Islamic Civilization and the Partition of India: the Andalusian Effect
The 1947 partition of India is one of the most fiercely debated subjects amongst expatriate South Asian Muslims. The stated purpose behind the creation of Pakistan was to ensure the preservation of the South Asian Muslim community as a distinct nation with its own norms and culture. An unfortunate (and ironic) side effect of this was that the overwhelming majority of landmarks, institutions, and historic centers of Islamic Civilization in the Subcontinent ended up on the wrong side of the border. The capital of the Mughal Empire, the most prominent of the Muslim dynasties through which Islam came to influence every aspect of Indian culture and history, was at Delhi. Three of the most influential movements within contemporary Sunni Islam–The Barelvi Movement, the Deobandi Movement, and the Tablighi Jamaat–originated in or near modern-day Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow, also in Uttar Pradesh, was the Subcontinent’s most prominent center of Islamic learning and culture where the Urdu language was born and from which some of the world’s most eminent Muslim scholars and poets hailed. Hyderabad, built by the Qutb Shahi Sultanate, was a similarly vibrant center of Muslim culture. The Dargah at Ajmer, home to the mausoleum of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, is among the most visited religious sites in the Subcontinent by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Aligarh Muslim University, the first institution of higher learning set up during the British Raj, still stands at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. The first mosque in the Subcontinent (which was also one of the first mosques outside of Arabia) is located at Kodungallur in modern-day Kerala and was built in the late seventh century by the Prophet’s (SAW) companion Malik ibn Dinar. And who can forget the Taj Mahal, built at Agra by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
Though the regions that came to form Pakistan have their share of Muslim landmarks and historic centers of civilization, few of them rival the aforementioned sites and institutions in terms of historic significance. The creation of Pakistan has yet to usher in the Islamic renaissance that Iqbal and others had hoped would give rise to modern centers of Islamic civilization; to the extent that the Pakistan movement was an attempt to re-create the golden age of the Mughal Empire, it has so far been unsuccessful. Though a 150 million-strong Muslim community remains in India, their status as a largely underprivileged minority comprising no more than 15% of the population limits the extent to which Islamic Civilization can continue to thrive in India. And the intermittent tide of Hindu nationalism is an ever-present threat to the remaining vestiges of Islam’s cultural legacy in the Subcontinent (Remember Ayodhya and Gujarat?).
I do not mean to imply that I believe the creation of Pakistan was a mistake. There were other factors at stake, and the issue is not a black-and-white one. But the exodus of Muslims from India effectively orphaned much of the cultural heritage of Islam in the Subcontinent, and unwittingly aided the cause of those Indians who see Islam as a “foreign” influence worthy of eradication. The result has been an effect not unlike the loss of Andalusia 500 years ago. The difference is that South Asian Muslims voluntarily abandoned part of their heritage in search of a dominance they have yet to achieve.
February 16th, 2007 at 1:41 am
[…] Eloquent Incoherence feels that the 1947 partition may possibly have an Andalusian effect on Islamic heritage in India… Though the regions that came to form Pakistan have their share of Muslim landmarks and historic centers of civilization, none of them rival the aforementioned sites and institutions in terms of historic significance. The creation of Pakistan has yet to usher in the Islamic renaissance that Iqbal and others had hoped would give rise to modern centers of Islamic civilization; to the extent that the Pakistan movement was an attempt to re-create the golden age of the Mughal Empire, it has so far been unsuccessful. […]
February 16th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Hi,
I am a christian , a student of History. Not in the sense of a student in a university. The broadminded Hindus have taken pride in maintaining the Muslim Heritages. Pl do not harp on Babrimasjid and Gujarat riots. The records kept by muslims show babrimasjid was a hindu temple. Muslims should reconcile to the fact that Moghuls no more rule india and Stop bullying Hindus. Any way we christians do have faith in Hindus, and Pak is still to come to terms of partition, and stop brest beating.
February 16th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Hi Eddy, thanks for commenting. You’ve glossed over some important details of the Ayodhya tragedy. The Babri Masjid was torn apart by an angry mob of 200,000 Hindu radicals despite a court order that the Masjid be protected. Even if the Masjid was built on the ruins of a Hindu Temple, the fact that Hindu radicals took the matter into their own hands rather than letting the courts resolve the dispute is disconcerting, to say the least. I think the Ayodhya tragedy and the 2002 Gujarat riots rightly give Muslims, Indian and non-Indian, cause for concern about the future of Islam in India.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:17 am
Sabir, here’s some nitpicking for you -
1. The Urdu language was not born in Lucknow. It is hard to determine where it was born, but if we accept Hindvi as the earliest form of the language (used by Amir Khusro), then it was born in Delhi. If Dakkani is the earliest version, then the birthplace of Urdu is the erstwhile state of Dakkan (present day Andhra Pradesh). Well, the book to read about this is Shamsur Rahman Faruqi’s Early Urdu Literary Culture and History.
2. It’s hard to determine if Lucknow was a better centre of poetry than Delhi. Lucknow had Mir, but Delhi had Ghalib and Zauq. And then, Agra had Nazir Akbarabadi. I think Delhi would win this (simply because of Ghalib).
3. Calcutta University was the first institute of higher learning in the sub-continent, not AMU.
4. I think it’s a little hard to define the Mughal dynasty as an Islamic dynasty or as the heritage exclusively of Indian Muslims. Shahjahan was 3/4th Hindu (Hindu mother and grandmother), and many Mughal rulers had a fairly cavalier attitude towards religion. Bahadur Shah Zafar’s favourite holidays were Holi and Phoolwalon ki Sair.
5. Can’t go into details over this, but the reason why the Muslims in India are an underprivileged minority is partly because it was overwhelmingly the Muslim elite that migrated to Pakistan during the Partition. Additionally, the Muslim aristocracy bore the brunt of British fury in the aftermath of 1857.
Oh, and something tells me your friend Eddy would be hard put to state exactly what “christian” denomination he belongs to. Eddy, you’re really fooling no one.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Hi Thalassa, thanks for commenting, and thanks for the corrections. Regarding #4, I was speaking of the Mughal Dynasty as an Islamic Empire in the cultural sense. Certainly their religious credentials were debatable; it’s true that the Mughals assimilated many aspects of the Hindu culture and religion and often clashed with the Islamic religious establishment (with the notable exception of Aurangzeb). But it was through their rule that elements of Islam and Muslim civilization came to become such a prominent influence on South Asian culture. Similarly, many ‘traditional’ Islamic scholars and institutions would probably have the Dargah at Ajmer destroyed if they could, but it remains an important part of Islam’s cultural legacy in the Subcontinent.
April 30th, 2007 at 5:18 am
Hindus are not faith and truth in thier talking. The lies tooo much about Kashmir and claims that Kashmir is the part of India. But in truth is not so, as indian saying. Because Kashmiris are 80% muslim and they want Kashmir to the part of Pakistan and still demanding their right. But UN is still become a spectotor and Hindus are overrolling Kashmiris Muslim.