ber of issues closely connected with Indian policy and the Muslim 43

The "microscopic minority 11 or "upstart agitators, led by various regional personalities, particularly notable among whom was community in India. In 1879-1880 he was Ambassador to Russia and from 1681-1883* Am bassador to Turkey. In addition, he took charge of the British Commission to Egypt following Arabi Pasha's uprising in 1882, a revolt which had been met with the dispatch of Indian troops to Suez, On November 30, 1888, at a Saint Andrew’s Day dinner, Dufferin put on public record his opposition to the Indian National Congress.

Thomas R. Metcalf, The Aftermath of Revolt; India, 1857- 1870 (Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1964), pp, 324-326. An intriguing psychological interpretation of colonial relationships, pro­ vided by O. Mannoni, Prospero and Caliban; The Psychology of Colonization (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1964), suggests a pos­ sible approach to the problem of the relationship between the Indian middle classes and the British administrator, Mannoni suggests that in the relation of colonial and colonized one witnesses the "meeting of two entirely different types of personality and their reactions to each other , T1 and sees the delineation of a relationship of dependence and inferiority in which the colonizer expects gratitude for his services, and the colonized strives for his superior's acceptance. Mannoni argues that the breaking of this set of assumptions causes great trauma. In the case of India, applying the theory, no means to pacify the middle class without accounting for its disappointment and frustration in being deprived of a place in the loyal British civil service (acceptance), was devised, Likewise, no way to accommodate the reaction of the colonizer, the defined superior, to the ingratitude of the dependent who criticized and disobeyed, was formulated. That the British responded with devices to sustain stability was predictable; that the Indians 1 grievances were articulated in increasingly strident terms was also predictable. Prospero, the British, saw the Indians as "children, " Caliban, the Indian middle class, defined itself adult. The clash of the dominant Prospero and the dependent Caliban was played out in the friction be­ tween the Indian National Congress and the Government of India. To pursue the psychological line of argument falls outside the subject of this discussion, but the idea provides, nonetheless, significant interpre­ tive possibilities for Indian nationalism, Mannoni, Prospero and Caliban, pp. 17; 39-48; 97-109, passim. 44

Bengali Surendranath B anerjea, founded associations through which to express their aspirations. * Generally defined in these desires were association with the British in the Covenanted Civil Service and repre­ sentation in the Legislative Councils. These two demands were articulated in terms of simultaneous civil service examination, raising of the age for those examinations, and extension of elections for the 2 Councils,

The premier organization for articulating the aspirations of the middle class was the Indian National Congress, founded in 16BS under the auspices of Surendranath Banerjea, The Indian National Congress supplanted or amalgamated various regional organizations, such as the

For example, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal in 1072 reported sixty such organizations with a membership total of 2, 000. Bimanbehari Majumdar, Indian Political Associations and Reform of Legislature (IBIS-1917) (Calcutta: Firm a K. L. Mukhapadhyay, 1965), pp. 209-213, 2 Other areas of activity included protest against the Vernacular Press Act and the reduction of duties on Lancashire and Manchester cotton products. 3 Surendranath Banerjea (1045-1926) was from a modestly wealthy Brahmin family* He was educated at Calcutta University, and in I860 went to London to take the competitive Indian Civil Service examination, which he passed in 1859. Initially barred by his age, Surendranath Banerjea gained entrance to the Indian Civil Service and was posted as an assistant magistrate at Sylhet in 1B71. He was dismissed in 1873, and his subsequent attempts to join the bar were thwarted by his civil service record, Surendranath Banerjea turned to politics, and in 1883 became the first Bengali to be imprisoned for hia self-appointed nationa­ list activities. 45

India Association* eatab 11 shed earlier by Surendranath Banerjea.

From these associations, which advocated programs of their own,

The India Association had been founded by Surendranath Banerjea, Surendranath Sen, and An and a Mohan Bose in 1876, Like the British Indian Association (established 1851) and the Indian League, the India Association was formed in Calcutta by Bengalis. A direct con­ tinuum existed among these organizations. Discontented members of the British Endian Association founded the Indian League; the Indian League ended in failure but the India Association was established to supplant it on July 26, 1876, Like its predecessors, its guiding assump­ tion was that political, social, and economic change should come through the British constitutional system and that the benevolent British system would grant concessions to Indians who conducted themselves in a proper constitutional manner. The goals outlined were "the creation of a strong body of public opinion in the country, " ‘’the unification of the Indian races and peoples upon the basis of common political interests

and aspiration, u ’’the promotion of friendly feelings between Hindus and Mohammadans, 11 and "the inclusion of the masses in the great public movement of the dj^y. " Pursuing these aims, the Association set up branches. It also organized public meetings to protest the lowering of the age of civil service examination, the Vernacular Press Act, the Cotton Bill, and plague and famine conditions, as well as against the Partition of Bengal, The history of the India Association was symptomatic of the problem faced also by the Indian National Congress in attracting sup­ port to politics. The Association's use of Hindu symbols provided an answer to the problem which intruded into Indian National Congress techniques. The combination of the nature of India Association protests, and the subjects, minimized Muslim interest in the Association. Des­ pite the goal of promoting friendly feeling, the Association represented or championed few Muslim interests, and the impetus for swadeshi to protest the Partition of Bengal came from Association-editor members. The mass demonstrations announced and organized by the India Associa­ tion members reflected the Hindu character of the Association. Demon­ strators for the September 2 9, 1905 protest gathered at a temple and sang patriotic songs, while Association leaders planned a "Rakhi Bandhan" program to show the "indelible unity of the Bengalis . 11 The description of the ceremony on October 16 notes that bathing in the Ganges preceded the Rahki tying. The Hindu tone was clear, Jogesh C. Bagal, History of the Indian Association: 1576-1951 (Calcutta: Firm a K. L. Mukhapadhyay, 1953), pp. 13- 168; passim. 46

the representatives to the Indian National Congress* which was largely

sustained by lawyers and composed of delegates familiar with English, *

came. While the program of the Indian National Congress was couched

in secular terms, and turned, initially, upon as,.oelation and participa­

tion in the work of the British raj in governing India, the implicit Hindu

themes, seen more explicitly in regional organizations, pressed upon

the deliberations of the Congress.

Indian National Congress leaders* in asserting their own special

interests of association* sought legitimization as representatives of

Indian aspirations. Since a class of 11 natural leaders 11 had been desig­

nated, the problem for Congress was to usurp that position and lay

claim to the status of representatives of the "silent majority. " The

imperative necessity to convince the British of legitimacy, demanded

participation which demonstrated a viable relationship between peasant­

ry and professional. The Indian National Congress, which also recog­

nized the usefulness of claim to inter-communal support, was impelled,

as early as 1687, to utilize the media of Hinduism.

During 1887 they [baboos] discovered a new weapon: the introduction of Hinduism into politics. In Bengal Surendranath launched a campaign to reduce the drunkeness among peasants, and introduced his rallies with sankirton parties, where popular devotional songs were sung and Vaishnava literature read. 'The effect was very great. . , and sankirton has ever

1 Bombay [State], Source Material for a History of the Freedom

Movement in India: Collected from Bombay Government Records ( 2 Vole.; Bombay: Government Central Press, 1957), I, 12. 47

since then formed a prominent feature as an instrument of popular and political propagandism in Bengal . 1

The device of peasant rallies was not antagonistic to the convictions of 2 the Maharashtrian Lokamanya Tilak. Tilak made his debut in the 1889

Congress, and lead the Extremist faction which included Lajpat Rai of

the Punjab and Aurobindo Ghose of Bengal, in the 1907 Surat Congress 3 split; Tilak challenged the supra-communal platform advanced for

Indian interests by prominent Congress leaders.

Operating outside Indian National Congress machinery, in a

regional and religious context, Tilak anticipated his call for 3waraj as

*Case, "The Aligarh Era, " p. 182, The internal quotation is Surendranath Banerjea, Nation in Making (London: Oxford University, 1025), p. 94, 2 Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920), according to Stanley Wolperl, Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962) was the sup­ reme political realist of his era, " a man who "thrived on unofficial opposition, official prosecution, even incarceration , 11 His activities in Poona, and his rivalry with Gopalrao Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915) reflect the regional struggle of moderate versus extremist, as well as Brahmin versus non-Brahmin and reform versus revival, See Gordon Johnson, "Chitpavan Brahmins and Politics in Western India in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries" in Edmund Leach and S, N, Mukherjee, Elites in South Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), pp. 110-115, See also Wolpert, Tilak and Gokhale, p. 293. Tilak, the editor of Keaari, was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council in 1895 and 1897. He was tried for state­ ments published in Kesari which he denied were seditious, but which were interpreted by the British judge as encouraging and congratulating the terrorist murders of the Poona plague inspector. See Ram Gopal, Lokamanya Tilak: A Political Biography (New York: Asia Publishing

House, 1956), pp.~i.34; 1 6 2 ; p a ssim .

Daniel Argov, Moderates and Extremists in the Indian Nationa- list Movement; 1883-1920 (London: Asia Publishing House, 1967), pp. 95- 136 . 46 his birthright by forging the cult of the Maratha bandit, Sivaji, and the

Ganpati observances into tools of nationalism and popular appeal.

Using the vernacular press and veiling his anti-British stance in his­ torical themes, which were anti-Muslim, Tilak inculcated Hindu cultural pride vis-a-vis the Muslims. In so doing, an exclusivist Hindu identity emerged. This exclusivist Hindu consciousness was not unrelated to another extra-Congress, religious purificatory revivalist movement, the Arya Samaj, which propagandized the superiority of fundamentalist Hinduism. In so doing, the inferiority of the Sikh3, the

Muslims, and the British was implied. ^ Nor were either of the move­ ments unrelated to anti-cow killing movements increasingly in vogue in the late nineteenth century, and institutionalized in 1882 in the Cow 2 Protection Society, In each of these instruments of popular participa­ tion in forging cultural identity and pride, the manipulation of Hindu religious symbolism was clear,

*While Day an and a had expressly forbidden participation in politics by Arya Samaj members, the distinction between religious en­ thusiasm and nationalism is one which becomes increasingly blurred as the nineteenth century draws to a close. Dsyananda'a proscription was gradually forgotten after his death in 1883, Charles H. H eim sath, Indian Nationalism and Hindu Social Reform (Princeton: Princeton Uni­ versity Press, 1964), p. 128* See also Kenneth W. Jones, "Communal - ism in the Punjab: The Arya Samaj Contribution, " Journal of Asian Studies, XXVIII (November, 1968), 39-54. Jones contends that the Arya Samaj was instrumental in the articulation of polarized communal iden­ tity in the Punjab, See also N. Gerald Barrier, "The Punjab Govern­ ment and Communal Politics, 1870-1908/' Journal of Asian Studies, XXVII (May, 1968), 523-540. ^Sarvepalli Gopal, British Policy in India, 1B58-1905 (Cam­ bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), pp. 193-194. 49

In the context of the delineation of Hindu identity, the Indian

National Congress continued to espouse secular nationalism* 1 However, while the Moderates retained nominal control of a truncated Congress after 1907, and while Pherozeshah Mehta "'disclaimed any intentions of 2 allowing the extremists back into the Congress, ht subsequently, despite

Tilak's arrest in 1900, the Extremists proceeded to capture control of the

The exclusivist and Hindu elements implicit in the Indian National Congress leadership can be illustrated in the rise and use of the English language and vernacular press, A number of prominent national leaders were also journalists of note, Surendranath Banerjea was editor of The Bengalee, Kris to Das Pal was prime mover of The Hindu Patriot, Motilal and Shister Ghose sponsored the Amrita Bazar Fatrika, G. Subramania Iyer and Viraghava Charier organized The Hindu, and Man Mohan Ghose was associated with Indu Prakash. Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghose were editors of Bande M ataram, Surendranath Sen of The Indian Mirror (Upadhyya) Brahma Bandhab of The Sandhya, and Krishn Kumar Mitra of The San jib an i. As the names of the newspapers reveal, they reflected and also contributed to the evolution of Hindu identity. The perceptions and orientation of the editors may be presumed to have been reflected in their papers. Martin, New India, pp. 6-7; Bagal, History of the Indian Association, passim ; N. Gerald Barrier and Paul Wallace, The Punjab Preaa, 1680-1905; Occasional Paper 14 of the Research Committee on the Punjab and Asian Studies (East Lansing: Michigan State University, 1970), pp. 159; 164; 167-169; 170, In the Punjab the number of papers rose from twenty-four in 1B80 to sixty-four in 1885; fifty-three in 1890, and 101 in 1899. The Punjab press was highly sectarian. In this period, twenty Arya Samaj papers were published along with ten Muslim papers of various sects, ten Indian National Congress papers, two pro-Aligarh presses, and three anti-Aligarh presses. Analysis by subject matter reveals that ninety-eight dealt with religious news, seventy-six with social news, and seventy-two with political news.

Argov, Moderates and Extremists, p. 136. 50

Indian National Congress. * Thus the product of Hindu middle class

initiative, the recognized all"-India spokesman for a brand of Indian

political expression which styled itself nationalist, while denying reli­

gious identification and asserting secular orientations, came to rely

increasingly upon the Hindu content of its membership for its legitimi­

zation.

The official Congress report for 1985 had noted the conspicuous 2 absence of Muslim representation and their habitual separation. In

1667 a Bengali raja proposed an anti-cow slaughter resolution at the

annual Congress session. Although unsuccessful, the resolution caused

discomfort among leaders of Congress trying to attract Muslim partici­

pation. Appeals, grounded as they were in Hindu mythology, struck a familiar note among Hindu Indians, and thus elicited a response. The

persistent difficulty of defining a secular nationalism to appeal to the

communities of India as well as the British government which com­

pounded the elitist nature of middle class politics was never solved.

While secularism remained the official ideology of the Congress, the

Hindu tone persisted, and the difficulty was aggravated by the momen­ tum of religious revivalism at the end of the century.

^Argov, Moderates and Extremists, pp. 137-168,

^Bombay [State] Source M aterial, I, 17. 51

Thus far the profile of an authoritarian liberal British adminis­

trator committed to the endurance of the British raj in India, and view­

ing the status quo of Indian society in the perpetual maintenance of

proper relationships between "natural leaders, 1f "true Indians, M and

British authority has been drawn. Permeating British attitudes was the

gradualism of Social Darwinism, which converted the Indian society into

a virtually static set of categories. Operative in that context however,

and anathema to the status quo were the dynamic processes of social

change and the delineation of exclusivist identities. Led by the Indian

National Congress, which in reality was but the "tip of the iceberg" of

Hindu self-consciousness, a Hindu Indian identity evolved which asserted

cultural pride vis-a-vis the British. Grievances were stated with increasing clarity. In this process, which contained elements of puri­ fication, and which utilised the religious cultural heritage, foci which delineated Muslim, Hindu, and British separate interest were manifest.

The English operated from a stance of moral and racial rectitude, the

Indian National Congress elite requested for that middle class associa­ tion, respect and equality--the promises of the liberal ideology, and the

Muslim elites who were traditional and not middle class elites and who will be discussed in Chapter II and Chapter III, recognized both the threat and the effectiveness of agitational and pressure politics, and the debatable rewards of political quietism. In the process of recognition, the Muslim cultural-political identity, like the Hindu, came to be 52 couched in terms of purification and became thereby, increasingly exclusivist* In fact, the various interest groups, utilizing cultural symbolism, devised mechanisms for pride and identity which divided the populous on lines of religious identity, and which gradually attempted to mask or supercede the divisions of creed, region, or language. The dominant mood of the era, for all parties, was one of assertive self- assurance of respective rights, roles, and attitudes. In each case, the exclusion of defilement by other groups infused the dominant mood. CHAPTER II

THE ACT: ORGANIZATIONAL, ACTIVITIES IN THE

INDIAN MUSLIM COMMUNITY

Directing attention to the variety of Muslim organizations in

existence during the second half of the nineteenth century, and particu­

larly during the last quarter of the century, leads to the observation that

Muslim community consciousness and educational-political awareness was well developed on regional and communal lines by 1875, Looking particularly at these expressions of Muslim consciousness, one must

conclude that to argue a "Muslim breakaway 11 from the mainstream of nationalist or Indian National Congress politics, is unwarranted and a mis-representation of facts. Specifically, the channels of Muslim

awareness were well delineated on Muslim grounds; Muslims did not break away from Congress, for, in actuality, Muslim participation in

Congress was always limited, * and viable Muslim alternatives pre­ dated its establishment. Particularly, Muslim politics was founded on

*See Appendix I for a breakdown of annual Muslim participation in the Indian National Congress. The 1B89 Congress session had 13% Muslim participation. The high point of 17% Muslim participation in Congress deliberations occurred in 1890. At the 1892 Allahabad ses- sion, Muslim participation declined to 14,5%; 7,5% of the 1893 session delegates were Muslim; Muslim participants comprised 1.9% in 1894 and 1. 6% in 1898. 53 54

assumptions similar to those of Congress--the need, for regional,

cultural consciousness and pride. The cultural baggage, however, was

very different.^ In short,

in the process of trying to protect and promote the interests in specific issues the Muslims developed an increasingly exclusive identity, , . . Congress represented a challenge to almost every aspect of their status and identity, ^

and was, consequently, not particularly attractive to Muslim elites.

In discussing the above phenomenon, reference will be focused upon Muslim modernist movements which competed with the Aligarh

Movement, itself a regional expression of the North West Provinces, for attention and legitimacy in the eyes of Muslims and the British

Government of India. In this process, the place and role of Aligarh in the all-India context will take a position proportional to its effect, which was considerably less than credited to it by subsequent decades.

The evolution of the Muslim community's educational and politi­ cal consciousness was led by competing elites, and was directly affected by British administrative attitudes and imperial policy. The factions which gained temporary ascendance as spokesmen for Muslim aspira­ tions, did not have exclusive claim to the loyalties of the Muslims in

India. Within the Muslim community moderates, modernists, extrem­ ists, reactionaries, and revivalists, asserted alternate proposals for

^ Margaret H. Case, "Regional Elites and Muslim Separatism in North India," unpublished Conference Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York City, M arch 27-29, 1972, p. 13.

2ibid., p, 12. 55

the orientation of the community and vied for its leadership. Within the

Muslim community regionalism was a significant factor in communal

organization; while defining their position on an all-India, all-Muslim basis, leaders acted on an elite Muslim, regional basis. ^ Wliether

Indian Muslim or Muslim Indian, Islamic identity was integral to their being.

The numerous institutions which expressed Muslim opinion were controlled by Muslims, and were the products of vital, deep, and some­ times antagonistic currents of thought and opinion within the community.

They neither presented a united phalanx of opinion nor were these organizations creatures alien to the community. Available were com­ peting alternatives for Muslim identity and action which operated in the context of the attitudinal heritage of the 1857 mutiny, the influence of pan-Islam, and the delineation of Muslims as patricians and as rebels.

As 1909 approached that portion of the Muslim community's leadership focusing its attention on politics, became increasingly militant in articulating the aspirations and defining the communal interests of

Muslims in India. Isolating particularly the problems of competitive civil service and election to legislative councils, the position came to concentrate upon constitutional guarantees of protection of the com­ munity, educational and employment concessions, and electoral

*John Broomfield, 1lThe Regional Elites: A Theory of Modern Indian History, M Indian Economic and Social History Review 3 (July, 1968), p. 285. 56 weightage. It was argued, that the enhanced orientation toward re present alive forma of government institutionalized Muslim inferiority and vulnerability* In the process the element of conceptualizing the community as heira of the Mughul em pire, aa rebels against the crown, as brothers of Muslims outside India* and aa a minority, each con*

Iributed to the definition of Muslim consciousness and British receptivity to that definition.

In addition to the attitudinal heritage of the mutiny and Islamic identity, the Muslim elites shared the knowledge that the Muslim com­ munity in India was a minority comprising approximately twenty percent of the population of the aub-continent, ^ The Muslim populous was con­ centrated in the North West Provinces, Oudh, Eastern Bengal and Sind, 2 and the Punjab, but was scattered throughout India. Nor were the residence patterns, economic conditions, or sectarian affiliations of

The 1901 Census reported the Muslim population aa twenty per­ cent of the total, giving its numerical strength as over sixty-two million, 2 Not only was the Muslim population not evenly distributed in India, the distribution did not correspond to pre-British Muslim rule. The highest concentration of Muslim population was in Sind, where seventy-five percent of the populace was Muslim. In Central Provinces Muslims constituted two and a half percent, while in Madras they represented five percent. The Punjabi Muslims and the Bengali Muslima made up approximately fifty percent of the population, while in North West Provinces and Oudh the proportion was thirteen percent. Bombay Presidency, omitting Sind, had less than ten percent Muslims. P. Hardy, The Muslims of British India {Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1972), pp. 2- 8 . 57

Muslima sim ilar throughout India. However, masking many regional

variations, Muslims were believed to be economically and educationally

’’backward*" The premise operative was that few were economically

able to obtain an English education, and even fewer inclined to do so.

This perception reinforced by claims of early nineteenth century Muslim

self-imposed withdrawal from exposure to British education and power,

was applied to all India, It derived from particular data applicable only

to Lower Bengal which had been rendered compellingly in W. W. 2 Hunter's The Indian Mu s aim ana. In his famous report of 1B71, Hunter described a situation in which no Muslim could aspire to a post above

Even the breakdown of Muslim population by province must be qualified* For instance, while Bombay Presidency had less than ten percent Muslim population, Bombay City was twenty percent Muslim. In North West Provinces, approximately one in three town dwellers were Muslim, representing more than double the provincial percentage. In contrast, in Bengal only three to four percent of the Muslim popula­ tion resided in towns. Thus the concentration of elites in the two provinces varied considerably. However, further qualification of claims to foreign descent is also a significant variable. Educated Muslims, particularly of the North West Provinces, calling themselves Sayyids, Pathans, Mughuls, Shaikhs, and Khans, claimed foreign descent and ruling status. The vast majority of the Muslims, however, were agriculturalists, or engaged in service occupations. Hardy, The Muslims of British India, pp. 2-8 ,

^W illiam W. Hunter (1840-1900) joined the Indian Civil Service in 1862 and spent twenty five years in India. W. W. Hunter, author of The Indian Musalmans* headed the Education Commission in 1880, William W. Hunter, The Indian Musalmans (Lahore: The P rem ier Book House, 1&G4), p. 170* Barrier, Punjab Government and Communal Politics, r1 p. 531. In the Punjab in the 1380*3 Hindus and Muslims were almost equally represented in the lowest echelon posts requiring mini-' mai literacy and paying less than fifteen rupees, but Brahmin and com­ mercial classes monopolized posts at the middle and upper salary range. 58

that of "porter, messenger, filler of ink-pots and mender of pine. Ir

The premise was significant, for British thinking consequently defined

Muslim disadvantage as grounds for potential rebellion, and various

Muslim interest groups, such as the Muhammadan Literary Association,

the Central Mubammedan National Association, and the Aligarh Move­

ment, asserting Muslim loyalty, picked up and propagandized the thesis

of Muslim degradation and British responsibility, using the fear-guilt 2 factor to great advantage. The Wahabi Movement of the 1820 to 1870

era leant credence both to the British and to the Muslim versions of the 3 theory. The assassination of the Governor-General in 1671 by a

* Hunter, The Indian Musalmans, p. 17 0. 2 Looking at the validity of the thesis, it emerges that the elite of the Northwest Provinces, from which came Sayyid Ahmad Khan, a chief exponent of the deprived condition of the Muslim community, was not deprived but rather, privileged. For instance, in 1850 Muslims filled seventy-five percent of the judicial posts held by Indians in the North West Provinces and in the 1880's Muslims continued to hold more than forty-five percent of all uncovenanted executive and judicial posts in the province. Anil Seal notes that Muslims in North West Provinces vir­ tually held their own from 1667 to 1887 (1867 ^ 32. 5%; 1877 = 27, 4 % , 1887 - 29, 6%) and that they were, in fact, well placed in other provinces and in the professions. Seal also points out that while in absolute terms there was less education in North West Provinces than in the coastal presidencies, in relative terms the Muslims had more than their pro­ portional share. In 1871, eighteen percent of those receiving instruction were Muslims; in 1881 Muslims comprised twenty percent of high and middle school students and thirteen percent of the college students. However, the statistical picture which Seal presents did not affect Mus­ lim elite analyses of their declining position and disadvantaged state. Seal, Emergence of Indian Nationalism, pp, 304-307. 3 The Wahabi Movement is an outstanding expression of the strong group identity of the Indo-Muslim community. It represented 59

Muslim Patban the British believed to be a Wahabi reinforced the

argument.

Also conditioning the attitudes and atmosphere in which Muslim

leaders operated, were themes of pan-Islam which were often implicitly

one manifestation of Muslim communal feeling against the loss of Mughul sovereignty and against the encroachments of Hindu influences in Islam. By its very failure to re-establish Muslim supremacy, it set in motion a reaction against military confrontation with British sovereignty, an attitude which was reflected in the policies of Sayyid Ahmad Khan. It was, however, indicative of the important role of communal feeling within the Muslim community of India, and may be seen in the continuum with the foundation of the Muslim League. Various interpretations of the Wahabi Movement have been made. Ramesh C. Majumdar, History of the Free­ dom Movement in India, Vol. I (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1963) maintains that the fundamental creed of the Wahabis was that India was enemy territory. The solution to the Muslim problem was destruc­ tion of the British or migration. The ultimate objective of the Wahabi Movement, according to Majumdar, was liberation of India from the English and the Hindus. Qey amuddin Ahmad, Wahabi Movement in India (Calcutta: Firma K. L, Mukhopadhyay, 1966) maintains that the move­ ment was the first mass political movement in the history of Indian Islam, as well as the last archaic effort to recover India from the infidels. lie argues that this movement had a revolutionary impact on the reorientation of religious faith and practice. Likewise, Sheikh M. Ikram, Muslim Civilization in India (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964) sees the Wahabi emphasis on strict religious observances, the denunciation of participation in Hindu practices, and the call for an austere life, as safeguarding the Muslim community in a time of politi­ cal weakness. In short, the Wahabi Movement acted to buttress the faltering sense of identity of the Indo-Muslim community. Its primary concern was purification of Indian Islam by purging foreign elements. In this case, the foreign elements were primarily Hindu and had entered the community through intermarriage and conversion. The Wahabi Movement stressed purification of the community and would enhance its religious, social, and economic position. In short, self-purification would lead to self-strengthening. The emphasis upon re-establishment of Muslim sovereignty in India was not designed to allay Hindu fears of ultimate Wahabi intentions. The Movement was by Muslims for Mus­ lims; its basis was religious; its inspiration was communal. Its legacy was elevated communal orientation. Its dates demonstrate the early and indigenous Muslim response to extra-communal threats--both Hindu and British, 60

or explicitly anti-British* and which kept alive the bogey of potential

Muslim disloyalty. The involvement of India in forging the imperial

policy outside India involved Indian personnel in conflicts with Muslim

powers* and Indian fiscal resources in support of Muslim defeats. The

Second Afghan War and the Russo-Turkish War were both directly

related to the British foreign policy which envisioned a Russian threat

to the British Empire* and to the Muslim community in India, Russian

troops in the vicinity of Constantinople and Russian overtures to the

Amir of Afghanistan stimulated despatch of Indian troops to Malta and

an Indian army to Kabul. With the Russian threat checked* however

ingloriously* in Afghanistan* the British could contemplate what effect

the 1876 negotiations between Russia and Turkey would have on Indian

Muslims* and could assign the embarrassing financial strain to the

exchequer of the jewel saved from the Russian threat--India, * The unanswered question remained--how compelling was Islamic brother­

hood?

The fear of the Government of India was that the Turkish surren­ der of territory to victorious Russians would incite disaffection among

Indian Muslims. English language newspapers had regularly reported the progress of the two wars and of the negotiations. Uncensored

English language press reports had been picked up in local and

^Martin, New India* pp. 89-90; 98-99; 188-190. 61

vernacular presses. 1 For instance, The Aligarh Institute Gazette of

these years carried regular reports in both English and Urdu. To allay

potential revolt, the British styled and propagandized themselves as the

greatest Muslim empire in the world, and thereby implied their sense

of responsibility to and concern for the Muslims. To counteract British

concern, Muslim leaders such as Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Sayyid Amir Ali,

Abdul Latif, and Badruddin Tyabji defined an explicitly pro-British stance which de-emphasized the claims of pan-Islamic loyalty.

However, the indirect effect of the wars and negotiations was possibly more profound than the immediate reaction by spokesmen of

Muslim elites. The wars indeed contributed to the definition of a Mus­ lim consciousness of identity as a community unique in India and related to a wider extra-Indian Islamic brotherhood. The mechanism operative in popularizing this consciousness of Muslim identity was witnessed in the press. The wars supplied plots for romantic novels in the next two decades, and this literature became the source of popular Islamic his­ tory, historical poetry, and adventure tales, Fasana e-Azad was pub­ lished serially between December 1878 and December 1879 in the Awadh

Akhbar, and in 1879 Altsf Husain Hali composed an extremely popular romantic historical poetic epic, Masaddas-i madd-u jazr-i Islam, which

^For a brief recounting of the phenomenon, see Rafiq Zakaria, Rise of Muslima in Indian Politics: An_Anajlysia of Developments from 1685 to 1B06 (Bombay: Somaija Publications Private Ltd., 1970), pp. 214-228. 62

amalgamated the Idea of Indian Muslim degradation through adopting of

Hindu customs, with the idea of salvation of Indian Muslims via adoption

of the principles of modern Western society. ^ Nu'mani Shibli's histori­

cal monographs and heroic biographies glorifying the Islamic past con- 2 tributed to the increasing political awareness. In 1884 the pan-Islamic

journal Feyk-i-Islam, printed in Turkey, was circulated in India, Fur­

ther, al-Afghani's Al’Urwa al Wuthqa, issued from Paris, was

reproduced in Par al-5 alt an at, a Calcutta paper, and Mushir- i- Qay ear, 3 a Lucknow publication.

The pan-lslamic themes of loyalty and sympathy for fellow

Muslims had distinctly anti-British aspects, which raised the spectre

of Muslim disloyalty. The passionately anti-British Iranian Jamal ud-

din al-Afghani (1939-1897) one of the most famous of Sayyid Ahmad

Khan's opponents, attacked Muslim readiness to cooperate with the

British, Al-Afghani, who urged that Muslims take their fate into their

own hands, and who emphasized the necessity of political and military

strength, was resident in Hyderabad (Deccan) between 1879, when he

had been expelled from Egypt, and 1882, when he sailed from Calcutta

*Case, “The Aligarh Era, " pp, 131-138; see also Aziz Ahmad, "Approaches to History in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Cen­ tury MusUm India, " _Cahiers_d4iistoirejnondrali, DC (1966), p. 1004. Fazlur Rahman, “Muslim Modernism in the Indo-Pakistan Sub­ continent, “ Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, XXI (1958), p. 98. q Muhammad Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature (London: Oxford University Press, 1904), pp. 211-356. 63 to Paris, During this period, in 1881, al-Afghani wrote Refutation of the Materialists, primarily as an attack on Sayyid Ahmad Khan's inter­ pretation of Muslim interests; in his alternative program, al-Afghani centered attention upon Turkey, apparently made a great impression upon orthodox Muslims, and came into contact with both Abdul Latif and

Sayyid Amir Ali. Notably also, Nu’mani Shibli one of Sayyid Ahmad

Khan’s associates, made contact with one of al-Afghani's adherents,

Shaikh Muhammad 'Abdul in Cairo. These contacts reveal that the influence of pan-Islamic thought was directly felt by leaders whose basic philosophies opposed pan-Islamic orientation, and suggests the extent to which the influence of the movement permeated the atmos­ phere of late nineteenth century India, ^

That pan-Islamic themes were current at the end of the century was revealed in the public expressions of sympathy with Turkey made during the Graeco-Turkish War in 1897, So strong was Government of

India concern that some maulvis and editors of Urdu newspapers were jailed for sedition. This attack on the traditional religious leaders and upon the emergent Muslim middle class editors was indeed symptomatic of the currency of pan-Islamic, anti-British themes in India, and

English nervousness over potential disloyalty and sedition. In fact, pan-

Islam propaganda was not finally laid to rest until the abolition of the

* Ahmad, "Approaches to History in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Muslim India, " p. 988, 64

Khilafat in 1924.1 Despite repeated assertion of a theme of special bonds between the English and the Muslims, religious Identity, rise of

romantic literature, and glorifications of ancient heroes had suggested

a brand of Muslim nationalism which when analysed, was both anti-

Hindu and anti-British. Nu’mani Shibli's brand of activity was to be so defined, Jhe potential of Muslim disloyalty remained current in the thinking of the era,

British official mentality and the mind set of various Muslim leaders shared other significant assumptions regarding the Indian

Muslim community, Most particularly, both posited a dicotomy between patrician and rebel. Simultaneously, Muslims were highly respected and greatly feared.

The Bengal Army was conceived to have precipitated the 1057 mutiny; the Sepoys of that arm y were viewed as largely M uslims from

*In the twentieth century a Pan-Islamic Society was established in London in 1903. The shortlived Khilafat Movement, fostered by a number of Aligarh graduates, saw the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire as a defeat of the sovereign of Islam, a challenge to the defense of faith, and a m oral stab at Muslim identity. The Khilafat movement was a logical successor to the development of Muslim identity since 1670. A continuum from Hall, through Z&far fAli Khan, Akbar Allahabadi, to Iqbal may be noted. Ahmad, 11 Approaches to History in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Muslim India, fl pp. 1004-1006. The poem "Ebb and Flow of Islam , 11 bemoaned the decar dence of Islam, and compared Muslim society unfavourably with classi­ cal Islam. Fazlur Rahman, "Muslim Modernism in the Indo-Pakistan Sub-continent, " pp, 04-05; Gail Mlnault Graham, "The Indian 'Ulama and the Khilafat Movement, " unpublished Conference Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York City, M arch 27-29, 1972, and "Urdu Poli­ tical Poetry During the Khilafat Movement, " unpublished Conference Paper, Western Regional Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, Salt Lake City, November 10, 1972. See also Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature, pp. 288-356. 65

Bengal and Oudh; and, the old Mughul Emperor had been designated the figurehead for the mutineers. Thus this martial race {and the British

and the Muslim elites did think in racial categories) was demonstrably potentially dangerous. Yet, many of the taluqdars and landed aristoc­ racy, heirs of the magnificent Mughul Empire and thus, patricians, were Muslims and leaders of Muslim regeneration. This was a class to be fostered, for here were the natural leaders of society. With their loyalty, and these were the ’"loyal Muhammedans,tf the loyalty of the peasantry might be guaranteed and the continuance of the raj assured. *

Further, as the British sought causes of the Mutiny and Wahabi unrest, it became clear the "natives1' had been provoked, and that the British had abdicated their responsibility for the welfare of the Muslims in the enthusiasm for reform and for efficient Anglicized administration. So

W, W, Hunter, historian and Director General of Statistics at Calcutta, argued. Quite naturally, fostering Muslim regeneration was one way of executing the responsibility the British had assumed with the rule of

India. The fear of the Muslim community, the respect for the

* Ahmad, "Approaches to History in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Muslim India , 11 pp. 16-17; 24. "The Muslim, ran the myth, was brave, dependent, nearer to Christianity than any other Indian creed, hospitable and self-respecting"; "He must be sup­ ported, encouraged, even humoured. He was the basis of British rule, or at least of its continuance. M See also Thomas H. Metcalf, "The Indian Empire, 1B56-I900; Its Structures and Processes Under the British, ,r unpublished Conference Paper presented at American Historical Association, New Orleans, December 28-30, 1872, 66 aristocracy, and the discharge of British responsibility moved in tan­ dem between 1875 and 1909, and conditioned the responses and attitudes of the era.

With convictions of fear, respect* and responsibility, the British administrator responded to Muslim initiative. ^ From a stance of hostil­ ity to the Muslim community* British official thinking evolved to neut­ rality, and gradually tended toward favouritism. Communal electorates and community representation on municipal and provincial councils in the Punjab were the institutionalization of this evolution in thinking.

Dominant was the political equation that consideration and communal 2 representation might maintain peace and stability. In a decade of 3 frequent communal rioting

it was hoped that separate electorates and a balance of interest would reduce tension. In neither case did the British try to create a gulf between communities. Rather, responding

The British encouraged Muslims to participate in schools and colleges. The first resolution on special education for Muslims was written by L,ord Mayo in 1870. See Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, pp. 180-132, 1‘Resolution of Government of India on Muslim Education June 13, 1873° from Selections from the Records of the Government of India. Home Department no. 205 (1886), pp. 152; 226- 220. 2 Barrier* “The Punjab Government and Communal Politics, M p. 538. 3 The riots subsided after 1692 when the Muharam and Dasahra festivals ceased to coincide, but communal tension remained* as the cow protection societies gained in popularity. Ibid. * p. 520; Gopal, British Policy in India* pp. 193-104. Communal riots were frequently reported in the nineteenth cen­ tury. F or instance, they occurred in Bombay in 1837, in Broach in 67

to an existing gulf which threatened order, they pursued policies calculated to diminish conflict and eventually to improve communal relations. ^

Communal considerations gradually assumed institutional form.

By the i8601 a Lord Dufferin, enunciating the British sense of mission

1B57, in Janjirain 1877. There were disorders in 1871 and 1872 which were followed in 1805 by riots in Lahore and Karnal. Trouble occurred in Delhi in 1886, and Dera Ghazi Khan was the scene of disturbances in 1889. In 1891 violence erupted in Palakod; B e ra r w itnessed rio ts in 1893-1894, and communal violence was widespread in United Provinces and Bombay in 1893, Calcutta had its day in 1897. Increased communal feeling was also evident in Aligarh, See for example India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh, General Department, Proceedings of the Government of North West Provinces and Oudh. General Department, February, 1891, p. 3. N. Gerald Barrier, ’’Muslim Politics in the Punjab (1870-1B90), " The Panjab Past and Present V-I (April, 1971), p. 90, notes more than fifteen major riots over cow slaughter or related issues of playing musical instruments in front of religious buildings in the 1883 to 1891 period in the Punjab alone. Bombay witnessed a M uslim-Parsee riot in 1873 and again in August, 1893 was the scene of disturbances. The role of the press in spreading rumor and precipitating riots became increasingly prevalent at the end of the century. See also Reginal Coupland, The Indian Problem, 1833-1935: The First Fart of a Report on the Constitutional Problems in India Submitted to the Warden and Fellows of Nuffield College Oxford (London: Oxford University Press, 1942), p. 29.

^Barrier, ,rThe Punjab Government and Communal Politics, " p, 538; see also Ibid. , pp. 534-535; 537-538, and Barrier, ’’Muslim Politics in the Punjab, 11 p. 92, In 1883-1804 a G overnm ent R esolution on Local B oards of May 18, 1882 vested enlarged functions in muni­ cipal councils. Power over financial awards and patronage accom­ panied these functions. Expos£es revealed nepotism and abuse of civil power as well as appointments to jati and religious compat­ riots. In 1886 communal disturbances resulted in government nomination of municipal council members to weaken the dominance of religious cliques. The Lieutenant Governor issued secret orders. He directed that civil service posts be filled with qualified Muslims until they represented a proportion equal to their representation in the upper and middle classes of the population. This "was not 68

and responsibility in the decade, stated upon his arrival in Bombay

"that he would watch with pleasure over the interests of the Moslems in

India, Revealingly, Lord Dufferin conceived of the Muslims as

a nation of 50 million, with their monotheism, their icono­ clastic fanaticism, their animal sacrifice, their social equality and their rem em brance of the days when enthroned at Delhi, they reigned supreme from the Himalayas to Cape Cormorin. ®

Lord Dufferin perceived the rebel and the aristocrat, and articulated significant assumptions which permeated the responses of the era.

After official inquiry, the government announced, in July, 1885, that where Muslims did not have 1tftheir full share of State employment’ premised on Muslim loyalty or on a theory of divide and rule. Rather , . , [it was] believed that inclusion of more Muslims would gradually quiet one area of conflict, Muslims would supposedly quit agitating as their lot improved, while a Hindu-Muslim balance would check gross maladministration, 11

^Gopal, British Policy in India, p» 158. 2 Dufferin's Minute of November 18B8 on Provincial Councils, cited in Hardy, The Muslims of British India, p. 1; see also Sayeed, Pakistan: The Form ative Phase, p, 21, 3 In 1867 there were a total of 2182 posts of over 500 rupees a month, Europeans occupied 2048, or 93,0% of these, Hindus 99 or 4,5% and Muslims 35 or 1, 6%, In 1903 of the 3860 posts, 3254 o r 84, 3% were held by Europeans, 508 or 13.1% were occupied by Hindus, and 98 or 2,57% by Muslims. By 1912 the 5392 posts were distributed among Europeans, Hindus, and Muslims in the proportion of 82, B% (4466), 14.5% (826), and 2 , 6% (142) respectively. Comparing the percentage of posts held by Indians which were occupied by Muslims, a different picture emerges. In 1867 Muslims constituted 26.1% of the posts held by Indians; in 1903 Muslims occupied only 16.1% of the Indian held positions, and by 1912 Muslims constituted 14. 6%. This breakdown supports the contention of declining 69

efforts would be made to "'redress this inequality. 1M Thia indicated

the Muslims were increasingly recognized not as a dangerous group but

as a martial race descendant from those who had ruled India, and thus

able to comprehend the responsibilities and difficulties which confronted

rulers, * Promoting education of Muslim gentlemen to assume positions of responsibility, and interest in appointment of greater numbers of

Muslims to public service were logical corollaries of the redefinition of the Muslim community as reasonable men cognizant of British efforts 2 to bring peace and stability to India. Operating in the context of the above perceptions of the condition and potential of the Muslim com­ munity, the Muslim elites functioned to foster the interests of their community to maximize the elements of aristocratic loyalty and to mini­ mize the components of Muslim rebellion.

