final masters amended thesis 10.11.2013 new

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by  S Nieminen

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The impact of British Christian missionaries on Indian religious, social
and cultural life between 1800 and 1857
With particular reference to the role of missionaries in the events
leading up to the 1857 Mutiny

Nagina BI

Submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy

Department of Social Sciences and Humanities
University of Bradford

2011
Abstract
This study examines the impact of British Christian missionaries in the north of India
between 1800 and 1857. The study focuses on the cross cultural encounter between
the Christian Missionaries and the Muslim inhabitants of three Indian cities: Agra,
Delhi and Peshawar. Alongside this, the role of the missionaries in creating anti –
British sentiment in Agra and Delhi, is examined. Crucially, an assessment is made
as to what extent Christian missionary involvement in these three cities influenced
people to revolt against the British in 1857.

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Acknowledgements
Firstly I would like to thank Allah, Most High for blessing me with the strength and
commitment to complete this thesis.

I am extremely grateful to my family, in particular my mother Hajra for her
continued support and encouragement and my father Muhammad Azad who
supported me throughout my studies. I am also grateful to my (late) grandparents
who inspired me with their stories of South Asia. I would like to thank Sharaz and
Imran Azad – for their never ending support and encouragement. I cannot forget the
assistance I was given by Shamshad Azad.

I would like to thank my thesis supervisors, Dr. James Gregory and Professor Munro
Price for their patience, support, guidance and thorough feedback. I would also like
to thank Shaykh Muhammed Asrar Rashid (Hafidullah) for providing feedback on
my thesis.

I am grateful to my friends who have been a source of support and genuine advice
throughout what were at times stressful moments. Also, I cannot forget the kind
words of a large group of people who I have met over the last few years and have
inspired me in various ways, although there are too many to name, I would like to
take this opportunity to thank them.

I would like to convey my thanks to the inter library loans staff at J.B Priestley
Library for processing my endless requests. Also thank you to the staff at
Birmingham and Oxford University Library archives for their assistance.

I would also like to acknowledge the guidance of Rabia Zafar from Karachi and that
of Prof. R. Anderson for his assistance in helping me to understand key points about
the Evangelical revival and how to approach the subject.

I would like to thank the University of Bradford for assisting me with funding my
studies in the form of a Scholarship.
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Contents
Chapter Page
Chapter 1. Religion and empire 8
Chapter 2. India : The land of romance 48
Chapter 3. Agra : The „cradle‟ of Christianity 60
Chapter 4. Agra: The attack is yet to come 102
Chapter 5. Delhi: The seat of an empire 126
Chapter 6. Delhi: A strong attack must be made 151
Chapter 7. Peshawar: The key to other countries 181
Chapter 8. Epilogue: Flee for your lives 202
Chapter 9. Conclusion 220
Bibliography 231

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Illustrations

Historical map of Northern India: The Mutiny 1857-1859 From A. Ward, The
Cambridge Modern History Atlas (London: Cambridge University Press, 1912).
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Map of North India showing Peshawar, Delhi, Agra and surrounding areas. From J.
Lowry, Lowry’s Table Atlas (London: Chapman and Hall, 1850).
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Abbreviations
BFBS British Foreign Bible Society
BMS Baptist Missionary Society
CMS Church Missionary Society
Molana An expert in Islamic law
Molvis Scholars and experts in Islamic law
Munazara A public debate
Revd. Reverend (clergyman)
ṣall Allāhu ʿalay-hi wa-sallam This means blessings and peace of Allah be
upon the prophet Muhammad (to be used after
the name of the prophet Muhammad).
SPCK Society for promoting Christian knowledge
SPG Society for the propagation of the Gospel
USPG United Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel

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Chapter 1. Religion and Empire
Literature review
The purpose of this thesis is not to argue whether the Mutiny of 1857 was a war of
religion, rather to take a closer look at the role that religion played. It is important to
assess the role of the missionaries in India in order to understand the reasons behind
the events of 1857. Dalrymple states quite succinctly:

Religion is not the only force at work, nor perhaps the primary one; but
to ignore its power and importance, at least in the rhetoric used to justify
the uprising, seems to go against the huge weight of emphasis on this
factor given in the rebels‟ own documents.1

Although the literature on the Indian Mutiny of 1857 is wide ranging,
scholarly works specific to the role of the missionaries in the Mutiny are limited. The
role of the Ulema (plural of „alim‟ defined as „those who possess ilm or learning‟)2
and their opposition to missionary activity is missing from many narratives of the
Mutiny. The nationalist historians almost discredit them, and they seem to have little
place in the existing literature. They did however, play an active role in the Mutiny.3
This thesis therefore seeks to delve further into the neglected subject of Christian

1 W. Dalrymple, „In defence of faith: religious rhetoric in the Delhi uprising of 1857‟, History Biblio,
7:3 (2007), p. 9.
2 P. Hardy, „The Ulama in British India‟, Journal of Indian History, Golden jubilee volume (Kerala:
University of Kerala, 1973, p. 821).
3 S. Alavi, „Jihadi Muslims and Hindu Sepoys, rewriting the 1857 narrative‟, History Biblio, 7:3
(2007), p. 10.

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missionaries in India and examine the learned Muslim responses they drew, prior to
the Mutiny of 1857.
Historians have argued that the evangelising efforts of the missionaries were
partially responsible for the Mutiny of 1857; the Delhi mission has been described as
„overtly Islamophobic‟.4 This study questions this idea and researches the three cities
of Delhi, Agra and Peshawar, which were bases of missions. Agra and Peshawar
were home to the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) missions. The
German missionary Karl Gottleib Pfander (1803-65), known for his famous
Munazara (religious debate) with the Molvis of Agra and Delhi, had also been
involved in the Peshawar and Agra missions.5 These cities have been selected as case
studies, due to their significance, all three cities were visited by Pfander and in all
three cities the missionaries encountered opposition.

4 W. Dalrymple, The Last Mughal ( London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006), p. 60.
5 A. Powell, Muslims and Missionaries in pre – Mutiny India (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1993), p. 68.
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