The Indian Musalmans

In the post-‘Murthy’ period, the British administrators remained highly suspicious of the Indian populace. However, attempts were also made to bridge the gap between the British Raj and the ‘persistently belligerent class’ described as a ‘source of permanent danger to the Indian Empire’. W.W. Hunter’s book, written over a century ago, is a fascinating account of the possible causes behind the rising fanaticism among a section of Indian Muslims. Hunter argues in his book that the education and persuasion of Muslims was a better option for the British as ‘a death in the causes of religion has in all ages sufficed to illuminate a life of infamy’.