Muslim position in the Indian Civil Service. From a representation approximately 6% higher than their gross proportion of the population, by 1912 Muslims in positions of over 500 rupees a month had declined to represent approximately 6% less than their proportion in the popula­ tion. Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, p, 220*

*In an address to the Mohammedan National Association of Calcutta in 1886, Lord Dufferin noted the "sympathy and approbation 11 expressed for British rule in India and said "Descended as you are from those who formerly occupied such commanding position in India, you are exceptionally able to understand the responsibility attaching to thciie who rule." Cited in Sayeed, Pakistan, The Formative Phase, p. 21. 2 Significantly, Aligarh directed its activities to retaining access to positions of power which had traditionally been held by the Muslim urban upper class, whose sons expected to enter government bureaucracy. 70

Various mechanism a existed within the Mu all m community which

could serve to articulate and represent the interests of the group.

These were generally regional societies which concerned themselves

with particular interests of Muslims in the immediate area or which

represented special interests of particular Muslims. More significantly, these organisations represented a multiplicity of analyses of Muslim identity and interest. They ranged from the Deoband School, estab­ lished in 1867, * through the pan-Islamic Society, the Urdu Defense 2 3 Association, and the Muhammedan Political Association, all of 1903.

4 They encompassed movements as disparate as the Faraidiya Movement

Deoband was founded on strict Hanafi Sunni orthodoxy. While generally portrayed as traditionalist, particularly contrasted with Aligarh, Deoband has more recently been presented as at least not anti- British, For the traditional analysis see Zuja-ul-Hasan Faruqi, The Deoband School and the Demand for Pakistan (New York; Asia Publish­ ing House, 1963); for the revisionist approach, see Barbara Metcalf, ITThq British and the Reformist 'Ulama , 11 unpublished Conference Paper, Western Regional Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, San Diego, O ctober 29, 1971. 2 Anjuman-i-Faraqui-i-Urdu, with T. W, Arnold as president and ShibliNu'mani as secretary was another such organization. 3 Viqar-ul-Mulk [close associate of Sayyid Ahmad Khan and later Honorary Secretary of Mohammedan Anglo-Orient aL College] founded the Muhammadan Political Association at Saharanpur. See Zakaria* Rise of M uslim s, pp. 100 ff, for d etails of its aim s and objectives. 4 Proponents of Muslim reform in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries included Shaikh Ahmad of Sirhind and Shah Waliullah. Their successors in the traditionalist mode included such nineteenth century figures aa Abdul Aziz and Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, one of whose offshoots was the F a raid iy a Movement of Bengal. 71

in Bengal, the Qadiani or Ahmadiya Movement of M irza Ghulam Ahmad

Qadiani (1839-1908) in the Punjab, and the Nadwat ul Ulama (Muslim

Educational Society) established in Lucknow by Nu'mani Shibli in 1694,

Numerous anjumans (cultural organizations) existed in urban

areas in India, * Only the Anjuman-i-Islam, established in Bombay in

1076 by the Shi’ite Tyabji family advocated inter-communal cooperation*

It was, however, established to provide educational facilities for

Muslims and to pressure government for employment of Muslims in civil service. In fact its Muslim identity was explicit* Twelve years 2 after its foundation, when Badruddin Tyabji was actively participating in the Congress leadership elite as the representative of Anjuman-i-

Islam, it declared itself against Congress* Thus Tyabji found himself

See Appendix III for a list of various anjumans which affiliated with the United Patriotic Association in its opposition to the Indian National Congress demands in 18B8. 2 Badruddin Tyabji (1844-1906), the first Muslim to qualify at the London bar, was a Bombay attorney and a Bohra sect Shi 1 a Muslim from a wealthy merchant family. Tyabji, educated initially in a maktab, later studied English at Elphinstone Institution in Bombay. Taken to France, he proceeded from there to London to study law. He was called to the bar in 1807, and with his brother Camruddin’s help, set up practice at the Bombj^y High Court* By 1880 Badruddin Tyabji was recognized as a leading Bombay lawyer. In 1862 he was nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council. In 1095 he was raised to the Bench of the Bombay High Court, Tyabji was instrumental in the establishment of the Anjuman-i-lslam in Bombay, an organization which helped popu­ larize English education and some social reforms. Tyabji was an active leader of the Indian National Congress, its first Muslim president in 1867, and an exponent of Muslim social and educational progress in association with Congress agitation. His correspondence with Sayyid Ahmad Khan is notable in its reasoned effort to persuade Sayyid Ahmad of the efficacy of Congress, its platform, and its methods. Notably 72

a representative without an organisation , 1 In contrast to the coopera­

tion with Congress advocated by Tyabji and his associate Rehmatullah 2 Sayani, two other organizations in Bombay city competed effectively

for Muslim loyalties, Anjuman-i-Ahab and the Bombay National

Mahommedan Association, provided a more orthodox platform of com­

munity integration, which minimized inter-communal cooperation.

Badruddin Tyabji, as an English educated, Bombay, Shi 1 a Muslim was removed from the mainstream of traditional, orthodox, Sunni Muslim thought, and from any possible claim to leadership of the Muslim com­ munity of the North West Provinces. For a biography of Tyabji see Husain B, Tyabji, Badruddin Tyabji (Bombay; Thacker, 1952); see also Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, pp. 52-53; 343-345,

^eal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, pp. 335-3 36. 2 Rehmatullah Sayani (1847-1902), a well-known Bom b^ solici­ tor, presided over the twelfth Indian National Congress session, which was held in Calcutta in 1896, Sayani was the son of a Khoja ShiHte business family; he learned English, took an M. A* degree in 186B and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1860. Sayani was closely connected with the Tyabji family, having qualified as a solicitor and joined the firm of Badruddin’s brother Camruddin. In 1876 Sayani was elected to the Bombay Municipal Corporation, and remained on that board until his death. In 1888 Sayani was elected President of the Bombay Municipal Corporation and was nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council. Subsequently he spent two years on the Governor General's Imperial Legislative Council. While Sayani’s accomplishments are outstanding and his prominence unmistakable, the Shi'ite Bombay Congressman was not a leader of the Muslim community of Northern India, and did not attract the support of Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Aligarh elite. As the Moslem Chronicle wrote on January 16, 1897, after the Calcutta Con­ gress session In which only 6, 88 % of the participants were Muslims, of which 77.7% were from Bengal, "The Muslim community, in clear and unmistakable terms and in emphatic protests, had made known their view that he did not, would not and could not represent them, ..." Moslem Chronicle, January 16, 1897. 73

Among the earliest Muslim organizations founded in Calcutta

wen.: the Muhammedan Association before January 31, 1856, * and the

Mnhoniodan Literary and Scientific Society established in April, 1863

by Nawah Abdul Latif, ^ a civil servant and m em ber of the Bengal

^Ramesh C. Majumdar, British Par amount cy and Indian Renaissance, History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. X Part II (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1063), pp. 297-298; Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, p, 221, Fazloor Rahman headed the organization, Mahommeci Muzher was secretary, Whilt? shortlived, it remained loyal to the British through the Mutiny, and congratulated the Queen on the rebellion's suppression.

"Nawab Abdul Latif (1828-1893) was a Bengali Muslim who claimed descent from the Arab warrior, Khalid bin Latif. Abdul Latif’s efforts as a statesman and civil servant earned him the honorific titles of Khan Bahadur, Nawah, and C .I.E , Latif is considered one of the first advocates of change and advancement within the Islamic community and is lauded for his work as a civil servant and judge, lie defended the Muslim community and advocated western education as a vehicle for attaining political awareness and governmental position. Pursuant of lhat position, in 1853 Abdul Latif offered a one hundred rupee prize for the best essay on ’’Advantages of an English education to the Moham­ medan Youth of India, M Latif waa educated at the Calcutta M ad r ass a, whore he became proficient, in English, reportedly against the wishes of his parents and relations. Re is credited with being one of two students at the Calcutta Madrassa between lfl2fi and 1851 to pass the junior examination in English. He passed the civil service entrance examination and entered government service in Bengal in the Subordinate Executive Service in 1849. He was dismissed from hit; post as deputy magistrate for alleg­ edly being partially responsible for the indigo disputes in Bengal in 1859-1862, but was retained in the service. Latif sat on the special census committee for Calcutta, was a member of the Board of Examina­ tions for the civil and military services, served on the board of com m issioners to deal with income tax administration, and acted as justice of the peace for Calcutta. He was one of the original members of the Bengal Legislative Council, nominated first in 1862, and reap­ pointed in 1866 and 1872. He was also a member of the Calcutta Cor­ poration, and in addition served the Nawab of Bhopal as Prim e Minister, and the Amir of Sind as Private Secretary. Latif was also on the 74

Legislative Council. The Mahomedan Literary Association received

official patronage* and

in it* middle and upper class Muslims of the city gathered* and discussed political* social and religious questions*

faculty of the Dacca Collegiate School* and was tran sferred to the Calcutta Madrassa as Anglo-Arabic Professor. He retired in 1887* and was a founder of the Presidency College and a fellow of Calcutta Univer­ sity. Although Abdul Latif held various civil service posts, his pri­ mary contributions to the Muslim community were in the field of educa- tion. He encouraged Muslim students to study English as a means of competing with Hindu students for government, jobs. As Latif assessed the situation, the clinging to traditional educational forms had left Muslims in the backwaters of progressive education. To relieve the Muslim difficulties, Latif founded the Muhamme­ dan Literary and Scientific Society in Calcutta in 1063, The Society was to persuade the higher and middle class Muslims to study English and western sciences. It was also to assist Muslims in securing a substan­ tial share in government service. The parallels with the work of Sayyid Ahmad Khan are notable, and LaUl's support of Sir Sayyid1 s Scientific Society was not surprising. Despite limited success* the Muhammedan Literary and Scientific Society provided a mechanism for educated Mus ­ lima in Calcutta to express their grievances, and consequentJy had political implications in articulating Muslim identity. While Abdul Latif had asyisied leaders of the Indian Association in organizing an all-India conference in Calcutta, and had assisted in opposing the llbert Bill* by 1885 he opposed the Indian National Congress on the grounds that the Hindu numerical superiority would jeopardize Muslim interests. Open competition would hurt the Muslim cause* and therefore, Muslims should avoid Congress. To him Congress endan ­ gered the possibility of substantial concessions from the British govern­ ment. Thus, Latifrs position was similar to Sayyid Ahmad Khan's, and Latif, like Sir Sayyid, received correspondence from Tyabji chastizing and challenging his position. The phenomenon of interlocking leadership is clearly evident in the life of Abdul Latif. He was one of the founders of the National Mohammedan Association of Calcutta, he aided in the establishment of the Central Mohammedan Association* and he assisted and supported Sayyid Ahmad Khan's organization of Mohammedan Ang'o -Oriental College. 75

increasingly in the light of English ideas and standards, and with increasing respect for European learning, ^

The Society, which waa to break down prejudices and exclusiveness and 2 to make members interested in modern thought, was pro-British, 3 urban based, elitist, and loyalist; its purpose was primarily educational and social. The Society met monthly at Abdul Latif's home for lectures 4 on Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and English literature and society, and die- cussed ways to "'impart useful information to the higher and educated 5 classes of the Mahomedan community, 1,1 The Society, which in 1865 had a m em bership of 200 and in 1877 enrolled 500, sponsored an essay

See Nirmal Sinha, Freedom Movement in Bengal, 181 8- 1904, Whora Who (Calcutta: Educational Department., Government of West Bengal, 1968), p. 201; S, Abid Husain, The Destiny of Indian M uslim s (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1965). p. 28; Yusuf Husain, e d ., Maulana Azad Library Archives Section: Selected Documents from the Aligarh Archives (Bombay; Asia Publishing H^use, 1967), p. 6; Ram Gopal, Indian Muslims; A Politic a) Hisiory (New York: Asia Publish­ ing House, 1959), pp. 37-38, Seal, The E m ergence of Indian Nationalism , p. 315; Tyabji, Badruddin Tyabji, p. 194; The Pioneer Mail, September 11, 1887, p. 317.

^Wilfred C. Smith, Modern Islam in India; A Social Analysis (London: Victor Gollancz, Ltd., 1946), p. 14. 2 Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, pp. 221-222. 3 Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p, 310. The mem­ bers, to demonstrate loyalty to the raj, utilized the traditional mechan­ ism of Fatwas to enunciate their adherence to the British, 4 Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, pp. 221-222.

^Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p, 309, Q Ibid., pp, 309-310; Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, pp. 221-222. 76

competition on the subject "How far would the inculcation of European

Sciences through the medium of the English Language benefit the

Muhammedan students in the present circumstances of India* and what

are the most practicable and unobjectionable means of imparting such

instruction,1'* The responses received generally minimized the poten­

tial benefits of English sciences and instruction, The Society remained 2 "practically a literary club for the elite *11 which avoided adventures in 3 politics* and indulged in criticizing other Muslim leaders. For exam­

ple* the (Central) National Mohammedan Association* Amir Ali's group,

was considered "unsound" and ignorant of "the language of good Society

[Urdu].1' The educational scheme the National Mohammedan Association

put forth was considered by the Literary Society to ignore religion* and* 4 to make matters worse, Amir Ali was a Shi'a Muslim. Despite its backbiting* its limited activity* and its small membership, all of which were revealing of thevariety of Muslims opinion and of the elitist nature of Muslim politics* the leader of the Mahomedan Literary Society*

Abdul Latif, was recognized by the British administration in Calcutta as a spokesman of the Calcutta Muslim community. As such* Latif was

*Seal, The E m erg en ce of Indian Nationalism, p. 309. 2 Ikram* Modern Muslim India* p. 102*

3lbid. 4 Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, pp. 310-311. 77

consulted by the government regularly^ on matters affecting Muslim

interest. So, also, were Leaders of other Calcutta based associations.

Another such Bengal regional Muslim organization similarly

based on loyalty to the British crown but more actively oriented toward

political regeneration of the Muslim community was Sayyid Amir All’s 2 . 3 (Central) National Mohammedan Association founded in 1877, the year

after Banerjea's Indian Association was established in Calcutta to unify

Indian races and peoples on the basis of common political interests and

aspirations, and to promote friendly feeling between Hindus and Muham-

4 5 medans. Amir Ali, a lawyer who was acquainted with Sayyid Ahmad

*5eal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p. 310. 2 The word Central was added to the official title of the National Mohammedan Association in 1883 after branches of the society were established in provinces outside Bengal.. 3 The date 1878 is given by Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism , p. 310, 4 Majumdar, History of the Freedom Movement in India, I, 16. 5 Amir Ali (1849-1928) was the author of The Critical Examina­ tion of the Life and Teaching of Muhammad, A Short History of the Saracens, and The Spirit of Islam, first published in 1B91. These books informed the late Victorian Englishmen pf the history and tenets of Islam. Amir Ali tried to prove that authentic Islam and western values coincided; he simultaneously stressed the continuity of the Khilafat. In his Memoirs Amir Ali traced his descent Mfrom the Prophet through his daughter Fatima, 11 and recorded his ancestor as the eighth apostolic Imam, Ali al Raza, buried at Meshed (Khurasan, North­ eastern Persia). Amir All descended from a Shi 1 a Muslim whose family had come to India with Nadir Shah in the eighteenth century and had settled in Delhi. The descendants settled in successive generations 78 while the latter was in London and who was the controlling figure of the

Mahomedan Observer, perceived "the complete lack of political train­ ing among the Muslim inhabitants of India, and the immense advantage and preponderance the Hindu organizations gave their community."^

Consequently, cooperation was detrimental to Muslim interests, and institutionalization of vehicles for Muslim expression was essential.

The National Mohammedan Association was to improve the status of

Muslims.

Amir Ali, ied an Association which was hfto improve the poiiti- 2 cal status of his co-religionists , 11 In numerous ways this Association, in Oudh and Bengal. Amir Ali received his English education at the Hooghly College, earned his M,A, degree in political economy in 1869, and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 187 0, After practicing a year, Amir Ali settled in London on a Government of India scholarship. He was called to the bar in 1873 and returned to Calcutta where he practiced law, Amir Ali was elected a Fellow of the Calcutta University of 1874, and in 1875 became a lecturer on Muslim law at Presidency College. From 1878 to 1881 he was Chief Presidency Magistrate. Nominated to the Bengal Legislative Council between 1078 and 1883, he joined other Indian leaders in favouring the llbert Bill, Amir Ali served as judge of the Calcutta High Court from 1890 until his retirem ent in 1904, Upon retirement Amir Ali left India with his English wife and settled in London. After the 1906 foundation of the All-India Muslim League Amir All established a London Branch on May 6, 1908 to lobby for Muslim interests in England. In 1909 he became the first Indian member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Ahmad, "Approaches to His­ tory in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Muslim India, M pp, 995-996; Rahman, "Muslim Modernism in the Indo-Pakistan Sub- Continent, " pp, 88-08; Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, pp. 340-343; Ikram , Modern Muslim India, pp. 104-106.

^Khursheed Kamal Aziz, Britain and Muslim India (London; Heinemann, 1963), p. 556n; Case] "The Aligarh E r a , P| p. 123. 2 McCully, English Education, p. I84n, 79 in which Sayyid Ahmad declined to participate, anticipated Aligarh political positions. ^ Most particularly, it was loyalist and pro-Britiah,

Muslims who had abstained from joining Banerjea's Indian Association 2 participated in the National Mohammedan Association. The Associa- 3 tion had opened thirteen branches by 1885, and fifty-three by 1B&8,

Travelling through India in 1083-1884, Amir All focused upon all-India

Muslim problems, stressed British moral obligations for special 4 m ea su re s for M uslim a, and proposed an All-Indian Muslim Annual 5 Conference in 1884. The Mohammedan National Association declined to participate in Indian National Congress politics, and its leaders had, revealingly, proposed a Muslim conference before the establishment of the Congress.

A m ir Ali recognized Government aid as essential to Muslim revival, and a separate political organization essential to acquiring that aid. As Amir Ali assessed Banerjea's program of simultaneous

^ase, "The Aligarh Era, " p. 123. 2 McCully, English Education, p, 315, 3 Of these branches, twelve were in Bengal, eleven in Bihar, seven in North West Provinces and Oudh, eight in the Punjab, one in Delhi, and five in Madras, This leaves eleven scattered in the rest of India. Seal, The Emergence of IndiLan Nationalism, p. 3i5; Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, p. 225, 4 Ahmad, "Approaches to History in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Muslim India, " pp. 21-71, 5 Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p. 313. 80 civil service examinations and elected legislative councils, two reiter­

ated and dominant requests of the Indian National Congress, and two ma­ jor contributions to Muslim paranoia, Amir Ali considered the measures institutionalized Muslim disadvantage, and, in the long run, condemned the community to further deterioration. What Amir Ali proposed was ,fa pressure group run by Muslims specifically for Muslims 11 with a program

1'based squarely upon the demand for preferential treatment.11* This meant a proportion of jobs reserved for Muslims, de-emphasis of West­ ern style university education qualifications for office, no simultaneous examinations for the covenanted civil service, no competitive examina­ tion for the uncovenanted civil service, attention to special Muslim 2 3 educational requirements, and separate representation for Muslims.

Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p. 312, The Memorial of the National Mohammedan Association of February 6, 1882 stated that "no measure of reform adopted within the community would have any appreciable effect in arrestin g the progress of decay .... It is therefore that your memorialists look to Government for those steps which the necessities of the case require , 11 2 Ibid. Amir Ali, testifying before the Public Services Commis­ sion in 1887, characterized the Indian university system as a ,fhuge m a­ chine for manufacturing B, A. fs and M+ A . 1 s M in which no attention was paid to the moral training, culture, or general education of the students, "The University here has neglected this essential. , . and it has directed its attention simply to qualifying youths for passing certain examinations without reference to their future careers, or their general culture. " Testi­ mony of Sayyid Amir Ali from the Proceedings of the Public Service Com­ mission Relating to Lower Provinces of Bengal, VI, pp, 190; 198; cited in McCully, English Education, p. 170. In his assessment Amir All, whose evaluation of the Indian university system harmonized with that of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, articulated a more general elite Muslim concern for Mus­ lim education vis~a-vis the proportion of Hindu university graduates. ^Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p. 311. 81

The National Mohammedan Association and the Mohammedan

Literary Society both represented elite educated Muslim opinion in

Calcutta. Each supplied opinions on Muslim interest to the Government oi India* The former was more modernist than the latter for "around

Amir Ali. , . gathered those Muslims who found Latif too conservative and his program of self-help ineffective,M^ Elowever, while these two associations advanced slightly divergent interpretations of community interest, they agreed with one another, and with Sayyid Ahmad Khan,

Muslim leader in the North West Provinces-- participation in the activi­ ties of the Indian National Congress was detrimental to the interests of 2 the Muslims. Asserting strict and loyal adherence to the British, they discouraged Muslims from participating in the 1886 Calcutta sea- 3 sion of the Congress, and refused to participate themselves. Both the

Aligarh Institute Gazette, reporting on the proceedings of the Muham­ medan Educational Conference, and the National Mohammedan Associa- 4 tion, denounced Bengali baboos and sedition in 1886.

Muslim organizations in Bengal Presidency, with branch affiliations in other provinces of India, and Muslim institutions in

*Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p, 310. 2 Majumdar, Indian Political. Associations, pp. 223-227, 3 Gopal, British Policy in India* p* 159.

^Barrier, "Muslim Politics in the Punjab, " p, 96, 82

Bombay Presidency were not isolated expressions of Muslim identity or

opposition to the Indian National Congress. Elsewhere in India special

interest societies which became vehicles for Muslim separate identity

existed. Anjuman-i-Punjab was established at Lahore in 1865 to revive

ancient oriental learning. It and the Delhi and Lahore Anjuman-i-

Islamia, were gradually converted from traditionalist cultural societies into instruments for modernist reform and revival. During the 1870’s

Hindu militancy, particularly championed by the Arya Samaj, propelled them toward self-strengthening. ^ After 1877 the Lahore Anjuman-i- 2 Islamia supported Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s activities, and Anjuman-i- 3 Himayat-i-Lalam of Lahore carried out reforms. Its efforts were to make English language study compulsory in its schools, to stress female education, and to assert English as essential for acquisition of government posts. Headed by a government official and two lawyers, it was influenced by, and defended, Sayyid Ahmad’s position regarding 4 Muslim loyalism and modernization via English. While there was

^Anjumans countered Arya Samajist activities via street preach­ ing, publishing papers in defense of Islam, and founding tract societies. One such society was the Muhammadan Literary and Tract Society of Lahore, established in 18B2. The Ayr a Samaj used these techniques and the fighting fire with fire image is apt. Barrier, "Muslim Politics in the Punjab," p. 87, 2 Ibid., pp. 86-87, 3 Society for the Defense of Islam, established 1885.

Barrier, "Muslim Politics in the Punjab, 11 p. 87. 83

difference of opinion among Punjabi Muslim leaders regarding support

of either Sayyid Ahmad's program or Amir Ali's position, * the general 2 lone manifested was anti-Congress. Only one Punjabi Muslim 3 attended a Congress before 1888; Muslim interests were, the anjumans

believed, served through Muslim associations.

The consciousness of Muslim identity was particularly evident

in Nadvat-ul - 1 Ulama, the Muslim Educational Society, established in 4 1894 at Lucknow by Nu’mani Shibli. Although the organization was a

rival of the Aligarh Movement, and focused upon the traditional

scholarly religious elites of the Muslim community, Shibli had been a

proteg£ of Sayyid Ahmad KhanTs, had been a teacher in the Mohamme­

dan Anglo-Oriental College's Oriental Department, and had remained

officially as an Assistant Professor of Arabic from 1883 to 1899. Shibli

quarrelled with Sayyid Ahmad Khan, but retained his associations with both Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Viqar-ul-Mulk, It appears that the combina­

tion of his training in Islamic literature, the abolition of the Oriental

* Barrier, "Muslim Politics in the Punjab, 11 p. 94. 2Ibid, , p, 100.

3Ib id ., p. 96,

4Nu'mani.Shibli (1857-1314) was, in his years at Aligarh, popu­ lar and influential. His proteges became sponsors of the Khilafat Move­ ment and of journalism in the pan-Islamic vein. Nu'mani Shibli broke openly with Aligarh only after Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s death, but had re­ signed from the College earlier to write on a stipend awarded by the Nizam of Hyderabad, Ikram, Modern Muslim India, pp. 132-141; see also Ahmad, "Approaches to History in the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Muslim India," pp. 988-990, 84

Department of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, and his quarrel with Sayyid Ahmad Khan activated Nu'mani Shlbll's participation in Nad vat-til-'Ulama. While Shibli advocated the benefits of traditional education '1 as contributory to Muslim pride, he insisted in the Nadval- ul-'Ulama that English be compulsory in the madrassas. While Shibli and his organization condemned the emphasis upon government service as the reward for education, they presented a comprehensive educa­ tional scheme which stressed the essential component of pride in

Islamic identity and the preservation of that Islamic association. Edu­ cation was a means, not an end, and Muslim brotherhood, a pan-

Islamic theme, could take precedence over loyalty to the British.

Nu'mani Shibli reacted both to the philosophy of Sayyid Ahmad and

Aligarh, and to the developments within British imperial policy affect­ ing Muslims outside India. He reflected the aroused sensitivity evident within the Indo-Muslim community. He defined Muslim interest in

Islamic terms as a separate community, and institutionalized an educa­ tional vehicle to foster Muslim progress.

In the foregoing capsulized review of selected, representative, modernist-oriented, Muslim organizations, the recurrent theme-- inculcating cultural pride and consciousness as part of Muslim regener­ ation--was striking. Likewise, the awareness of Muslim minority

^Muhammedan Educational Conference, Annual Report, 1887. 65

status permeated elite consciousness, and the possibility or eventuality

of perpetual Muslim disadvantage, institutionalized through competition for civil service positions and elections of legislative councils, activated the articulation of Muslim proposals for educational reform. Notably each of the modernist movements reviewed presented a program of education for Muslims. These generally defined the Indian Muslim community in an Anglo-Muslim context. Simultaneously, each of the institutions, which were regional in their origin and activity, advanced perceptions which were conditioned by the heritage of the mutiny, which were directed to an aristocracy, or which reflected, even if indirectly, the influence of pan-Islam. Implicit in the assumptions of the elites were the need to all^r fear of Muslim rebellion and to convince the

British administration of Muslim loyalty. Explicit in the alternative programs devised was a Muslim identity which was defined universally even if implemented regionally.

Of equal significance, viable Muslim organizations were well developed within the community in the lB701s and continued to evolve in succeeding decades. While it may be that Muslim attitudes toward an all-India movement began to emerge only after 1885, 1 and were institu­ tionalized in the Muslim League only in 1906, it is equally significant that until 18B5 there was no all-India National Congress and that Muslim

*Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p. 308. 86 opposition to the Indian National Congress was not only immediate but also channelled through Muslim institutions existent before, not created subsequent to, the inception of the Indian National Congress. Also revealing is the fact that programs articulated against Indian National

Congress demands for competitive civil service examination and elec- tive legislative councils were consistent with programs for Muslim education instituted before Congress' establishment and reflected

Muslim concern for their minority status and their educational disad­ vantage in English. The modification of Muslim attitudes was one more of magnitude than content, a conclusion which is clearly demonstrable in an examination of the Aligarh Movement specifically. CHAPTER m

THE SCENE: INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE

PHILOSOPHY OF THE ALIGARH MOVEMENT

O F SAYYID AHMAD KHAN

The Aligarh Movement of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, in its multiple facets, was initially predicated on a set of mutually reinforcing assump­ tions governed by the consideration that the Muslims formed a perma­ nent minority in India. Loyalty to the British was, consequently, advantageous, for non-democratic government was in Muslim best interests. This was particularly true since the British were conceived as benevolent autocrats who were receptive to being informed about

Indian best interest. Presumably, Indian Muslim aristocrats would speak to British civil service aristocrats, and the welfare of the Mus­ lim minority would be fostered through reasonable dignified gentlemanly conversation with representatives of the impartial government. Furth­ ermore, the Hindus were viewed as a monolithic political menace whose internal divisions were miniscule compared to the dichotomy between

Hindu and Muslim interests. Finally, the Middle East provided a source of Muslim moral (not physical) strength , 1 Where loyalty to the

^ ase, "'The Aligarh Era, ,f pp. 1-2.

87 68

British and communal identity with Muslims outside India came into conflict* Sayyid Ahmad Khan opted for loyalty* While fellow Muslims could offer emotional aid to Endian Muslims, the British could offer material support. The latter was a pragmatic imperative* In short, the Aligarh Movement was spokesman for a permanent distinguishable minority and assumed the self-appointed responsibility of representing its version of Muslim interests to a receptive British raj*

The contradictions and inconsistencies in the above position* how­ ever, gradually became manifest between 1890 and 1909 as the British raj instituted widened electorates and representative institutions* While

British administrators took note of the communal tensions and political activism, and moved toward a position that favouritism might possibly produce loyalty, which would* in turn, maintain peace and stability, the

Muslims of Aligarh were becoming aware that loyalism did not neces­ sarily guarantee favours, and that the British raj could not be depended upon to act in Muslim best interest. It was in this situation that the

Aligarh leaders sought bold new directions for maintaining the interests of their community.

In reviewing the evolution of the Aligarh Movement* and its con­ nection with other Muslim organizations in India, the name of the North

Indian Muslim aristocrat* Sayyid Ahmad Khan, is frequently repeated.

The year 1B57 had brought this loyal East India Company servant to a crucial decision--the Muslim community must reform itself and adjust 89 to the British acquisition and retention of paramountcy in India, After briefly contemplating emigration, Sayyid Ahmad Khan commenced a program of modernization and reform activities based upon loyalty to the British and acquisition of English education, the two basic premises of his philosophy to foster Muslim interests and modernize the com­ munity, From 1858, when he wrote Causes of the Indian Revolt in defense of his community, until his death in 1898, Sayyid Ahmad Khan was the paramount, autocratic, but not unopposed, figure in Muslim modernism in the North West Provinces, His activities in this period were implemented in a variety of specialized organizations, but his philosophy was consistent, Sayyid Ahmad founded schools in the towns in which he was stationed by the Indian Civil Service, He wrote in defense of his community, and attempted to explain the causes of the

Indian mutiny while denying Muslim responsibility for that event. In asserting loyalism, he expended great effort in convincing the British that Muslims were not bound in conscience by tenets of religion to revolt, a theme sounded by W. W. Hunter in The Indian Musalmans.

He argued, instead, that if Muslims were educated, they would appre­ ciate the advantages of British rule, and that only ignorance of western knowledge and the true doctrines of their own faith kept them from this happy juncture. Since the problem isolated was ignorance, the remedy 90 was, naturally, education. ^ The program, whose general outlines were established in the decade following the mutiny, had multiple facets, and the series of institutional forms may be usefully viewed as a con­ tinuum.

The Scientific Society with its news organ. The Aligarh Institute 2 Gazette, was founded in December, 1662 at Ghazipore, The head- quarters were moved to Aligarh in 18G4 when Sayyid Ahmad Khan was transferred, and the cornerstone of the Aligarh Institute Building was laid by Edmund Drummond, Lieutenant Governor of North West Prov­ inces on November 30th of that year. The Scientific Society was to f1foster and encourage the growth of an enlightened public spirit in the 3 population of these North Western provinces, u to make ’’the subjects of the British Crown more capable of appreciating the blessings of the

British rule and to make them more loyal to and more worthy of their

^Through this chapter the parallel positions of Theodore Beck will be noted in the footnotes. 2 By-laws and parliamentary procedures of the Scientific Society indicated the debt to western organizational forma, also true of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College structure. Husain, A a ad Library, pp. 16-19; Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 19; The Aligarh Institute G azette, January 22, 1875, p, 53, 3 Address to Sir William Muir, Lieutenant Governor of North West Provinces, The Scientific Society had the Duke of Argyle, Sec­ retary of State for India, as its Patron, and the Lieutenant Governor of United Provinces and the Punjab, Edward Drummond and Mr. McLeod, as its Vice-Patrons. Aligarh Institute Gazette, May 22, 1668, p. 323 Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 19. 91

,i. ivc r pi gr r 11 * and t.r an slate var ious works on arts and science from 2 English to Urdu. Writing to the Scientific Society from England on

17, IB 69, Sayyid Alim ad Khan, chief mover of the Society,

-if an.fh

Until the education of the m asses is pushed on as it is here, o '.h impossible for a native to become civilised and honoured. (’he cause of England's civiiiz.ation is that all the arts and -sciences are in the language of the counlry .... Those who jro really bent on improving and bettering India must re mem her that the only way of compassing ihiy is by having the whole o' the arts and sciences translated inio their own language. ^

A H'Oit.hriLiHy, the Scientific Society was to obtain and publish rare and 4 ■ r.v.iji^e oriental works, to publish newspapers and journals to im 5 i-j'r native minds* and to sponsor occasional lectures on scienti'-c

■ \t d ihdiFr useful subjects, The goals reveal the priority given to educ a f'l'tia1 activity, and the orientation of these educational efforts toward

'r'f-irm and modernization of the Muslim community as preliminary to

i udon of the values of English civilisation and ihe English ( rine.,

Address to Sir John Stt achey, Aligarh fngtitu

■ ' -:r11j.ir y 2 2 1875, p. 53, Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 19. v "Kais Ahmad Jafri, ed, , Rare Dot u me ms tLahore; Muhamed A1 Academy, 1967), pp. 87’ 88. i Husain, Azad Library, p. 16, 4 Tbid. fi This provision was added to the Prospectus in 1867 Husain, A-'Jid L ibrary, p. 16, 92

Sayyid Ahmad Khan, during his trip to England in 1869,

.iriir jlated many of the themes which later became hallmarks of the

Muhdrnmedan Anglo'Oriental College. Among the theses were self- r equation of civilization with English language, manners, cus-

'urns and education, self-direction, attacks upon complacency, and loyalty to the British Crown* Addressing himself to the question of

self-reliance, Sayyid Ahmad Khan wrote, tiO well w ishers of Hindu star ., do not place your dependence on any one! Spread abroad, relying on yourselves and your subscriptions* . . . Turning to education,

Sayyid Ahmad Khan stressed

1 only remark on politeness, knowledge, good faith, cleanliness, skilled workmanship, accomplishments, and thoroughness, which are the results of education and civili- zation, All good things, spiritual and worldly, which should be found in man have been bestowed by the Almighty on Europe, and especially on England. ^

The Aligar h leader's enthusiasm for English values also revealed itself in An Apology from Syed Ahmad, the Sinner (Uzr Az Taraf Gunahgar

Syed Ahmad) and An Appeal to his Countrymen (Arzdasht ba-Khidmat-i-

A^brub- u-watan). both of which were written in England. Both advanced * the belief that the hope for India lay in acceptance of English values. "

Concentrating upon self-direction, Sayyid Ahmad Khan suggested that

Oerter of October 15, 1669, Jafri, Rare Documents, p. 88 .

^Ibid. , p. 8 8 . 3 ' S, K. Bhatnagar, History of M*A*Q* College,Aligarh (Bombay: A sia Publishing House, 1969), p. 3, 93

ihe members of the Scientific Society must not part with the freedom of

'he Society and its paper, ^ and attaching complacency, the Aligarh

leader warned that "A fatal shroud of complacent self esteem is wrapt ,t2 around the Mohammedan community. , . .

For Sayyid Ahmad, education was THE way to civilization, arid,

sc.'f-direction the sine qua non of attacks upon complacency. If Hindu

stan could only attain that civilization, it would probably become, if not 3 the superior, at least the equal of England. It was this message which 4 The Aligarh Institute Gazette disseminated to its limited circulation

as U became the propaganda vehicle for the Mohammedan Anglo- 5 Oriental College, and the Aligarh Movement.

The work of the Scientific Society and The Aligarh Institute

Gazette, which anticipated so many of the themes which characterized the later organizations of the Aligarh Movement., established the town as H,t.he centre of intellectual and political activity in Northern

^Jafri, Rare Documents, p. SB. 2 Ib id ., p. B5.

^Ibid., p. B3, 4 In 1890 the total circulation was 493, of which the government subscription accounted for 283, Ca 3e, p1The Aligarh E ra , 11 p. 31. 5 The Scientific Society gradually became moribund after the establishment of the College and finally ceased to exist in 1887 after dwindling to ten paying members by 1882. Aligarh Institute Gazette, December 3, 1B87, pp. 1363-1364. It became a club supplying refresh- merits for other gatherings at Aligarh. 94

India 1” 1 and certainly contributed to the spread of Sayyid Ahmad

Khan's fame.

After returning from England in 187 0, Sayyid Ahmad concluded

that the training of Muslims in English was expeditious for spreading

arts and science. Therefore, he reversed his advocacy of translation

work, and urged instead, the spread of English education in English,

Sayyid Ahmad Khan 1 a position became, as he expressed it in retro­

spect in IB84, that:

Experience has taught me that it is impossible for our nation to learn modern science through translated books only. Such translations are useful for lower education but they are of little value for higher education in the Universities. To remain satisfied with transl ations is to make no progress. Knowledge is advancing so fast that even printing cannot keep pace with it, not to talk of delays which the translations involve. ^

The Aligarh leader's concerns and convictions were reflected in his

redoubled effort for the education of Indian Muslims,

On December 26, 1870 ''certain Muhammedaii gentlemen, "

meeting in Benares, formed a 11 Committee for the better Diffusion and

Advancement of Learning among Mohammedans of India. ** The Commit tee sponsored the monthly publication of Tahzib-ul- Akhlaq (The

Mu hammed an Social Reformer) which commenced publication on

^The Hindu Patriot, June 7, 1869, quoted in Aligarh Institute Gazette, August 27, I860, p. 549, cited in Jain, The Aligarh Movement. P. 20, 2 Bhatnagar, History of M.A.O* College, p. 13. 95

December 24, 1870. 1 Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq, appearing regularly for six years, expressed the views of ’’liberal minded M uslim s of all parts of » 2 India,,f propagandized a program asserting that reform of all customs

and adoption of modern civilization would result in Muslims acquiring

Hritish respect. The Social Reformer advocated that religion and pre~ judice against English education and Western science were not synony­

mous, and lobbied for change in Muslim dress, laws of property and succession, positions on slavery, polygamy, divorce, purdah, and education of women. Changes, which meant emulation of English rtia/idards, would move the community from "savagery" and "barbarity” 3 toward civilization.

The Social Reformer which was dominated by Sayyid Ahmad Khan was designed by him

to make the Muslims of India desirous of the best kind of civilization, go that it shall remove the contempt, with which civilized peoples regard the Muslims, and the latter shall

Apparently issue dates were irregular, and the journal appeared once, twice, or three times monthly. Bhatnagar, History of M.A. O. College, p. 6. 2 „ Johannes M. S. Baljon suggests that The aim of publishing this periodical is to make the Muslims of India desirous of the best kind of civilization, so that it shall remove the contempt with which civilized peoples regard the Muslims, and the latter shall become reckoned among the respected and civilized people in the world. " Johannes M, S. Baljon, The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (Leiden: E . J. Brill, 1949), p. 25. 3 Jafri, Rare Documents, p, 83; Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, pp. 178-180, 96

become reckoned among the respected and civilized people in the world. [There were] , , , some religions which stand in the way of progress. It is our aim to judge where Islam stands in this regard. ^

During the first six years of publication, 112 of the 222 articles pub­

lished were authored by Sayyid Ahmad. Other contributors included 2 Sayyid Ahm ad's close associates Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Viqar-ul-M ulk.

After three years interim, Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq revived for twenty-nine

months, during which time twenty-three of its sixty-seven articles were authored by the leader of Aligarh. Thereafter the journal was

apparently moribund until 1894 when it was again revived. Again Sayyid 3 Ahmad contributed articles for publication.

