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South Asia
SherAli Tareen
Religion
Franklin and Marshall College, United States
.jpeg.jpg "David Lelyveld photo")
David Lelyveld
William Paterson University of New Jersey, United States
David Lelyveld
William Paterson University of New Jersey, United States
Yasmin Saikia
University of Arizona, United States
.jpg "M. Raisur Rahman photo")
M. Raisur Rahman
Wake Forest University, United States
In its hundred year history of publishing Cambridge Companions, this book is the second Companion dedicated to an Indian figure; the first one was on Gandhi. This book examines the significance and legacy of Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), a key Muslim reformer, educationist, and a highly prolific intellectual of modern South Asia. With thirteen chapters contributed by scholars of different disciplinary backgrounds, the volume presents Sayyid Ahmad’s multifaceted approach for grasping the change from Indian Mughal rule to British colonialism, and developing strategies enabling Indians for moving forward despite their subjecthood. It is ironic that Sayyid Ahmad’s broad and bold vision has received little attention in Indian history, being pushed into the margins as a “minority” voice. The editors contend that his was an integrative and inclusive voice that sought improvement for Indians without alienating his community, contrary to popular understanding that he created the two-nation theory, of Muslims as separate from their Hindu counterparts. The book further seeks to place Sayyid Ahmad alongside other non-Muslim social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Rabindranath Tagore. The editors as well as the book’s contributors present a nuanced study of a personality that has been neglected and charts out Sayyid Ahmad’s legacies well beyond the existing accounts of his education mission. This book is distinct in its breath of presentation on various aspects of Sayyid Ahmad’s contributions.The roundtable session that would include some leading historians of South Asia will generate a discussion on the role of minorities in envisioning modern India and situate Sayyid Ahmad as one such leader whose impact reaches beyond India and South Asia to the larger Islamic world.
