Contested identities and the Muslim Qaum in northern India, c.1860-1900
Using primarily published sources in Urdu from the second-half of the nineteenthcentury, my thesis presents evidence with regard to north Indian Muslims, whichquestions the idea of a homogenous, centralising, entity, at times called the Muslimcommunity, qaum, ummah or nation. Using a large number of second-tier publicists'writings in Urdu, the thesis argues that the self-perceptions and representations ofmany Muslims, were far more local, parochial, disparate, multiple, and highlycontested. The idea of a homogenous, levelling, sense of collective identity, or animagined community, seem wanting in this period. This line of evidence andargumentation, also has important implications for locating the moment ofseparatism and identity formation amongst north Indian Muslims, and argues thatthis happened much later than has previously been imagined. Based on this, thethesis also argues against an anachronistic or teleological strain of historiographywith regard to north Indian Muslims of this period. The main medium through which these arguments are debated, is through the Urduprint world, where a large number of new sources have been presented whichunderscore this difference, more than this uniformity. Whether it
Zaidi, S. Akbar
Contested identities and the Muslim Qaum in northern India, c.1860-1900. Using primarily published sources in Urdu from the second-half of the nineteenthcentury, my thesis presents evidence with regard to north Indian Muslims, whichquestions the idea of a homogenous, centralising, entity, at times called the Muslimcommunity, qaum, ummah or nation. Using a large number of second-tier publicists'writings in Urdu, the thesis argues that the self-perceptions and representations ofmany Muslims, were far more local, parochial, disparate, multiple, and highlycontested. The idea of a homogenous, levelling, sense of collective identity, or animagined community, seem wanting in this period. This line of evidence andargumentation, also has important implications for locating the moment ofseparatism and identity formation amongst north Indian Muslims, and argues thatthis happened much later than has previously been imagined. Based on this, thethesis also argues against an anachronistic or teleological strain of historiographywith regard to north Indian Muslims of this period. The main medium through which these arguments are debated, is through the Urduprint world, where a large number of new sources have been presented whichunderscore this difference, more than this uniformity. Whether it
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