This foray into social commentary aroused considerable fury among the orthodox, and brought suspicion upon Sayyid Ahmad and his educational project, the Mohammedan Anglo ^Oriental College. How­ ever. the positions which Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq put forth were aspects of

Baljon, The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid, p. 25, Bashir A. Dar, Religious Thought of Sayyed Ahmad Khan (Lahore; Institute of Islamic Culture, 1957), p, 12. 2 Both Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Viqar-ul-Mulk, who wrote for the Aligarh Institute Gazette and Tahzib-u)- Akhlaq, were members of the Hyderabad (Deccan) State service. Mohsin-ul-Mulk was in service of the Nizam from 1874 until 1893, and Viqar-ul-Mulk from 1875. Both were natives of North West Provinces, and settled in Aligarh after their retirement. This indication of close connections between the Nizam's court and Aligarh suggests a potentially rewarding area for further research. 3 Baljon, The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid, p. 27, see Dar. Religious Thought of Savyed Ahmad Khan* p. 13; and Muhammad, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, p. 61 n. 97

Sir Sayyid's educational program, and reflected his commitments to

English standards. Many of its proposals were reiterated in the

Prospectus for the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. This was understandable, for the second major activity of the "Committee for the better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning among Mahomedans of

India1* was to sponsor an essay contest to

ascertain why the Muhammedans of India do not avail them ­ selves of the Government system of education, and to suggest means for the removal of obstacles if any, and also to find out whv the study of Western Sciences did not gain favor with them. * 2 The thirty-two respondents concluded that the main reasons Muslims remained aloof from English education were the absence of religious instruction in Government schools, and the effect of English education in producing scepticism regarding Islam, corruption of morals, and depravity of manners. The contestants asserted that corollary impedi­ ments were social and religious prejudices combined with lack of wealth and prosperity in the Muslim community. On the basis of the recom­ mendations emerging from the essay competition, a resum£ and

'"Letter from Sayyid Ahmad Khan to C. A. Elliott, Secretary to the Government of North West Provinces, Husain, Ax ad Library, p. 149. 2 Two men who became members of the Aligarh oligarchy of Sayyid Ahmad and leaders of the College Trustees after his death, com­ peted. Mohsin-ul-Mulk refused to accept first prize, and Viqar-ul - Mulk (Maulvi Mashtaq Husain), who succeeded Mohsin-ul-Mulk as head of the College Trustees in 1907, won second prize. 98 commentary was presented to the Government of India as well as to the

Governments of United Provinces, Madras, Bengal, and Bombay and to the Muslim community. It was acknowledged that prejudice against

E n g lis h education was ill founded but that the Government was unable to meet Muslim objections, ", . . so different in many respects are our educational wants from those of the rest of the population of India.n1^

Therefore Muslims should provide for their own modern education, which would simultaneously preserve their culture and religious beliefs*

On May 12 , 1H72, the Central Committee passed a resolution

that a Committee be appointed to raise funds for the estab­ lishment of a College in the North West Provinces for the Muhamadang which would meet all their requirements, 2

Immediately thereafter the ’’Committee for the better Diffusion and

Advancement of Learning among Mohamedans of India” was transformed to 1lThe Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Fund Committee, ” 4 Sayyid Ahmad Khan was designated Honorary Life Secretary, and under his direction the June 30, 1872 meeting in Benares decided to establish

Sub-Committees throughout India to collect subscriptions for the

* Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, pp. 183-104. 2 Husain, Azad Library, p. 150, 3 Registered under the Registration of Societies Act, 21 of 1880.

4 He held this title in all his associations, including the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. 99

CoSJege,^ By March of 1873 subscriptions totaled Rs, 75, 139, and

when the College opened in 1875, its assets w ere approximately three 2 arid a h-i.il lakhs of rupees. This all-India emphasis for funding was

si ign: lie aril for it indicated early efforts to present the "regional Aligarh

Movement'1 as a super-regional spokesman and torchbearer for Muslims

in India.

The Brospectus for the culminating educational mst.itutionaJ.iza- iion of the Aligarh Movement, Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, w;h>; prepared by Sayyid Ahmad Khan in conjunction with Sayyid Mahmud

'u i hie tund raisers. It recalled many them es of Scientific Society,

Social Reformer, and Diffusion Committee campaigns. It appealed to

Jndian aristocrac:y and to the B ri’ish on *he bases of conscience and 3 responsibility. It also revealed Sayyid Ahmad Khan's particular con- tern for the Muslim community, and for creating an esprit de corps within +hat community. The Prospectus advocated the creation of an enlightened, worthy, cultured, progressive, useful, loyal English educated Muslim elite, and manifested Khan1s determination to alleviate

* The Sub-Committee for Aligarh was headed by Matilvi Sami1 ullah Khan, another member of Sayyid Ahmad's Aligarh oligarchy, A committee to collect funds for the College was established in England under the presidency of Lord Lawrence. Bhatnagar, History of M.A.O, College, p, 37. 2 Ibid. , p. 38; Husain, Azad L ib ra ry , pp. 149-150,

The Circular commented upon Britain1s "wealth, munificence and charity, " which encouraged Muslims 'to seek for a helping hand. 1 Husain, Azad Library, pp. 3-4, 100

the absence of "friendly formality between the ruler and the ruled,

for the purpose of removing mutual suspicion and hatred between

Muslims and Englishmen, and destroying the Muslim conviction that 2 English education was a heresy. Thus the College was to make

3 English education attractive to the highest classes of our countrymen, 11

who would then serve as interpreters and leaders of their community-- 4 "better citizens and better British subjects. " The basic assumption was

Tetter from the Honorable Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan Bahadur, K. C.S.I. to the Chief Secretary to Government, North West Provinces and Oudh, India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh. Education Department, Proceedings. March 1893, p. 289. 2 Sayyid Ahmad Khan, testifying before the Educational Commis­ sion in 1882 stated "European learning .... differed widely in principle from these Asiaticised Greek dogmas [on which Muslim education was predicated], and the Muhammadans certainly believed that the philoso­ phy and logic taught in the English language were at variance with the tenets of Islam while the modern sciences of geography and astronomy were universally regarded, and are still regarded by many, as alto­ gether incompatable with the Muhammadan religion. " Sayyid Ahmad Khan further testified, "Their [Muslim] antipathy was carried so far in- deed that they began to look upon the study of English by a Musalman as a little less than the embracing of Christianity, and the result was that Muhammadans generally kept aloof from the advantages offered by Gov­ ernment institutions . 11 Commenting in 1882, Sayyid Ahmad Khan noted that the prejudice against English education was decreasing, but was nonetheless, still evident, Muhammad, Writings and Speeches, pp, 92- 93; 95-98. 3 Speech to Lord Lytton by the President, Vice-President, and Honorary Secretary of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Janu­ ary, 1877; Mohsin-ul-Mulk, ed., Addresses and Speeches relating to the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh from its Foundation in 1875 to 1698 (Aligarh; Aligarh Institute Press, 1808); see also Sayyid Ahmad Khan, letter of December 20, 18B9, in Bhatnagar, History of M.A.O. College, p. 9. 4 Circular, p. 3, Address to Lord Ripon, 1881, Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Addressee and Speeches. 101 that Mthe removal of this evil [ignorance] was impracticable for Gov­ ernment, and must therefore be a project executed by Muslims,

Sayyid Ahmad Khan's plan envisioned a separate residential college 2 modeled on Cambridge, especially, though not exclusively, for Mus­ lims of aristocratic lineage, "in which there might be an efficient staff of European Professors having a direct social intercourse with the

3 students as a father has with his son" and in which Muslims would be intensively exposed to European science and literature while simultane­ ously receiving Islamic religious training. The style of education en­ visioned was modernist, not traditional. The institution was an English 4 style public school. Sayyid Ahmad Khan castigated traditional

* India* Government of North West Provinces and Oudh. Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, March 1893, p. 289. 2 Sayyid Ahmad Khan's son, Sayyid Mahmud, who drafted the plan for the College, had received a Government of India scholarship to attend Cambridge, Sayyid Ahmad accompanied him to England in 1869 and observed the Cambridge college first-hand. Significantly, most of the English faculty which served Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College were Cambridge graduates, and several had been college friends of Sayyid Mahmud. 3 India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh. Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, March 1893, pp. 289-290. 4 The English public school, central to Victorian English charac­ ter building ideals and ideology, was grounded on a classical education. Us purpose was to educate "gentleman 11 types through careful and con slant nurturing and cultivation. The school, with its boarding compon ent, was thus conceived as a training ground for character, an attribute which took precedence over strictly intellectual pursuits. Well groomed, well mannered, manly and diligent boys were to emerge from the public school experience to assume responsibilities in society. Likewise, in 102

madraasas and maktabs as "hopelessly inadequate for the needs of the

scientific age" and as institutions which would "no doubt destroy their

progeny " 1 by leaving them unprepared for the times. As far as the

Aligarh leader was concernedj

When the question of education is mooted , . , amongst the Mohammedans, their efforts are always hampered by their endeavours to adopt their old hereditary system of education, and the old established course of study «... They are alto­ gether useless to the nation at large, and . . . no good can be expected from them. ^

England, the public school mixed representatives of old families with the new affluent middle class, providing a ground for fusion of common values, or aristocratic pretentions in solid, stable citizens. These functions were envisioned for Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, As testament to the pervasiveness of the ideal, it is notable that Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Theodore Beck, neither of whom were products of actual English public school experience, subscribed so categorically to the efficacy of the exposure. See Briggs, Victorian People, pp. 140- 167, Kiernan, The Lords of Human Kind, p. 37; Bolt, Victorian Atti­ tudes to Race, p. 100; and Hutchins, Illusion of Permanence, pp. 43-52.

^Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Maqalat-i Sir Sayyid: Madhhahi wa I si ami Mud ami n, pp. 273-274, cited in Hafeez Malik, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khans Doctrines of Muslim Nationalism and National Progress," Modern Asian Studies H. 3 (1968), p. 244. 2 Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, p. 179. Sayyid Ahmad Khan also stated: "The old Muhammedan books and the tone of their writings do not teach the followers of Islam independence of thought, perspicuity, and simplicity, nor do they enable them to arrive at the truth of m atters in general, on the contrary, they deceive and teach men to veil their meaning, to embellish their speech with fine words, to describe things wrongly and in irrelevant term s, to flatter with false praise, to live in a state of bondage, to puff themselves up with pride, haughtiness, vanity and self-conceit, to hate their fellow creatures, to have no sympathy with them, to speak with exaggeration, to leave the history of the past uncertain, and to relate facts like tales and stories." Sayyid Ahmad considered these qualities detrimental to the new system of education. Ibid. 103

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College was dedicated to the new world and to raising the barriers of traditional education,

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College was organized in two departments, the English and the Oriental, The English section always outweighed the Oriental, and the latter was abolished for lack of interest and enrollm ent in 18B5. In the period of Sayyid Ahmad K han’s ste w ard ­ ship the College gained increasing popularity, its enrollments increased rapidly, and its dedication to the production of Muslim English gentle­ men was maintained. The advocacy of the public school image to which

Sayyid Ahmad Khan was committed was implemented by his faculty and staff. The College provided a close knit campus life in which Muslim boys were introduced to the merits of sports, service, and intellectual pursuits. ^

Theodore Beck’s philosophy of education, which defined his professional raison d’gtre, conformed to Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s definition of Muslim educational priorities, Theodore Beck, like his employer, viewed the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College as an English style educational institution (located in the unconducive climate of Indial, founded on self-help and Muslim control, established to inculcate active loyalty to the British Empire in the martial Muslims, and to provide a bridge over the sea which separated the nation of rulers from the nation of ruled. Education cultivated attitudes of responsibility and duty. See particularly Pioneer Mail, Augusts, 1893, p. 18; Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Addressee Relating to the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Theodore Beck's greeting to Sir Charles Crosthwaite, 1892; Jafri, Rare Documents, p. 206. Early in the Principal's career he wrote; "At present, although there is a marked decrease in the opposition, the great bulk of the Mo­ hammedan community has not been reconciled to the movement, " This statement, which proceeded to note, "the most martial and most united people in India" and which commented upon the government grant-in-aid, 104

Since Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College was the primary expression of Sayyid Ahmad’s educational faith, he was perpetually closely paralleded Sayyid Ahmad Khan's perceptions recorded in India, Government of North West Provinces and Oudh* Educational Department, Proceedings, 1809; Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Addresses Relating to the Moham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College, Address to Sir Auckland Colvin, March 1 0 , 1888; Muhammad, Writings and Speeches, p. 178. Theodore Beck, cognizant of the fixation in the Indian educational system upon the passing of examinations, offered Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College as a favourable alternative to the government college, which, in his opinion, operated to produce partially educated men. Theodore Beck hoped to produce educated and highly motivated scholars, who would pursue their studies not for the love of the examination pass, but for the love of learning. He bemoaned the detrimental effects of the Indian universities' examination mania, which required a smattering of knowledge in many subjects, asserting that if one out of one hundred graduates were a scholar "no amount of time and labour spent on hig education would be thrown away, for the seeds of learning would be planted in this country. " Commenting in hig Annual Report of 1892- 1893, Theodore Beck noted that while good results in university exam­ inations were very essential to Indian colleges, these should not be "the yardstick to measure the goodness and suitability of education imparted in the College. 11 The Principal saw the extraordinary emphasis placed on university examinations perverted other aspects of education, divert­ ing the attention of both professors and students from "Moral education, character building, physical training and advancement of knowledge. " Put simply by Theodore Beck, higher education in India was in fetters and the remedy was more collegiate autonomy to judge its results by "the only true teat, the kind of men. . . [turned out], not the percentage of students. , * [passed]." Thus, instead of "rival cramming establish­ ments, 11 educational institutions freed from the "tyrannous master" of examination results, might flourish. Repeatedly, Theodore Beck re­ turned to his theme, and that of his employer--education was for the whole man; martial Muslims, manly of physique, morals, and intellect, would be "better men, better gentlemen, and better scholars. " Such specimens, activated by a sense of profound duty, and conducting them­ selves in a manner acceptable to the British, would simultaneously assume leadership of a regenerating Muslim community and a proper place in continuing the prosperity of the British raj* Aligarh Institute G azette, August 20, 1895, pp. 799-802, Ibid., August 15, 1893, pp. 803-Bll; Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. Principal of the Moham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College, Annual R eport, 18^-1893, p. 3; Ibid. , 105 concerned with the preservation of the institution of its character as defined by him, * He resigned from government judicial service in July,

1876 at the age of sixty to devote his full attention to the College, and involved himself in supervising every aspect of College administration,

Sayyid Ahmad headed the Fund Committee which had been converted to the governing body of the College, and which operated under a Code of

Rules adapted in 1879. According to these rules, the Committee of

Management had the authority to suspend any officer or servant for any special reason, and the Principal was to refer m atters of admission, expulsion, and punishment of students to the Honorary Secretary, who in turn, would refer the m atter to the Committee of Management. The

Managing Committee had authority to sanction or to disallow admission of students into the college and expulsion of them from the College, The

Principal was to report problem s of discipline to the Committee, and matters of furlough for the English faculty were in the charge of the

Muslim administrators. The regulations placed the Honorary Secretary in the position of greatest authority, but associated the Principal with

1B95-1896, p. 25; Ibid. , 1896-1897, p. 10; Pioneer Mail, August 9, 1B93, pp. 17-18; Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, Nov­ ember 1894, pp. 150-151, "Report of Theodore Beck's Speech of Friday, November 26, 1894; " Ibid. , July 1, 1896, p. 280,

^ h e first graduates received degrees in 1882. In the next five years, twelve degrees were granted. Between 1B82 and 1902, 2 05 B.A#1s were awarded and 15 M, A.'s received. 106

him in determining the direction of the curriculum and life within the

cel] ege. ^

The Code of Rules was replaced in 1089 by the Trustee Regula­

tions, which reaffirmed the dominant position of Sayyid Ahmad, the

Honorary Secretary, and simultaneously formalized the College admin­

istration more thoroughly than the previous regulations. The Trustee

Regulations of 1809, w ere conceived to insure against the possibility 2 that the Trustees or "their some future coming generations" might not 3 be "trustworthy and efficient managers , 11 F ro m the outset, the Moham­

medan Anglo-Oriental College had existed with limited support and extended opposition within the Muslim community, Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s numerous reform and innovative activities since 1857 convinced him of 4 the insecurity of his position and of the institution's vulnerability. In the course of his educational campaign he had "suffered extreme auster­ ities, exciting abuses with threats of life from my community, and . , ,

* Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Code of Rules for the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, at Aligarh, 1879, pp. 1-31. 2 India, Government of North West Provinces and Oudh. Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, M arch 1893, p. 291.

3Ibid. 4 Sayyid Ahmad Khan needed to attack the defeatist attitude, wrest leadership from the traditional religious leaders, convince the community of the value of western education while inculcating loyalty to the British, and convince them of Muslim trustworthiness, Sayeed, Pakistan; The Formative phaae, pp. 14-15; 53. .1 had born cold hostility from some unforesighted European authorities.

It is not surprising to discover in his administration of the College a paranoia fixation with guaranteeing the continued existence of his cherished dream. He devised rules and regulations which would check the potential power of his opposition and any precipitate actions by the

Trustees. Sayyid Ahmad also massed control and responsibility for the operation of the College in his own hands, and sought association of the

Government of the North West Provinces in his schemes. Sayyid

Ahmad's tremendous prestige was not sufficient to eliminate or to hold his opponents in complete abeyance. Urging Government acceptance of

Patron status, Sayyid Ahmad stated

I know it fully that there are some who are entirely against having the European officers, while others regard it as unnecessary. If ever in future this policy will be given up, I am certain that it will utterly defeat the very purpose, both political and educational, for which the College is founded. Considering all these circum stances it is [a] m atter of first importance that the responsibility of having an eye on the state of the staff of the College must vest [sic] in Government.^

The Government, aware of the difficulties within the administration of the Fund Committee, and presumably, the opposition to the Trustees

Regulations, declined certain responsibilities, arguing that it did not wish to run the risk of siding with factions of Muslim Trustees, and did

*India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh, Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, March 1893, pp. 2 89-290. 2 108

not wish to act as arbitrator, ^ However, the Government was urged

that as Patron it '’should supervise and have a watch over their [the

Trustees] actions, in order that the College and its properties might

not suffer and be ruined, ,T Thus it was proposed that the Government

be able to examine accounts, institute inquiries regarding compliance

with College regulations, and that the Director of Public Instruction for 3 the province review requests for changes in the Code. While Rule 140

established that

The Government and the Director of Public Instruction shall have no power to interfere in the internal management of the education, and the management of the Boarding house and the appointment, dismissal and transfer of the College staff and the matters connected with religious instructions, ^ the proposals made by Sayyid Ahmad Khan and the correspondence between him and the Educational Department of the North West Provin­ ces and Oudh made explicit the fact that the Flonorary Secretary of the

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College sought to guarantee the continued character of the College, its improvement and expansion, and the addi­ tion of European personnel to supervise and enhance loyalism and

^Tndia. Governm ent of North W est Provinces and Oudh. E duca­ tion Department, Proceedings, October 1889, p. 3; Ibid. , March, 1B93, pp. 293-298; 291.

^Ibid., M arch 1893, p. 291, 3 Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustee Regulations, 1809, Part I, unpaginated.

^Ibid., Rule 149. 109

r appro ache me nt. Noting the potential problem of disagreement

regarding the European staff, Sayyid Ahmad Khan wrote on April 22,

108!):

It is possible that sometimes a difference of opinion might arise between the Trustees and the European officers of the College in interpreting and understanding the meaning of the rules. It has been considered proper that in case of any difference of opinion between the parties, the matter should be decided by some high authority, and to obtain this object they have framed Rule no, 42 in Part II of the same Code, *■

Rule 42 provided that differences of interpretation be submitted to the

Director of Public Instruction and via him to higher authorities if 2 necessary. In anticipating conflict S£(yyid Ahmad Khan realistically assessed the differences of opinions within his oligarchy, and equally expressed concern that removal of the European faculty would "utterly defeat the very purpose, both political and educational, for which the

College is founded,11^

Thus, the College was reaffirmed as an educational institution for Muslims which would accommodate others flso far as may be conais- 4 tent therewith," The preeminent position of Sayyid Ahmad Khan was expounded. During his Honorary Secretaryship, which was for Life,

* India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh, Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, March 1093, p, 300,

2Ibid. pp. 298, 300. 3 Ibid., p, 298.

4Ibid. no

Sayyid Ahmad had unilateral control over the physical plant of the

College with the accompanying right to receive and expend money for the College building without reference to the Trustees, and with only a report to the budget meeting. * The Secretary of the Trustees was their chief executive officer, and all correspondence with regard to the 2 College was to be conducted by him and in his name. Subordinant to the Secretary were all officers of the College, whose number, pay, personal allowances, and travelling expenses were the business of the 3 Trustees, and were, in the life of Sayyid Ahmad, his responsibility.

Consequently the English staff were defined as subordinates.

According to the 1889 Regulations a Managing Committee was subordinate to the Trustees. Unlike the Trustees, who were required to be Muslim, and who were weighted to assure control to the elite of the North West Provinces and Oudh, the Managing Committee could include Hindus, Muslims, and Englishmen. This committee, which was presided over by Sami'ullah Khan, had as its secretary Sayyid Ahmad 4 Khan, Likewise, the Committee of Direction of Various Languages and

Secular Learning, which was also subordinate to the Trustees, had the

^Muhammed&n Anglo-Oriental College, Trustee Regulations, 1889, P a r ti, Rules 65, 66, and 70.

2lbid., Part II, Rules 119 and 120.

3Ibid. , Part II, Rules 110 and 111.

4Ibid., Part II, Rules 92-96, Ill

Honorary Secretary as its Secretary, ^ The portrait which is drawn in

outlining these regulations la that Sayyid Ahmad fortified his dominant

place at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College * and as leader of the

Aligarh elite, by formal legal provisions. Despite opposition to the

Trustee Regulations, which Sayyid Ahmad Khan dismissed by saying

Some of the members of the College Fund Committee who owing to some reaso n s of their own form ed a party in opposition to the passing of some of the rules of the constitution, strongly opposed them, ^

The Regulations became the governing rules of Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College,

The Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College continued to operate under the 1889 Regulations until after Sayyid Ahmad 1 s death. In 189B, pursuant with the provisions of the Regulations, Sayyid Mahmud was expected to assume the position of Honorary Secretary- However, be­ cause of Sayyid Mahmud's failing health and inconsistency, considerable concern regarding his ability was expressed. As the controversy exploded, Mohsin-ul-Mulk was elected to the position, and Sayyid

Mahmud compensated with the newly created post of President of the

^uham m edan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustee Regulations, 1389, P art II, R ules 83-86, 2 India, Government of North West Provinces and Oudh, Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, March 1B93, pp. 290-291. It is inter­ esting that Sayyid Ahmad Khan does not acknowledge that the opposition to the regulations is specifically addressed to the retention of the English faculty and the maintenance of the character of the institution through the artificial device of appointing a successor who was a blood relation. 112

Trustees, While Sayyid Ahmad's intent to retain the character of the

College as originally delineated by him was unsuccessful, the object of

his 1889 maneuveurs is clear. Sayyid Ahmad the reformer, was like­

wise, Sayyid Ahmad the conservator. While the guarantees were to

insure against the pressures of those conservatives in the Muslim

community who did not accept the necessity of English education and

English staff at the College, the regulations were also directed towards

those who asserted the fallacy of rapproachement through education and

who desired equivalency through Islamic identity. In his activities,

Sayyid Ahmad acted upon the assumptions of Muslim minority status,

and the receptivity of the British government to reasonably stated Mus­

lim requests, * He sought to preserve the stance of loyalty and English

style education.

In 1886, eleven years after the establishment of Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College, Sayyid Ahmad Khan was instrumental in the 2 foundation of the Muhammedan Educational Conference, The Confer­

ence was called the Muhammedan Educational Congress until its name

was changed at the fifth session in 1890 to distinguish it from the Indian

National Congress. The Conference was subsequently designated the

* Theodore Beck commented similarly in Pioneer Mail, May 20, 1888, p, 635, 2 During the interval Sayyid Ahmad established the Muhammedan Political Association in 1BB3. It lasted less than a year. Sayyid Ahmad Khan was secretary; Aligarh Institute Gazette, April 7, 18B3, pp. 381- 391. 113

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Educational Conference in 1895. It met in December in competition with the Indian National Congress, making

attendance at both organizations physically impossible, and was pre­ sided over by the key members of the Aligarh oligarchy.

The Muhammedan Educational Conference was an extension of the Aligarh Movement, Its personnel and the places of its meeting indicated its close association with the Aligarh elite. From 1B86 until

1B97 Sayyid Ahmad Khan acted as Secretary, and from 1B98 until 1906

Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's successor as Honorary Sec­ retary of the College Trustees, assumed the position of Secretary of the

Muhammedan Educational Conference, Between 1886 and 1898 the Con­ ference met at Aligarh five times, and in the North West Provinces and

Oudh nine. It departed from home to go as far as Delhi once and to

Lahore twice. The Presidents of the sessions in the era were half from

Punjab and half from North West Provinces. * Notably, attempts were made to remove the regional character, but it is not until after Sayyid

Ahmad Khan’s death that the goal was accomplished. In the next decade, the Conference was convened in each of the Presidencies, and only one meeting was scheduled at Aligarh. Simultaneously, the Conference came to be supported by Muslim leaders who previously had avoided it,

^Edward D. Churchill, "The Muhammedan Educational Confer­ ence and the Aligarh Movement, 1886-1900, M unpublished Conference Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York City, March 27-29, 1972, p. 3; see also Appendix II. 114

For instance, Sayyid Amir Ali and Badruddin Tyabji became its

President at the 1B09 and 1903 sessions, meeting at Calcutta and

Bombay respectively, *

The Muhammedan Educational Conference was an assembly of

Muslim aristocrats and leaders of the Muslim community predominantly

from North West Provinces and the Punjab, On membership lists moat

participants wrote after their names some status title such as a govern- 2 ment position, taluqdar, tabs Ildar, editor, or rais. The dues paying

membership was roughly divided between the North West Provinces and

Punjab, with the princely states of North India and Hyderabad (Deccan) 3 representing third and fourth place.

The goals of the Muhammedan Educational Conference were to

unite the energies of various localities by creating a focused program

to solve problems of Muslim education. The meetings were not politics

in disguise. Resolutions on political and religious topics were not 4 allowed. As the aims outlined by the first and tenth conference

^Churchill, "The Muhammedan Educational Conference, M p, 16.

^Ibid., p. 4. 3 Ibid., p. 3. 4 Ibid., pp. 4-&. At the opening session in December 1B86 Sayyid Ahmad Khan stated: "In these days our nation should not strive for anything other than the ape ad of education. If. . . education will be sufficiently spread, then we shall have sufficient means to arise from our backward position. " Baljon, The Reforma and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyed, p. 33j Jain, however, argues for the political aspects. 115 illustrated, the purpose of the Muhammedan Educational Conference was and remained educational and communal. As recorded, the goals of the Muhammedan Educational Conference were

That European science and literature should spread among the Muslims and that ways should be found to promote this.

In private English schools managed by Muslims, inquiry should be made about the state of religious education and efforts made to improve the quality of education.

Eastern learning and theology taught in traditional ways by the ulama should be provided to those people who want it. Ways should be found to implement this.

The makatib, the private, elementary level schools, should be im­ proved and extended for the education of the common people.

Schools for memorizing the Quran should be improved and e x te n d e d ,*

To these five goals outlined at the First Conference were added resolu­ tions incorporating new arenas of attention. The Tenth Conference report outlined six more aims of the conference. These included

To carry on research on Muslim accomplishments.

To compile biographies of Muslim scholars and authors.

To procure and trace the rare writings of the Muslims. of the Muhammedan Educational Conference; The Aligarh Movement, pp. 87-88; 90, His argument that the Conference was to create com­ munal consciousness, and was not primarily educational because its members were not educationists, is a weak line of reasoning.

^Churchill, "The Muhammedan Educational Conference, " p. G; see also Jain, The Aligarh Movement, pp. 73-91. 116

To carry on research and to create interest in historic accounts of the past*

To collect Firmans in order to preserve them*

To organize lectures and research on worldly knowledge (dunyavi),*

Notably* the latter six goals* outlined in 1896* when Sayyid Ahmad was

2 criticized as T,high handed 11 reflected an orientation to things Muslim, while the initial five aims of the Muhammedan Educational Conference concentrated on the English oriented educational system for Muslims.

One of the goals of the conference was promotion of communal spirit, sympathy, and cooperation; the results were evident in the emphasis upon common cultural heritage* Recitation of poems and lectures on

Islamic history fostered Muslim identification.

In the Muhammedan Educational Conference, as in the Moham- medan Anglo-Oriental College, several orientations toward the regen­ eration of the Muslim community emerged. One, represented by

Sayyid Ahmad Khanfs Aligarh elite, was forward looking, activist, selective, and anxious to adapt the community to the present circum­ stances. Its primary spokesmen were Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Sayyid 3 Mahmud, Mohsin-ul-Mulk, and Theodore Beck. The other wing of

1 Churchill, "The Muhammedan Educational Conference, 11 p. 17. 2 Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 193, 3 One of the most famous lectures delivered before the Muham­ medan Educational Conference was Sayyid Mahmud's irA History of English Education in India (1781-1893)" which described benefits of 117 opinion was nostalgic, uncritical, anxious to preserve traditional ways and values. It had no paramount spokesman, but its opinions were recorded in the speeches of Irfan Ali Beg, Munshi Ahmad Ali Shauq,

Munshi Muhammad Sajjad Husain, and Munshi Suraj uddin Ahmad , 1 As an extension of the dichotomy of opinion, the two most controversial issues in the Conference were whether advanced or college level educa­ tion should be given priority over middle and lower level education and whether private elementary schools (mahtabs) should be established and 2 encouraged, regardless of their quality, As might be expected, Sayyid

Ahmad Khan and the Aligarh wing gave precedence to college level edu­ cation, and cautioned about wasting precious and limited resources of the Muslim community on scattered and uneven educational endeavours.

The Aligarh elite encouraged and advocated a centralized and standard- 3 ized education (which included English}, directed on the lines of and from Aligarh,

English education and analyzed educational progress among Muslims from 1873 to 1893, In the five hour address, the major emphasis of the speech was Aligarh. The speech advocated concentration upon College education, and stressed the Aligarh paranoia that the progress of the last twenty years was insufficient to the welfare of the Muslim com­ m unity.

* Churchill, "The Muhammadan Educational Conference," pp, 7- 9. 2 Ibid., p. 9, 3 The Pioneer, The Pioneer Mail, and The Aligarh Institute Gazette carry extensive annual reports on the sessions. 118

As might also be predicted* the affairs of Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College intruded upon the Muliammedan Educational Confer­

ence. The College was praised as a model of what could be

accomplished, and ita students were considered as examples of ’’the

right combination of worldly sophistication and communal sympathy,1^

Further, the Conference was used by its Honorary Secretary as a 2 sounding board for College factional problems* In this and other mat­

ters the Conference provided a platform from which Sayyid Ahmad could

explain the Aligarh program,

Ijooking specifically at the accomplishments of the Muhammadan

Educational Conference, they were not impressive. While the resolu­

tions channelled discussion to specific issues, most of the positive

accomplishments in organizational and information collection on the

state of Muslim education in North India were the result of individuals

in the Aligarh Movement. For instance, the Fourth Conference received 3 a list of all anjumans in India, something of tremendous value a few

years later for the Patriotic Association, However, in February 1800

when Theodore Beck called a meeting to establish standing committees 4 for the Conference, only five districts sent delegates,

* Churchill, "The Muhammadan Educational Conference* " p, 6 , 2 Muh&mmedan Educational Conference, Annual Report, 1889, Resolution 8 , p. 141. g Churchill, "The Muhammadan Educational Conference, " p, 1 0 . 4 Muhammedan Educational Conference, Annual Report, 1890, p. 93. 119

The Muhammedan Educational Conference was not a powerful

aggressive agent for advancing Muslim interests. It was, like other

Aligarh institutions, marked by variety of opinion, by elitist character,

and by direction from Aligarh and Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Its emphasis

waa upon education. With Edward D. Churchill who has made an exten­

sive study of the Conference, one must conclude:

While the Conference was an effective vehicle for promoting communal spirit and identity, it was dominated by a spirit that was nostalgic and uncritical and which tended to weaken the aims and interests of the Aligarh Movement. Second, the Conference waa ineffective in arriving at a consensus on educational priorities but did serve to sharpen differences between the Aligarh spokesman and others. Third, these factors help explain how so little was accomplished on the practical front. Finally, with the death of Sir Sayyid in 189B and other important changes at Aligarh, the Conference took on a new orientation. It broke its regional character, shed some of the control and dominance of the Aligarh Movement, and attracted Muslim leaders from other areas and of different political persuasion. *

Its evolution as illustrated by the additional aims of the Conference recorded at the Tenth session, revealed the effort to reorient its activi­ ties. Thus the years 1897 to 1899 marked a turning point for the

Muhammadan Educational Conference. The regional meetings, mem­ bership, and discussions assumed a wider representation, and the

Conference format was revamped. Poems were forbidden, time limits for speechs were established, and regulations for the early printing of the annual report were passed. The Conference finances were separated

^Churchill, "The Muhammadan Educational Conference,11 p. 2. 120 from those of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. ^ It was in this

changed atmosphere that Muslim leaders from Bombay and Calcutta were attracted to the Muhammadan Educational Conference, and it was injthis atmosphere that the Muslim League was founded at a Conference session in December, 1906.

Less than two years after the foundation of the Muhammedan

Educational Conference, in August, 1B8B, the Indian Patriotic Associa­ tion was established through the efforts of Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Raja 2 Shiva Prasad. They were co-secretaries of the organization which set as its task to point out the inaccuracies of the Indian National Congress claims, to inform the Government of Hindu and Muslim opinion opposed 3 to Congress, and to preserve peace by strengthening British rule. 4 W ithin bLx months forty-eight anjumana were affiliated. The Indian

Patriotic Association, which was predominantly Muslim, having one 5 hundred two Muslim members and twelve Hindu participants, soon

* Muhammedan Educational Conference, Annual Report, 1898, cited in Churchill, "The Muhammadan Educational Conference, Ir pp. 13; 15, 2 Homi Mody, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta: A Political Biography {New York: Asia Publishing House, 1963), p, 136; Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p, 82n, 3 Jain, The A ligarh M ovem ent, p. 124; A ligarh Institute G azette, August 26, 1688. 4 Zakaria, Rise of Muslima, p. 66. 5 Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, p. 228. 121

foundered on the suggestion of Raja Shiva Prasad that separate Hindu

and Muslim organizations be established, * under the respective co- 2 secretaries. Tension between the two secretaries mounted; Sayyid

Ahmad Khan reorganized the Association as the United Indian Patriotic

3 Association, to which fifty-two anjumans were soon affiliated.

The objectives of the United Indian Patriotic Association, as

outlined by its Honorary Secretary, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, to whom all

4 communications were to be addressed, were, like the Association's

predecessor,

to publish and circulate pamphlets and other papers for infor- mation of members of Parliament, English journals, and the people of Great Britain, in which the misstatements of the Indian National Congress will be pointed out.

To inform members of Parliament and the newspapers of Great Britain of the opinions of Muhammadans in general, of the Islamic Anjumans and of those Hindus and their societies which are opposed to the objects of the National Congress,

To strive to preserve peace in India and to strengthen the British rule, and to remove those bad feelings from the hearts of the Indian people which the supporters of the Congress are stirring up throughout the country, 5

1 Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p, 6 6 . 2 tbid. ; The Pioneer. November 26, 1888, 3 Zakaria, Rifle of M uslims, p. 73; see also Appendix HI,

4I b id ., p. 370. 5 Ibid., pp. 368-369; The Pioneer Mail, September 2, 18BB, p. 317, 122

As with other Aligarh institutions, its membership was restricted by

dues of twelve to sixty rupees annually, and by the specific prohibition

of government servants.

The work of the Association included publication of pamphlets,

and for this 11 a European gentleman '1 was to be appointed editor. 1 He

would be assisted by members of the Association in selecting and aanc- 2 tioning the publications. Theodore Beck was associated with Sayyid 3 Ahmad as an Honorary Secretary, and was active in the Association's

m^jor projects of publication and petition. The Principal wrote for the

Association, his most notable pamphlet being 11 The Seditious Nature of

the Indian National Congress 11 which was published in 188B by the 4 Pioneer Press. Theodore Beck also contacted the various anjumans

^Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p, 369,

2Ibid., p. 270, 3 Jain, The Aligarh Movement, pp. 124-125. 4 Theodore Beck's opposition to the Indian National Congress like Sayyid Ahmad Khan 1 was unequivocal and comprehensive. r,The notion of violating all historical continuity; of expecting a people saturated through the centuries of ite long life with the traditions of autocratic rule to shake off at once its old feelings and habits, and transform itself into a modern democracy; of assuming that institutions which work not without friction In those nations which are most homogeneous and have been longest trained in their exercise could be adapted to a population five times as great as the largest in which they have hitherto been tried, and as varied and heterogeneous as the diverse peoples of Europe, seems to many thoughtful men, both English and Native, so preposterous as to need no refutation.,f For reasons of historical continuity, traditions of autocratic rule, size, and variety of peoples, Indian National Congress demands, particularly for elections, were extravagantly ridiculous. 123

Their implementation would result in Ma house of illiterate Ignora­ m u s e s 11 livened with "super anuated Government servants and briefless b a r r i s t e r s *11 In his evaluation, Theodore Beck's analysis harmonized with the call of the paternalist for appreciation of historical precedent and appreciation of Indian tradition. Further, Beck's analysis was in agreement with the authoritarian liberal conceptualization of the multi­ racial nature of Indian society. Taken from either vantage point, the introduction of Indian National Congress demands was unsuitable and unjustifiable. Theodore Beck's statements may also be compared with Sayyid Ahmad Khan's testimony, given early in 1883 before the Vice­ roy's Legislative Council. In that address, Sayyid Ahmad Khan warned that "in borrowing from England the system of representative institu­ tions it is of the greatest importance to remember the socio-political matters in which India is distinguished from England. The present socio-political condition of India is the outcome of , . , centuries of des­ potism and misrule, of the dominancy of race over race, of religion over religion .... India, a continent in itself, is inhabited by vast popu­ lations of different races and different creeds .... 11 Under such cir­ cumstances, where distinctions flourished, where no fusion of races existed, where religious distinctions were violent, and where educational advancement was uneven, Sayyid Ahmad Khan argued that "the introduc­ tion of the principle of election . , , for representation of various inter­ ests on local boards and the district councils would be attended by evils ■ . . land could not] be safely adopted. The larger community would totally override the interests of the smaller community, and the ignorant public would hold the government responsible. 11 Sayyid Ahmad Khan implied that the potential of revolt or mutiny was a possibility. That Sayyid Ahmad Khan's statements might well have been made by an authoritarian liberal English civil servant is clear. That in evaluating the hazards of representative institutions, Sayyid Ahmad Khan and the authoritarian liberals anticipated Theodore Beck’s statements is also evident. In short, Theodore Beck presented no novel analysis. He was, in fact, expressing Sayyid Ahmad’s concern in disavowing any claim that the Congress was a representative party. Possibly in many years India would be ready for the Congress demands, but not in the lifetime of anyone living at the end of the nineteenth century. Addressing Badruddin Tyabji on May 7, 1888, Beck wrote: "Our chief objection to the National Congress is one more fundamental than any objection to any specific proposals .... We believe that its holding public meeting, showing the ills of the people, circulating pamphlets . . . will sooner or later, cause a mutiny among the inhabitants of these provinces and the Punjab , , , . The people are really excitable and love a fight. . , and we have the gravest reasons that if this kind of agitation spread, the whole of upper India may one day be aflame. M In this paragraph were sounded several of the motifs of the Aligarh Movement as defined by Sayyid 124 which affiliated with the Patriotic Association, and through them the petition against elective councils was launched and forwarded to

Parliament. *

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association (of Upper

India) supplanted the United Indian Patriotic Association, The Defense

Association which was organized December 3D, 1693 in Sayyid Ahmad

Khan's home in Aligarh, met annually with the Muhammedan Educa­ tional Conference. The substitution of the Defense Association followed the passage of the Indian Councils Act of 1892, and occurred in the con­ text of cow protection agitation, the Ganpati festival, and communal rioting. However, despite the increasing momentum of events which jeopardized the validity of Muslim loyal ism and education as effective vehicles to Muslim welfare, the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense

Association echoed the same Aligarh concerns and restrictions that

Ahmad Khan. Also evident were convictions of a conservative British administrator. Popular politics, particularly in a despar ate populous, was dangerous, for it could lead to violence. "Wholesome grumbling, M as urged upon the North West Provinces by the Bombay Gazette might well become very unwholesome. Once out of control, mutiny would endanger the British and the Muslims of Upper India. The term mutiny recalled 1857, and the spectre of Ireland was added for emphasis. Theodore Beck, Essays, pp. 64-67; 71-73; 81-93; 104-117; Sayyid Ahmad Khan before the Legislative Council, 1883, cited in Cecil M. P. Cross, The Development of Self-Government in India, 1858-1914 (New York; Greenwood Press, 1922, 1968), pp. 122-124; Tyabji, Badruddin Tyab^i. p. 2Q8; Pioneer Mall, May 16, 1880, pp. 613; 615; Ibid., May 20, 1880, p. 635; Ibid. . November 30, 1893, p. 25; Ibid., November 2, 1887, pp. 545-546; Ibid., Novembers, 18B7, pp. 577-578, 1The petition and its signatories are discussed in greater detail in Chapter V. 1

had been evident in earlier organizations, * The Defense Association's

membership was limited to the wisest and most influential Muslims,

who were to lend the weight of their prestige in advocating Muslim

interests. No government servants and no students were eligible to 2 belong, and no public meetings were held. The objectives of the

Association were

To protect the political interests of Muslims by representing their views before the English people and the Indian Government.

To discourage popular political agitation among Muslims.

