Reforms in Parsis and Muslims in 19th Century India

Reform among the Parsis

Rehnumai Mazadayasan Sabha (1851)

• Founded in 1851 by Naoroji Furdonji, Dadabhai Naoroji, and S.S. Bengalee.
• Aim: Reform social and religious life of Parsis in line with modern values.

Reforms advocated

• Women’s upliftment → promoted female education and fought for women’s legal rights.
• Demanded uniform laws of inheritance and marriage within the community.
• Attacked orthodox superstitions and outdated customs.

👉 Result: The Parsis, being a small but enterprising community, became the most Westernised group in India, excelling in trade, industry, and education.

Reforms among Muslims

Unlike Parsis or Hindus, reform among Muslims came later. The upper classes, initially suspicious of English education, took time to accept modern learning. Reform emerged along two lines: modernist (Aligarh) and revivalist (Deoband).

Mohammedan Literary Society (1863, Kolkata)

• Founded by Nawab Abdul Latif.
• Objective: Encourage Muslims to adopt Western education through English medium.
• Promoted discussion on religion, society, and politics in the light of modern ideas.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898) and the Aligarh Movement

Vision and Philosophy

• Most important Muslim reformer of 19th-century India.
• Strongly influenced by modern science and rationalism.
• Insisted that the Quran must be interpreted in harmony with reason and nature.
• Rejected fanaticism and exclusiveness, urged religious tolerance and unity between Hindus and Muslims.
• Emphasised that social progress required modern Western education.

Educational Work

• Founded schools across towns.
• Translated Western works into Urdu.
• Established the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh (1875) — later the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
  • Open to all Indians, it became the nerve centre of modern Muslim education in South Asia.

Social Reform

• Criticised purdah, polygamy, and social backwardness.
• Advocated female education, widow remarriage, and women’s upliftment.
• Used his magazine Tahdhib-ul-Akhlaq to spread reformist ideas.

Sir Syed and Politics

Here lies the controversial side of his legacy:

• Towards the end of his life, Sir Syed grew wary of Hindu domination and urged Muslims to keep away from the Indian National Congress.
• His reasons:
  • Felt political agitation would provoke British hostility and derail Muslim education.
  • Believed India could not challenge British rule until it became modern and scientific like England.
• Founded the Indian Patriotic Association (1888) with Raja Shiv Prasad Singh — aimed at opposing Congress and aligning Muslims with the British Raj.

👉 While this helped Muslims access education and government support, it also encouraged communal separation — laying seeds of later Muslim political separatism.

Deoband Movement (Darul Uloom, 1867)

• Founded at Deoband (UP) in 1867 by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and others.
• A revivalist movement — sought to preserve Islamic tradition against Western influences.

Core Features

• Centred around Darul Uloom Madrassa at Deoband.
• Emphasised orthodox Islamic learning, not Western science.
• Politically:
  • Opposed British colonial rule.
  • Opposed Sir Syed’s Aligarh Movement, which was seen as pro-British.
  • Supported the Indian National Congress and nationalist movement — though critics say it was more out of rivalry with Aligarh than clear political vision.

👉 Thus, while Aligarh stood for modernisation and loyalty to British, Deoband represented religious revival and anti-colonial nationalism.

Comparative View

• Parsis (Rehnumai Sabha): Most Westernised, reform came early, practical social changes (laws, women’s rights).
• Muslims (Aligarh): Modernist path — rational interpretation of Quran, Western science, education, but politically cautious, even pro-British.
• Muslims (Deoband): Revivalist path — preservation of Islamic orthodoxy, anti-British, nationalist in orientation.

✅ In short: Religious reform among Parsis and Muslims added a new dimension to 19th-century Indian awakening. Parsis became pioneers of modernisation, while Muslims debated between modernism (Aligarh) and revivalism (Deoband). Together, they reflect the diversity of India’s reform movements under colonial rule.