Representations of Indian Muslims in British Colonial Discourse

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 1-10

3. ‘Not at His Best in India’

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11

      PDF

   2. Indian Muslims and India

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 13-22

   3. Identification and Disavowal in Colonial Representations

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 23-35

   4. The ‘Heroic Self-denial’ of ‘Christian Rulers’

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 36-46

4. 1857: Raising the Green Flag

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 47-47

      PDF

   2. The Historiography of Muslim ‘Conspiracy’

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 49-55

   3. The Pre-‘Mutiny’ Discourse on Indian Muslims

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 56-71

   4. Alfred Lyall: A Writer of the Known and the Knowable

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 72-82

   5. Fantasy and Civilian Identity

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 83-102

   6. Forms of Prophylaxis in Civilian ‘Mutiny’ Accounts

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 103-119

5. The Indo-Muslim ‘Stranger’

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 143-143

      PDF

   2. Some Preliminary Conclusions

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 120-141

   3. Sorting the Inside from the Outside

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 145-149

   4. ‘A Wild and Ardent Faith’: Testing Oppositions in the Post-‘Mutiny’ Discourse

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 150-195

   5. Conclusion

      • Alex Padamsee

      Pages 196-203

6. Back Matter

   Pages 204-266

   PDF

This study questions current views that Muslims represented a secure point of reference for the British understanding of colonial Indian society. Through revisionary readings of a wide range of texts, it re-examines the basis of the British misperception of Muslim 'conspiracy' during the 'Mutiny'. Arguing that this belief stemmed from conflicts inherent to the secular ideology of the colonial state, it shows how in the ensuing years it produced representations ridden with paradox and requiring a form of descriptive segregation.

• bibliography
• conflicts
• discourse
• identity
• ideology
• India
• Indian
• perception
• society
• understanding

'...a welcome addition to the field of post-colonial literature on South Asia. It provides an overview of key British colonial texts, elaborating specifically the context in which the Mutiny took place. Arguably its most important contribution is to open fresh avenues for studying the effects of colonial discourses on contemporary social and political identity construction among Muslims in India,South Asia generally and the world today.' - Faris Nasrallah, SOAS, University of London, South Asia Research

ALEX PADAMSEE Lecturer in Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.

Policies and ethics