To lend support to measures calculated to increase the stability of the British Government and the security of the Empire; to strive to preserve peace in India, and to encourage sentiments of loyalty in the population.3

Theodore Beck's political writing was most prolific between 1887 and 1893. These were years in which the Indian National Congress was struggling to present itself as generally representative of Indian public opinion, and years in which Charles BradLaugh’s Indian Councils Act was introduced, debated, and passed by Parliament. These were also years in which the tensions within the Aligarh oligarchy were mani ­ fest in the debate on the passage of the Trustees Regulations, which guaranteed the succession of Sayyid Mahmud. That Theodore Beck reacted to these events would be natural, and, very tentatively might have stimulated him to write puhlically in behalf of the philosophy of his employer, Sayyid Ahmad Khan. One may also suggest that the relative infrequency with which Theodore Beck commented for the Anglo-Indian press in the last six years of his lift* may have resulted from the Prin­ cipal's preoccupation with administrative and educational duties at the College, from the relative hiatus in British administrative reforms detrimental to Muslim interests, and from the institutionalization of viable Muslim organisations such as the Muhammedan Educational Con­ ference and the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association, through which Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Theodore Beck operated. 2 Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, pp. 381-382. g Ibid. ; Jain, The Aligarh Movement, pp. 127 -128. 128

The Mohammedan Anglo-Orienlal Defense Association proved to be

basically ineffective. In 1896 it prepared a memorandum in which it

asked for equal representation of Hindus and Muslims in the North West

Provinces Legislative Council, argued for separate electorates, and

demanded weightage on municipal councils. * In these requests the

Defense Association had the precedent of the Punjab in the lflSO's, and

anticipated the requests of the 1 90fi Simla Deputation, In essence, how­

ever, the Association was a last gasp for loyalism and eschewing of political activism. Its rewards were meager, and in the first decade of the twentieth century Sayyid Ahmad's convictions would be reinterpreted and replaced by his successors. Muslim identity, disassociation from the British, and political activism assumed dominance in the Urdu

Defense Association led by Mohsin-ul- Mulk in 1900, the Muhammedan

Pol it.ical Organization led by Viqar-ul-Mulk in 1903, and the Muslim

League of 1906, of which Mohsin-uL-MuLk and Viqar-ul-Mulk were

Joint Honorary Secretaries,

While the Muhammedan Edu< ation al Conference, the United

Indian Patriotic Association, and the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

Defense Association were each disappointing in fulfilling their intended objectives, each was a logical expansion of Sayyid Ahmad Khan's modernist, reformist political and educational philosophy. In each

^Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 129; Aligarh Institute Gazette, January 30, 1094, pp. 100-123. 127

Aligarh institution from 1863 until 1803 the elitist, educational, and

loyalist themes were repeated,

- A distinct pattern has emerged in the foundation of Sayyid + Ahmad's various organizations* First, the dates of organization and

meeting were in December, a vacation period for Government servants.

Second, December meetings competed with other organizations, most

notably, the Indian National Congress which Sayyid Ahmad opposed.

Third, the organizations were formed at the locale in which Sayyid

Ahmad was living, and often in his home. Fourth, the various branches

of the Aligarh Movement were closely connected; their officers were

often synonymous and they were formed at meetings of pre-existing

organizations* For example, the Secretaries of the Muhammedan

Educational Conference were also the Honorary Secretaries of the

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Sayyid Ahmad Khan himself filled the Honorary Secretary positions in all the organizations during his lifetime, and was followed in succession by his son, Mohsin-ul-

Mulk, and Viqar-ul-Mulk, Furthermore, the Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental Defense Association (of Upper India) was established at the

1893 session of the Mohammedan Educational Conference, and the finale to the 1906 meeting of the Muhammedan Educational Conference waa the establishment of the Muslim .League,

Scanning the evolution of the Aligarh Movement of Sayyid Ahmad

Khan with the pattern of its organizations, and their stated goals, the 128

consistency of Sayyid Ahmad's thought becomes evident. From 1857

until hi& death in 1098, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, the dominant personality

of the Aligarh elite, maintained his philosophy of loyalism and English

education. He articulated these themes in a series of organizations,

all of which were intended to advance the interests of the Muslim com­

munity in India by making it aware of the benefits of British rule, by

providing it with a leadership elite of English educated aristocrats, by

proving it trustworthy and loyal to the British ra.i, and by contributing to the stability of that raj. The lines of Sayyid Ahmad's thought and policy were delineated in the lBBD's and I8701s, and r e m a in e d b a sic a lly unchanged in the 1880's and 1890's. CHAPTER IV

THE ACTORS: THE MOHAMMEDAN ANGLO-ORIENTAL

COLLEGE'S ENGLISH FACULTY

Study of the role of the English faculty* at the Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College which became Aligarh Muslim University in

1920, suggests several general conclusions. First, the Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College, from which emerged many of the leaders of the

Muslim League and around which developed many educational, social,

and political organizations, was founded on Queen Victoria’s birthday,

May 24, with Lord Lytton presiding, in 1875 as a school headed by 2 Sami’ullah Khan, Later designated as a college on January 8 , 1B77,

*See Appendix V for the faculty roster. 2 Sami’ullah Khan, who headed the Aligarh Sub-committee of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Fund Committee was a long time associate of Sayyid Ahmad. He had rescued Sayyid Ahmad’s family in 1057, and was a Pleader in the High Court at Allahabad. He was also a Subordinate Judge at Farukhabad, and retired from Government service on pension in 1892. In 1877 he was in the deputation to the Nizam of Hyderabad, and in April 1804 was appointed to Lord Northbrook’s staff in Egypt. He was the apparent heir to Sayyid Ahmad, having been active on the Fund Committee and having presided over the opening of the College and at the first meeting of the Muhammedan Educational Con­ gress (Conference) in 1886, but after a quarrel over introducing more Islamic elements into the College and the Trustee Regulations of 1889, Sami'ullah left Aligarh. He died April 6 , 1908,

129 130 the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College was a logical and consistent institutional expression of Sayyid Ahmad Khan's philosophy of loyalism

and his belief that English education was essential to the aristocratic elite which must direct the modernization and protection of the Muslim community. Second, the character and operation of Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College was determined and controlled by its Muslim leadership. Third, the respective views of faculty and trustee rights, roles, and attitudes polarized between 1875 and 1909, Since the Muslim elite controlled the College, the faculty became the targets and victims of Aligarh Muslim elite definitions of European dispensibility,

Taking up the points in order, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's special concern for the Muslim community strengthened his resolve to avoid political activism in order to enhance the posture of Muslim loyalty to the British Crown. * His specific anxiety for the Muslim community intensified his determination to retain control of Muslim affairs in the 2 hands of Muslims, The Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College reflected 3 these concerns. It was an English style educational institution, located in the tranquil atmosphere of Aligarh, a town ninety miles from

^India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh. Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, March 1893, pp. 289-290. 2 Ja fri, R a re D ocum ents, pp. 83; 85; BB, 3 Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O. College, pp, 38-40, Speech to Lord Lytton* Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Addresses Relating to the Mohamme ­ dan Anglo-Oriental College. 131

Delhi which recommended itself because it was central to the Muslim

communities in the North West Provinces and Oudh, Rohilkhand, the

Punjab and adjoining princely states,^ Predicated upon loyalism, self-

help and community orientation, Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College

was an educational institution dedicated to Muslim regeneration. The

Fund Committee had sponsored an essay contest to ascertain the reasons

Muslims remained aloof from the government sponsored education. On

the basis of the recommendations from thirty-two contributors which

noted Muslim fears of English education in corrupting the morals of youth and instilling scepticism regarding Islam, on June 30, 1872 at

Benares, it was determined to launch an all-India subscription campaign for Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. The Prospectus of this cam­ paign recalled themes of the Scientific Society, Social Reformer, concern 2 for Muslim community, esprit de corps, and English education. The

Address to Lieutenant-Governor of North West Provinces and Oudh, January 1696. Emphasis upon the Muslim communities of North West Provinces and adjoining princely states reflected the regional character of S^ryid Ahmad's activities, leadership, and concerns in 1875. Appeals to princes were made on the basis of their responsibili­ ties to their Muslim subjects. Significantly, the railroad termini at Delhi and Agra were also crucial considerations. Muhammad, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, p. 6 6 , Bhatnagar reports the decision to locate at Aligarh was voted 47 to 5 on February 10, 1873, Bhatnagar, History of M. A.Q. College, p. 37, 2 Bhatnagar, History of M,A.O. College, pp, 6; 37-38; Husain, Azad Library, pp. 149-150; Baljon, The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid, p. 25; India, Government of North West Provinces and Oudh. Education Department, Proceedings, March 1893, p. 289; Philips, The Evolution of India and Pakistan, pp. 178-180. 132

College was especially, though not exclusively, for Muslims, and was

expected to produce a class of Muslim Englishmen' in the best

Macaulay tradition (minus conversion). The Prospectus with which

fund raisers approached possible contributors envisioned the creation

of an enlightened, worthy, cultured, progressive, useful, loyal {and,

incidently, manly of physique) English educated Muslim elite. The

author of the Prospectus, Sayyid Ahmad, foresaw the removal of the

absence of friendly formality between ruler and ruled, and the elimina­

tion of the equation of English education with heresy. * As the College

Fund Committee expressed itself in addressing the Governor General at the January 8 , 1877 cornerstone Laying ceremony, it ''was very .,2 appreciative of the blessings of British rule. . , and endeavoured

Barbara Metcalf objects to this assertion. See Metcalf, "The British and the Reformist 'Ulama. " It is significant, however, that Sayyid Ahmad Khan and his supporters repeatedly referred to the equation of English education and heresy, and Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq (The Muham­ medan Social Reformer) hammered repeatedly at the point. The essays submitted to the Committee for Better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning among Mohammedans of India repeated this theme; "Address to the Lieutenant-Governor, North West Provinces and Oudh 1: January 1896; Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Addresses Relating to the Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College. The Government of India Educational Surveys also suggested this theme. Likewise, Sayyid Ahmad Khan advised 'ulama who opposed English style education, Mto retreat to bygone ages to such an extent that. , . they would live in the age of the Prophet Muhammad, and his Companions.” Ahmad Khan, Sir Sayyid, pp. 277-278, cited in Malik, "Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Doctrines / 1 p. 242. See also India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh, Education Department, Proceedings, March 1893; letter of March 28, 1892, p. 289,

Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 87. 133

To make these facts clear to the minds of our countrymen, to educate them, so that they may be able to appreciate those blessings; to dispel those illusory traditions of the past which have hindered our progress; to remove those prejudices which have hitherto exercised a baneful influence on our race, to reconcile oriental learning with western literature and science; to inspire in the dreamy minds of the peoples of the East the practical energy which belongs to those of the West, to make the Mussulmans of India worthy and useful subjects of the British Crown; to inspire in them that loyalty which springs not from servile submission to a foreign rule but from genuine appreciation of the blessings of good government. *

The College was not established merely to produce university degrees

or to staff government service; it was to prepare students as "workers 2 who would supply talent for Muslim regeneration." Founders antici­

pated a Muslim university and hoped that the more modest undertaking,

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, would graduate young men to

go forth throughout the length and breadth of the land to preach the gospel of free enquiry, of large-hearted toleration, and of pure morality. ^

The aspirations were clearly defined. Sayyid Ahmad's platform, as

expressed by the Fund Committee, was education which presumed that

"from education springs those social, political, and economical bless-

4 mgs which civilization brings in its train.”

1Jafri, Rare Documents, pp. 133-134. 2 Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 44. 3 Jafri, Hare Documents, p. 134,

4Ibid., p. 187. 134

To attain the goals outlined a small, highly qualified, English

faculty was employed to act as models and guides for the students. This faculty was expected to have direct social intercourse with the students

as a father has with his son. * Logic ally, hiring of English faculty was carefully considered, and was the decision of Sayyid Ahmad Khan and his Muslim supporters who governed the College. Candidates were accepted after investigation and recommendation. The first Principal was recommended by the Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Prov­ inces and the second by Sayyid Mahmud, Sayyid Ahmad's eon. travel­ ling to England in 1883, sought a Principal and recommended Beck for the position only after personal acquaintance. Theodore Morison was a well-known faculty member of the College, as was Mr, Towle, the fifth and last English principal.

In 1875 many Muslims were convinced that reform of the com- 2 munity through English education was heresy against Islam; but in the succeeding three decades the Aligarh educational effort gained popular­ ity and momentum within the Muslim community. Part of this popular­ ity was squarely based upon communalism. The Prospectus had envisioned a separate residential college modeled on Cambridge,

1 India. Government of North West Provinces and Ouch, Educa­ tion Department, Proceedings, March 1893, p. 290. 2 The essays submitted to the Committee for the Better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning among Mohamedans cited these objections. See Husain, Azad Library, pp. 149-150, 135

especially, though not exclusively, for Muslims of aristocratic

lineage. ^ The residential character was conceived as a way to facili­

tate enrollment of Muslim students from parts of India distant from 2 Aligarh, Esprit de corps was to be encouraged by the residential 3 atmosphere and a supra-regional product was foreseen. Mosques

were to be attached to each college and congregational prayers were

mandatory five times daily for Muslim students. Muslim students were

to wear a distinct uniform of sherwani and fez with English shoes and 4 socks. Food was to be taken European style or an Arab chaukis in 5 common dining halls. Members of other religious communities would be accommodated with due regard to their rules of caste and religion, were allowed to make private dining arrangements, were exempted from prayers and were not required to don the school uniform (but no dhoti).

However, the provisions clearly demonstrated that the primary concern was for Muslim students, with developing esprit de corps among them,

* Speech to Lord Lytton, Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Addresses Relating to the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, January 1877; Bhatnagar, History of M. A.O. College, p. 9, 2 Circular from the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Fund C om m ittee, p. 3.

3lbid. 4 Prospectus for M oh am mod an Anglo-Oriental College, Bhatna- gar, History of M. A, Ch College, pp. 38-40.

5lbld. 136 and with making the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College acceptable to the Muslim community. The nature of these regulations would exclude non-Muslims from essential residential aspects of the College, and statistics indicate precisely that. Almost never were there any Hindu boarders. The eight in 1879 had dropped to zero in 1899, Even the percentage of Hindus at the College, predominantly day students from

Aligarh, was always low, It was fifteen percent in 1075-1879, rose somewhat from 1879 to 1893, then began to decline rapidly, from fifteen percent in 1901 to four and a half percent in 1909. ^

While the percentage of Hindu students enrolled at Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College declined, the popularity and momentum of the

Aligarh educational effort was reflected in mushrooming attendance figures. From 162 in 1800 the College population rose to 268 in 1085,

269 in 1090, and 565 in 1895, Despite the embezzlement of College funds discovered in 1896, Sayyid Ahmad's death in 1808, and Theodore

Beck's in 1899, 667 students were in attendance in 1905, and the enroll- 2 ment was 951 in 1809, Simultaneously, the English faculty who in

1875 were anathema to the orthodox because, as Christians and practi­ tioners of W estern science, they threatened the morality and faith of

Muslim boys, were, in 1905, anathema to the Aligarh Muslim elite be­ cause, as Englishmen, they were untrustworthy, aloof imperialists,

^See Appendix IV, 2lbid, 137 obstructing Muslim attempts to oversee and control every phase of

College life. To the Honorary Secretary and prominent trustees the goal of the College was no longer the production of 'Muslim English­ men r( instead it was the training of Muslim politicians. The institution founded to build self-confidence and enhance loyalism had built self- confidence and fostered self-assertive activism. The 1875 to 1905 era reflected the politicalization of an educational institution, and the accompanying polarization of attitudes between Muslim students and

Trustees, and the English faculty. Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Col­ lege was subordinate to "the great Aligarh Movement." Cordial rela­ tions between the British faculty and the Muslim students slowly evaporated.

The second point was that the character and operation of the

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College was determined and controlled from the outset, by its Muslim leadership. While the College received generous assistance from official and non-official English sources, *

Viceroys subscribed various sums. For example, the Earl of Northbrook promised Rs. 1, 000 in 1872, and made a private donation of Rs. 10, 000 for scholarships. The Earl of Lytton, the Marquis of Ripon, Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, and the Marquis of Lansdowne followed hie example. Likewise, Lieutenant-Governors lent financial support as did non-official Englishmen such as W, W. Hunter, who responded to the 1872 appeal with Rs. 1,500. In addition, contributions came from various Hindu gentlemen with the result that as of March 26, iB73, the Pioneer carried a subscription list which totaled Rs, 75, 139; Bhatnagar, History of the M.A.O. College, p, 38. Government of United Provinces promised grant-in-aid when the college began operation and its grant- in-aid was finally the highest in the province. European support was not 138 the principle of self-help and self-direction prevailed. The faculty operated in an atmosphere established by the Aligarh Muslim elite, and at no time was the faculty in a position to exercise unchecked authority or initiative.

The Fund Committee became the governing body of the College in 1875. On the excuse of formalizing the operations of the institution, the Fund Committee was converted into the Trustees by Sayyid Ahmad

Khan in 1B80, The regulations were formally adopted December 21,

1889; the Trustees were ruled by a Code which defined their powers and duties, and which was designed to protect the College and its character from threats of reorientation and reinterpretation by later generations. *

In discussion preliminary to the drafting of the Code, which was intend- ing to guarantee the succession of Sayyid Mahmud as Honorary Secre­ tary, the College was explicitly conceived as a national institution whose success and popularity was due to its governance by Muslims. Expec­ tedly, regulations which were designed to insure adherence to Sayyid universal. In the course of his educational campaign, Sayyid Ahmad bore "cold hostility from some unforesighted European authorities. " India. Government of North West Provinces and Oudh, Education Department, Proceedings, March 1893, p. 289; Ibid., January 1883, pp. 20; 25-26.

* Ibid., March 1893, pp. 291; 297; Ibid., October 1B89, pp. 2-3; The Pioneer Mail, September 8 , 1889, p. 296, The constitution was revised again in 1903 when the Board of Management constitution was approved on January 25, 1903. 139

Ahmad's ruling philosophy established that Trustees must be Muslims,

that the Government of India or the North West Provinces could be a

non-interfering Patron, * and that faculty could not object to Trustee

regulations because they accepted their positions with the conditions

clearly understood. Details of study, hours, numbers of students, and

refusal of admission were to be dealt with by the Principal and the Hon­ orary Secretary of the Trustees, in conference. In cases of dispute, the court of appeal was the Trustees, who, among other things, also 2 determined salaries. The resolution of a dispute with the Honorary

Letter of J, P. Hewett to the Trustees, May 24, 1909, In this letter, the Government reemphasized its wish not to officialize the College, which owed its life and energy to efforts {spontaneous) of M uslim s. 2 English faculty was extremely expensive, particularly when considered in comparison with the increasingly available numbers of educated Indians, and specifically, Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Col­ lege educated Muslims. The Principal's Annual Report of 1890-1899 commented, "There are two branches of the staff--the English and the Native, the latter being mostly Mahomedans, and very largely men who were brought up as students in the college,fl Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College, Principal of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Annual Report, 1898-1899, p. 17. Mr, Slddons earned 400 rupees per month in June 1875, 500 in January of 1BB1, and 550 in April of that year. Mr. Beck earned 650 rupees a month in 1884, 700 in 1889, and in 1893 was granted, after petition, a graded increase to 1000 rupees. In 1097 he attempted to ob­ tain increments for the entire European staff, citing T. W. Arnold's resignation to join the Lahore faculty, as specifically a matter of salary. The Trustees were pressed for financial assets, and the question of salaries for the highly paid English staff, was always one of discussion. Bhatnagar, History of M. A.O. College, pp. 57; 80-81, Dispute on salaries became one factor in Principal Archbold's confrontation with the Trustees, While he contended that he had exclu­ sive right to determine faculty work loads, the Trustees maintained 140

Secretary of the court of appeal waa not entirely unpredictable. Equally

clearly, in so far as possible the Muslim elite determined the atmos­

phere in which the English faculty operated.

The English faculty was always small. As College enrollments increased the number of English faculty remained fixed. Hindu and Mus­ lim staff were employed to meet increased teaching demands. There were three English professors and a Principal in 1880 and three English professors and a Principal in 1905, College enrollments had risen from 162 in 1880 to 667 in 1905. Increased student enrollments meant that the Englishmen who in 1875 were employed to, and did, live in close proximity with the boys, and who acted as models and guides for their behavior and development in and out of the classroom, were, by

1905, remote from their charges. With such a large family, fatherly attention was diluted. The changed atmosphere at the College was re­ flected in frequent complaints from the overworked and underpaid staff of indiscipline among the boys and complaints from the students about that work loads involved the size of the staff and the budget, and were therefore legitimate concerns of the Trustees. Furthermore, they contended that since the faculty only worked four to five months a year and since European faculty were entitled to three months leave every third year in addition to vacations, they would rightfully be required to teach more and do preparation and private reading on their own time, Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Manifesto of the Proceedings of a Consultation Meeting of the Trustees held on the 24th, 28th, and 29th of April, 1909 at the House of the Honourable Nawab Sir Faiijez Ali Khan Bahadur, Aliftyh, pp. 13-17. 141 lack of access to the faculty, ^ Opportunity to influence the attitudes of

College students, or to explain and interpret respective positions and beliefs declined as the size of the student body increased. Misunder­ standings multiplied; the Trustees, pressed by financial concerns and by rising community enthusiasm for Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College education, sought enhanced enrollments to ease financial strains and to please influential members of the Muslim community. As the residential and educational atmosphere of the College changed, mem­ bers of the Trustees began to dabble in the day to day administration of 2 the College, to appoint staff without consulting the Principal, to listen 3 to student gripes, to recommend favourite candidates for admission, 4 and to insist upon passing of students who had failed examinations.

The Principal's Annual Report of 1901-1902, quoted in Mohsin- ul-Mulk, Note on the Progress of the M. A. Q. College, Aligarh During the Five Years, 1899-1903, as Compared with that of the Previous Five Years, viz. 1894-1896, pp. 6-7, comments on the insufficient staff upon which the University Commissioners had commented. On the opinion of the Commissioners, a college the size of Aligarh needed more Euro­ peans and in the opinion of the acting Principal, the College had reached a ''crisis, u

2 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Correspon­ dence Between the Honorary Secretary and the Principal of the M. A.Q. College, Aligarh Regarding the Reasons of the Principal's Resignation as Enumerated in Proceedings of the Interview with his Honour at Lucknow on 29th March, 1909, pp. 2;4.

3Ibld., pp. 2- 6 . 4 Report on the Memorandum of Nawab Muhtaq Husain, Moham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Cor re spondence, p. 6 . 142

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College graduates, "Old Boys , 11 retain ed

contacts at Aligarh after graduation and as they assumed careers in

government, politics, and journalism (among other professions); they

involved themselves with students and administrators. The Trustees

and Managing Committee, whose differences of opinion had been con­

trolled by the overwhelming personality and prestige of Sayyid Ahmad

Khan, began to indulge in political and personal in-fighting as Khan grew

old. This tendency was aggravated by the incompetence of Sayyid

Mahmud, heir apparent, and by illness among senior leaders. The

strains rising in the direction of the College reflected the increasing political concerns of certain members of the management, the pressure of alumni, ^ declining popularity of eschewing political activism, and the decreasing viability of loyalism as the effective philosophy to protect

Muslim interests. Government regulations regarding Hindi precipitated the shortlived Urdu Defense Association in 1901; Mohsin-ul-Mulk,

Honorary Secretary of the Trustees, headed the Association. Positions 2 in Government service were increasingly difficult to obtain. Muslim identity on Muslim terms usurped the place of loyalism.

^Bhatnagar, History of the M.A. O. College, pp. 18B; 225; David Lelyveld, "Three Aligarh Students; Aftab Ahmad Khan, Ziauddin Ahmad and Muhammad Ali , 11 unpublished Conference Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York, March 27-29, 1972, pp. 2-5.

2 See Chapter III. 143

In rapid succession from 1B95 to 1907 Sayyid Ahmad Khan's

founding oligarchy 1 died and retired from active life, and a more radi­

cal leadership replaced it. The English style loyalist education in the

placid surroundings of Aligarh, in which the English faculty had played

an active and conscientious role as teachers, as advisors to service and

recreational clubs such as the Siddons Union Club, the Duty Society, 2 the Cricket Club, and the Riding Club, and as models of behaviour was

Use of the term oligarchy is justified by several facts. Sayyid Ahmad Khan desired to have his son Sayyid Mahmud (died 1903) succeed him. This attempt partly motivated reconstituting the Fund Committee into Trustees in 1869. The Code specified Sayyid Mahmud’s succession. When this proved impossible to engineer, Mohsin-ul-Mulk succeeded to the post of Honorary Secretary. Mohsin-ul-Mulk had been one of the Fund Committee essay winners in 1870 and since had been closely associated with Sayyid Ahmad. Upon his retirement from Hyderabad, he settled in Aligarh and devoted his attention to Aligarh and its move­ ment affairs. Upon his death in 1907, his successor, likewise an essay winner in 1870 and close associate of Sayyid Ahmad’s, Viqar-ul-Mulk succeeded Mohsin-ul-Mulk, He died January 28, 1917, In the early days of the College, Sami’ullah Khan had been closely associated with its development. He presided at the opening ceremonies of the College on May 24, 1875, and had been head of the Aligarh Branch of the Fund Committee from 1870. His arguments with Sayyid Ahmad led him to leave Aligarh and the movement in 1896. He died April 6, 1908, Another Aligarh figure, Sayyid Ahmad's nephew, Syed Muhammed Ahmad became Honorary Assistant Secretary of M. A. O, College. He died on March 23, 1907. In addition, Raja Kish an Das died April 30, 1905, Barbat All Khan Bahadur on August 10, 1905; and Sayyid Zainul Abuddin on September 27, 1905. 2 These extra-curricular activities were considered an essential part of the moral and physical training of the boys. The Principals' Annual Reports always gave the status of the clubs and complimented faculty for their active participation. The Cricket Club was initiated February 9, 1878; the Union Club, formed September 25, 1881 and re ­ named the Siddons Union Club December 8 , 1883, was sponsored by Theodore Beck, modeled on the Cambridge Union, and named in honour 144 criticised and eroded by articulate activism in the Muslim community.

Employed and directed by the Muslim management, the English faculty ceased to function as an Integral and welcome part of the Mohammedan

Anglo-‘-Oriental College. They were no longer esteemed models for standards and behavior. Their educational and administrative com­ petence was challenged by student strikes and Trustee interference.

Viqar-ul-Muik, Honorary Secretary of the Trustees, from January 11,

1908 made clear that the College was no longer simply an educational institution, and students took their complaints to the Trustees, while the faculty appealed to the Government of North West Provinces (the noninterfering Patron), The seriousness of the tension was revealed in the student strike of February 1907, The specific issue which sparked the strike which closed the College was the expulsion of a student who had blatantly misbehaved Inside and outside the College.* It was not the of the previous principal, Mr. Siddons, In November 1890 Aftab Ahmad Khan founded The Duty (Anjuman-ul-Farz) to raise funds to educate poor Muslim students, to propagandize the necessity of English education, to explain the value of the College to the community, to act as personal representatives of the College, and to collect funds for projects such as the mosque. In 1891 The Brotherhood, a kind of alumni association was sponsored by Theodore Morison; it was superceded in 1896 by an Old Boys Association. Meanwhile, in 1093 the Riding School came into existence as did other special interest clubs.

*He illegally entered the Aligarh Exhibition grounds, tangled with a police officer there, had been fined and confined to campus by the Principal, and ignored the disciplinary restrictions. Defying the Prin­ cipal's orders the students held a mass protest meeting,refused to disperse at the request of members of the English faculty, and behaved rudely when the Principal requested a meeting to discuss the situation. 145 specific issue, however, which was important. Twenty years earlier, in 1BB7, the student strike was settled by Sayyid Ahmad's decisive sup­ port of his English staff; in 1907 no solution short of closing the College could be devised, A compromise solution devised by the Trustees proved unworkable, A Commission of Enquiry investigating the dispute after the College was closed noted that the causes were cumulative, and that complaints were almost totally directed toward the English faculty and Principal. The Commission heard testimony (interestingly, it was willing to listen to these reports) that a European teacher had kicked a student's guardian, that the faculty spoke contemptuously of Trustees, that Europeans mistreated the chowkidars, that English faculty made insulting remarks about the Caliph, and, as a final insult, faculty were aloof and damaged students' self-respect by revealing which ones were on scholarship (one might point out, despite a system of graded pukka and kuccha boarding houses which clearly established which were rich or poor students by the menu served daily). * These complaints were symptomatic of the unpopularity of the English staff, their remoteness from the students, the misunderstandings which existed, and the willing­ ness of the students to accuse their instructors of improper conduct.

They further reflected the sensitivity to Muslim identity, rights, and prerogatives and the awareness of events outside Aligarh; they may have

*Bhatnagar, History of M.A.O. College, pp. 204-2 06, 146 reflected student awareness of Trustee-f acuity tension. Certainly a tone of Muslims versus English was evident. The Commission reported that students were aware of articles appearing in various newspapers since 1904 which had delineated the factionalism within the Board of

Trustees and that they were effected by political agitation, r,A secret society [had been], - , formed [at the College] in 1903 where papers were read and speeches were made to find ways and means to drive out the British [from the College or India is not specified. One assumes both], ... 11 ^ A few students had attended the 1905 Indian National Con­ gress session at Benares, and several were reported to have portraits of 2 the Sultan of Turkey and Gokhale in their rooms (1906). There can be no doubt that this information testified to the politicalization of some members of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College student body, and to the willingness of the Trustees to listen to the testimoney. Such enthu­ siasms could hardly have been comfortable for the British staff.

Principal Morison had resigned in 1904, effective 1905, ending 3 a long career in the service of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College,

^Bhatnagar, History of M.A.O. College, p. 205,

2 Ibid., pp. 202-205. 3 Theodore Morison returned to England where he was consulted in the formulation of the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909, He wrote ex­ tensively upon Indian affairs, and devoted particular attention to the Muslim community. He was author of the History of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (Aligarh: Aligarh Institute Press, 1903) and economic analyses of India. 147

He was replaced by W, A. J. Archbold, Principal Archbold left

Aligarh on November 1, 1909, ''unwept, ,T "unhonoured,Tl and "unsung,

after confrontation with the Trustees. English faculty rotated rapidly

after Mr, Archbold's departure. The last English Principal, whose

chief claim to appointment was that he was unassertive, unofficious,

miserly, and lacking in intellectual brilliance, as well as a poor public 2 speaker, resigned in 1919, preceded in 1918 by two, and followed in

rapid succession within the year by the remaining five members of the 3 English staff. The Board of Trustees willingly accepted the resignations.

In examining the history of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College one dynamic of the association between the English faculty and

the governing Aligarh Muslim elite, which contributed to the dynamism

of the Beck myth, was the polarization of respective views of rights,

roles, and attitudes. The English Principals and faculty considered

their services vital to the welfare of the Muslim elite, and the Muslim

aristocracy gradually came to regard the English and the model they

represented dispensable. The context in which this motif of Anglo-

Muslim conflict was defined was the Aligarh Muslim elite's reinterpre­

tation of its interests. By degrees, Islamic identity and political activity,

^Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O. College, p. 200.

2 Ibid., pp. 246-246, 3 Ibid., p, 289, It is notable that the majority of the professors who left Aligarh remained in India or Burma as faculty of other colleges or as members of educational departments. 148 which were to be the eventual and final products of the revitalizing educational process Sayyid Ahmad had instituted, supplanted the Aligarh leader's loyalism, his confidence in English good faith, and hie com­ mitment to English public school education. The result of the review of Sayyid Ahmad’s assumption by the successors and the redefinition may be seen in the student strike in February of 1907 and in confronta­ tion between the Honorary Secretary of the Trustees and the Principal in the spring of 1909, Notably, relations between the expensive Euro­ pean faculty and their Muslim employers had disintegrated before 1909; their association was wrecked on the accumulated issues of honor, privilege, integrity, and prestige, and not upon specific differences concerning such questions as salaries and teaching loads. Generally absent from the particular set of Anglo-Muslim relations considered in microcosm at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College were specific references to wider Indian issues such as the partition of Bengal, the

Indian National Congress, and pan-Islam. Presumably, these issues which contributed to the climate of opinion discussed in Chapters 1 and

II did influence the mind sets of the English and Muslim actors at the

College, and contributed to diminishing possibilities of association and compromise. The dichotomy between Muslim and English assumptions was increasingly articulated and obvious after 1900. The English faculty entered the service of the Indo-Muslim community motivated by m is­ sionary zeal in sacrificing themselves to exile in an alien land, all on 149 the altar of duty, and all to fulfill a responsibility for the regeneration of a fallen (and inferior) people. To restate generally the British

attitudes discussed in Chapter I, the English faculty assumed the innate superiority of English standards. They suffered from delusions of grandeur. Social Darwinism buttressed their faith that material suc­ cess was evidence of racial and cultural superiority. Attainment implied character, and character attainment;* inherent superiority guaranteed the perpetual survival of the raj. The faculty gallantly accepted employment on the assumption that it was possible and impor­ tant to educate Muslim aristocrats to transmit English standards to their community, and that the requisite education would inculcate and guarantee loyalty, Present exertion carried future reward. Respect and gratitude to the English faculty for services rendered would follow naturally. That the reward was criticism by both their employers and their charges was intensely frustrating, particularly since the measure of civilization was directly proportional to the acquisition and apprecia- 2 tion of English culture. As this brief restatement suggests, the faculty had accepted the philosophy of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and had but­ tressed it with the authoritarian liberal tradition in vogue at the end of

* Briggs, Victorian People, p, 160, 2 Theodore Beck, Essays on Indian Topics (Allahabad: Pioneer P r e s s , 1868), pp. 9; 15-17. 150

the nineteenth century, ^ The English faculty became deeply involved in

a philosophy of paternalism which by 1000 was considered by their

employers patronizing, while the Trustees and students acquired com- 2 mitment to Islamic identity and thorough self-sufficiency. The , 1M ubj lim Nation" faced the "British Raj . 11 The English faculty persisted in

assuming the communities would meet on the cricket grounds, in the 3 riding stables, at whist, and during penny-readings; the Trustees

asserted the viability of Muslim culture. In 1909 the enchanting delu­ sion that the Muslim Trustees considered their English employees essential was shattered. Ten years later, after a period of marking time, the last English Principal, Mr. Towle, resigned; he was rapidly followed by the European staff. The absence of friendly feeling the

College had been established to eradicate, was supplanted by an absence of friendly feeling the College had articulated. Between 1875 and 1909 ideological commitment to divergent sets of assumptions--the respective exclusive definition of English perogative and indispensability, and delineation of Muslim identity--magnified and matured. The experience of the Principals of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College from 1B75

1Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India, pp. 201*285; 28Bff, 2 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Declaration of Policy Made by the Trustees Regarding the Recent Affairs (Regard­ ing Controversy Principal vs. Honorary Secretary), July 31, 1909, p. 6. 3 Beck, Essays on Indian Topics, p. 30, 151

until 1906 in dealing with the Trustees, illustrated the Increasingly divergent definition of rights, roles, and attitudes, and the decreasing

ability of the English faculty to function in the context defined by the

Aligarh Muslim elite*

Five Oxford and Cambridge graduates were Principals of

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. The first, Henry George Impey

Siddons, a man with previous India educational experience, was re­ cruited as Headmaster of the School Department in 1675, and became

Principal of the College in January, 1877, Mr, Siddons submitted his resignation May 5, 1683, asking to be relieved in February, 1684, The compelling reason was his health, which demanded he avoid not only the

"noonday sun, "but all sun. His resignation was accepted on August 20,

1883, 1 Protesting his devotion to the College, Mr. Siddons stressed in his farewell speech of January 28, 1B84, that "nothing but ill health 2 could have induced me to resign an appointment 1 liked so well, " but

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Members of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Fund and Managing Committees, April B, 1884, p. 8 . 2 Ibid,, p. 7, "Although the Committee very much hesitated, for it thought what will be the state of the College if the Principal on whom devolved all the management of the College, were to be continuously absent from the College for a long time, yet simply for the sake of Mr. Siddonsr convenience the Committee consented to this request [to meet classes in his home] of Mr. Siddons; and if I remember right Mr. Siddons did not come to College from the end of April or the beginning of May till the beginning of November, ” See Bhatnagar, History of M,A.O. College, p. 58, 152

that "for the sake of the College , , . the decision was essential. The

Principal denied the rumour his resignation resulted from disagreement

with Sami’ullah Khan, and protested the Fund Committee's "perfect 2 propriety, " and his perfect satisfaction with his treatment, Sayyid

Ahmad Khan, speaking before a Joint Meeting of the College Fund and

Managing Committee on April 6, 1884, stated

It is entirely false that the Committee forced Mr. Siddons to resign or that the Committee wanted to fill his place yy [sic] with another Graduate . . . Siddon's health had failed so much that he found it difficult to go to the College in the sun . , , . ^

Henry George Impey Siddons, Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College's

Principal for eight years, exited Aligarh for reasons of health. Despite unconfirmed rum ours of disagreement, his resignation was amicably 4 handled.

^Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O, College, p. 58. 2 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Proceedings of the Joint Meeting, p. 8 . Writing to Sayyid Ahmad Khan on September 14, 1883, Mr, Siddons stated "I should indeed be something more than sorry if people, by mischievously meddling with manners [sic] that do not concern them, were to succeed in impairing the excellent understanding that for so many years has existed between the Committee and myself. These few lines are, however, chiefly prompted by my strong personal regard for yourself. " 3 Bhatnagar, History of M. A.O. College, p, 58; Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Proceedings of the Joint Meeting, p, 7, in which is recorded "The Committee never for a moment thought that Mr. Siddons would leave as long as the College existed or he lived. M

Zati Dairy ke Chand Auraq, cited in Bhatnagar, History of M .A .Q . C o lle g e , p, 5fl, 153

Principal Siddons ' successor was eager, active, and optimistic

Theodore Beck, who assumed office on February 1, 1804 and remained

dedicated to his post until his death seventeen months after Sayyid

Ahmad Khan had died in Aligarh, Theodore Beck's tenure was the

longest of any English Principal; the period, as noted in Chapter I, was

one of rapid evolution and increasing momentum in the definition and institutionalization of Hindu and Muslim political awareness and demands,

It was also an era of mushrooming popularity for Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College education. For instance, while the number of English staff remained static, enrollments climbed steadily. Total enrollment in 1803 was 248. In 1884 it rose to 272, By 1099 the total was 456, In the College Department, there were 38 students in 1883, 52 in 1004, and 174 in 1 0 9 9 .1

While the term s of Theodore Beck's initial employment specified a limited administrative role the tension and Insubordination among the

2 ruling oligarchy, and crises within the College, encouraged

lSee Appendix IV,

2 India- Government of North West Provinces and Oudh, Educa- tion Department, Proceedings, October 1889, pp. 2-3; Ibid., March 1093, pp. 287-291. 154

enhancement of the Principal's responsibilities and authority. A

student strike in 1887 transferred responsibilities for the boarding

arrangements to the Principal. The revelation of embezzlement of

105, 000 rupees over a twenty year period convinced Sayyid Ahmad to

seek professional audit, to establish a new bookkeeping system, and to

give Theodore Beck Registrar's duties. After Sayyid Ahmad’s death, the Trustees fragmented in a succession struggle between Sayyid

Mahmud, Sayyid Ahmad's son and heir designate, and Mohain~ul~Mulk, long time friend and associate. The struggle included considerations of

Sayyid Mahmud's stability and the maintenance of the character of the

College as defined by Sayyid Ahmad, This involved the position of the

English staff. Theodore Beck, asserting the sacrosanct nature of

College life as outlined by his mentor, and the indispensability of the

English faculty to that plan, championed their interests in the struggle.

The exchange between the Principal and the Trustees in 1898 and 1899 revealed that inherent contradictions submerged by the overwhelming prestige of Sayyid Ahmad, were surfacing. Theodore Beck in opting to support Mohsin-ul-Mulk rather than Sayyid Mahmud, chose stability, and was target of severe criticism. On December 25, 189B, Sayyid

Muhammad Ahmad, Sayyid Ahmad’s nephew and Honorary Assistant

Secretary of the Trustees wrote Sayyid Mahmud:

He [Beck] has been compensated enough for his services .... He was always prepared to leave the College if his requests for the enhancement of pay were not acceded to . . . Mr. Beck 155

devotes most of his time as Registrar dealing with accounts and pays little attention to teaching in his classes, *

Despite this indictment, which implied Principal Beck's greediness and

his dereliction of teaching responsibilities, both of which soon became

fuel for the Beck myth, the Trustees were unwilling to precipitate con­

frontation by devoting attention to the accusations. Or January 31, 1899,

the Trustees voted to retain Theodore Beck as Principal and as Regis­

trar, and resolutions presented against him were ignored. Instead, a

vote of thanks acknowledged services as Registrar without pay, as

secretary of the Finance Committee, and as solicitor of funds for the

College. He was commended for hie help to the Life Honorary Secre- 2 tary, Sayyid Ahmad.

