Indian Muslim Perceptions of the West During the Eighteenth Century

The present study attempts to establish the degree of awareness that Muslim intellectuals in the second half of the eighteenth century had of Europe. This awareness is traced back to a number of contemporary works by Indian Muslims who attempted to explain the rise of Europe in relation to their world. These works constitute as yet unexplored source-material: Persian manuscripts lodged in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the British Library, and the India Office Library in London. Also, largely unexplored material located in Indian libraries, in particular the Maulana Azad Library Aligarh. The chapters that follow unfold turn-of-the-century images of Europe as they were perceived by a number of contemporary Indian scholars who had come into contact with the west.