The emergence of socialist thought among North Indian Muslims (1917-1947) / Khizar Humayun Ansari.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ansari, Humayun, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Socialism--India, North--20th century.

Socialism.

Muslims--Political activity--India, North--History--20th century.

Muslims.

Socialism and literature--India, North--History--20th century.

Socialism and literature.

Muslims--Political activity.

History.

North India.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 504 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Karachi, Pakistan : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Summary:

The reconciliation of basic Islamic principles with modernity has been a major challenge for Muslims over the last two centuries. This study uncovers the responses of Indian Muslims who were drawn to socialist ideas between the Bolshevik Revolution and Partition. From the Pan-Islamist muhajirin, who migrated to Soviet Central Asia during the Khilafat agitation of 1919-24, to the upper-class literary radicals of the Progressive Writers Movement of the 1930s and 1940s, socialism provided Muslim radicals with an intellectual toolkit for analysing their own society and constructing strategies for emancipation from Western oppression. In fact, the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity that existed within Islamic ideology encouraged Muslim socialists to embrace a secular mode of thinking. Recognizing these familiar strands in socialist theory legitimized their fascination with socialism. This book sheds Light on the fact that religious and political separatism were not the only paths adopted by the Muslims of North India to move forward under colonial rule. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Emergence of the Early Muslim Socialists 12

Pan-Islamism becomes increasingly anti-British 12

The Muhajirin make contact with Bolshevism 22

The Khilafat Movement: The Second Wave of Muhajirin 25

The Muhajirin are converted to Socialism 31

2 Muslim Socialist Activity in India: 1917-1934 52

The Reponses of the Indian Muslims to the Russian Revolution 54

The Khilafat Movement and Beginnings of Socialist Action 59

Muslims and the Growth of Early Communist Organization in India 67

Early Muslim Communist Activity 69

Muslim Responses to British Repression 76

Muslims and the Development of Socialist Organization in the mid-1920s 82

The Rise of Nehru and the Decline of Communism between 1929 and 1934 87

3 The Intellectual Origins of the Later Muslim Socialists 106

The Growth of the Reforming Attitude 108

The Romantic Movement in Urdu Literature: 1914-1936 116

Other Indian Sources of Inspiration 121

The Impact of Western Writers 129

4 The Social Background of Muslim Socialist Writers of 1930s and 1940s 150

The Origins of Muslims Socialists-The Development of the North Indian Qasbah 150

The Qasbah Inheritance 155

The Impact of British Rule 162

Problems of the New Muslim Elite 170

The Emergence of Women Progressive Writers 179

5 Muslim Socialists and the PWA: 1936-1947 199

The Background to the Formation of the PWA 200

The Formation of the PWA in London 204

The Establishment of the PWA in India 208

The Organization of the PWA 213

Organizing a People's Literature 216

The PWA's Confrontation with the Government: the 'Imperialist Phase' of War, September 1939-June 1941 221

The 'People's War Phase': 1941-1945 225

The Development of the PWA as an Organization: 1942-1947 229

The PWA and the Demand for Pakistan 233

6 Themes in Muslim Socialist Literature 241

New Literary Forms 243

Realism 247

Revolutionary Romanticism 249

A Proletarian Style Emerges 252

Content of Progressive Literature 256

Religion and Morality 256

The Position of Muslim Women 259

Poverty and Exploitation 266

British Imperialism 270

Communalism 275.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 456-491) and index.

ISBN:

0199068682

9780199068685

OCLC:

905843752

Online:

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