Theodore Beck's successor was Theodore Morison, a member

of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College faculty since 1889,

Recalled from England and pressed into service as the third Principal,

his era, 1899 to 1905, was one of deceptive calm during which Sayyid

Mahmud died and Mohsin-ul-Mulk led the Trustees. The Principal's

speeches and writings reflected regret that students were unenthusiastic

about manly pursuits such as horsemanship--a skill he considered

essential to government service. Rumour circulated that Theodore

Morison and certain students disagreed upon basic issues of political

^Bhatnagar, History of M.A.O. College, pp. 80-81. 2 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Minutes of the Annual Meeting, January 31, 1899, p. 12. 156

activism and communal identity, and that one student sacrificed a

promising career to principle , 1 but amicable, if tense, relations were

maintained. The Paisa Akhbar reported the rumour of differences be­

tween the Principal and the management, but the June 13, 1904 Aligarh

Institute Gazette denied the report, and stressed the Principal's reaig- 2 nation resulted from the health of the Morison daughter* Theodore

Morison was replaced by a newcomer to Aligarh, W, A. J. Archbold, the mythical "author" of the Simla Deputation* W* A* J. Archbold was forty when appointed Principal. He had a distinguished career behind him. He had been editor of the Dictionary of_ National Biography, mana­ ger of the Appointment Association at Cambridge, and secretary to the

Board of Indian Civil Service Studies. He assumed office in mid-

October, 1905 and remained Principal until October 31, 1909. Mr,

Archbold had not known Sayyid Ahmad, and was not a product of the

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College experience. He reaped the whirl­ wind, The probability of thoroughly educated Muslim "English gentle­ men, " the effectiveness of the European faculty, the permanent stability of the British Empire, and the possibility of fostering Muslim minority interests vis a vis a militant Congress through loyalism. were open to debate, Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Sayyid Muhammad Ahmad died; Viqar-ul-

^Bhatnagar, History of M, A. O* College, p. 142.

^Ibid,, pp. 146-147. 157

Mulk became Honorary Secretary of the Trustees. Vigourous in his attention to duty, and definite in his ideas concerning M uslim identity and Muslim education, Viqar-ul-Mulk

decided that the Honorary Secretary was not only entitled but, consistently with his position and duties, was bound to be in touch with the students who should not only be allowed but encouraged to see him and profit by his influence and society. ^

The Honorary Secretary styled himself in loco parentus to the Muslim boarders--the individual into whose care parents from all over India had entrusted their sons. As such, Muslims throughout India expected him to look after their children, attend to admissions, and explain 2 refusal. The Trustees defined themselves as ''legally responsible for a proper discharge of the trust, and under national and m oral obligation 3 directly answerable to the Community . 11 The Honorary Secretary, consequently, involved himself in admissions decisions, in the College time-table, in student complaints about faculty incompetence and arrogance, in distribution of teaching responsibilities, and in issuing

* Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Decision, p, 0. 2 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Manifesto, pp, 3; 11. 3 Ibid., p, 15j Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Declaration of Policy Made by the Trustees of Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College, July 31, 1909, p. 9. 158 the Principal instructions "on any and every m atter.1'^ The Trustees also asserted that

it was not safe to apply English ideas, without necessary qualifications to institutions which belonged to and were managed by Indians. ^

Any Muslim was entitled to inquire about the administration of the 3 College, for it was ''the property of the whole community , 11

Mr. Archbold, on the other hand, resented what he considered undue interference and submitted his resignation in March, 1909.

Writing to the Honorary Secretary on March 25, 1909, the Principal asserted :

My view is that the Principal ought to be the supreme and final authority in the internal affairs of the College. In particular that his authority should be unquestioned as regards discipline, as regards admissions, as regards promotions, as regards the number of hours that the Staff ought to teach. He ought to be consulted before negotiations are entered into for engaging new members of the Staff. ^

^Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O. College, p, 194; Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Manifesto (April 24, 28-29), pp, 13-14, The argument insisted that if the Trustees did not have control of the hours and duties of the staff, it followed that the decision of the number and strength of the staff would be with the Principal, and that if that were so, then expenditures of the College also would be his decision. It was, therefore, necessary for the Trustees to be involved in all decisions regarding the students and staff. 2 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Manifesto, p. 7.

3Ibid_., pp. 6-7, 4 Letter of W* A, J. Archbold, Principal to Viqar-ul-Mulk, Honorary Secretary, March 25, 1909, 159

Mr. Arehbold noted that under the circumstances, "excepting for

ceremonial reasons, there seems little scope or need for a Principal

at all, The Honorary Secretary responded that "every officer in the 2 service of the College is subordinate to the Trustees, The faculty

was informed that

no member of the Staff will be justified in regarding any exercise of such supervisionary powers as interference or want of confi­ dence on the part of the Trustees, ^

However, it was to be "distinctly understood that they [the Trustees]

are the supreme and final authority in all matters . , . connected with

4 . , . the College, ..." Tensions mounted until the English staff

appealed to the College Patron, Lieutenant Governor of North West

Provinces and Oudh the Trustees objected to the direct communication 5 of their employees with the Government. The College Patron attempted to mediate, and noted that;

^Letter of W. A, J, Archbold, Principal to Viqar-ul-Mulk, Honorary Secretary, March 25, 1909,

^Ibid. 3 Letter of Viqar-ul-Mulk, to W. A, J. Archbold, September 15, 1909, p. 4.

4lbid., p. 2. 5 Sir John Prescott Hewett, Lieutenant Governor, North West Provinces to President of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, August 23, 1909. 160

Speaking as ail English gentlemen I can assure you that the tone of the 2 letters of 17th March last [from the Honorary Secretary to the Principal] was calculated to cause umbrage to the Principal, while the expression of the hope * , . that the Principal has taken the 'written explanation of the student and satisfied himself about it before the punishment was given 1 can only be interpreted as the hint of a doubt that the Principal had done his duty. *

As the Lieutenant Governor noted in commenting upon the "want of 2 harmony, " the suggestion of not doing one’s duty was particularly irritating to an Englishman of W. A, J. Archbold’s caliber, who would 3 be punctilious about his status. Compromise which the Lieutenant 4 Governor sought to effect proved impossible. The Trustees asserted that it was their

firm conviction that our European Professors will never be a success in our College unless they seek to know the real needs and wishes of our community, and this they can never do without the help and cooperation of those who are in direct touch with the people* To regard this College as a mere Educational institution and to expect that a stern enforcement of disciplinary

Mohammedan Anglo “-Oriental College, Trustees, His Honour's Gracious Reply to the Trustees' Address Presented at Government Houser Lucknow, on 9th August 1909 at 1:00 p.m ., pp. 4-5. 2 Bhatnagar, History of M. A*Q. College, p. 198. 3 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, His Honour's Gracious Reply, pp. 4-5. 4 The Lieutenant Governor drew the analogy between the Princi­ pal and a ship captain employed by a company. The company had the right to ask for information regarding the performance of duties, but beyond that, the company should not interfere in the operation of the ship. The analysis indicated the Lieutenant Governor thought the Trustee interference excessive and detrimental to the operation of the institution. Bhatnagar, History of M.A.O. College, p. 198. rules will set everything right, is to ignore the history of the Aligarh Movement and, is the real cause of the present difficulty. 1

The Trustees regarded the inculcation of political views as a matter of

singular importance and a matter to be handled "only by those whose words and motives in this regard cannot be open to suspicion and dis- 2 trust. " Clearly reference was to the English faculty, for the Trustees

continued that:

No Professor can ever expect to discharge his duty well in the service of the College who does not thoroughly identify himself with this national aim of the Indian Mussalman. ^

4 "Mere educationists" did not appreciate the essential nature of the

College. The English Principal and his European staff, and the Muslim

Trustees and students, had clashed openly. Compromise was out of the question for principles of honour, integrity, and identity were dominant.

The English faculty functional raison d'etre at Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College ceased. W, A, J. Archbold left Aligarh. The Trus- tees did not regret his departure.

Contributing to the confrontation outlined above were struggles

among various factions of the Muslim elite. Just as the 1 B89 Trustee

* Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Declaration, p. G. 162

Regulations were promulgated because of factionalism and the 1898 succession struggle turned on it, 30 also the problems of 1907 and 1909 reflected the struggle among wings of Muslim elite. The leaders of the onslaught against the older and moderate members of the Trustees, and against the English faculty were Mohammedan Anglo^Oriental College g rad u a tes.

From 1900 to 1910 Aftab Ahmad Khan and his friends controlled ihe Old Boys Association, were involved actively in the campaign for a

Muslim university, and participated in the Muhammedan Educational

Conference. Aftab Ahmad Khan was an important member of the Board of Trustees and instrumental in the formation of the Muslim League.

One of his aims was F'to rescue the college from the control of the

British faculty and the influence of the British government., ,f^ He en­ couraged Theodore Morison to resign and attacked the faculty and older 2 trustees for "talk of responsiveness to community control, 11 Simulta­ neously, Muhammad AU attacked the older trustees for surrendering

3 power to the British. In 1907 Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali founded the Old Boys1 Reform League and began publishing Old Boy, which was dedicated to undercutting the "clique wallas" and putting control of the

* Lelyveld, "Three Aligarh Students, " p. 16. 2 Ibid,; see alao Hay at-e Aftab, pp. 54-70. 3 Lely veld, ’’Three Aligarh Students, " p. 17. 163

College Trustees into the hands of elected representatives primarily drawn from the Alumni, * The increased participation of the Honorary

Secretary in day to day administration of the College was paralleled by increased activity of the Alumni in Trustee activity and enhanced interest 2 in the Old Boys' Association, through which they affected the direction of Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College,

The English faculty of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, employed by the Muslim elite which directed the affairs of the College, always operated in a milieu determined by that leadership. As the rnr--, aiting philosophy of education evolved, the role of the English diminished. They became frustrated, resented, and finally superfluous.

While certain aspects of the relationship between the English faculty and the Muslim leadership of Mohammedan Anglo-OrientaL

College were unique, an examination of their experience at the College which trained key leaders fut the Aligarh Movement and the Muslim

League and which was the brainchild of Sayyid Ahmad Khar, has sug- gested that the influence which Muslims had in determining their own destiny overshadowed any whir h the English faculty might have exer­ cised ,

1 Lelyveld, 'Three Aligarh Students, "p. 17. 2 Membership in 1904 was 56 in 1912 it reached 1, 0B7, Huidad, Old Boys1 Association, 1904-1920, Old Boy a1 Lodge, Ibid. CHAPTER V

THE HERO: THE BECK MYTH: THEODORE BECK,

PROVOCATEUR1 OR PUPPET2 OF MUSLIM SEPARATISM?

As established in Chapter IV Theodore Beck was the second

Principal of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, founded at

Aligarh by Sayyid Ahmad Khan in 1B75, Modeled on Cambridge, the

College was established through Muslim initiative, and was controlled by an urbanized, Persianized elite. Institutionalized in Mohammedan

Anglo-Oriental College was Sayyid Ahmad's belief that Muslim interests were best served by loyalty to the British, education of the Muslim elite, and abstention from political activism. This Aligarh philosophy discussed in Chapter III as defined and regulated by Sayyid Ahmad from

1857 until hie death, at eighty, in 1898, was predicated on an inter­ locking set of assumptions. First, the Muslim community in India was a permanent and vulnerable minority which needed to reform itself by adapting English models. The result would remedy the community's

*A provocateur is one who rouses a community from lethargy, quiescence, or indifference. He is one who provides the needed stimu- lus for an angry reaction, or who incites, goads, or provokes others into action, 2 A puppet is one whose acts are controlled by an outside force, influence, or agent.

164 165

disadvantaged position. To achieve rejuvenation English style educa­

tion was crucial. Second, Sayyid Ahmad abhorred popular agitation.

The possibility that a repetition of the 1857 mutiny could be precipitated through popular politics terrified the leader of Aligarh, for he assumed the Muslims would again be the victims of an uprising which the English would suppress. Third, Sayyid Ahmad opposed the introduction of representative institutions which involved the extension of the elective principle and implied competition for government positions. The

AHgarh leader envisioned Muslim minority interests ignored by a dominant monolithic Hindu majority led by Bengalis, Therefore,

M uslim interests were served by the maintenance of an alien, impartsal, benevolent authoritarian regime. The British Government of India, as such, would respond to politely worded and presented requests made by an aristocracy. Sayyid Ahmad's task was to train the Muslim aristoc­ racy to represent Muslim interest as Muslim gentlemen conversing with

English gentlemen. In sum, if the Muslims demonstrated loyalty, behaved as gentlemen, and reformed themselves to conform to British standards, their welfare would be assured. The key was education,

Theodore Beck, fresh from Cambridge University’s Trinity

College, where he had been President of the Cambridge Union, arrived in India in November, 1883 at the age of twenty-four. Selected as

Principal in England by Sayyid Mahmud, Sayyid Ahmad’s son, to whom he had been introduced by Arthur Strachey, Beck had travelled with 166

Sayyid Mahmud to India. They proceeded directly to Aligarh where

Theodore Beck assumed his duties on February 1, 1884. With regular interruptions for vacations and home leave, Theodore Beck remained resident in Aligarh and dedicated to his post until his death at Simla on

September 2, 1899 at the age of thirty-nine. * The Principal, eldest son of a middle class London Quaker merchant family, whose father was an active member of the Conservative Party, and whose biography is pre­ sented in detail in Chapter VI, was a Victorian Englishman* He believed in the permanency and righteousness of the British Empire, the super­ iority of English standards, and the sanctity of the mission he was dis­ charging in his service to the Muslim community. His writings and speeches reflected his paternalist responsibility and moral forthright­ ness. Briefly, Theodore Beck identified himself with Sayyid Ahmad's definition of Muslim interest. The Principal was primarily concerned with the educ ation of the Muslim aristocracy to appreciate and adopt superior

English standards. Training of the intellect, to which Beck was devoted

Significantly, at the point of Theodore Beck's death the memor­ ial meetings, speeches, and letters reported in The Mu hammed an Anglo- Oriental College Magazine emphasized the dedicated service of the Principal. Aligarh supporters subscribed a handsome memorial fund, dedicated Beck Manzil, and named Beck Road. For further information, see Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Proceedings of Meetings of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Trustees, no. 27, August 26, 1900; Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, pp. 322- 324, The Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, October 1B99, 1900; The Times (London), September 7, 1899, p. 8; Mohammedan 1 67

(even if thwarted in its achievement), was buttressed by training of the

body, for the whole man in the Victorian public school ideal was the

goal. Beck expended great energy in encouraging debating and cricket,

both of which were conceived as opportunities for young Muslim aristo-

crats to gain skills and avenues to meet English gentlemen as Muslim

gentlemen. As Beck expressed the anticipated results of this education,

the products would be "Better men, better gentlemen, and better

scholars."* Pursuant with his duties as Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College's chief administrator, Theodore Beck was intimately involved

in regularizing the operation of the College. In addition to his reepon- 2 sibilities in the College, which were myriad, Theodore Beck acted as

one of Sayyid Ahmad's lieutenants in various facets of extra-College

Aligarh activity. Beck solicited funds for the College, contributed to

the Aligarh Institute Gazette, participated in the Muhammedan

Anglo-Oriental College, Board of Management, Minutes, 186 3, "Theodore Beck, Application for Employment, " Bhatnagar, History of M, A, 0„ College, pp. 70-137, *The Pioneer Mail, "The Aligarh College-Distribution of Prizes, " August 24, 1692, p. lfl. See also Muhammedan Anglo- Oriental College Magazine, "Report of Theodore Beck's Speech on Friday, November 26, 1894," vol. I, no. 5, pp. 150-151, and The Aligarh Institute Gazette, August 15, 1893, p. 809, "Prize Giving at the College, " by Mr. Theodore Beck. 2 His responsibilities ranged from aiding sick and needy students, lobbying for faculty salaries, campaigning for funds, maintenance of discipline, authority over boarding house arrangements, attendance at meetings of the Finance and Board of Management, to Registrar and par­ ticipation in extracurricular activities such as the Siddons Union Debating Society and cricket, both of which he encouraged. 160

Educational Conference, and was active in both the United Patriotic

Association and the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association,

all of which were founded by Sayyid Ahmad Khan as consistent institu ­

tionalizations of his philosophy. Beck was enthusiastic in offering and

implementing practical ventures through these organizations which

advanced Sayyid Ahmad's plans and concerns.

Attacks on both the permanency and wisdom of the raj and the

superiority of British standards met with the Principal's disapproval.

He conceptualized a warlike virile Muslim aristocracy, mistrusted

popular politics as represented in the Indian National Congress, and

opposed (as "fatal"}^ the extension of elective, representative privilege to inferiors. He wrote dynamically and dramatically for the Anglo-

Indian press to this effect, warning of the impending disaster of mutiny*

and Russian invasion, which he linked, should the government buckle 4 to Indian National Congress demands and reward sedition by betraying

5 Muslim loyalty. However colourful Theodore Beck's characterization

^ The Pioneer Mail, May 20, 1880, p. 045, "In What Will It End?" by Theodore Beck, 2 Tyabji, Badruddin Tyabji, p, 208. 3 Beck, Essays, p. 119.

^The Pioneer Mail, November 30, 1893, p. 25, "Disloyalty in India,,r by Theodore Beck. 5 The Pioneer Mail, November 9, 1B87, p, 577, "The National Congress,M by Theodore Beck. 169 of the menace of the "superannuated . , . briefless barrister1*^ of 2 Bengal, a council of "illiterate ignoramuses, M or the peril of l,Jthe

3 whole of India. . . aflame" with mutiny more terrible than 1857 (the 4 spectre of Ireland added for emphasis), which, he stressed, was more feared by Muslims than Englishmen, he articulated nothing unfamiliar to either the Aligarh definition of Muslim interest and vulnerability nor the opinion of a substantial proportion of the official community in India.

In fact, Beckfs dedication to the public school boy image, the eternity of the British raj, and the privileged position of the aristocracy was 5 profoundly unoriginal, viewed from either perspective. Theodore

Beck1s stress on loyalism, English education, abstention from popular politics, and the benevolent nature of the responsible autocratic gov­ ernment, combined with the virtues of the permanency of that govern­ m e n t, as well as concern with mutiny and Russian invasions, merely amalgamated Aligarh and English fixations. Theodore Beck was not prescient, not particularly perceptive, and no innovator. He was

iBeck, Essays, p. 73.

2ibid_.

3Ibid., p. 119. 4 Ibid., p. 117. 5 In hia testimony before the Public Services Commission on December 30, 1886, Theodore Beck repeated the cliches of the province, and his statements were predicated upon his experience at Aligarh. Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism, p. 322. 170

Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s employee-subordinate for fifteen years, and as

such, discharged his duties with energy and dedication.

The assertion that Theodore Beck was profoundly unoriginal

leads to the obvious question--from whence arose the multi-faceted

myth of "demon Beck?" Looking specifically at the myth and delineat­

ing its origin and elaboration, the treatment of Theodore Beck's role

in the evolution and definition of Muslim separatism provides an

intriguing study in the persistence of an extremely useful historical-

political fable. It provides a fascinating interplay of the conceptions of

provocateur and puppet. The development and recitation of the Beck myth provides a classic illustration of the application of the moral sen­ sibilities of one era to the judgment of another, for the interpretation and use of the Beck fantasy changes with the decades.

Theodore Beck is presented in three interdependent guises. One emphasizes his connection to the Muslim community, and makes him a dominant figure in Aligarh Muslim politics. Another stresses the

Principal’s association with the official British community, and makes him their agent. The third involves both Beck's relationship to Aligarh and his English nationality and focuses up m the incomp at ability and inherent dangers of associating English men and models with Aligarh.

The three elements of the myth are not easily separated, for one may provide data for another, and the same rendering may contain several threads. The dominant considerations, however, are to explain the 171

comparatively late Aligarh Muslim definition of community interest

served by political activism and to provide an explanation for separat­

ism , and eventually, Partition, which designates a source outside India.

Beck as the provocateur of Muslim separatism is presented as

the man who perverted the Aligarh Movement and turned Sayyid Ahmad

Khan from nationalist to commun&list. Endowed in this form with

preeminent power, Beck is a useful scapegoat to excuse or ignore

social and historical realities of Muslim distinctness in India as well as

to deny the explicit communal orientation of the Aligarh Movement

from its inception. Notably, as Beck takes on the qualities of pro­

vocateur, Sayyid Ahmad, the authoritarian and strong willed leader of

Aligarh, becomes his puppet. In this way. Beck is portrayed as usur­

per of power, and provocateur of separatism--destroyer of the Indian

nation,

Theodore Beck is also portrayed as the broker of British imperi­

alism --an insidious, malicious, cunning, and dishonest agent of a conscientiously and consistently applied official British policy of "divide

and rule, " who utilized the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College and the

Aligarh Institute Gazette to which he contributed, to propagandize his own doctrine disguised as that of Sayyid Ahmad, This version of the myth contains the usurper theory, for it asserts that the Aligarh spon­ sored Muhammedan Educational Conference, United Patriotic Associa­ tion, and the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association 172 discussed earlier were creations of Theodore Beck. However, the emphasis is upon Theodore Beck as an undercover agent of British officials, the personification of British duplicity. In this mode

Theodore Beck functions as a non-Hindu, non-Muslim agent who foe- tered Muslim separate interest at the behest of the government. The implication ie that the British, through Beck, are responsible for com* m unalism and the creation of Pakistan. B eck's characterization in the malevolent, insidious form also justifies opposition to English stan­ dards, suspicion of British intentions, and castigation of imperial exploitation of India by Great Britain. As this emphasis is magnified.

Beck’s acquaintance with officials of the Government of India blossoms into intimate friendship and the resulting inference drawn is that Beck had approval for his activities from imperial councils. Beck is, in fact, indicted for being English and for being the puppet of the British, and the English are indicted through Beck. Simultaneously, Sayyid

Ahmad becomes the innocent or naive victim or puppet of British duplicity.

The channels delineated above focus upon Beck from the perspec­ tive of the Hindu-Muslim dichotomy in the sub-Continent. The data from which these accusations evolved are accumulated in the particular arena of Theodore Beck's activities at Aligarh from whence springs the third and possibly most intriguing form of the myth. The pernicious nature of Theodore Beck received credibility from endorsement by a few 173

prominent members of the Aligarh Muslim elite. In the Muslim ver­

sion, Principal Beck the usurper is not credited with "divide and rule"

or the creation of Muslim separatism, for, logically, to argue either

is to deny the distinct status of the Muslim community and to undermine

the validity of the claim to special considerations, and eventually,

Partition, Beck and his associates are, consequently, not accused of high crimes and political designs on the all-India level. They are, instead, accused of representing an alien model of social organization and behavior (patronizing and unsympathetic) which did not serve the interests of the separate and cultured Muslim community. However, these representatives of foreign culture acquired unwarranted and, temporarily, even dominant, power at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College. The struggle against insidious Beck, usurper of control, was to eliminate English influence and to foster the best interests of the

Muslim elite being trained at the College. The crux of the matter was defining Muslim identity in Muslim terms, and entering the arena of political activism, a departure which could not have Theodore Beck’s enthusiastic support. The rendition of Beck's influence in the Aligarh mode avoids confronting the factionalism within the Muslim elite, and allows the perpetuation of the illusion that differences of opinion at

Aligarh were traceable to the manipulation of the English staff rather than to Muslims, Once again, Theodore Beck provides a useful exter­ nal scapegoat. Ironically, however, implicit in this version of Beck’s 174 influence is the assertion that the Muslim elite, and Sayyid Ahmad particularly, were puppets of their salaried employees.

While the logic and interpretation of much of the raw data which composes the Beck myth is specious, it should be emphasized that in all forms, the fable remains alive and well in India. In examining the evolution and elaboration of the Beck story, I shall follow a chronologi­ cal approach to the myth, for the versions dominant in successive decades reveal the political climate of the era and the distortion of the fact to serve the needs of the day.

The origin of the Beck myth can be traced to the 1880's. After the formation of the Indian National Congress, which Theodore Beck considered "’incendiary, lf ’’rash, ’’ and ’’reckless, not to mention

2 ’’noxious, ” he wrote a series of articles for The Pioneer in which he addressed himself to the unsuitability of representative institutions for

3 multi-national India, the problem of sedition, and the inadvisability of

*The Pioneer Mail, May 2 0, 1888, p. 635. 2 Beck, E ss ay a, P* 119- 3 Theodore Beck outlined four reasons: the peasantry were ignorant and under the influence of palaeozoic, conservative, and fanati­ cal religious leaders; the peasant could not rule India, no class from which to select capable statesm en and legislators existed; and last, but certainly not least, India was comprised of a mixture of nationalities. This being the case, no Indian parliament could control an army com­ prised of martial races-- Muslims, Path an s, and Sikhs. Representative institutions would be unstable and would provoke civil war. The Pioneer Mail, November 2 , 1887, pp. 545-546, "The National Congress, " by Theodore Beck; and Beck, Essays, PP- 65-67. 175 exerting or capitulating to popular agitation. * Beck characterized the

Congress further as an annual meeting at which ”grievance-mongers

2 come together and blow off their eloquenceMj he was quoted at length and attacked vehemently by the Hindu press* The Indian Mirror charac-

3 terized him as a "base unaccommodated animal, " while Allen Octavian 4 Hume, to whom Beck has recently been comparedj wrote a scathing rejoinder in which Beck was advised to undertake "proper mental rejuvenation 11 by visiting beyond the confines of "that Omphalus of crea- 5 tion . • • Aligarh . 11 In the same article Hume suggested that Theodore 0 Beck had a "conspicuous talent for seeing and understanding nothing" of the Indian situation, and accused him of being a Guy Faux who had

In championing the Aligarh concern and Sayyid Ahmad, Theodore Beck wrote: "If Mr, Hume’s appreciation of the Syed's noble work is a fair specimen of the justice that the Mahomeiians, and others who are in a minority and who differ from him, are likely to receive at the hands of his wonderful representative assembly, then the outlook is not such as to induce the said Mahomedans and others t.o work body and soul for the introduction of his so-called reform s . 11 The Pioneer Mail, November 30, 1887, p. 679, "Mr. Hume on Syed Ahmed Khan, M by Theodore Beck. 2 Beck, Essays, p. 101. 3 The Indian M irro r, issues of November 13, 16, 17, 1887, cited in Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 58.

^"What the latter [Hume] did for the Congress the former [Beck] did for the Aligarh Movement, 11 Ibid., p. 317. 5 The Pioneer, November 24, 1887, C The Pioneer Mail, November 30, 1887, p. 678. 176

been a cat's paw of1’*--in short, a sychophant of Aligarh. Hume sug­

gested the Principal spend twelve years residing in and studying India

before offering any opinion on the country, and before trying to ingra­

tiate himself to "the sectional Muhammedan cabal. u A. O. Hume

appeared certain Theodore Beck was ill informed and confined by Sayyid

Ahmad's distorted political perspective, but while believing Sir Sayyid

f’a little insane on the subject of Congress,,r^ an accusation to which

Sayyid Ahmad responded by expressing surprise that English gentlemen 3 would behave like Bengali baboos, Hume did not suggest Sayyid 4 Ahmad’s domination either by the British or Theodore Beck. Hume

likewise, considered Beck a private citizen, not an English agent..

However, in response to Sayyid Ahmad's spirited address to the Decem­ ber 1B87 Lucknow session of the Muhammedan Educational Conference,

in which he advised those who wished to lick the boots of Bengali baboos

^The Pioneer Mail, November 30, 1087, p. 670, 2 The Pioneer, November 7, 1880. 3 Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 74, The Pioneer, November 10, 1888, Letter to the Editor, cited in Mohammad, Writings and Speeches of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, pp. 251-252.

4 Sir William Wedderburn in an article in New Review stated that Sayyid Ahmad was 'horganizedM by Sir Auckland Colvin, Lieuteniant Governor of North West Provinces, and Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy, into opposition to Congress. This is an interesting and more glorified rendition of the domination theme. The Pioneer Mail, October 5, 1893, p, 6. 177 to hop the train for Madras, the Tribune of Lahore, describing the 2 speech as "deliberately false" and "foolish, 11 wrote on January 21,

1888 that Sayyid Ahmad was "aging in intellect as well as in years, " and commented "Poor Old Sayed: Old age and Beckish counsels have been the ruin of you." The "mischief-monger" who victimized Sayyid Ahmad and drove him to do things he never wanted to do, a thesis admirably articulated by Ram Go pal in his book Indian Muslima: A Political 4 History (1858-1047) published in 1959, emerged early on the scene and

The Lucknow speech elicited numerous responses. The Pioneer Mail of February 8 , 1888 reported that the Indian M irror con­ demned Sayyid Ahmad roundly, the Bengali criticized the Muslim leader but tempered its condemnation by recalling his previous services to the com m unity, and the Indian Nation pitied the Sayyid* s "confusion of ideas." The National Guardian characterized the speech as "imbecility" and claimed it dragged Sayyid Ahmad’s reputation in the mud. Young Bengal expressed "disgust" at the "queer and foolish" utterance, while the Hindu Patriot and the Indian Spectator were both critical. The Hindu noted Sayyid Ahmad’s exclusive concern with Muslims, and dis­ missed him as a partial advisor, while The Muslim Herald cheered the pronouncement with salutations, calling it an honest reading of the cards by "our leader and exponent." The Pioneer Mail, February B, 1880, pp. 178-179,

2 Ibid. 3 Tribune of L ahore, January 21, 1 8 8 8 , cited in Zakaria, Rise of M uslim s, p. 55. 4 Gopal, Indian Muslims, pp. 76”77. Ram Gopal’s full statement reads "Under Sir Syed’s leadership the Muslims came down from the top of opposition to the bottom of loyalty to the British Government. Here was an opportunity for any mischief-mongering Englishman to seize. Perhaps the first man to do so was Theodore Beck, who in 1883 was offered the post of the Principal of Sir Syed’s Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College at Aligarh. Before he left England to join the post, he expressed himself thus in a speech: "The parliamentary system in India is most unsuited and the experiment would prove futile if representative 178 *

may be interpreted as part of Congress' frustration at Aligarh refusal

to accept political activism as advisable and Congress as spokesman

for Muslim interests. The 1888 Annual Report of the Indian National

Congress carried Lala Lajpat Rai's hints at Beck's subtle and powerful

influence on the Aligarh leaders, and contains the germinal exposition of the theory that the one Indian nation had been destroyed by the

B ritish. *

In the twenty years between 1890 and 1910 the Aligarh Movement and its institutions underwent a series of upheavals as its leadership struggled to shift the emphasis from loyalty and education to Muslim identity and political activism. The redefinition of the Aligarh stance made obvious the factionalism of the Muslim elite. Disavowal of Sayyid

Ahmad by his chief supporters was, reportedly, as discussed in Chap­ ter VI, avoided only by his death, and a number of the Aligarh leader's old friends left their association, antagonized by Sayyid Ahmad's authoritarian and high handed attitudes. Before and after his death, the problems of a successor and the retention of the philosophy and priori­ ties that Sir Sayyid had defined were compelling considerations. While institutions are introduced. The Muslims will be under the majority opinion of the Hindus, a thing which will be highly resented in the Mus­ lims and which I am sure, they will not accept quietly. '" The internal quotation is from Mohammad Noman, Muslim India: Rise and Growth of the All India Muslim League (Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1942), p. 52,

^Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 316, 179 obvious, direct acknowledgement of factionalism as implicit in the movement was avoided, both then and now, by characterizing Beck and hie associates as petty men, and by elevating the Principal and his suc­ cessors to the position of usurpers of control of the College and per- verters of its original intent. Thus Shaukat Ali, a graduate of the

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in the era of Theodore Beck and

Sayyid Ahmad, writing allegorically in 1912, stated that:

In the excitement [of arousing the Muslim community and gaining support for Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College] some foreign demons [the English faculty], disguised as gods, managed to infiltrate the sabha [literally assembly, but used for Muslim community] and take possession of the akhara [literally wrestling pit, but used for Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College], which they turned into a cess pool. The demons cast a spell on the real gods [specifically Sayyid Ahmad represented as Indra, and probably generally the mem­ bers of his reigning oligarchy], paralysed their activities and maligned their reputations. Then arose . . . [Shaukat Ali, the Red God, Muhammad Ali, the Little Red God, and Aftab Ahmad Khan, the White God] to break the spell and rip off the im ­ posters’ masks. This defense was momentarily successful till the demons managed to create a disagreement in the ranks of the gods .... 1

David Lelyveld, ’’Three Aligarh Students, 11 pp. 1-2. In his note on the translation David Lelyveld writes '’Shaukat Ali, ’Tarikh-e Khandan-e Bahriqah?’ Old Boy {March-April, 1913 as quoted in (Azizuddin Ahmad), Report Committee Tebkiqat mut’aliq be Old Boys Association Madras at ul-fulum Aligarh (Aligarh, 1917), pp. 19-23. I have condensed and paraphrased considerably in the above rendering into English, The source of the tale is a popular play of the Oudh Court, Sayyid Agha Hasan "Amanat" [sic] Laknavi’s "indra Sabha." See Sayyid Mas’ud Hasan Rizvi ”Adib, " Urdu Drama aur Istej (Lucknow, 1957) Part Two. I am indebted to C. M. Naim for referring me to this work, ” p, 23, 180

Shaukat Ali 1 a use of a popuLar play of the Oudh court to present and explain the troubles at Aligarh, portrayed Theodore Beck, his asso­ ciates, and his successors as usurpers of control of the College, per­ vert era of Sayyid Ahmad's intentions, and as alien, untrustworthy agents who camouflaged their real designs. According to Shaukat Ali the English faculty gradually wormed their way into the confidence of the community and compromised Muslim interests from the position of authority which they acquired dishonestly. Having uncovered the decep­ tion, true Muslims undertook to expel the imposters. While acknowledg­ ing differences among the Muslim elite, Shaukat Ali isolated its cause as machinations of foreign demons who made puppets of the gods.

In essence, the earliest renderings of the specific grounds from which the Beck myth was created are traced to the accusations of the

1880's, made by an Englishman and the Hindu press, and twenty years

The specific reference is to the conflict at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College which manifested itself in the demotion of Sayyid Mahmud from Honorary Secretary to President of the Trustees, to the growing influence of the Old Boys (alumni), and to the tension which manifested itself in the student strike of 1907 and the confrontation between W, A. J. Archbold, fourth Principal of the College, and the Board of Trustees, which culminated in the grateful acceptance of Mr. Arrhbold's resignation in 1909. It is significant that the political myth of W, A, J* Archbold’s contribution to the "engineered" Simla Deputa­ tion of 1906, exploded convincingly by Syed R, Wasti, Lord Minto and the Indian Nationalist Movement, 1905 to 1910 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964), is a famous part of the apologist/scapegoat tradition of tracing separatism to Englishmen, and is an extension of the Beck mythology. Likewise, the assertion of Morison's influence in the Morley-Minlo reforms may be considered in the same tradition. 181

from 1890 to 1910 when the Aligarh elite was shaking off the Sayyid

Ahmad Khan definition of M uslim in terest and defining the com m unity’s

identity not only as separate, but as best served by political activism

and greater traditional Islamic symbolism. In short, the myth emerged

from the periodic search for new directions among Hindus and Muslims.

The three basic form s of the Legend- - Theodor e Beck as instigator of

Muslim separatism, Theodore Beck as agent of British imperialism,

and Theodore 13eck as usurper of control of Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College were all articulated between 1885 and 1912,

Between 1912 and 1933 a hiatus in the propagation of the Beck

myth occured. However, while dormant, the fable was not deceased.

In 1933 G. N. Singh's Landmarks in Indian Constitutional and National

Development, republished in the 1950's, pointed lo the "circumstances

and surroundings1* which led Sayyid Ahmad to assert his "Love for his

community above his love for his adopted motherland, Sayyid Ahmad

Khan was, in this analysis, a foreigner. By 1939, when the issues of

Muslim separatism and Pakistan had exploded in developed form on

Indian politics, Sayyid Tufail Ahmad, long associated with Aligarh,

^Gurmukh Nihal Singh, Landmarks in Indian Constitutional and National Development (Benares! [2nd ed. Delhi; Atma Ram, 1950J 1933), p. 24, The fact Sayyid Ahmad is considered a foreigner is an interesting admission of the validity of Sir Sayyid’s paranoia regarding the Muslim m inority's position in India, 182

published Musalmanon ka ftaushan Muataqbil, * a half academic, half

polemic study which attributed a deterioration in Sayyid Ahmad's liber- 2 alism to Mr. Beck's single handed influence. According to Tufail

Ahmad, whose interpretation was snatched up and carried on with em­

broidery by a coterie of Indian propagandist historians in the 1940's,

Sayyid Ahmad was, until 1B84, a ,1generous radical, genuine patriot”

and an "ardent nationalist” asserting Hindus and Muslims as two parts

of one Indian nation. After 1884, however, Sayyid Ahmad gradually

abandoned his ’’time honoured loyalties,ft became narrower and exclu­

sive, and consolidated Muslim separatism. The instigator was one 3 Theodore Beck, who arrived in India and at Aligarh in 1883. In developing this thesis, which among other things, ignored the 1885 foundation of the Indian National Congress, the introduction of Charles

BradlaughTs Indian Councils Bill in 1889 and its passage in 1892, and the institutionalization of the Ganpati and Shivaji celebrations, as well

as communal rioting and agitation for freer access to the civil service for Indians, all discussed in greater detail in Chapter I, Tufail Ahmad

* Tufail Ahmad, Musalmanon ka Raushan Mustaqbil (Bad ay an Nizami Press, 1939). 2 Abdul Hamid, Muslim Separatism in India: A Brief Survey, 1858- 1947 (Lahore; [Social Sciences Research Centre, University of the Punjab] Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 32; Ahmad, Musal- manon, pp. 299-300, 3 Ahmad, Musalmanon, pp. 291-292. 103 characterized Beck as a fine speaker who was precociously astute, and who, through suaveness, wormed his way into Sayyid Ahmad's confi­ dence, Thereafter Beck exerted influence over the Aligarh leader. In all this Beck had pernicious designs. According to Tufail Ahmad,

Beck's opposition to the Indian National Congress was attributable to a personal affront by Surendranath Banerjea. During Banerjea’s tour of northern India, at a meeting in Aligarh overwhich Sayyid Ahmad pre­ sided, the English Principal was singled out by the speaker as a representative of an English breed which appropriated Indian revenues.

As Tufail Ahmad repeated the story. Beck, in a subsequent private con­ versation, expressed the opinion that the speech did not conform to the temperment of the people to whom it was addressed. That Theodore

Beck would state Banerjea's speech more appropriate to "timid gre­ garious Bengalis" than to "virile Muslims" is predictable, but to argue from this incident, which was unreported elsewhere until 1903, as

Tufail Ahmad does, that the Banerjea speech changed Beck and con­ vinced him to save upper India from the infiltration of new ideas is hardly justified, particularly when implicit in the story is the charac­ terization of Theodore Beck as a petty man repaying a personal vendetta.

More convincing in delineating Theodore Beck's commitment to Sayyid

Ahmad's definition of the Muslim cause is the fact that the Principal's articles for the Cambridge Review before meeting Sayyid Mahmud, accepting employment at Aligarh, and travelling to India with Sayyid 104

Ahmad's son reflect sympathy for Indian nationalism, taut after arrival

in India, Theodore Beck was consistently the spokesman for the Muslim

Aligarh philosophy and the B ritish em pire, if a change is to be isolated,

its author appears more likely to have been Sayyid Mahmud than

Surendranath Banerjea, and the motivation more basically philosophical

than personal.

As Tufail Ahmad's argument unfolds, Beck articulated the

thesis that if simultaneous civil service examinations were offered in

India, the virile North Indian population would come under the perpetual

domination of Bengalis. Consequently the Principal resolved to keep

Sayyid Ahmad from popular and progressive (the two are equated) political movements by surreptitious machinations. Notably, Sayyid

Ahmad had testified in opposition to simultaneous examinations before a

government commission prior to knowing of Theodore Beck’s existence.

However, in the Tufail Ahmad version, the story continues that 3ince

Sayyid Ahmad was overburdened and could not devote sufficient time to the Aligarh Institute Gazette of which he was editor, Beck, who had a flair for public speaking and popular journalism, and who wanted to enter politics, volunteered to assist his employer by taking over the

Aligarh Institute Gazette. While there is no evidence that this indeed occurred, and while Sayyid Ahmad Khan's name continues to appear as editor and as author of numerous articles of the Gazette, Tufail Ahmad puts forth that Beck's offer was accepted and that the Aligarh organ 105

began to criticize and ridicule popular demands and advocates of

popular politics, Tufail Ahmad suggests that these articles were

attributed to Sayyid Ahmad, but implies that, in actuality, the author

was Theodore Beck. That Tufail Ahmad is saying that Sayyid Ahmad

either did not know what was being published in the journal which he

edited, that he did not read the Gazette, or that he could not discipline

his junior employee, are logical observations. That such assentations

are counter to all evidence of Sayyid Ahmad's dominance of the Aligarh

Movement is plain.

Tufail Ahmad avoids unequivocal assertion of Beck's control over Sayyid Ahmad by stating that the Aligarh leader's hostility to

Congress and old convictions provided opportunity for Beck to launch his campaign against the system of elections, competitive examinations, and compatable Hindu and Muslim interests, an admission which con­ tradicts the initial thesis that Sayyid Ahmad was an ’’ardent nationalist” before Beck, Proceeding, however, Tufail Ahmad next states that

Beck's efforts bore fruit in Sayyid Ahmad's December 28, 1887 Lucknow speech which inveighed against the elective principle and justified the nomination of landed aristocrats to the Viceroy's council (on which

Sayyid Ahmad had served). In Tufail Ahmad's estimation, the change in Sayyid Ahmad's attitude is a triumph for Beck, whose ascendance over the "medium" is now complete. Having reached this pass, the

"old man" played into Beck's hands and was persuaded to organize an 186 anti-Congress front, the United Indian Patriotic Association, Estab­ lished in August I860 by Sayyid Ahmad and Raja Siva Prasad pictur­ esquely described by Pherozeshah Mehta as scotch terriers pulling in opposite directions, ^ the Association was to point out the inaccuracies in C ongress claims, to inform the Government of Muslim and Hindu opinion opposed to Congress, and to preserve the peace in India by strengthening British rule. Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Theodore Beck were jointly Honorary Secretaries, Theodore Beck was active in writing 2 against the Congress, but his activities were entirely consistent with the stated aims of the organization, which is also a logical expression of Sayyid Ahmad's philosophy.

