On the Making of Muslims in India Historically

Abstract

Part of a larger work on the social background to the Partition, in 1947, this paper offers a long historical view on the making of 3Muslim' category in South Asia. The paper suggests that the slowly rising levels of contention between 'Hundus' and 'Muslims', from early nineteen century on, accelerated the trend towards exclusive religious identities, the umma in the case of Muslims. It explorestoo the virtual absence of lower caste revolts among Muslims. On balance, the strength of the religious orthodoxy has inhibited the exposure to western learnin; and, until recently, Muslim initiatives at building institutions of modern learning have been scarce in India