The issue of Beck’s influence at Aligarh is joined again when

Tufail Ahmad characterizes the Principal’s unhappiness at Charles

Bradlaugh's Indian Councils Bill, against which Beck drafted a petition to Parliament expounding the danger of introducing popular government to an area of heterogenious population. To gather signatures, students were sent to canvas, and Beck at the head of one party, established his group on the steps of the Jama Masjid in Delhi, where his crew collected signatures on the pretext the petition protested anti-cow slaughter agita­ tion. That this deception presumes the signatories were all illiterate

J Mody, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, p. 136. 2 The pamphlet The Seditious Nature of the Indian National Congress published in 1080 by Pioneer Press was one of Theodore Beck’s efforts on behalf of the Patriotic Association, 187

or did not read what they were signing, and that the students for whom

Beck acted as the model of upright honesty and proper British moral

rectitude, were party to the fraud, are problems not raised by the

author or those who repeat his allegations. Tufail Ahmad concludes by

saying 20, 735 signatures were gathered and sent to England in 1890,

where they were laid before the House of Commons. The impression is

that all were collected by Beck on the steps of the Jam a Masjid, while,

in fact, the signatures are the result of efforts by the United Patriotic

Association and its affiliated Muslim an] uni an s. The Pioneer Mail lists

fifty Muslim associations which entered their names as sympathizers

with the Patriotic Association's aims, * and Bimanbehari Majumdar in

2 Indian Political Associations and Reform of Legislature (1818-1917)

reports that as many as fifty-three anjumans from various parts of

India expressed support of the Association goals. When the Patriotic

Association sponsored the petition in question, 22 , 299 signatures from

seventy-one towns and cities were recorded, and the issues, defined as 3 anti-C ongress and pro-British, were explicit.

'‘For a complete list of the affiliated anjumans see The Pioneer Mail, September 26, 1880, p. 419, Ibid., November 7, 1888, pp. 614-615; Ibid. , November 28, 1880, pp. 713-714; and Ibid., June 4, 1890, pp. 730- 731; Ibid., May 28, 1890. ^Majumdar, Indian Political Associations, pp. 228-230; The P ioneer Mail, May 28, 1090, p. 685 reported 71 itowns. ^lurii V. Gankovskii, A History of Pakistan (Moscow: Nauka Publishing House, 1064), p. 19 quotes Rajendra Praaad, India Divided (Bombay: Hind Kitabs, 1946), p. 104, which contends 50, 000 signatures were gathered but which admits the anti-Congress nature of the petition. LBS

Moving chronologically, Tufail Ahmad notes the 1893 riots which

he declares provided the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Principal

opportunity to drive a wedge between communities. As Tufail Ahmad

renders the sequence of events, the Bombay riots, the Ganpati festivals

at Poona, and the anti-cow-killing agitation combined to give Beck the

necessary excuse to dissolve the Patriotic Association, and to raise as

its successor the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association of

Upper India, thus abolishing the 11 ey eso re 11 of Hindu and Muslim alliance

in the anti-Congress Patriotic Association. ^ That the Patriotic Associa­

tion was elitist and almost exclusively Muslim, and that the two scotch terriers had begun snarling at one another are not taken into account.

Nor is the passage of the Indian Councils Act in 1892, Likewise, the character and aims of the Defense Association, which excluded govern­ ment servants and students, held no public meetings, and desired the wisest and most influential Muslims to lend their weight to advocating

Muslim interests, all consistent with Sayyid Ahmad's Aligarh philosophy, are ignored. That the Defense Association advocated gentlemen con­ versing with gentlemen to present Muslim views, politely, to English­ men, and supported measures to enhance the stability of the British government, both consistent parts of the Aligarh philosophy, is not dis­ cussed, Omitted is the fact the Association was founded at a session of

* Ahmad, Musalmanon, pp. 288-341, 1B9 the Muhammedan Educational Conference over which Sayyid Ahmad presided, and that it was established in Sayyid Ahmad's living room.

The account of Beckfs influence, as rendered by Tufail Ahmad, provided essential fuel for rekindling the Beck myth. As Abdul Hamid has pointed out in his text, Muslim Separatism in India: A Brief Survey

<1858-1947), * completed in 1959 and published in 1967, Tufail Ahmad was intimately connected with Aligarh for several decades, and this 2 association "has enabled him to rescue valuable facts from oblivion. "

Abdul Hamid believed the Tufail Ahmad narrative '^highly purposive" 3 but also !,a highly plausible reading of the facts, " despite the acknowl­ edgement that Sayyid Ahmad never accepted Hindu-Muslim unity and had opposed popular institutions consistently, advocating nomination of 4 aristocrats to councils in 1Q83 before Beck's arrival. Abdul Hamid concludes his assessment by saying "even if the responsibility for reorienting Sayyid Ahmad's politics be laid at Mr, Beck's door, the 5 latter had the logic of facts on his side, " and thus accepts that Sayyid

^Hamid, Muslim Separatism, pp. 36-37. 2 Ibid., p. 36,

3Ibid. 4 Sheikh M. Ikram, Makers of Pakistan and Modern Muslim India (Lahore; Muhammad Ashraf, 1950), p, 423. 5 Hamid, Muslim Separatism, p. 37. 190

Ahmad's politics was reoriented while avoiding dealing with the validity

of the myth,

Tufail Ahmad, in focusing upon Theodore Beck's insidious influ­

ence over Sayyid Ahmad within the Aligarh Movement does not forge the link between British government policy and the Principal. He simply excuses Sayyid Ahmad of responsibility for eommunalism. Others in the 1940's, using the ammunition of Tufail AhmadTs interpretation of the data, define British imperial duplicity. As ok a Mehta and Achuyut

Patwardhun, who published The Communal Triangle in India in 1942, and who are frequently quoted as a source in the 1950's and 1960's, state that Theodore Beck convinced Sayyid Ahmad that

while an Angl o-M uslim alliance would ameliorate the condition of the Muslim community, the nationalist alignment would lead them once again to sweat, toil and tears .... As a result his [Sayyid Ahmad's] unique influence was used to keep the Muslima, particularly in Northern India, away from the Congress. ^

Dinayindra M. Chaudhuri in Muslim Politics in India, published in 194G, cited Mehta and Patwardhan'e The Communal Triangle to explain why Sayyid Ahmad became leader of a community rather than a national leader, and elaborated on the theme. He clarified and delin- eated the Principal's official connections.

^Asoka Mehta and Achuyut Patwardhan, The Communal Triangle in India (Allahabad; Kitabistan, 1942), pp. 23; 60. Prasad, India Divided, p, 96. On page 76 Prasad stated Sayyid Ahmad was ^'guided in his course by the British heads of his pet institution .... 11 On page 104 Prasad repeated the Jama Masjid anti-cow killing signature gathering. 191

It was indeed mainly the pernicious influence of the young British Principal, Mr. Beck of the newly started Muslim College at Aligarh which effected the 'tragic transformation. 1 As M essrs Mehta and Patwardhan have pointed out, 'Mr, Beck assidoualy tried to wean Sir Syed away from nationalism to transfer his political attachment from the British Liberals to the Conservatives and to evoke in him an enthusiasm for a rapproachment between the Muslims and the Government. He was singularly successful, ^

Ignoring the contradiction of describing the College at Aligarh as Mus­ lim while arguing Sayyid Ahmad the nationalist, and the fact that the

Aligarh leader was not attached to British Liberals, but to Conserva­ tives such as Graham, Colvin, and the Strachey family, Mr, Chaudhuri proceeds to buttress his statement by asserting Theodore Beck "secured editorial control 11 of the Aligarh Institute Gazette and rigot , . , [Sayyid

Ah mad] involved in a controversy with the Bengali press because this paper [Aligarh Institute Gazette] criticized the Bengalis . , . and charac- 2 terized their political demands as 'anti-Muslim. The distinction between not in Muslim best interest and anti-Muslim has been eroded, while the size, influence, and philosophy of the Indian National Congress from 1085 until 1900 has been forgotten. The Congress of the I9401s is seen as the Congress of the 1090's.

Binayindra M. Chaudhuri, Muslim Politics in India (Calcutta; Oriental Book Company, 1946), pp. 9; 11. The internal quotation is from Mehta and Patwardhan, The Communal Triangle, p. 58, 2 Chaudhuri, Muslim Politics, pp. 9-10; Rao V. Raghavendra, Indo-Mualim Culture (Bangalore: Vichara Sahitya, 1948), p. 62. "In 1893, the British authorities succeeded in organizing the Mohammedan Anglo “Oriental Defense Association . P1 192

Malevolent implications were attributed to the fact Lord Curzon attended the Principal's funeral in Simla and commented to students of

the College on April 2 3 , 1901 that

the services of the late Mr. Beck can never be forgotten or repaid .... He gave up a life and a career in England and devoted himself to the making of this place. As I followed his body to its grave among the Himalayan deodars. I felt that I was paying such small tribute of respect as Lay in my powers, to one who had been both a faithful friend of the Muhammadan of India and a benefactor of the Common Weal. ^

Notably, the Viceroy was speaking at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College to a Muslim audience whose recently deceased leader {Sayyid

Ahmad) had defined a philosophy of loyalism, education, and political non-activism. The philosophy, while under attack, had not been dis­ avowed. Lord Curzon 1 s address interpreted in the context of time and place, is not evidence of Government sponsorship of separatism and

’’divide and rule." It is rather, a compliment to Theodore Beck, his employer, and their work.

More useful than the Viceroy's comments in forging the Beck myth was Arthur Strachey's tribute to his ’’oldest" and "dearest" friend carried in Theodore Beck's obituary in the London Times of September

7, 1699, In his eulogy Strachey commented

Yet another of those Englishmen who are building up the Empire in distant countries has fallen at his post. . . . Englishmen at

*Bhatnagar, History of M. A.O. College, p. 82. 193

home can never realize how much work of consolidating the Empire is done by men about whom no despatches or newspaper paragraphs are written. *

From these sentences the ideas of undercover British agent and de- 2 stroyer of the Indian nation have been drawn. It should be noted that an obituary notice customarily is a complimentary, eulogistic exercise, and that to characterize an Englishman in 1099 as an empire builder who died in exile while performing his duty, was a magnificent but ordinary compliment.

It appears reasonable to suggest that in the dramatic and trau­ matic events of the 1940's, the identification of the Aligarh Movement as the dominant antecedent of the demand for Pakistan was necessary, as was the isolation of the cause for separatism in the successful prose­ cution of "divide and rule" by the Government of India and its agents.

Likewise, the apologist theme that Sayyid Ahmad had been the victim of clever agents who had perverted his "real" intent emerged as a logical correlate, and the designation of particular individuals, specifically

Theodore Beck, provided a ready scapegoat toward which to direct frustration. However, with the coming of independence the myth of

Theodore Beck does not die. Rather, it undergoes further metamor­ phosis,

*The Times, September 7, 1899, p. 8 , 2 Majumdar, History and Culture of the Indian People, X, 314. Chaudhuri, Muslim Politics, pp. 10-11. 194

By the 1950's the "pretty little young man with pink cheeks and

blue eyes [who was] certainly not an average Englishman , , , , as

described by Wilfred S. Blunt in his India Under Ripon, A Personal

Diary, was no longer a man led by "lofty aims and romantic ideals , . .

to break away from the conventionalism of his Cambridge surrounding

and launch out upon the work of regeneration of a fallen people . . . who

1.2 had retained those ideals throughout his career .... Instead

Theodore Beck had become a man with "wily charms and a sweet

3 tongue . . . . " K, R. Bombwall in Indian Politics and Government

Since 1885, published in 1951, saw zealous official organizing of the Mus- lim community against Congress, which was a potential threat to imperial rule. Beck, the devious, recognized the need of the coopera­ tion of prestigious men like Sayyid Ahmad, was singularly successful in obtaining that cooperation, and was able to persuade the Aligarh leader of the merits of Anglo-Muslim alliance against nationalism. In short, this is the Mehta Patwardhan thesis, which Mr, Bombwall cites, com­ plete with the assertion of official sanctions, nationalist to communaliat transformation, and designs manipulated by a British Lucifer, Sayyid

Ahmad was a "sincere nationalist" in his early career; in his

* Wilfred Scanwen Blunt, India Under Ripon, A Personal Diary {London; T. Fisher Unwin, 1909), p, 156.

2Ibid. 3 College Magazine, Aligarh Muslim University, 1953, editorial by Maulvi Bashuruddin. 195 transformation "the hand of English bureaucrats was active. . . . "

Theodore Beck was singled out as the man deserving the greatest credit for "disorienting1’ Sayyid Ahmad into the "spearhead of a separatist movement." Mr, Beck's influence in creating the "circumstances and surroundings1' mentioned by G. N. Singh in Landmarks in Indian Consti­ tutional and National Development is for Mr. Bombwall "now an open secret . , . , " "it is . . . beyond doubt that Mr. Beck acted with the knowledge and blessings of the powers that were and that interested persons in England were not unaware of his work as an Empire­ builder. ^

Sheikh Muhammad Ik ram in Makers of Pakistan and Modern

Muslim India objected in 1950 to the magnification of Theodore Beck, and argued that the Principal was not instrumental in Sayyid Ahmad's anti-Congress posture, but that it was "quite conceivable that in course of time Theodore Beck played upon the fears expressed by Syed Ahmad

*K, R, Bombwall, Indian Politics and Government (Since 1B85): A Study of the Nationalist Movement and Constitutional Development in India Since 1385 (Delhi: Atma Ram & Sons, 1951), pp, 101-104; 25.

2 Ibid., pp. 102-103. 3 Ibid., p. 104; Sachsin Sen, The Birth of Pakistan (Calcutta: General Printers and Publishers, L td., 1955), p. 43. 4 Bombwall, Indian Politics, p. 104, 196 before his [Beck's] arrival.7’* This appears to be one of the earliest post-independence corrective accounts which acknowledged Sayyid

Ahmad's Muslim orientation from 1057. Published in Pakistan, it sub­ ordinates Beck to his employer; the Principal in Ikram's version be­ comes a possible influence, not an instigator.

However, the effect of the magnificent proportions to which the

Theodore Beck legend had been raised as well as the glorified position of Congress remained distinctly obvious in the 19 60's. In the most recent decade ail three major renderings have been repeated, some­ times with elaborations.

Following a long tradition of myth interpretation, and relying often on sources compiled in the 1940's, Khaliq A. Nizami's biography of Sayyid Ahmad Khan published in New Delhi by the Publications Divi­ sion of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India in 1966 states;

While Beck’s influence on him [Sayyid Ahmad] has been definitely exaggerated, it can hardly be denied that Beck was very active during this time and wanted to use the Sayyid for his own politi­ cal ends. Though Sayyid Ahmad’s opposition to the Congress and its demand for representative institutions, etc, , was based on his own analysis of the situation, Beck exploited the confidence reposed in him by the septuagenarian Muslim leader. While implementing the Sayyid's ideas, he gave a complexion to the cam­ paign which Sayyid Ahmad could not have approved. ^

*Lkram, Makers of Pakistan, pp, 42-44.

2 Nizami, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, pp. 146-147. The Defense Asso­ ciation was founded by Beck as a cell1' for "pro-British propaganda. " 197

Thus Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Aligarh opposition to Indian National Con­

gress nationalism is excused, but the question of how such exploitation

of an extremely powerful and authoritarian personality could have been

carried out by an employee forty-two years his junior is not answered.

In part the issue is avoided by noting:

It is further reported that. . , Beck secured the editorship of the Aligarh Institute Gazette but the name of Beck does not appear as editor of the journal. However, Beck carried on a vigourous campaign against the Congress as well as against the Bengalis. *

Farther from the facts, but an equally commonly advanced inter­ pretation of Beck, is the style of Abulhasan A, Nadvi in his Muslims in

India, published in Lucknow by the Academy of Islamic Research and

Publications in 1964, which characterized Sayyid Ahmad's opposition to 2 Congress as a creature of Beck and Morison. The suggestion is that

Sayyid Ahmad never opposed the Congress before Beck arrived in India and that a change occurred from active support of Congress to political non-involvement. The key abjection to this thesis is thai Congress was established in 1885, and could not be opposed before its existence, although Sayyid Ahmad's position on popular politics was clear in the

1870's.

''Nizami, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, p. 146. 2 Abulhasan A, Nadvi, Muslims in India (Lucknow: Academy of Islamic Research and Publications, 1964), pp. 14; 114; M. M. Ahluwalia, Freedom Struggle in India, 1858-1909 (Delhi: Ranjit Printers and Pub­ lishers, 1965), p, 375, The influence of Lytton and Strachey is specified. The statements of authors such as Nizami and Nadvi, sig­

nificantly both Muslims resident in India, are comparatively temperate

when compared with indictments which critique Theodore Beck's

influence as Mso great that one Muslim writer humorously remarked

that 'the College is of Syed Ahmad and the order is of Beck’ [who is

described asJ--Sayyid Ahmad's friend, philosopher, and guide. This

statement by R, C. Majumdar, who sees Sayyid Ahmad's early speeches 2 completely free of communal bias and who sees Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College under Theodore Beck as the chief source of anti-

3 Congress propaganda, is elaborated upon in R. C. Majumdar 1 s The

History and Culture of the Indian People, British Paramountcy and

Indian Renaissance, published in 1965. In this volume Majumdar as­

serts "the activities of Beck and his successors should not be treated

as mere personal or isolated incidents for they coincide with a policy 4 of 'divide and rule,1" Going further, Mr. Majumdar notes the Princi- 5 pal's services as empire builder were "appreciated in high quarters, 11

^Romesh C. Majumdar, H. C. Raychaudhuri and Kalikinsar Datta, An Advanced History of India (London; MacMillan, 1960), pp. 482; 484. 2 Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People, X, P a rt II, p, 309, states "Beck made a systematic effort to divide the Hindus and Mus­

lims, and "the anti-Hindu and anti-Congress spirit of the Muslims

was encouraged--not to put it more blatantly--by Mr. Beck. . . and

others of his ilk ....

Mr, Majumdar credits the organization of the Defense Associa-

3 4 tion to Beck, because the Patriotic Association was not to his liking*

This despite the statement on the same page that the Patriotic Associa­

tion "scheme was the result of Mr. Beck's efforts 11 and that Beck and Sir 5 Sayyid were in charge of it. Finally, eight pages later, R. C.

Majumd&r concludes contradicting himself by acknowledging Beck as a

'’strong influence" because "the fundamental ideas of both [Sayyid Ahmad and Theodore Beck] followed the same direction. "

Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People* p. 313. 2 Ibid., p. 324; Majumdar, An Advanced History of India* claimed Beck took charge of the Gazette and ^poured forth venoms on the Bengalis for their advanced political and social ideas , 11 Beck was characterized as the individual who raised the spectre of Hindu domi­ nance more absolute than that exercised by any Mughul emperor. In The History and Culture of the Indian People, X, Part II, p. 312, Beck was accused of "inducing" 2 0, 000 Muslims to sign a "falsely repre­ sented" petition against cow slaughter, and on page 314, Beck was the anonymous author of articles attributed to Sayyid Ahmad, while page 312 made Beck inspirer of the M. A.O. Defense Association. 3 Majumdar, The History and Culture of the Indian People, X, P art 11* p. 312. 200

Even more devastating is the Beck myth found in T ara Chand's

"Forward" to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: A Political Biography, authored by Shan Muhammad and published in 1969.

The doubtful credit of twisting Sir Syed's original policy and directing it into communalist channels must be given to Principal Beck and his English colleagues. They preached to their students day in and day out, hatred of the Hindus and loyalty to the British and they propagated fear and jealousy of the Hindu intellectuals and Hindu majority. *■

Shan Muhammad himself portrays Beck as one who meddled in

Indian politics "in the guise of serving the Muslim interests while con- cealing his own motive which was only to consolidate the British Empire 2 in India," In these assessments Shan Muhammad agrees with S. Abid

Husain. In hia The Destiny of Indian Muslims published in 1965 Mr,

Husain utilizes the phrase from the Beck obituary to describe the Prin- 3 cipal as an "Empire-builder" but. the pejorative, not the eulogistic meaning is dominant. Husain then adds the Majumdar analysis of 4 Theodore Beck as "Sir Syed's political advisor 11 and Tufail Ahmad's

* "Forward" by Tara Chand in Muhammad, Sir S.yed Ahmad Khan, pp. viii-ix.

2 Muhammad, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, p. 166. 3 Husain, The Destiny of Indian Muslims, p. 36, 4 Ibid., pp. 30-39. Mr, Husain traced the resignations of cer­ tain trustees to differences with the English staff, and argued that the departure of old associates meant Sayyid Ahmad's educational and political advisors now were the members of the European staff of the College, especially Beck. 201 version of Beck aa author of the Defense Association* ^ In this vein,

Theodore Beck's ventures into publishing both in the Gazette and Anglo-

Indian papers, manifest, according to Shan Muhammad, use of the 2 Muslim community to fight Congress. Continuance of British power in India was tied to keeping Muslims away from the Indian National

3 Congress for "Beck and hia kind. " That the demise of the British raj, particularly to Congress pressure, was more than a rhetorical proposi­ tion before 1900 is never raised as an issue.

Tracing some of the authors of the Beck legend, Shan Muhammad notes thatNu'maniShibli stated the Aligarh leader did everything due to 4 British influence, that Sulaiman Nadvi asserted the British had Mforci- 5 bly compelled Sir Syed to oppose the National Congress , 11 and that g Tufail Ahmad and Mir Wilayat concur in this assessment, although

^Husain, The Destiny of Indian Muslims, p. 38. 2 Muhammad, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, p. 167. 3 Ibid,, pp. 172-173; Husain, Destiny of Indian Muslims, p. 51, characterized Theodore Beck's successor, Theodore Morison, as one of the kind--a man who assumed cont rol of Muslim leadership and "helped the British Government unscrupulously to exploit the temporary tensions for sowing the seeds of permanent conflict between Hindus and M uslim s, 11 4 Muhammad, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, p, 169.

Ibid,

^Ibid. 202 their statements "cannot be taken as conclusive evidence."^ Shan

Muhammad concludes by stating that Theodore Beck and Sayyid Ahmad

both needed each other. To Syed, Beck's cooperation was essential to win the favour of the British Government for the College, and to Beck Syed was a good agency to secure Muslim loyalty, and this was the reason that they continued complemen­ ting and supplementing each other, ^

Distilled in this rendition is Beck the insidious perverter who had access to and influence in the Government and who acted as the agent of "divide and rule. " Ironically, both Theodore Beck and Sayyid Ahmad are puppets and provocateurs who used one another.

Significantly, during the 19 60's a government published biography of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, one of the most prominent Indian historians,

R. C. Majumdar, and the well known Tara Chand give credence and fillip to the theses that Theodore Beck was author of separatism, was agent of the British "divide and rule 11 policy, and was usurper of control over Sayyid Ahmad and Aligarh Muslim politics. As such, they portray

Theodore Beck as a dominant personality responsible for the formation of the United Indian Patriotic Association and the Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental Defense Association, Notably, the tone and vocabulary of the statements in the i960'a is more inflamatory and strident than those of the 1940's when the British rai was being liquidated. The authors'

1 Muhammad, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, p. 173,

2lbid, 203 emphasis is upon the British effort to "prevent the Hindus and Muslims from coming together1*^ and the delineation of a specific scapegoat is dear. The magnification of the anti-Congress elements of the myth is also evident* Unlike the earlier periods, when the reasons for the use of the Beck myth are evident, in the i9601s it is more difficult to ascer­ tain the motivations for its repetition, Very tentatively, one might suggest that the erosion of Indian National Congress power domestically, the survival of Hindu-Muslim dichotomy, which was not acknowledged as inherent in India by official Congress policy, or the endurance of

Pakistan as a South Asian power, may be operative factors*

Concluding this survey of the history of the myth of Theodore

Beck are three recent works, two of which deal exclusively with the

Aligarh Movement and the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, and one of which focuses upon the rise of Muslims in Indian politics. These three generally sober and balanced accounts do not escape the propaga­ tion of the Beck mythology; while they omit or consider fallacious the more outrageous accusations of editorship of the Aligarh Institute

Gazette and the anti-cow killing petition to Parliament, they repeat the decisive role of Theodore Beck in separatism, "divide and rule, " and

^Nizami, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, p. 146; V, B, Kulkarni, British Dominion in India and After (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1964), p. 174 characterized the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Associa­ tion's aim "to prevent the country's principal communities from coming together in order to agitate for national self determination , 11 and Theodore Beck as its "life and soul. " 204 alien control of Aligarh, Because these works are carefully docuj- mented histories the repetition of aspects of the Beck myth tends to enhance its credibility arid consequently is extremely significant. In contrast to the writers of the 1940's who are consistent in their condem­ nation of the Principal, the three under discussion, in discrediting parts of the myth, and using it selectively, reveal the discrepancies contained, and consequently, contradict themselves.

M. S. Jain in The Aligarh Movement published in 1965 writes that the

opinion which argues that Sir Sayyid opposed the Indian National Congress at the instigation and under the influence of Beck . . . has tried to ignore the fundamental political views of the leader of the Aligarh Movement since 1857, *

In fact, says Mr, Jain, given the views advocated by Sayyid Ahmad be­ fore Beck's arrival, the ’’sudden change '1 theorist is 1,a daring apolo- 2 gist, However, while asserting that Theodore Beck's influence was not very great, and probably served only to strengthen Sir Sayyidrs original beliefs, and while noting that even AHaf Hussain Hali, Sayyid

Ahmad's biographer, does not mention Beck's effect on Khan, ^ Mr,

*Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p, 122,

2 Ibid., pp. 117-118,

^Ibid., pp, viii; 122; 141. Jain duba the Principal Min many respects his [Sayyid Ahmad 1 a] chief 1 2 a d v is o r , 11 the Leader for the Patriotic Association, and originator of the "mischievious" argument that the anti-cow killing agitation indicated a Hindu religious orientation to the nationalist movement which mis- g represented the "entire Hindu community, " The Mohammedan Anglo -

Oriental Defense Association is described as a plan advanced "in order 4 to make the Muhammadans a separate political factor, 11 w hile the

Muslim demands through the Defense Association (separate electorates, reservation of seats, and weightage) are appraised as ’'willingness * . . to become a tool in the hands of the British and . . . a hindrance in the 5 way of the establishment of democracy in India, " Jain concludes this g critique by saying the British accepted the Muslims as "stooges , 11 an opinion he buttresses later by describing the English faculty of Moham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College, in contrast to other Indian colleges, as

"employed, not for their academic qualifications but for their capacity 7 to fulfil the political role assigned to them'f--that is, "to interpret

*Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p, 57. 2 206

western culture to Muslims and Muslim culture and thought to the

English in general and the British Indian government in particular.

Apparently for Mr, Jain academic achievement and political activity

were mutually exclusive, for in his estimation, the English faculty

were often incompetent. According to Jain, who is repeating the third

form of the Beck myth, the Principal as usurper, whose activities

justify disavowal of all English standards, faculty incompetence ’’is

conclusively shown by the fact that the students very often felt them- 2 selves to be more competent than the English professors . 11 Citing the

specific case of 1887, the year of a student strike which the author fails to mention in the context, Jain writes

the students believed that the student secretary of the Siddons Union Club was a much more competent and more learned scholar of English than Beck himself.^

Revealingly, Mr, Jain's sources for these evaluations are the Aligarh 4 Institute Gazette of April 17 and May 15, 1907, the spring of another

student strike which closed the College. Significantly also, this is the decade of radical reorientation of Aligarh philosophy, a period in which the "foreign demons" were being expelled from the akhara they had

*Jain, The Aligarh Movement, pp. 16B-169,

2Ibid.

3Ibid, 4 Aligarh Institute Gazette, April 17, 1907, p, 6; Ibid., May 15, 1907, pp. 13-14P turned into a cess pool. This key consideration in evaluating the data has been overlooked in M* S. Jain’s presentation*

After indicting the faculty as incompetent, contradicting himself on the same page, the author notes the English faculty were competent in fulfilling Sayyid Ahmad 1 s expectations, and thereby freed Sir Sayyid to take lees and less concern in College affairs. ^ This interpretation departs from the facts but from it emerges Mr, Jain’s rendering of the 2 usurper theory, Theodore Beck "interfered 11 in College management;

3 the Trustees bill reflected petty faculty concern with job security; and the faculty gave "slighting 11 treatment to Muslim trustees, teachers,

4 and students. Having assessed the English professors as primarily employed and acting as politicians, Mr, Jain states "since no one dare

[sic] oppose Sir Sayyid, Beck had a smooth sailing , 11 a statement which in itself suggests Beck must not have contradicted or offended his em­ ployer. Theodore Beck is finally described as a man "content to pose

*Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p* 170; Hamid, Muslim Separa­ tism, pp* 16-17, in which he stated 'not infrequently . . , [BeckJ turned his uncurbed authority against Sayyid Ahmad's closest friends, and, forgetful of his duties, proffered unsolicited advice. " 2 Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 172; the adjective which Jain repeated is quoted from the 1953 Basuruddin article in the College Magazine of Aligarh Muslim University.

3Ibid, 208 as the leader of the Muslims in India* and as a man who encouraged 2 Hindu-Muslim differences.

Thus while M, S. Jain objects to Tufail Ahmad's "deliberate 3 perversion of history, M acknowledges that Beck had no control over 4 the Aligarh Institute Gazette, and reverses the normal equation by stating that "the views of Sir Sayyid were often published under the name of B eck, 11 he has not escaped the pervading influence of several aspects of Beck’s myth. He has, in denying the validity of the more absurd aspects of the legend and in examining some of the inconsistencies of the fable unearthed certain glaring contradictions of the magnification of Principal Theodore Beck to architect of separatism, and perpetrator of "divide and rule." However, Mr. Jain has retained several useful aspects of the myth. Beck and the English faculty were employed for g political purposes rather than as educators, but they had special access to the Government of India, which generously assisted and favoured the College. Implicit in this analysis is Sayyid Ahmad as

^Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 175.

2Ibid., p. 123.

3Ibid. , p. 174.

4Ibid.

5Ibid. , pp. 173-174. g Hamid, Muslim Separatism, p. 17, stated that Theodore Beck was essentially a politician who treated his job as a diplomatic assignment. " 209

author of a political platform of special Anglo-Muslim association, but

mitigating this responsibility for definition of separate Muslim identity

is the suggestion that the Government fostered and favoured the College

to its own purposes of "divide and rule. M To fortify his preference for

English initiative in Muslim politics, Mr. Jain characterizes the Prin­

cipal and staff as usurpers holding undue influence within the College.

Their intrigues complicated the leadership crisis. Avoiding the ba 3ic

issue of search for new directions for the Aligarh Movement, Jain

c o m m e n ts

Beck himself wanted to become a life-principal. He established a clique of his own and began to interfere with day-to-day college administration. He further tried to accentuate the mutual difference of the trustees. Sir Sayyid Ahmad had appointed Sayyid Mahmud, his son, as the future secretary of thr‘ college, just to please the English staff. Beck now came

i " be so opposed to Sayyid Mahmud that he wrote to the trustees !■ .1 choose between him and Sayyid Mahmud, 1

Omittec is the fact that the Trustees Regulations grew from Sayyid

Ahmad's awareness that pressures for more Islamic content in the

College were strong within the ruling oligarchy and would prevail after his death unless a specific grant of succession to an individual commit­ ted to English education was legally defined. Consequently, as noted in

Chapter IV, Sayyid Ahmad railroaded the Trustees Bill through his

Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p, 61. Specifically the reference is to a letter of December 14, 1898 in which Theodore Beck asked Viqar-ul-M ulk to assist in the appointment of Mohsin-ul-Mulk as Hon­ orary Secretary of the Trustees; Hamid, Muslim Separatism, pp, 16- 17 characterized Beck's role as ,ralmost decisive. 210 associates, several of whom departed Aligarh over the issue. While the English staff supported retention of the College curriculum and philosophy as defined by Sayyid Ahmad, and therefore supported his

188G efforts, to place responsibility for the Trustees Regulations on the

English staff, as M. S. Jain does, is unwarranted,

A further objection to Jain's interpretation of Beck’s role in the

College politics of 1898-1699 is his treatment of the Principal’s attitude toward Sayyid Mahmud, Elsewhere Sayyid Mahmud's incompetence is admitted. However, the connection between Sayyid Ahmad’s son’s loss of the "balance of his mind1* and Theodore Beck’s disavowal of his employer's designated successor, Beck's first contact with Mohamme­ dan Anglo-Oriental College and Aligarh, is not made. Nor is the Prin­ cipal’s concern for the consistent and strong direction of the College in the image of Sayyid Ahmad’s vision articulated. The Principal’s cam­ paign for raising the College to university status goes unmentioned.

Instead Mr, Jain leaves the impression that Beck was a fickle friend not to be trusted and a petty man concerned with his own gain. To climax his presentation, the author focuses upon the decline of "decent behavior of the English staff toward the students’1* without reference to the mushrooming size of the College and the static size of the European staff. All together, Theodore Beck, the perpetrator of Hindu-Muslim difference, the agent of British officialdom, the usurper of power at the

AJain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 67. 211

College, the petty bureaucrat, and the dishonest friend jostle errati­

cally through the pages of The Aligarh Movement.

S, K* Bhatnagar, whose 1969 History of the M+A, Q. College

Aligarh provides the most recent and extensive history of the College reflects the changed attitude toward the ideal of Muslim education and carries forth the Beck myth in the particular College setting. Without reference to the philosophy which stressed the education of the whole man or to Sayyid Ahmad's and Theodore Beck’s anxiety to provide oppor­ tunity for Englishmen and Muslims to meet, Mr, Bhatnagar charges that in the Beck era intellectual accomplishments gave way to sports,* by definition a perversion of education. Beck was the author of this change. According to Bhatnagar the

European staff, led by Beck, was a force which tried to intro­ duce its own ways of thinking. Beck and Sir Syed had different outlooks and they often pulled in different directions . , . . The Europeans gave an orientation to the Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College which Sir Syed had never dreamt of. Scholar­ ship often yielded to sports and demands of social life.^

For Mr, Bhatnagar,Sayyid Ahmad remains an independent agent, but the College was dominated by its English staff, who are made responsible

Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O, College, pp. 19; 83; Hamid, Muslim Separatism, p, 17 graphically edited Sportmen and athletes basked in the sunshine of his favour . . , while the intellectual type student was barely tolerated. ” 2 Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O. College, p. 19; Hamid, Muslim Separatism, p. 16 went farther and spoke of the character of the College determined T'not so much by the original ideals of Sayyid Ahmad as by the personalities of its principals, M 212

for compromising and retarding the cause of Muslim education. How­

ever, the author argues simultaneously that Mohammedan Anglo-

Oriental College was non-communal at its inception (the evidence being

the first graduate who was Hindu rather than the name of the institution),

and that Theodore Beck, the ’’loved, revered, hated and feared, highly

appreciated and strongly condemned"* Principal believed that Muslims

could be kept loyal if made to realize their interests were different from Hindus. Hence it is to the Principal that credit for consciousness

of Muslim identity goes. Contradicting himself, Bhatnagar also argues

that Theodore Beck never discriminated or distinguished between Hindus 2 and Muslims in the College, while asserting in his introduction:

Some of them [faculty] were always anxious to further the imperial interest of the British Government in India, and some, like Beck and Archbold, sought to accentuate differences between the Hindus and the Muslims and implemented the formula, 'counterpoise of Indian against Indians. *3

In these statements S, K. Bhatnagar asserts the vehicle for promoting

this philosophy, Theodore BeckTs own, was the College magazine, the 4 Siddons Union, and other organizations of the institution.

*Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O. College, p. 7B. 2 Ibid., p. 04.

^Ibid., p* xiii.

4Ibid., p. 85. 213

Concentrating particularly upon the College community,

Bhatnagar Sees Beck and the staff as the source of difficulties in the administration and direction of the school.

Mr. Beck also played a leading role in the quarrels and bickerings of the Trustees. He tried to guide the course of events by enlisting the aid of the Lt. Governor of U. P, *

The staff, which "faithfully performed the duty which the founder ex- 2 pected of them were appropriators of undue authority and authors of new directions for the institution. Like Mr. Jain, S. K. Bhatnagar does not acknowledge the search for new directions within the Aligarh

Muslim elite and does not recognize Sayyid Mahmud's incompetence. 3 Rather, he specifies Theodore Beck's "unrestricted authority , 11 and 4 perpetuates the survival of the Beck myth of "divide and rule. " Beck is representative of an unsuitable alien educational mode, and usurper of undue authority from Sayyid Ahmad Khan.

The last title in this study, Rafiq Z&karia's Rise of Muslims in

Indian Politics: An Analysis of Developments from 1AB5 to 1906, pub­ lished in 1970 believes it "wrong to underestimate the role that

* Bhatnagar, History of M. A.Q. College, p. 81 ,

^Ibid., p. xiii.

3Ibid., p. 133, 4 Ibid., p. 7&; Beck's "mission was to strengthen the foundation of the British Empire in India. . . h1 and "to inculcate the spirit of loyalty among Muslims." Theodore Beck played in Muslims affairs.1* In essence, this 1970 published title takes the more extreme statements of the 1960's, rein­ forces them with Tufail Ahmad, and presents one of the most complete expositions of the Beck myth since 1939. According to Zakaria

Beck played the greatest role in 'Britishizing* the whole gambit of Muslim politics during this period. He prepared the m aterial with which Sir Syed fought the Congress, It is therefore no exaggeration to say that, but for Beck's initiative and help, many of Sir Syed's political and educational schemes would not have flourished. ^

While Sayyid Ahmad retains a degree of control in Zakaria's interpreta­ tion, Theodore Beck provided the Aligarh leader with "fresh ideas1' and

the famous Lucknow and Meerut speeches of Sir Syed were mostly the handwork of Beck, as was the Muslim petition to the Parliament of 1090. ^

The Principal's influence ’’proved to be decisive, alienating the Syed more and more from the mainstream of Indian political life and turning 4 him into a defender of the status quo . 11 This breakaway variation on the sudden transformation theme is not substantiated by the consistency of Sayyid Ahmad's interpretation of Muslim interests from 1057 and his insistence upon the endurance of the raj, but from it Zakaria delineates

Theodore Beck as the architect of Muslim separatism.

^Zokariaj Rise of Muslims, p, 317, 215

Turning from the first use of the myth, Zakaria focuses upon

Theodore Beck as an imperial agent.

But for peck the bonds between the British officials and the educated Muslims would not have been so close; he kept those bonds ever fresh by arranging mutual contacts and by making the two understand each other's point of view. He opposed the Congress because he was more interested in Anglo-Muslim friendship than in Hindu-Muslim understanding. 1

As Zakaria renders Beck's feelings about Hindus "he could never trust 2 the Hindus, 11 and the anti-cow killing agitation provided 11 a good handle 3 to work for Anglo-Muslim alliance. " In short, "on not a few occasions

{Beck and his successors] were able to guide the Muslim leadership at 4 Aligarh in the particular channels that they wanted, M The Aligarh elite are seen as puppets of their salaried employees.

Dealing specifically in the realm of Theodore Beck's activities in Aligarh politics, Mr. Zukaria repeats that Beck was anti-Congress because of Banerjea's accusation at the Aligarh public meeting, an experience which must have effected Sayyid Ahmad who was "very fond 5 of Beck, 11 but does not accept the story about editorship for the Gazette or the petition on the Jama Masjid’s steps. In citing the Banerjea story

^Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 318,

2lbid.

3Ibid., p. 187.

4 Ibid., pp. 184-185.

5Ib id ., p. 317, 216

the author's source is the Aligarh Institute Gazette of May 30, 1903,

and the factor of Muslim elite and student frustration and national

enthusiasm are not indicated.

Repeatedly Raflq Zakaria returns to stress Beck's concern with

keeping Muslim energies away from Congress to save the empire, and

in bo doing Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College became instrumental

as a social and political training ground. In this school, the faculty and

Theodore Beck Mhad little regard for educational attainments . , , [but

were] m ore interested in producing good and loyal subjects for Her

M ajesty.’1*1 To advance this end, and as evidence of the undue influence of the faculty at the College, a portion of the myth to which Zakaria is

also heir, various organizations such as the Siddons Union, the Cricket

Club, Akhwan-us-Safa, and Anjuman-al-Farz were founded at the

College. According to Zakaria

All these organizations were run by the students but in the back­ ground stood Beck. Morison or some English professor, who not only directed their activities but rarely let go an opportunity to im press upon the impressionable Muslim youth the benefits of loyalty to the Raj and of trust in British sincerity. Moreover anti-Hindu sentiments were often encouraged. ^

That all the College clubs did have sponsors, and that most of the spon­ sors were English faculty members is true, but that they controlled the proceedings is not. For instance, the student leaders came from the

* Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 186.

2 I b i d . 217

Siddons Union Club and the Cricket team, and the election of those officers did not always conform with Theodore Beck’s wdshes.^ For instance, the Principal disapproved of Aziz Mirza, twice Vice-President 2 of the Siddons Union, the student expelled in the 1387 student strike,

Zakaria shuns the absolute control of the College by the faculty, but satisfies himself with pointing to powerful influence manifested in the 3 1B89 controversies.

The history of interpretation of the Theodore Beck myth thrives on the necessity to explain the comparatively late definition of Muslim interests as served by active participation in politics, and on the advan­ tages of positing a non-Indian cause for the delineation of Muslim separatism* The Principal of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, who envisioned India '’aflame 11 and who was highly visible as an ehthusi- astic lieutenant of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, has served as a convenient scapegoat to excuse his employer from responsibility for treason against the one Indian nation and popular Indian nationalism which, one might note, did not emerge until the 1920‘s, Theodore Beck, who was securely situated in the mainstream of the authoritarian liberal paternalist tradi­ tion and who was dead by 1000 has fulfilled the role of both provocateur

* Lelyveld, '’Three Aligarh Students, " p, 11. 2 Ibid. 3 Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 1B7. 218 of separatism and puppet of imperialism. In fact he is neither.

However, in these functions, frequent and continuing repetition suggests that Theodore Beck’s memory will continue to live and be revived in

India as long as the problems which his myth attempts to explain, re­ main unresolved. The logic of the myth and the consistency of its rendering appear secondary to its utility. CHAPTER VI

THE STAR: THEODORE BECK,

MISSIONARY ADMINISTRATOR

Man lays stone on atone to build a house and calls it ’my house'! Neither mine, nor thine, but only a place of shelter for the birds to pass the night, 1

Theodore Beck, Principal of the Mohammedan Anglo - Oriental

College from 1884 until 1B99, was a Victorian Englishman, His prime motivations were his missionary devotion to duty which manifested itself in service to the Muslim community of India, and his commitment to the responsibility of the British Em pire in India. Both motivations assumed the positive m erits of preservation of order and the mainte­ nance of tranquility. Both presumed the necessity of a long period of tutelage for the peoples of India, and both reflected a faith in the superi­ ority of English standards, The key to comprehending Theodore Beck and his role in the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College and in Aligarh politics, is the realization that for him, the betterment of the Muslims and the preservation of the British Em pire moved in tandem as comple­ mentary aspects of the same goal--the establishment of "friendly

^Inscription from Theodore B eck's tombstone at Simla,

219 220 formality between the ruler and the ruled . 11 It was for this purpose that

Theodore Beck was employed and it was for this that he laboured.

Eventually, education in English standards would vindicate British trusteeship and restore the Muslim community to its rightful place in

India. In the meantime, maintenance of a benevolent, authoritarian and impartial regime--the British raj--w as the key to good government, prosperity and peace for India. In short, Theodore Beck, missionary

administrator and Victorian Englishman subscribed to Sayyid Ahmad

Khan's Aligarh and to the paternalist authoritarian liberal philosophy of late nineteenth century imperialism. These two ideologies were, at key points, mutually compatible.* Theodore Beck’s faith in the foregoing

*For instance, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's emphasis upon the potential of the aristocracy in eventually assuming a place in gentlemanly asso­ ciation with the British, and his acceptance of British standards of measure, meshed neatly with the official conviction of the superiority of British standards and the concentration upon associating the natural leaders of society, the aristocracy, with the English government of India. Coincidentally, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's belief and hope for the en ­ durance of the British raj could hardly have been unwelcome for the holder of the official creed. Likewise, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's criticism of traditional Muslim social structure and educational practice, which he viewed aB inferior when measured by English successes, was com­ patible with British assessments. Simultaneously, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's emphasis upon loyalism dovetailed nicely with the premium placed on loyalty to the raj as a measure of acquisition or appreciation of civilisa­ tion. Furthermore, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's adamant advocacy of self-help tempered by British assistance complemented the strain of duty and responsibility which permeated the paternalist credo of authoritarian liberalism. Additionally, Sayyid Ahmad Khan's recognition of separate races and religions as integral to Indian social structure coincided with the concept of multi-racial India stated for the official creed by such men as Strachey and Stephen. Furthermore, both ideologies shared abhorrence of repeating the mutiny. In sum, in the late nineteenth cen­ tury, the areas of compatibility and agreement in the two philosophies allowed for service to both, simultaneously, and without evident conflict. 22!

assumptions never wavered. The biographical review of his fifteen

year Indian career substantiates the Principal 1 a position. His profes­

sional career combined dedication to Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Aligarh and

the paternalist authoritarian liberal definition of the British raj.

Theodore Beck 1 a writings and speeches were permeated by the

combined asaumptiona of the two philosophies, one with which he grew up, the other in which hie adult life was steeped. Theodore Beck was positioned centrally in the dominant intellectual climate of late nine­ teenth century British India and late nineteenth century Muslim Aligarh.

He was neither original nor clairvoyant. He was an articulate and visible Victorian English employee of an articulate and visible Muslim aristocrat, * 2 Theodore Beck was selected for his post by Sayyid Mahmud, who travelled to England in 1883 specifically to interview candidates for

Sayyid Ahmad Khan, descendent of Muslim aristocracy which had served the Mughul emperor, was actively loyal to the British, the permancy of the raj, and the current superiority of English standards. The former servant of the East India Company and the Indian Civil Ser­ vice represented an ideal archetype of the class "natural leaders of society," to which he directed his educational endeavours. As such, he exercised influence as spokesman for the "true" Indian, and commanded both the attention and the approval of the authoritarian liberal, 2 Sayyid Mahmud (May 24, 1850-1903), heir designate to the leadership of Sayyid Ahmad KhanTs Aligarh Movement, and the Moham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College, had learned English early in his life, had studied law at Cambridge on a Government of India Scholarship which he earned in 1868, and had been called to the Bar in 1873. Upon his return to India he was first appointed a District Judge and sub­ sequently was placed on the High Court at Allahabad, After quarrelling 222 the Principal's job. Sayyid Mahmud was introduced to Beck by Arthur

Strachey, was impressed by the young man's credentials and enthusiasm with his fellow judges, Sayyid Mahmud retired in 1803, having served ten years. He was the first Muslim to achieve such status on the Court; despite his last years at Court, when he was in poor health, a period in which he 11 sought friction [rather! than avoided it, " and exhibited a want of "tact and moderation, M displaying a penchant for ’’professional ego­ tism , 11 he was respected. Apparently his sense of proportion was some­ what distorted, for colleagues, in offering tributes to Sayyid Mahmud, commented he prepared detailed and copious briefs which exhibited 1,rare scholarship, ” but which were so elaborate as to be cumbersome rather than instructive. During his active career, Sayyid Mahmud served as a member of the Hunter Educational Commission in 1882. Following his retire­ ment he resided in Aligarh where he devoted his attention to his father’s movement and to the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, for which he had drafted the Prospectus. Sayyid Mahmud donated his law library in 1893 and formulated plans for the study of law at Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College. He also actively participated in the Muhammedan Educational Conference, the United Patriotic Association, and the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association. In 1898 Sayyid Mahmud was nominated to the Legislative Council of North West Prov­ inces and Oudh, While serving he was afflicted with serious illness in 1B97. In 1896 he and his father quarrelled; Sayyid Ahmad transferred his property to Sayyid Mahmud's wife, left his son's home, and died at the home of a friend, Haji Muhammad Ismail. After Sayyid Ahmad's death the impending power struggle which had been anticipated in 1889, ended with Sayyid Mahmud being appointed Honorary President of the Trustees, while Mohsln-ul-Mulk became Honorary Secretary. In read­ ing correspondence between Sayyid Mahmud and various Trustees from 189B until his death in 1903 at Sitapur, it becomes apparent that Sayyid Mahmud was inconsistent, unpredictable, and often extremely emotional. His letters lend credence to the assertion he had "lost the balance of his mind, M The Minutes of the January 30, 1900 meeting of the Board of Trustees record Theodore Morison's letter and speech requesting the curtailment of Sayyid Mahmud's executive powers, and the statement that Morison could not operate at Principal as long as Sayyid Mahmud remained President of the Trustees. After Launching into a detailed history of the College, Sayyid Mahmud is recorded to have said lft am president, and I order you please keep quiet. You cannot treat me as a weaver [julaha], M and after some debate regarding Theodore Morison's presence at the meeting, "l am President, and no one can override 223 and recommended him to Sayyid Ahmad for the position,* The College

Fund Committee endorsed the appointment on August 28, 1883. Thus

Theodore Beck proceeded to India to assume the Principal ship of

Mohammedan Anglo "Oriental College,

Theodore Beck's social background placed him squarely within the dominant political and intellectual community in Victorian England,

The eldest son of a successful London Quaker businessman, Joseph 2 Beck, Theodore Beck was born in 1859, worked for a degree at London

{m e].1f Sayyid Mahmud's son, who was sixteen in 1903, was ward of Theodore Morison in whose house the child was living when his father died. The quoted phrases are from The Pioneer Mail, October 5, 1893, p. 2 0. Biographical information for Sayyid Mahmud is available in Jain, The Aligarh Movement; Muhammad, Syed Ahmad Khan. Letters and commentary by Sayyid Mahmud are reproduced in Aligarh Institute Gazette, December 12, 1893, pp. 1242-1243, and in the Minutes of the T r u s te e s 1 meetings; Supplement to Aligarh Institute Gazette, May 9, 1903.

* Arthur Strachey was John Strachey rs son and a graduate of Cambridge University. Arthur followed his father in the tradition of the Indian Civil Service, and served in the North West Provinces. He retained his association with Theodore Beck, writing the latter'a obituary for the Times of London in 1899. Arthur Strachey was also associated with Sayyid Mahmud in organizing a scheme for promoting the study of law at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1B91. 2 Mr, Joseph Beck {1829-1891) and his wife, '’adventurous 11 and ’'extensive” travellers, visited Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1888-1839, and, along with their daughter, attended various functions of the College, as well as the annual session of the Muhammedan Educa­ tional Conference at Lahore. During his visit, Joseph Beck impressed Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College students and staff with his keen interest in and sympathy for the institution. Joseph Beck was a birth­ right member of the Society of Friends, and was buried at Park Street, Stoke Newington Friends Meeting. After his eldest son's departure for India Joseph Beck carried on a practice which was noted previous to 224

University, won an open scholarship to Cambridge in 1879, and received his degree from Trinity College in 1882. He was recalled as

Mr. Theodore Beck's association with Aligarh; Joseph Beck entertained Muslims in his London home. He also entertained young men from Cambridge, some of whom were privy to Theodore Beck's weekly let­ ters to the family, and some of whom joined the Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College faculty subsequently. Quoting from the North London Guardian of April 2 4, 1691, The Aligarh Institute Gazette of May 23, 1891, cited Joseph Beck, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical and Microscopical Societies, as an '’honest, M Hstraightforward , 11 and "plainspoken" man who was ’’uncompromising in what he felt to be his duty. " The Principal's father, ”a great smoker’' of cigars, whose name was a ’’household 11 word in the Stoke Newington parish had died at sixty-two of pneumonia. The Gazette recounted the full biography of the man who had presented the College with a large clock for the quadrangle. Joseph Beck was educated in York, had been apprenticed to an optical firm, Troughton and Sons of Fleet Street, and had become partner in Smith, Beck and Beck, manufacturers of optical equipment, binoculars, and photographical materials (later R. and J, Beck, of Sister Work, Holloway, and Cornhill}, Joseph Beck married a Miss Allen of Stoke Newington in 1856, became a member of the Vestry, and spent six years on the Hackney Board of Works, Among his notable efforts were the acquisition of a public park, and 1,the promotion of the Extension of University Teaching, " In 1B73 Joseph Beck entered the Corporation as a Common Councellor for the Ward of Cornhill, and in this capacity was a governor of St, Thomas Hospital, a member of the City and Guilds Institute, one of the new governing body under the City Parochial Charities Scheme, one of Her Majesty's Lieutenants for the City of London, and a member of the London County Council. In politi­ cal matters, Joseph Beck was a strong Conservative and a leading mem­ ber of the local organization of the party. The biographical data on Theodore Beck's father conveys a sketch of a prosperous, upwardly mobile, middle-class Englishman, it indi­ cates, in its characterization of Joseph Beck as a strong Conservative, the heritage of the Principal's political exposure, Aligarh Institute Gazette, April 25, 1091, pp. 453; 454-458; Ibid, , May5, 1891, p. 505; Ibid., May 2 3, 1091, pp. 565-570; Ibid., September 7, 1886, p, 1027; and Ibid., December 4, 1888, pp. 1382- 1390. 225

having "finely chiselled features" and "romantic enthusiasm"^ and as a 2 conspicuous figure in the University life of the early lBBQ's, While at

Cambridge Theodore Beck was a member of the Apostles and a con­

tributor to The Cambridge Review. During 1883 he remained in Cam­ bridge where he worked for the Cambridge Union Society of which he 3 was President. On November 20, 1BB3, at the age of twenty-four,

Theodore Beck arrived in Aligarh in the company of Sayyid Mahmud with a strong conviction that he was involved in useful work in the regen­

eration of a fallen people. He assumed office February 1, 1884, and

retained the post of Principal of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College

until September 2 , 1899, the date of his death at Simla. He had departed the conventional and comfortable surroundings of Cambridge and his 4 London home with the backing of his family, had opted for exile in the

* The T im e s , London, S eptem ber 7, 1899, p. B,

^Ibid.

^Ibid.

4 In addition to his family's visit and Joseph Beck's presentation of a clock, Theodore Beck's uncle, William Beck, was instrumental in collecting a subscription of books for the College Library, and the Principal's sister, Hannah, became a house-mother at the College, Beck’s brother, Horace, was reported to have attended an Aligarh College dinner in London in 1902; and Mrs. Jessie Beck entertained Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College students in England. 226 inhospitable clim ate of India, and had died there at thirty-nine, sur­ vived by his wife, Jessie Raleigh Beck, and one daughter. ^

During the entire fifteen years of his India experience, Theodore

Beck was the Principal of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, His associations in India were predominantly with the College staff mem­ bers, Aligarh residents, and Muslims, His entree to the Indian com­ munity was via his contacts at Aligarh and with Sayyid Ahmad Khan,

His official duties for the College confined and determined his travel in

India, and his activities were generally directed toward fostering the 2 aims of his employers through mechanism provided by them. Theodore

Beck provided much of the administrative direction for the College, for 3 Aligarh institutions, and for extra-College Aligarh institutions. But

Jessie Raleigh, daughter of Dr. Alexander Raleigh, married Theodore Beck in England in 1891 while he was on home leave to settle his father's estate. After Beck's death, she and her daughter left India on November 15, 1899. As an interesting indication of social contact, Charles Strachey, Arthur's brother and John1s son, m arried the sister of Walter Raleigh, a faculty member of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, The lady in question was the sister-in-law of Theodore Beck. 2 In a letter to Sayyid Ahmad on May 3, 1886, Theodore Beck specified that "On Monday morning, Mr. Raleigh, Syed Mahamed Hosain, and myself made speeches to the Mahomedan gentry and others in the durbar room, on the necessity of Mahomedans taking up English education if they wish to make progress. " The Principal stressed that ’’There was nothing novel in the views expressed, but I think they need endless iteration to im press them on people in whose lives the daily perusal of a newspaper is not a necessary [sic] of existence. M Letter from Murree, May 3, 1886, Husain, Azad Library, pp. 303-304. 3 For instance, flowing naturally from Theodore BeckTs primary concern with the implementation and philosophy of education inculcated 227 his perceptions of the world and of the Indian scene were determined

and limited by his experiences in England, his early departure from at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, and his special concern for the Muslim community, was the Principal's participation in the Muhamme- dan Educational Conference. As at the College, so also in the Muham- medan Educational Conference, Theodore Beck supplied practical content and suggestions for efficient administration and organization of the Conference, Often addressing the annual session of the Muhamme- dan Educational Conference at the behest of his employer, Theodore Beck propagandized his, and Sayyid Ahmad Khan's views of the efficacy of English education. Simultaneously he stressed the responsibilities of aristocratic Muslims to avail themselves of opportunities provided, while retaining the element of self help so essential to self-respect. For the Muhammedan Educational Conference Theodore Beck was agent of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, outlining its purpose and advocat­ ing its results. Speaking before the Conference in 1888, Theodore Beck articu­ lated his position of service to the Aligarh Muslim cause, stating that in h is 1'exileIT he had "no greater source of enjoyment than that which I derive from taking part in your work. " Thus Th 'cdore Beck served as Assistant Secretary of the Muhammedan Educational Conference, of which Sayyid Ahmad Khan was Honorary Secretary. He was Assistant Secretary of the Conference Central Standing Committee established in 1890, and was, in this regard, described as the deputy who "came for­ ward to help" Sayyid Ahmad Khan "as soon as" the Muhammedan Educa­ tional Conference was founded. Theodore Beck's most outstanding contribution to the Muham­ medan Educational Conference, however, was institutionalizing, in 1893, the Educational Census. The Educational Census, outlined for the Muhammedan Educational Conference in 1892, operated three years, oefore interest in the project lagged and Theodore Beckrs attention was diverted to the pressing crisis of College funds embezzlement. The Census reported at the eighth, ninth, and tenth sessions of the Muham- medan Educational Conference on the information which had been gathered regarding children of respectable families who were not attend­ ing school. The reasons ascertained included poverty, religious feelings, carelessness, and the like. Once in possession of the information, often obtained by Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College students during their vacations, Theodore Beck, who served as Secretary of the Census Sec­ tion of the Muhammedan Educational Conference, proposed to address a letter to the family, pointing out, as Sayyid Ahmad Khan had before him, the advantages of learning English. The Principal urged that the sons 22B those shores, and, more particularly, by his experiences in India, ^

The Aligarh Muslims had developed distinct cultural values, distinct of the aristocracy be sent to school to acquire English skills. Accord­ ing to the report of the thirteenth Muhammedan Educational Conference 1, 932 respectable families were contacted, most of whom pleaded care­ lessness as reason for neglecting their sons 1 English style education. The proposal of the Educational Census, revealingly, was simi­ lar to the early task of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Fund Committee in the 1870's; the Census paralleled suggestions made by Theodore Beck before the Public Services Commission in 1886. How­ ever, the Principal chose to implement his scheme through the Muham­ m edan Educational Conference, Also notable was the fact that Theodore Beck subordinated his attention to Conference duties to his primary function, the running of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Bhatnagar, History of M .AtO, College, pp. 82-83; Pioneer Mail, January 8 , 1890, p, 52; Aligarh Institute Gazette, January 10, 1893, pp. 37-38; Muham­ medan Educational Conference, Annual Report, 1094, p. 110; ib id ., 1898, p. 47; Proceedings of the Public Service Commission, Worth West Provinces and Oudh, II; 33-34, cited in Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 156.

*Tn responding to Hyderabad, for instance, the Principal evaluated the court and aristocratic society, to which he had access via Sayyid Ahmad Khan's close association with Hyderabad court officials such as Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Viqar-ul-Mulk, in comparison to observa­ tions in North West Provinces, Furthermore, the nobility were judged by their acquaintance with European culture, Theodore Beck was im­ pressed with the Princely state, which he viewed as potentially ex­ tremely important to British rule. Hyderabad, a state with a Muslim aristocracy, was a place for ’’the formulation of a conservative native public opinion to counteract the go-ahead radicalism of the Presidency towns and the scribes of journalism, " The state also served as a model of the possibility of friendly relations between Muslims and Englishmen. The harmonious relations between the Nizam and Englishmen at the court resulted, according to Theodore Beck, from Muslim noblemen having maintained their elegance and having, ''shaken himself free from those prejudices against dining with English people and learning English which still fetter the nobility of Upper India. r< Theodore Beck com- * mented enthusiastically upon the kingdom which had to a certain degree, maintained the ancient greatness of the Mughuls, Every year, the Prin­ cipal noted with approval, "members of the Hyderabad aristocracy visit E u ro p e , ,1 bringing to the Deccan a "new" and "invigorating" view. 229

life styles, and distinct attitudes and institutions for the organization of

society, as well as a distinct utilization of Muslim heritage. * It was

this Aligarh interpretation, which Theodore Beck knew, believed, and

propagandized. It was through these institutions that Theodore Beck

operated.

Evidence of Theodore Beck's confinement to and devotion to

Aligarh and Aligarh institutions was reflected in commentary upon his

death. Following his death, Theodore Beck was extolled for his ser­ vices to the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College and to the Muslim community. Condolence meetings were held at Meerut, Liahore, Simla,

Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Ludhiana, Delhi, and Banga­ lore; the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine carried reporta

Permeating Theodore Beck's evaluations were the assumptions of the official creed of authoritarian liberalism, and the Aligarh conviction of the potential of Muslim education. Cordial relations in Hyderabad rested upon the retention of the princely power, which guaranteed Muslim prestige and allowed Englishmen to be more polite to Indians. It rested further, upon the fact that the men at court were men of rank ". , . suited for social intercourse with English gentlemen, " The good looking Muslim nobility's tastes ran to manly sports of tiger hunting, polo, horses, and dinner parties. The nobility were, in short, cour­ ageous, manly, brave in the face of pain, and becoming soldiers. Hav­ ing praised the court of Hyderabad according to English standards and as members of the martial and aristocratic races of India, Theodore Beck suggested that for the serious problems facing Hyderabad Muslim society, such as the institutions of purdah and the zenana, the solution was through education alone. The essay on Hyderabad written after a visit to the Deccan in his early years at Aligarh, revealed the percep­ tions of Theodore Beck as those of authoritarian liberalism and Aligarh. Beck, Essays, pp. 6-45.

*John Broomfield, "The Regional Elites. Fl 230

of resolutions offered before numerous College and extra-College

Aligarh Muslim institutions. The Honorary Secretary of the Trustees,

Mohsin~ul-Mulk, paid tribute to the dead Principal saying Mno man

except Sir Syed had worked with such zeal and unselfish devotion" for

the Muslim cause. ^ It was generally acknowledged that the Principal’s

death had resulted from overwork necessitated by Sayyid Ahmad Khan's 2 death and the administrative readjustments it entailed. Theodore Beck

had campaigned for Sayyid Ahmad's memorial, acting with Mohsin-ul- 3 Mulk as treasurer of subscriptions, had undertaken the responsibilities 4 of Registrar of the College, and had increased his general work load

* Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 10' "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 1899.”

2 Theodore Beck was sent to the hills in the spring of 1099, The May 15, 1899 issue of the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Maga­ zine, reported "Everyone connected with College will regret to hear of the illness of the Principal. Mr, Beck has been ordered to the hills by his medical attendant, in consequence of a sharp attack of dysentary which showed no signs of abatement. The exceptional stress and anxiety of the past year--an exceedingly critical one for the M.A, O. College--have undermined Mr, Beck’s strength, rendered a change imperative. We hope soon to hear that the change has been beneficial and to have Mr. Beck again in Aligarh completely restored to health, " Subsequent issues of the magazine in June and July continued to report on Theodore Beck's poor health and slow recovery, Muhammedan Anfllo- Oriental College Magazine, May 1899, pp, 6-7. 3 The Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, August 1099, p. 355. 4 Theodore Beck was elected Registrar for two years. At the Annual Meeting of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Trustees, Sayyid Mahmud drew particular attention to the Principal's work as Registrar and proposed a vote of thanks for his services in the capacity, 231 in response to the demands of transition. He had worked on his annual report while confined to bed at Simla, and had given his life to and for

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which he envisioned with a thousand students, and which he advocated be raised to university status as a tribute to its founder. * The students, to whom Theodore Beck had appealed from Simla on June 11, 1899, to take an educational census of

2 their home towns, addressing condolences to Mrs. Beck, spoke of the as well as for the Principal’s efforts in behalf of Sayyid Ahmad Khan and on behalf of the College. Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine Special Number. February 1899, pp. 2-3;9-10; 11 Re po rt of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Trustees Annual Meeting, January 31, 1B99," Proceedings.

^Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 11; "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 189911; Ibid., February 1099, p. 25. In the report of the Muhammedan Educa­ tional Conference, Mr. Beck's support for the motion to raise the College to a university was based on his conviction that the university would serve as a means to national prosperity and as a seat of learning. Theodore Beck was reported to have drawn attention to the spirit of the projected university as holding the principle of brotherhood of English­ men and Muslims. Theodore Beck envisioned a teaching institution, conferring degrees and avoiding the rigidity characteristic of other Indian univer­ sities. The university was to afford an intense intellectual life, where learning would find a home and in which great scholars would arise. The university, with public school qualities of sports, debating societies, social clubs, and moral guidance, would benefit Englishmen and Mus­ lims. "Bigotry, prejudice, ignorance and dislike would melt away in the light of fuller comprehension and sympathy . . . . 11 Genuine friend­ ship and loyalty to British rule would result. Thus, in 1069, Theodore Beck, repeating himself articulated the convictions of Sayyid Ahmad Khan. The Report of the Sir Syed Memorial Fund Committee Up to the End of October, 1896. Appendix A, A Letter by Theodore Beck . 11 2 Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, July 1899, pp. 1 -2 . 232

"fatherly affection, " "incessant solicitude, " and "constant endeavours in our interest and that of our community"^ which had characterized the Principal.

The fact that an Englishman, coming from a distant land, devoted his noble life to the raising of a fallen people is an event which will remain impressed on the page of time and the hearts of the Indian Musulmans forever,*

The students did not articulate the services of Theodore Beck in terms of the philosophy of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, but Arthur Strachey, long time friend and undergraduate classmate of the Principal, who in L899 was the Chief Justice of North West Provinces, did. Addressing a memo­ rial meeting in Aligarh on November 25, 1899, Strachey described

Beck's death as "the loss of an unequalled exponent of Sir Syed's views 3 and aspirations,11 whose

extraordinary gift of sympathetic enthusiasm enabled him to identify himself with Sir Syed Ahmed's ideals and conceptions of what the situation required, beyond everything I have ever known in the ability of one man to cooperate with and to forward the aim s and objects of another. 4

Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 4; Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 1899*ff 2 Ibid., p. 5,

3Ibid., p. 7; 10. 4 Ibid., p, 7, 233

Theodore Beck possessed "singleness of purpose, 11 "unselfish enthu­

siasm, " and "devotion to the welfare of the Mahomedan community,11^

A servant of the British raj eulogized his friend as a servant of Sayyid

Ahmad Khan; Theodore Beck13 professional activities supported the view.

Chosen as Principal for "the ardour of his enthusiasm and the 2 warmth of his sympathies,11 he acquired and retained Muslim affection 3 and esteem. Praisers noted that his Cambridge classmates had antici­ pated his future distinction "which would give 3cope to his wonderful

4 gift of social sympathy and enthusiasm .ft Although "he disappeared from the horizons of his English friends, as do all men who go out to 5 India. . , ,T he fulfilled early expectations at Mohammedan Anglo- g Oriental College, Aligarh, According to his longtime friend and

* Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 7; "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 1899. " 2 The Times, London, September 7, 1899, p, 8,

3Ibid. 4 Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p, 9; "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 23, 1899." 5 The Times, London, September 7, 1899, p. 8. g Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 23, 1899. " 234

successor, Theodore Morison, Theodore Beck "made the hopes and

wishes of Sir Syed his own,T1^ and pursued them with "ardent enthu- 2 siasm, The characteristic to which repeated reference was made 3 was unfailing, almost romantic enthusiasm, bouyant spirits, and

ambitions for Muslim education at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College,

Briefly recapped, Theodore Beck's life and labour, his ambitions

and his vision, were of and for a prosperous and regenerated Muslim

community which he had assisted in creating. The vehicle, in his esti­

mation, for this transformation, was Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College, to which he supplied T,practical form" and "internal organiza- 4 tion. 11 According to Arthur Strachey

If Sir Syed was the founder, Theodore Beck was no less cer­ tainly the builder of the college in Aligarh and of the large hopes with which it is aynonomous.5

Theodore Beck had infused a spirit of self-help, self-respect, and self-

Q reliance, notably three of Sayyid AhmadTs most cherished and repeated

* Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 11, "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 1B99." Ibid,; The Times, London, September 7, 1899, p. B character­ ized Theodore Beckra pursuits as the "ardour of his boyish ideals. "

^Lbd4.; Muhammedan Anglo-Oriengal College Magazine, Decem­ ber 1899, p„ 11, "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 1B99." 4 The Times, London, September 7, 1899, p. 8.

^Ibid. g Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 13, "Report on a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 1899, " 235

themes, Theodore Beck, Principal of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College, activated by noble and romantic aims, had given practical

effect to his ideals through practical administration and dedicated adher­

ence to the philosophy of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Notably, his friends and

associates, in heaping praise on the dead, did not mention, let alone

stress, originality of thought, Theodore Beck was praised for his effi­

cient implementation of Sayyid Ahmad Khan's schemes and dream s.

Theodore Beck was seen in the light of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and as his lieutenant.* Theodore Beck's death, following so quickly upon that of

Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Theodore Beck worked harmoniously for the Principal's career at Aligarh. Beck occupied a subordinate position, defined by his employee status and his age, and seemed to exhibit a genius for making Sayyid Ahmad Khan's work his own. Such evaluations are supported by contemporary reports which stale "1 know for a fact that Sir Syed was never dominated by nor was he in need of Mr. Beck's opinions, particularly in political m atters . . , . He valued Mr* Beck's opinions in m atters of management and administration but even in these matters if Mr, Beck professed an opinion which was opposed to Sir Syed's principles or religious beliefs he forcibly stopped Mr. Beck . , . , " and "Both Sir Syed Ahmad and Mr. Beck were men of original ideas and characteristics; each had a strongly marked indivi­ duality of his own but they also had many more worthy qualities in com ­ mon. Each was a man of remarkable singleness of purpose, and of the most unselfish enthusiasm; each was imbued with the strongest spirit of devotion to the welfare of the Mahommedan community; each was con­ vinced that the only way of salvation for the Mahommedans was the dev­ elopment of a special kind of education; and each was absorbed by the endeavour to make the Mahommedan Anglo-Oriental College the most efficient possible means for supplying and developing the kind of educa­ tion needed. And the two men both stood in a very special and peculiar relation to the Mahommedans and to the College .... Mr. Beckfs extraordinary gift of sympathetic enthusiasm enabled him to identify himself with Sir Syed Ahmed's ideals and conceptions of what the situa­ tion required, beyond everything I have even known in the ability of one man to co-operate with and to forward the aims and objects of another, 11 238

his ’’revered chief, '* h\ . . the noblest and most gifted man with whom

I have ever enjoyed intimate personal intercourse, was regretted

precisely because a devoted follower of Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s direction,

and an efficient administrator of Sayyid Ahmad's institutions, had been

permanently removed,^

Theodore Beck, as he assumed his position as Principal, inher­ ited an extremely difficult situation, Largely through his genius as an efficient administrator and persuasive speaker, Theodore Beck regular­ ized the operations of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College and gathered a young and sympathetic staff of English professors to serve the institution. The Principal exerted himself to enforce discipline and

The former quotation was from Maulvi Ilabibullah Khan, an 1092 gradu­ ate of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College from Mohammad Amin Zuberi, Tazkira-i-Sir Syed, cited in Jamil-id-din Ahmad, Early Phase of Muslim Political Movement {Lahore; Publishers United Ltd,, I960), pp. 19-20. The latter quotation was from Arthur Strachey, speaking at a Memorial Meeting at Aligarh, November 25, 1899, cited in Muham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 7.

^Pioneer Mail, November 30, 1087, p. 678. "Mr. Hume on Syed Ahmed Khan, by Theodore Beck, Theodore Beck further described himself as Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s 1,humble disciple in m atters political,11 Beck, Essays, p. 111, and described Sayyid Ahmad Khan in March 1B98, by saying, His talents were very great, but his character was greater still. I have never in England or India been brought into contact with a man who roused in me such feelings of respect and admiration, u N izam i, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, p. 159. 2 Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, December 1899, p. 3; see also Ibid., March 190Q, pp. B-9, 237 punctuality* in the boarding houses, to regularize the operations of the commissary, to require student attendance at prayers, and to encourage student participation in school functions. Theodore Beck founded the

Siddons Union debating society, an organization modeled on the Cam- 2 bridge Union, to which he hoped to gain affiliation and, although a

''duffer" at cricket, Theodore Beck was an enthusiastic sponsor of the

Cricket Club. In advocating both clubs, from which were drawn the student leaders of the College, and which represented the intellectual and physical portions of College life, Theodore Beck attempted to insti­ tutionalize opportunities for Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College students to develop skills and attitudes of "public duty'1 which would advance the community interest and which would afford possibilities to meet Englishmen. Thus Theodore Beck'y motivations, as perceived by the captain of the Cricket Club in 1899, Sayyid Ali Hass an, were "to enable the Mahomedan youths to come in contact with the English on 3 familiar terms and equal grounds, M a fact which meant that "the popu­ larity of the College students with English officials is in no small

^Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Annual Report, 1B88-18B9, p, 13, Honorary Secretary of the Mohemmedan Anglo-Oriental College T ru s te e s . 2 Both Theodore Beck and Sayyid Ahmad Khan hoped for special connections between Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College and Cambridge University; Jafri, Rare Documents, p. 204; Husain, Azad Library, p. 295. 3 Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, October 1899, p. 5, 23B

measure due to our success on the Cricket Field. In short, Theodore

Beck led a public school for Muslim aristocrats. Theodore Beck was

regularly called upon to comment specifically upon the character and progress of students. Notably, his comments annually recorded in the

Principal's Reports included remarks on intelligence, industry, man- 2 ners and breeding, tidiness and improvements. According to the

reminiscences of Shaukat Ali in the College Magazine, Mr, Beck spent his spare time with the boys, shared meals with them on occasion, joined them in the dining hall, encouraged and attended sports, and was

approachable, despite being stern in correcting improper conduct, ThUB he had knowledge to comment specifically upon the students, Theodore

Beck also invited students to his home, where they could observe the private life of Englishmen and could learn the requisite manners for conversing with refined ladies. The Principal castigated laziness, and 3 encouraged hard work through hiH own example. In short, Mr. Beck

1 Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College Magazine, October 1899, p* 5, Theodore Beck was extremely fond, for instance, of Shaukat Ali, whom he met in 1890 and persuaded to transfer to Aligarh, reputedly because of his ability in cricket. Lelyveld, "Three Aligarh Students, " p. 8. 2 Report of the Progress of Education in theMuhammedan Anglo- Oriental College, for 1B83-1886 (The Eleventh Anniversary}, pp. 6-7, 3 College Magazine of the Aligarh Muslim University, "Remines- cences of Principal Beck,fl pp. 21-27; Bhatnagar, History of M, A. O. College, p. 20, citing Deputy Habibullah, College Magazine of the Aligarh Muslim University, 1953, was an able administrator and a respected and sympathetic Principal,

who "endeared himself to his students and won their affection and

regard in a remarkable measure, In this he subscribed to and im­

plemented one of Sayyid Ahmad's visions--living in close proximity

with the students and fostering a relationship as a father with his son,

which, theoretically, would break down the barriers of prejudice and

miaconception between Englishmen and Muslims and would provide role

models for Muslim boys to emulate.

The Principal’s responsibilities at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental

College were numerous, and ranged from aiding sick and needy 2 students, through lobbying for faculty salaries, to campaigning for funds to assure the continued existence of the school. While Beck's original contract specified that he would have no official dealings with the public, no concern in the budgetary and financial management of the

College, and no authority over the management of the boarding houses

3 and residential life of the students, it also stipulated that the Principal was the chief authority within the College in matters of discipline,

^Bhatnagar, History of M. A. Q. College, p, BO; Hali commented "if one has not seen the picture of affection and discipline let him come and see Beck and his students conversing with one another;1f Ibid., p. B5. 2 Ibid. Beck also offered various small scholarships. See Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Proceedings of a Joint Meeting, p. 5, 3 Bhatnagar, History of M. A. Q. College, p, 78, 240 subject, of course, to the general oversight of the Managing Commit­ tee, ^ Gradually Theodore Beck gained the confidence of Sayyid Ahmad

Khan and proved himself an able and faithful lieutenant-administrator 2 who concerned himself with College business even while vacationing, h As the practicalities and crises of daily administration demanded, increasing authority accrued to the Principal, By 1885 Theodore Beck apparently sat on the Finance Committee and in general meetings of the 3 Board of Management, In 1887 a student strike transferred authority 4 for the boarding houses to the Principal.

In 1889 differences between Sayyid Ahmad and his close asso­ ciates, which the Sayyid hirnself described as so intense the parties

'“Bhatnagar, History of M. A. O. College, p. 78.

2H usain, Azad L ib ra ry , L ette r of May 4, 1B86, p. 308; Ib id ,; Letter of April 11, 1885, pp. 29B-299.

^Husain, Azad Library, Letter of April 11, 18B5, pp. 298-299, 4 The Principal or his deputy concerned themselves with the food and sanitation of the boarding houses, as well as the general discipline of the residences, Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Board of Management, Minutes, July 27, 1896, p, 2. See also Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Sub-Committee regarding Food Arrangements in Boarding Houses, Report of May 19, 1891; Proceedings of the Man­ aging Committee in 1893 show Principal Beck served on the subcommit­ tees of morals, health, food, boarding house accounts, clubs, and so c ietie s. Aligarh Institute Gazette, November 10, 1893, pp, 1127-1132, Proceedings of a meeting of the Managing Committee of the Mahomedan Anglo-Oriental College, November 8, 1893, Sami^ullah Khan opposed placing the boarding houses in the hands <>i English, and thus Christian, professors, but was overruled, a fact whicn contributed to, and was symptomatic of, his break with Sayyid Ahmad Khan. 241 would physically attack one another if they met, climaxed with the

adoption of the Trustee Regulations. The Principal was included in the

management of the College. This decision may be interpreted as the

reward for a loyal, non-contentious assistant, and as pan of Sayyid

Ahmad’s effort to preserve the original character of the College as defined by him. As a close associate and proteg£ of Sayyid Ahmad,

Theodore Beck was party to the struggles and tensions within the ruling oligarchy. He was, consequently, also a target of criticism which was 2 directed at hie employer, Sayyid Ahmad,

Abdul M. Khan, The Communaliam in India: Its Origin and Growth (Lahore: Paramount Publications, 1944), p, 115. The Septem-' ber B, 18B9 Pioneer Mail carried an item which indicated the public nature of the debate. The paper commented: "We are sorry to know that differences have sprung up in the ranks of the governing body of the Aligarh College. The proceeding of a meeting of certain of the Trustees and their adherents has been sent to us for publication and read between the lines the resolutions passed certainly have the appearance of a spirit of strong opposition to Sir Syed Ahmed, which gives one some concern for the prosperity of the great institution which his exertions have founded. " The paper expressed hope for an amicable settlement 11, . , without reference to the public. M Pioneer Mail, September 8, 18B9, p. 296.

2 The establishment of the United Patriotic Association with Sayyid Ahmad Khan as Honorary Secretary in August 1B88, in which Theodore Beck was actively involved, occurred almost simultaneously with the struggle over the direction of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. At this juncture, Theodore Beck assisted Sayyid Ahmad Khan in the extra-College organization, wrote against the Indian National Congress, circulated petitions agamst the Bradlaugh Bill to various anjumans, and addressed the Anglo-Indian press on behalf of his em­ ployer and Muslims, defined in the Aligarh mode. For fuller discussion of this organization, and of Theodore Beck's role, see Chapters III and V. Significantly, Theodore Beck expressed himself through an Aligarh institution, and his participation in that organization was consistent with 242

The Principal from 1889 until hie death, as chief officer and

manager of all m atters in the College, * had charge of the day to day

administration.

The admission of students, the decision of which class a student shall read in, the promotion and degradation of students from class to class and the expulsion of students from the College and School Departments shall rest with the Principal,^

who was also to expel a student if the Honorary Secretary so requested.

Furthermore, the Principal was responsible for collecting tuition and

admission fees, which were forwarded to the Honorary Secretary mon- 4 5 thly, was responsible for regulating and enforcing attendance, and

his educational philosophy and that of Sayyid Ahmad Khan. Also signifi­ cantly, Theodore Beck’s involvement in extra-College activities was brief and subordinate to his College duties. The connection between the Trustees Regulations and the formation of the Patriotic Association is unclear. I suspect that the strain which the impending success of Con­ gress pressure placed on the credibility of Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s com­ mitment to loyalism as the vehicle for fostering Muslim best interest may have been translated into opposition to his attempt to guarantee the retention of that philosophy, but have no specifically convincing data on which to argue cause and effect.

'‘Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Trustees Regulations, 1889, Part II, Regulation 107. 2 Ibid., Regulation 108,

3lbid. 4 Ibid., Regulation 110. 5 Ibid., Regulation 112. 243

wag in charge of administering punishments. * The Regulations con­ tinued in outlining the Principal's responsibilities to include devising

the time-table, fixing the hours of teaching, and assigning to each pro- 2 fessor and teacher his share of the work. The Principal was in charge 3 4 of the College examinations, writing the Annual Report, and manage- 5 ment of the college library.

Additionally provided in the 1B89 Trustees Regulations were clauses governing staffing. Regulation 6 established that

when the post of any European officer other than that of Prin­ cipal falls vacant, the Principal, the Secretary and the Life-Honorary Joint Secretary shall unanimously nominate a candidate for such post for the sanction of the Trustees. ®

Translated into personalities, the above regulation meant that Theodore

Beck, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and Sayyid Mahmud submitted their agreed upon nominee to the Trustees* Supplementing Regulation 6 in establish- ing the place of the Principal, Rule 83 provided that

* Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Trustees Regulations, 1889, Part II, Regulation 113, 2 Ibid*, Regulation 114. 3 Ibid., Regulation 115* 4 Ibid., Regulation 116.

5Ibid., Regulation 120, g Ibid., Regulation 6. 244

All proposals, complaints, and other matters of a like nature relating to the appointment, dismissal, suspension, promotion, transfer, leave, salary, personal allowance, travelling allowance, services, duties, rights, and privileges etc, of the European officers* or any of them, or affecting their regula­ tions as such with the Trustees, or the other officers of the College, shall be dealt with according to the provisions of the following rules, ^ which, in turn, required initial submission of matters to the Principal, 2 thence to the Secretary, to the Life Honorary Joint Secretary, and only thereafter to the Trustees, ^ who were to discuss and decide, and 4 whose judgement was final. In fact, the sequence of steps provided screening through the Principal, Theodore Beck, the Secretary, Sayyid

Ahmad Khan, and the Joint Secretary, Sayyid Mahmud. In each case,

Theodore Beck was allied intimately with the administration and direc- tion of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. He was also subor- dinant to Sayyid Ahmad Khan.

Amendments to the Trustees Regulations enhanced Theodore

Beck's responsibilities gradually. For instance, in conjunction with

Sayyid Mahmud, Beck proposed increasing and consolidating College

^Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Trustees Regulations, ldSy, Part II, Regulation 83, 2 Ibid., Rule within Regulation 83.

3Ibid. 4 Ibid., Regulation 89. 245 fees in 1896. His suggestions were accepted, * The same year the

revelation that 105, 000 rupees had been embezzled during the previous twenty years shocked Sayyid Ahmad into encouraging Mr. Beck to act

as Honorary Registrar to devise a new system of accounts and into

accepting annual professional audit, as suggested by the Principal. The

Honorary Secretary's Annual Report for 1896-1897 stated that

as the Principal is equally responsible for every department of the College, it must clearly be left to him to decide which department most requires his personal supervision. ^

Sayyid Ahmad continued that he hoped it would be acknowledged by all

that Mr. Beck decided wisely to devote a great deal of his time to 3 the new system of accounts. 11 The Honorary Secretary in these and related statements enhanced the prestige of his Principal by demonstrat- 4 ing his confidence and support of him. It may be suggested that Sayyid

Ahmad was, indirectly, attempting to guarantee the Principal's

^Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Board of Management, Minutes, April 9, 1696, pp. 1-5. 2 Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Honorary Secretary of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College Trustees, Annual Report, 1896- 1897, p. 6,

3 Ibid. 4 Along with Theodore Beck's increased administrative role at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, he also regularized the opera­ tions of the Muhammedan Educational Conference. To encourage the Muhammedan Educational Conference toward productive activity, Beck suggested in 1391 that the Conference establish a pay as you go meal system to replace the previous practice of treating participants as guests, a convention which placed a burden on the hosts and left no 246 continued position at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, and, thereby, the survival of Sayyid Ahmad's philosophy of education before politics. * money for projects. The suggestion was accepted. Likewise, in 1B90 to maximize the efficiency of the Muhammedan Educational Conference annual sessions, Theodore Beck suggested running simultaneous work­ ing sessions. Again in 1096 Theodore Beck, with Theodore Morigon, proposed administrative streamlining of the Conference, In the interim the Principal had instituted a practice which involved Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College students in the operations of the Muhammedan Educational Conference. Not only were the students the sources of Census information, they also functioned, when the Conference met at Aligarh, as hosts who met the trains, received guests, assisted at meals, and provided guards to prevent stealing of participants' belong­ ings. This rather simple mechanism provided College students oppor­ tunity to witness the activities of the leaders of their community, as well as vehicles by which to express their sense of duty. Furthermore, the mechanism provided opportunities for Muslim leaders to meet and observe young Muslim aristocrats educated in English. Jain, The Aligarh Movement, p. 81; Zakaria, Rise of Muslims, p. 193; Aligarh Institute Gazette, December 19, 1893, pp. 1263-1266; Ibid., January 20, 1091.

^In 1093 the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defense Association, in which Theodore Beck also participated, and of which Sayyid Ahmad Khan was Honorary Secretary, had been established. Acting through this organization, in cooperation with Sayyid Mahmud, Theodore Beck assisted in drafting proposals for Muslim representation on Legislative Councils and Municipalities in 1096. For more detailed discussion of the organization, and Theodore Beck's participation in the Defense Association, see Chapters HI and V. Once again, Theodore Beck's participation was subordinate to his career as Principal of Moham­ medan Anglo-Oriental College and was possible only through his asso­ ciation with Sayyid Ahmad Khan, 347

The violent divisions among the Trustees just before and

immediately following Sayyid Ahmad's death in 1898^ stimulated the

Principal to champion English staff interests, and thus to involve him­

self in the succession struggle among the Trustees. As noted in Chap­

ter V, this involvement made Theodore Beck himself a target for 2 severe criticism . On December 25, 1808 Sayyid Muhammad Ahmad,

Sayyid Ahmad's nephew and Honorary Assistant Secretary of the Trus­

tees, wrote to Sayyid Mahmud:

He [Beck] has been compensated enough for his services .... He was always prepared to leave the College if his requests for the enhancement of pay were not acceded to . , . Mr. Beck devotes most of his time as Registrar dealing with accounts and pays little attention to teaching in the classes. ^

Nonetheless, on January 31, 1899 the Trustees decided Theodore Beck was to be retained as Principal and as Registrar, and the resolutions

Sayyid Ahmad Khan's death prevented the open defection of some of his closest associates. The disturbed included Mohsin-ul- Mulk, Viqar-ul-Mulk, and Maulvi Khwaja Altaf Husain Hali. The dissi­ dent faction planned a series of articles to appear in the Paisa Akhbar of Lahore; these articles were to repudiate the political views of Sayyid Ahmad, something considered necessary for the best interest of the Muslim community, despite the prestige and age of Sayyid Ahmad, Since Theodore Beck did not question Sayyid Ahmad's views, such a thwarted repudiation has bearing upon the difficulties of the Principal, and his role in the succession struggle at the College. His activities were not m ere meddlesomeness; they reflect his concern for the College he had served and the man he had admired. Prasad, India Divided, p. 107 quoting Viqar-i-Havat, p. 420. 2 Bhatnagar, History of M. A. Q+ College, pp. 00-01* 3 The term was extended two years, and his Frincipalship was permanent, barring his resignation or removal by the Trustees with the prior permission of the Government. 248

against him were to be ignored* Instead, a vote of thanks was offered for the services he had rendered as Registrar without pay, as Secretary of the Finance Committee, as solicitor of funds for the College and for his help to the Life Honorary Secretary, Sayyid Ahmad.*

Briefly recapped, Theodore Beck was appreciated during and immediately following his life, as an educator and as an administrator.

Theodore Beck, who commented himself, that;

We whose profession is education, believe that to a great extent the hopes of progress and a higher civilization for the people of India are committed to our hands; and that as to us is entrusted the task of directing the thoughts and moulding the characters of men at their most impressionable age, so our success or failure in this work must exercise an incal­ culable influence for good or evil on the fortunes of the Indian subjects of Her Majesty, 2 was, in his mind, and those of his associates, devoting his energies to the advancement of the Muslim aristocracy and the rai through admin­ istration of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Theodore Beck saw himself, and was viewed by others, as an exponent of Sayyid Ahmad

Khan’s visions and dream s for the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College and the Aligarh interpretation of Muslim interests and potential. Ironi­ cally, Theodore Beck, who voiced Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s conviction-- education first, politics later, and opposition to popular agitation and

* Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Trustees, Annual Report, January 31, 1B99, p. 12. 2 Pioneer Mail, August 24, 1892, p. 18, "The Aligarh College-- Distribution of Prizes. f1 249 the Indian National Congress in the meantime, ^ and whose tone as

Principal of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College expressed a sustain­ ing moral conviction of his responsibility as an English educator, has been remembered for his intermittant forays into political commentary on behalf of Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Aligarh. This does not, however, alter the fact that Theodore Beck’s biography presents the portrait of a talented administrator working in harmony with Sayyid Ahmad Khan, energetically advocating his employer's vision of the world, Theodore

Beck was a man institutionalizing the regular and efficient operation of

Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in an era of considerable friction and uncertainty among the ruling oligarchy. Both employer and em­ ployee insisted that Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College had

special objects in view, not only educational but social and political, which distinguish [ed] it from colleges that have no object beyond education. One of the political aims of this College is to bring about a good understanding between the English and Mahomedan peoples, 2

Neither employer nor employee experienced a crisis of faith in the efficacy of their educational philosophy for the advancement of Muslims.

Both died touting the benefits and endurance of the British raj and the potentially special relationship between Englishmen and Muslims. Both retained conviction of being engaged in useful work in service of the

Muslim community. Theodore Beck, Victorian Englishman, involved

1 Aligarh Institute Gazette, July 9, 1889, p. 9.

^Pioneer Mail, September 5, 18B6, p. 310. 250

in building connections between Muslims and Englishmen, was sustained by the consciousness that his efforts were "on the side of the right and not of the wrong. 1,1 Theodore Beck was an educator first, last, and fo re m o s t.

1 Pioneer Mail, August 24, 1B92, p. 18, "The Aligarh College-- Distribution of Prizes. " CONCLUSIONS

In late nineteenth century India the litany of paternalistic authoritarian liberalism, an ideology predicated upon the conjunction of liberalism, paternalism, and Social Darwinism, dominated the British perceptions of India and British attitudes toward their relation to India.

In the context of late nineteenth century British assumptions, the r e i g n ­

i n g catechism reiterated regulation, stability, duty, the premium of loyalty, British racial superiority, and permanence of the raj. Writ large in the foregoing ideals were, first, the protection of the status quo of a stratified virtually static set of social and political relation­ ships within India and between Britain and India, and, second, the

British responsibility for the ever so gradual education to English stan­ dards of selected Indian subjects. In the context, patience and proper deferential respect were the order of the day.

In the macrocosm of late nineteenth century perceptions, the momentum of requests and demands for association and participation in the work of the raj crystalized increasingly into interest group poli­ tics. The interest groups gained both self-confidence and self- assertiveness as they utilized their cultural heritage to forge cultural pride. In asserting integrity through regeneration and reform, a ten­ dency toward the creation of exclusive identities based on competing and

251 252

conflicting heritages emerged, Exclusivist identities formed, and variations of opinion within respective Indian communities were ob­

scured and minimized by their similarities when compared to their divergence from the challengers. In short, in a process of purifying

and establishing the validity of respective ideologies--the British defin­ ing authoritarian liberalism and Social Darwinism, the Indian National

Congress asserting Hindu middle class hope for association with the governance of the raj, and the Muslim, claiming status as traditional leaders--positions vis-a-vis one another were buttressed and fortified.

Ultimately the mutual incompatibility of the respective sets of asser­ tions would become blatantly obvious and mutually insoluable.

In the general macrocosmic context of the evolution of three dis­ tinctly different sets of perceptions and demands the development of

Muslim opinion in late nineteenth century India can be legitimately viewed. While Muslim elites did not present a united phalanx of elite

Muslim opinion, those represented in the organizations noted above gen­ erally opposed the demands of the Indian National Congress. The premium placed upon fostering education which included study of En­ glish, and upon stressing loyalty to the British raj were notable charac­ teristics of modernist upper class Muslim expression. Through multiple organizational mechanisms Muslims expressed the vital cur­ rents of thought within their community. While definitions were often couched in Anglo-Muslim terms, which is hardly surprising considering 253

the political dominance of the British in the sub-continent, the Muslim

initiative in defining and interpreting their own destiny was neither

externally imposed nor externally directed. The definition of Muslim

interests focused upon revitalizing the Muslim community from within.

In this process and in thiB community, as within the Hindu community,

the phenomenon of competing alternatives and regional orientations was

m anifest.

Moving from the general to the particular, from the macrocosm

toward the microcosm, within the Muslim community the Aligarh Move­

ment led by Sayyid Ahmad Khan of the North West Provinces, was one

expression of Muslim aspirations. Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who defined his ideology of loyalty, English style education, and abstention from popular politics, and who focused his attention on the Muslim aristocracy,

articulated his positions in the 1860’s and 187 0's, and maintained his perceptions of Muslim best interest until his death in 1898, Sayyid

Ahmad Khan, while dominant within the Aligarh Movement, was not unopposed, and the friction within his movement was a major component of the Muslim assertion of a separate identity.

In viewing his Muslim compatriots as a permanent, and vulner­ able minority, and in acting as their spokesman against democratization of the raj through competitive civil service examinations, election to councils, and popular participation in political agitation, Sayyid Ahmad

Khan consistently asserted the special place and qualification of Muslim 254 aristocrats cognisant of English standards. Sayyid Ahmad Khan advocated conforming to the times, and his successive organizational mechanisms may legitimately be viewed as springing from adaptation to the momentum of politics on the sub-continent. In fact, the various

Aligarh institutions reflect an alteration in form, but not in content.

Unfortunately for the credibility of Sayyid Ahmad Khan's program of

Muslim loyalism, which, among other themes, manipulated authoritar­ ian liberalism to foster Muslim interest, the postulates of loyalism did not stem the introduction of implicit democratization of India. However, the bold new directions of Muslim politics emerged only in the twentieth century and after the death of Sayyid Ahmad Khan,

The context of the Aligarh Muslim search for identity, the asser­ tion of loyalism, the efficacy of English style education, and the avoid­ ance of popular politics, defined the position of the English faculty and the English Principals of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College. The

English faculty were salaried employees of a Muslim oligarchy, and therefore were subject to the maneuvers of that oligarchy. The Trus­ tees, and later the alumni, of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College cir­ cumscribed and restricted the role which the faculty played at the

College. Explicitly employed as role models for Muslim youth, English faculty successes were limited, and as the ideal for Muslim aristocratic behavior was redefined,English faculty participation in the production of

Muslim gentlemen declined. Consequently, eviction of the English 355 faculty from the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College eventually became synonymous with assertion of Muslim identity. Cordial Anglo-

Muslim relations at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College shattered in the first decade of the twentieth century, wrecked on exclusivist defini­ tions of identity.

Looking specifically at the second English Principal, Theodore

Beck, in the perspective of the dominant themes of English perceptions and Muslim identity, the profile of a Victorial Englishman committed simultaneously to Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Aligarh and to authoritarian liberalism emerges. Basically, Theodore Beck was a loyal lieutenant of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and a minor and unoriginal figure both in English and Muslim circles. The intriguing component of Theodore Beck’s posi­ tion in Anglo-Muslim politics is not the facts of his life and work however, but the fascinating use of Theodore Beck as a symbol and scape­ goat in a political mythology which has sought to disregard the faction­ alism within the Aligarh oligarchy, to deny the separatist character of the Aligarh Movement from its inception, and to delineate an external responsibility for an officially denied fact of Indian social structure.

In fact, Theodore Beck is one little known figure in a more general poli­ tical myth of British duplicity and perversity, which includes the more well-known names of W. A. J, Archbold, Lord Curzon, and Lord Minto.

While Theodore Beck's inflated position is not credible when viewed in the perspective of the atmosphere and activities of the late 256 nineteenth century in which he lived and worked, or when viewed in the light of his specific responsibilities and functions, nonetheless, the myth of Theodore Beck has thrived on the necessity in India to discount separatism, and eventually Partition, as evolving legitimately from the political processes of nineteenth century India, The isolation of a specifically identified figure has obscured the indirect influence of

British attitudes, rather than intent, in the evolution of Muslim separat­ ism, and has masked the vitality of Muslim thought and organization.

In fact, the compound of Theodore Beck as British agent, architect of

"divide and rule, " perpetrator of Muslim differences, and perverter of

Sayyid Ahmad Khan, is fascinating by its endurance and its departure from the specifics of Theodore Beck’s life. While Theodore Beck has been credited not only with perversity, but also with prescience, he was profoundly unoriginal in his acceptance of Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Aligarh philosophy and authoritarian liberal ideology. While Theodore Beck perceived himself as an educationist, a molder of men, and while he may have assisted in producing some of the personnel who defined

Muslim identity in the twentieth century, he can hardly be seen as a molder of Muslim identity which supplied the institutional setting for his professional career. Theodore Beck the villain of the late nine­ teenth century Indian history is as inaccurate as Theodore Beck the hero of Muslim separatism. Theodore Beck was an English Principal of a Muslim college dedicated to the production of Anglicized Muslim 257 gentlemen in the public school mode, who were, as a result, of their training, to assume a place in the regeneration of the Muslim commun­ ity of India. He was no more and no less than that--a minor figure in a movement restricted in both time and place. He was not particularly important in the definition of Muslim separatism , In fact, the definition of Muslim identity itself made Theodore Beck a scapegoat. A PPENDIX I

MUBLJM I'ARTtCIPATION IN CONGftE&fl*

Year Place of Hindu Total Delegates/ Muslim Delegates from Meeting Da legates Muslim Delegatus Heat Presidency

1655 Bombay o a t 73/3 Bath Bombay attorneys 1 fifth Calcutta 13*7} 440V33 77 from Bengal IfiftT Madras H 91| •07 /70 [ftlt 59 from Madras 16AB Allahabad {asst I,34*/310 (331} 103 from North West Prov­ in ces and Oudh 1069 Bombay (1501} 1, *09/24* (394} 06 from Bombay 1000 Calcutta •77V110 67 from North West Prov­ inces, 39 from Bengal 1091 Nagpur No lists available 1003 Allah abftd <930> ■M/91 (07) 01 from North West Prov­ in ces and Oudh 1*03 Lahore <731} ft 07 MS (03) 91 from Punjab 1*94 Madras O Ufi) 1,103/33 (30) IT from Madras 1ft Oft Poona 1,504/39 It from Bombay lftfiC Calcutta 704/54 43 from Bengal 1097 AmrscU •03/97 *3 from Barer 10BS Madras •14/10 10 from Madras 1SBB Lucknow 709/313 SCO from North Want Prov­ in ces and Oudh 1900 Labors 007/96 03 from Puitjab 1001 Calcutta *06/74 54 from Bengal 1903 Ahmed ab ad 417/30 IB from Bombay 1903 Madras 03*/9 5 from Madras 1004 Bombay 1,010/39 70 from Bombay, 1 from Bengal 1900 Benares 796/30 9 from United Provinces 1900 Calcutta 1,603/40 34 from Bengal 1907 Surat adjourned 1906 Madras •30/10 3 from Madras 1900 Lahore 343/9 3 from Punjab 1910 Allahabad •30/10 0 from United Provinces

Analysis ol Muslim participation In Congrrur /nu»J account for many variab lef. The pl*ca of the meettnf• la one Important cona [deration. The Sunnl-Bhl’a rivalry may be another. Congress aa an annual meeting of rapraaaiUatlvea of re (tonal organisations may emerge u a third. The Increas­ ing Influence and popularity of Hindu extremist positions, both religions and political. In C ongreaala a fourth. The accumulation of British administrative provisions la a fifth, and the articulation of Muslim identity with an extra-India orientation la a sixth. Ear Hast recognised was educational backwardnsss In the Muslim community. As the official report of the second National Congress states: "the movement has not takan such hold of the coo vie- Hans, of the Imagination of the Malwnunedan community as to awaken a very great sympathy there­ with as s whole. Nor could any one have rasa on ably expected that it would do so . . , . The Mahom- medana unhappily for themselves, but from motives which we can heartily respect, have hitherto stood aloof from the collages vul universities, which are beginning to be so widely cherished In the country . . . , Their children will be wiser than themselves. " Bombay (Bteta) Bouros Material. II, 33,

1 West I, Lord Mlnta nut the Indian National!** p, 331. The figu res In parentheees are those presented by Asia, Britain and Muaiitn India. p,3b. My percentage calculations are based on Wasti, 250 a p p e n d ix I]

MUHAMMEDAN EDUCATIONAL, CONFERENCE 1866-1906

W;ir 1*1 ace f’resident Membership Mem­ Mem­ Mem­ Mem­ Mem­ bers bers bers bers ber* NWP Oudh Madras Bombay

IflHIi Aligarh Suni'ulliii Khan UT 43 12 tflBT bucknow Imtiyas All Khan 130 1120) 40 40 iitflh l.niwre Muhammad flayst Khan 298 |231;J4T) 33 16 ifiu'i Aligarh Muhammad If ay at Khan 442 1490} 102 13 i a do Allahabad Muhammad Hay at Khan 999 A OB via 347 49 2 1 1B91 Aligarh Muhammad Ishaq Khan 449 It 2!t vis 106 6 3 1 MFJ-3 Delhi Muhammad HnahmaJtullah BI3 L 13B via 104 6 1 4 IB <3 Aligarh Mobsin-ui-Mulk 673 fc 118 not available (234 attended) IfJOA Aligarh^ Muhammad Shah Din 399 II 30 131 11 2 1 1 !ir!5 Shahjahanpore3 Mohsln-ul-Mulk 947 & 141 vl* 323 23 2 3 16'iB Meerut Maulvl Sayyid Has an TTfl 334 14 2 3 Bilgrami 1 HE*? Conference was not held* taoB Lahore Path AU Khan 1900 not avail able 1899 Calcutta Amir All not avail able JDOO Rampur® Maulvl Sayyid Hasan 643 A 137 vis BUgrsml lUOl Midrtl not available no 1 available 1 Ftaa Delhi not available not avail able ) 1103 lJomb*y Badruddio Tyabji not available 1 D04 Thwdore Mortaon 1D09 1 JOfl Dacri

Scheduled for Palna. Venue shifted due to deaths of Iwo members of local arrangemunta 'mimiUec. "Scheduled (or Amritsar. Local committed cancelled for no specified reason.

J Scheduled for Bombay. Shifted because Sayyid Ahmad unable to make trip. Scheduled for Patna. Plague forced shift. 5 Plagun, widespread illness, and unavailability of hosts offered as reasons. i-iirui ea in parentheses from Pionser Mail, January fl. ifl&O, p. J), January 4. 1698. p. 13; January 9, 18B9. p. 40, January 1, toftl, p. 16; January 6, LBfll. p. S3. ChurchiU, "The Muhammadan Educational Conference," Appendices A and H.

259 t l ’lTSNDIX Hi

MUSLIM ANJUMANS AFFILIATED TO THE UNITED INDIAN PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION

Organization Location

Aitjumvi IiUm li Lahore. Punjab Anjuman Island Hv|*rii Ludhiana, Punjab Central National Mlhomi^an Aiaotlttian Calcutta Anjuman IsLeml Amritsar, Punjab Anjuman HI may at liltm A m ritsar, Punjab Anjuman lalamla Bareilly, North West Provinces NatlnnaL Mahomed an Association □hagalpur, Bengal Anjuinin Islam! Chopra, ElUa Serutl, Bengal Anjirmafl tlm i Budfeon, North Weal Province a Anjtm.an lalamla Bud son, North West Provinces The Jubilee Milwniniklu) AaaoclaUon Hudson, North Weal Provinces Anjuman lalamla Bankjpur, Bengal Majlis Ialami Ludhiana, Punjab Anjuman lalaml Dtndlgai, Madras Hr m ch National Mahomed an Association Mldnapur, Bengal Mojlla lalamla Meerut, North West Provinces Anjuman lalamla Mymenalngh, East Bengal Branch M ahom ed ah A aao elation Shalkhpure, Bahar Anjuman lalamla Gujerat, Puijdi Anjuman lalamla Jhajhar District Rohtak, Punjab Mahomedan Anjuman Mufld-l-Am Kisur, Punjab Anjuman lalamla Jubbulpore, Central Province* Anjuman lalamla Waalrabad, Punjab Anjuman Him ay at-1- lal am Lahore, Punjab Anjuman Homdardi Amritsar, Punjab Anjuman Muinul lalam AJmere. Rajputm* MajUs-1-Islam Bangalore M ejlls - L - lalam Ahaan, My sore Anjuman lalamla C awn pore. North West P rovinces Anjtim an-1 - Babuasalam Piryajna/i, Parlabgarh, Oudh National Mahomed an Association, Branch Ellore, Madras Anjuman Paruaaalon Lucknow, Oudh Anjuman lalamla Multan, Punjab Anjuman Islam! a A mb alia, Punjab Anjuman lalamla JuUundar, Punjab Anjuman-i-MufldUl lalam Jlngapara, Mohnnganj Mytnctulngh, Bengal National Mahomed an Association, Branch Pubtia, Bengal Anjuman lalamla Ajmerc, Rajput id i Mahomedait Central National Association Lahore, Punjab DiLgram Institute B tig ram Harriot, Oudh Anjuman lalamla Rangpur, Bangui Anjuman-1 - Tahalb-l- lalam Arrah, Bengal Anjuman-1 - Aid)ab Bombay Anjuman lalamla Peshawar, Punjab Anjuman lalamla Lucknow, Oudh Anjuman- l-Mm*yidul lalam Saharan pur. North Weal Provinces Sind Branch, Central National Mahomed an Association Karachi, Sind

260 261

OrtfwUaaUnfi Location Aiijuiiihi Nagpur, Central Provinces Ihigtvll D tilrlrl N uttm il llkhofnixjKi A ifK iatlm l Bengal Anjuman Unumciyn lelami* Otnipurt Bmfil Anjuman lilnm ln Qurdespur, Punjab Anjuman lalamla Allahabad An Jum an * 1* Ulam ly a, M id rif Mthtmmedin Literary Society Calcutta

A lter Uia foundation of the Imttaa Patriotic Association, the Secretary contacted varloua Muallm anlumans. inquiring whether they agreed with the objects of the Patriotic Association. If so. they w en nquaiud to enter their nunti as sympathise ra with tha Assodatlofl. On September 30, IBBl M oiatf Mall llated twenty two or|anluUam which had expressed agreement with the Patriotic Association. November 7. IBM tha Pioneer Malt reported an tffdUJimal twenty-one, and or) November 30, 1MI amplified with stvtn ingn, These affiliate a were located In the Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, the Central Prortnoea, Bombay, Myaore, Madras, and Sind, as well as the North West Province# and Oudh. Hie number and distribution of the associated organisations suggests the Intensity of and-Congress feeling, as well as the effective communication among Mu all me. Anti- Congress sentiment eaceedpd parochial limitations. Hie appeal ef the Indian Patriotic Association was to the Indo- Muslim community, net Simply to the Muslims at the North Weal Pro Vince a. When the Patriotic Association sponsored a petition against elective councils, 31,189 Muslims in seventy- one towns end cities responded with Ihslr signatures. Among figures available, Delhi supplied 4,000 signatures, Shahjshanpur 3,300, Aligarh 3, Bt 7, Lahore 3,333, Allahabad 1, 0OB, and Bengal 3,900, Those signing wrote their own names. Pioneer Mail, Mgy 30, 1BB0, p, AM, Demonstrably, anti-Congress sentiment was widespread among Muslima. By Implication anti-electoral sentiment was predictable, Ibid. . September 30, IBt>, p. 410: Ibid.. November 7, 1*04, pp. 814-613: Ibid.. November 30, IMXTpp. TIMH: June 4, IBM, pp. 7S0~TJ1. Up to fifty-three Muslim ssscHdattcms of the North W est Provinca «. Oudh, and the Punjab were affiliated, M«jumdar. Indian Political Assoolaitons. p. 330. The Association was. clearly, dominantly Muallm, as well as aml-dongress, kt pukllaFied some pamphlets, notably The Seditious Nature of the Indian National Congress by Theodore Beofc. " Al'PENIttX IV

COMPOSITION OF THE MOHAMMEDAN ANOLO-OHtENTAL

COLLEGE STUDENT BODY, 1075-1009

Vplu- Total N umbel- Student* Student* Total Muallm Hindu Percent Student* Hindu School College Hoar din( Boarder ■ Boarder* Hindu Student* Depart, Depart. Studente Student*

JU7b 66 1876 71 h i 1877 158 (125) 30 (12) 64 64 LB7S 166 (104) 43 (41) 03 74 11 1879 137 (1161 33 430) It3 15 37 (70) 62 (37) 0 (0) leao 180 (102) 43 (40) 104 16 147 (10B) LOO (133) V (34) lao t 290 (3431 96 (57) 132 37 172 (160) 150 16 (33) IS. 1 1682 346 (332) 54 (83) 319 27 182 150 20 m s 246 (345) 58 (93) 210 30 103 (162) 196 36 1064 272 (387) 80 330 53 168 146 22 tasa 260 (386) 73 321 39 160 (134) 142(110) 18 (15) IBQ6 277 U6 234 93 147 1ZB (129) 19 (10) 33.8 1667 249 90 308 41 116 (132) 100 (105) 13 1886 216 83 (03) 169 49 114 (112) 102 10 1689 289 63 164 05 191 (160) 151 (143) 9 I SOD 266 59 190 79 183 104 0 IBEH 316 (3101 91 208 103 (130) 193 (194) 182 12 123.4 iaoi 393 (310) 89 (40) 214 103 216 (300) 200 0 10U3 410 (363) 61 241 131 330 (231) 228 3 10114 467 (447) 03 (04) 395 153 270 (263) 257 5 1698 979 (565) 109 360 (361) 203 329 (330) 323 7 (8) U 7.1 1896 930 (506) 84 304 202 333 339 4 1897 393 (373) 90 213 159 356 255 1 1096 343 53 170 144 234 (226) (248) 0 (2> 1 690 466 05 355 174 325 (313) 313 (311) 0 (2) 1900 468 60 201 176 (361) 360 350 0 1901 960 )00 323 105 (223) 415 1902 630 (005) 63 350 227 (350) 496 (479) 1 903 703 (713) 68 364 264 (364) 531 3 ! 904 604 T5 353 533 (574) 4 1906 667 (610) 56 422 54) 1530) 6 in 06 BIG 52 370 673 (676) 1007 662 50 453 733 1906 943 52 457 814 1909 991 42 475 664 (614) 0

262 263

L-'lgurrrf for tlw jtatiilkA l tfble hnvi; hn-n n implied from Mohaln-ul- Mulk, Nnlfon inr Drunrva* of tlu> M .A.U. C'oUbm. pp. 1-3; Statement no. I,; MoHammadan Anglo-Orient*! C'olh'et^ IMnelpnl at the Molti m medan Ang lo-OriwHal CoUe|«, Ann uni Report. 1881-1893; told,, I'ilij-ltfuii, p, I; told.. I«lf0-ia«l7. pp. 1-3; told.. 10U9- 189S, pp. 0-10; Ibid., 10119-1800, p. 1; Mi)lt:iininiiliin Anglo-Oriental C a lta p , llm o r u y te v r e lir y of the Mohammad an AnflH'Oriwliil (Adlegc, Annual Meport. ltBO-IfOT; Uhotnagar, lllitofv at M.A.O. College. pp. 134; 134; 03; 76- 'iti 186, m ~313, and lltlkhar, Muhammadan Coilei* Hlatorv. p. 78. The dltcrr|tinclei In the reported figure* ere noted in parentheaaa. Minor varltUoni can be aecwmied for by noting Ui*i etatleUc* were gathered at veriou* lime* during the year, end that the figure* In March reflect attrition from the December enrollment*- Another variable may be the tnrLueiun/amlaalon of law atudenl*.

A number of correlation* era nifftU td by Iheee figure a. Moat notably, while the School Department increased threefold in twenty -fir* year*, the College Department waa nineteen time* 1 brg«r in 1003 than In 18TB, Thia reflect* the Increaalnf entluulaam for Ibigliih atylc higher cfiucalion among the Muallm community In India. Aleo algnlflcafitly, (he predominantly rtildentltl niLtire of the College wa* maintained. Boarding figure a reveal m ore (ban a alKfold in c re u e between 1879 and 1903. While the abaolute number of Itlndu atudenta Lncreaaad, their proportional repreeen- UUiiA In the atudant body declined and Uie available llgurei Indicate that they did not participate In tha boarding arrangement* of the College. Tha decline in enrollment# between I19S and 1&00 colnditi wltlt thn revelation of major embeiilement of College fund a in 11 9 1 , tha death of Sayyid Ahmad Khun In LB9&, the death ad Principal Theodore Beck In 1898, and the outbreak of plague in India, Thl* wa# a period of uncertainty and trial* at the College, both financially and admini*- !r alive ly. A PPE N D IX V

EUROPEAN STAFF OF MOHAMMEDAN ANGLO-ORIENTAL COLLEGE

Date Date Subject Name AjJp't Resigned Taught Graduate A ctivities

Archbrjld, W>A.J> 1909 1009 Principal Cambridge Arnold, T. W, 1887 1897 Cambridge Duty Society College Megaiine Ashcroft, J* M, 1910 Auchlerlonla 1910 1910 Philosophy Aberdeen ■ Beck, Bernard R. 1903 fleck. Theodore 1884 1899 Principal Cambridge Slddons Un'on (Trinity) (Pres. Cambridge Unlott) Grown. J, Gardner 189D 1903 History/ Cambridge Mod. Lang, (Pembroke) Barney, Uy*e 1919 191* Carey, J, S, 1609 Cornah, J, R, 1909 Fie (dm eater Cambridge {Pembroke} Co*, Harold 1989 1887 Math./Poll- Cambridge Prat, Cambridge Economy (Jeaua) Union Denton, A, 1101 1893 Haadmuter Douglas, H. 1*99 1807 jhinnlcUfl, Horace B. 1908 1014 Phyilcs/ Cambridge Chemistry London U, Fergusaen. G, W. 1914 Gage, A, B-. 1914 1913 Heedmaitor Garay, a. S, 1893 1893 Garlich, O. 10OB Goldie, S. H. 1808 1913 Hiet, /Eng. Oxford Efarper, C. 9, 1911 1913 English Harrison, F, P, 1908 1907 Science Cambridge {King’*) Horat, ff, D* 1398 Heedmaater Horowitz, Joitph 1907 Arabic Berlin Joiie 1903 Krall. C. H. 1914 191* Chemistry Lola, A. O, 1918 Cambridge (King's) Money, R. N, 1014 191* Economica

264 265

ll»tc Onti- Sut»|L'4't IVUTll' App'l n.c*lgncd Tnuijlil tlrnduBic Ai-ttviMna

Mtn ittnn, Tlwrodorf 18*111 iuoi Enghuh Cambridge Hiding Club J Vinci pal (Trinity) Moub, W, F, 1908 lEeedtnuUr NeabUt, A, Ai J, HIT English j Vrcj1 1119 Purvcs* O, M, 1818 E nglish H *l#l gh, W fit# r 1888 1893 English Cambridge Prea. Cambridge Union It*##, J, C, 1803 ) 910 Hea4n>**i«r Hnyn#U. D. 1810 1919 IU*t. /Eng. Oxford Stddona, a . Hi 1. 1878 1884 P rincipal Oxford Stnrey 1818 1919 Arabic Tipping, Ll-eweUinj 1888 English Cricket Club Ci (M. L i) College Union To*)e, J. Hi ISOS 1810 Hi#!, /Classics Cambridge Principal (Cantabury) Tudor-Owen, F, 11. 0, 1908 1918 Eng. LU. / Cambridge H eadm aster (Cantsbury) Vine* 1800 1903 Wallace, Petty Mi 1887 1890 Eng. / Hleii Oxford Crick#* Club (1893) SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Periodicals

Ahmad, Aziz. ’’Approaches to History in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Muslim India," Cahlerg d'histpire mondrali IX (1966), 987-1006.

Barrier, N. Gerald. ’’Muslim Politics in the Punjab (1870-1890), 11 The Panjab Past and Present V-l (April, 1971), 84-127,

______, ’’The Punjab Government and Communal Politics, 1870- 1908,11 Journal of Asian Studies, XXVII (May, 1D6B), 523- 539.

Broomfield, John. ’’The Regional Elites: A Theory of Modern Indian H istory . 11 Indian Economic and Social History Review 3 (July, 1966).

Chandra, Sudhir. "The Loyalty of Educated Indians to the British Rule, " Journal of Indian History, XLIV (August, 1966), 41T-42B,

Chughtai, Munir-ud-din. "The Simla Deputation; a Landmark in the History of Muslim Political Movement in India,Tl Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, III (January, April, 1966), 159-176.

Islam, Zafarul. "Documents on Indo-Muslim Politics < 1857-1947); the Aligarh Political Activities (18B3-1B93), " Journal of Pakis­ tan Historical Society, XII (January, 1964), 14-25. 282

Islam, Zafarul and Raymund L. Jensen. "Indian Muslims and the Pub­ lic Services, 1875-1915,11 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan, IV (1964), B5-193,

______and Joel M. Woldman, "Indian Muslims and the Libert Bill; 1B83-1BB4, 11 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan, III (December, 1963), 4-15.

Jones, Kenneth W. "The Arya Samaj and Communal Tensions in the Punjab, 1877-1697, " Journal of Asian Studies, XXVIEL (December, 1968), 4-15.

"Communaliam in the Punjab: The Arya Samaj Contribu­ tions, 11 Journal of Asian Studies, XXVIII (November, 1966), 39-54.

Malik, Hafeez. "Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan^ Doctrines of Muslim Nationalism and National Progress." Modern Asian Studies II, 3 (I960).

______. "Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Role in the Development of Muslim Nationalism in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent,11 Islamic Studies, V (December, 1966), 385-410,

Mather, Y. B. "Muslim Education in India (1765-1928), " Studies in Islam, IV (July, 1967), 125-138,

Rahman, Fazlur. "Muslim Modernism in the Indo-Pakistan Subconti­ nent, n Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. XXI (1958), B2-99.

Spangenberg, Bradford. "The Problem of Recruitment for the Indian Service During the Late Nineteenth Century, " Journal of Asian Studies, XXX (February, 1971), 341-36(T

Umar, Mohammad. "Muslima and the Demand for Separate Elec­ torates, 11 Journal of Pakistan Historical Society, XIV (October, 1966), 221-236.

Wasti, S. Razi. "Early Years of the All India Muslim League (1906- 1910),11 Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, IX (October, 1961), 240-260. 283

Unpublished Materials

Case, Margaret H. "The Aligarh Era: Muslim Politics in North India, 1860-1910." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1970.

______* "Regional Elites and Muslim Separatism in North India." Unpublished Conference Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York City, March 27-29, 1972,

Churchill, Edward D ., Jr., "The Muhammadan Education Conference and the Aligarh Movement 1888-1900," Unpublished Conference Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York City, March 27-29, 1972,

Cross, Cecil M. P, "The Development of Self-Government in India, 1858-1914,11 Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1922,

Gooneratne, Chandra D. S. "The Development of Political Conscious­ ness in India, 1757-1931." Unpublished Doctoral disserta­ tion, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1933.

Graham, Gail Minault. "The Indian fUlama and the Khilafat Movement." Unpublished Conference Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York City, March 27-29, 1972.

. "Urdu Political Poetry During the Khilafat Movement." Unpublished Conference Paper, Western Regional Confer­ ence of the Association for Asian Studies, Salt Lake City, November 10, 1972,

Haqq, Mushir-ul. "Indian Muslims Attitude to the British in the Early Nineteenth Century: A Case Study of Shah Abdul Aziz, " Unpublished M aster's thesis, McGill University, Montreal, 1964.

Jones, Kenneth W, "The Arya Samaj in the Punjab: A Study of Social Reform and Religious Revivalism, 1877-1902." Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1966.

Lely veld, David, "Three Aligarh Students: Aftab Ahmad Khan, Ziauddin Ahmad and Muhammad All, " Unpublished Confer­ ence Paper, Association for Asian Studies, New York City, March 27-29, 1972. 2B4

Metcalf, Barbara. "The Britiah and the Reformist 'Ulama.Tl Unpub- lished Conference Paper, Western Regional Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, San Diego, October 29, 1971.

______. "Religious Orthodoxies and N at ion ali at Politics: The Muslim 'Ulama. " Unpublished Conference Paper. Associa­ tion for Aslan Studies, New York City, March 27-29, 1972,

Metcalf, Thomas R. ”The Indian Empire, 1858-1900; Its Structures and Processes Under the British. 11 Unpublished Conference Paper, American Historical Association, New Orleans, December 28-30, 1972,

Meyers, Alfreda E, "Disenchantment at Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College: Factors in the Decampmer' of the English Faculty." Unpublished Conference Paper. Association for Asian Studies, New York City, March 27-29, 1972.

_ , "English Faculty Participation in Mohammedan Anglo- Oriental College Politics, 1875-1909," Unpublished Conference Paper. Western Regional Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, San Diego, October 29, 1971.

_ , "Theodore Beck, Provocateur or Puppet of Muslim Sepa^ ratism, " Unpublished Conference Paper, Western Regional Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, Salt Lake City, November 10, 1972.

Sullivan, Michael P. "Commitment and the Escalation of Conflicts." Unpublished Conference Paper. (Mimeographed. )

"An Investigation into 'Symbolic Involvement1 As a Correlate of Escalation; The Vietnam Case." Unpublished Conference Paper. (Mimeographed.)