A detailed assessment of how Western thinking about India developed in the nineteenth century, focusing on the exceptionally full lives of the scholar-administrator Muir brothers. Structured around the lives and careers of two Scottish scholar-administrator brothers, Sir William and Dr John Muir, who served in the East India Company and the Raj in North-West India from 1827-1876, this book examines cultural, especially religious and educational attitudes and interactions during the period. The core of the study centres on a detailed examination of the brothers' seminal works on Vedic and Islamic history and society which, researched from Sanskrit and Arabic sources, became standard reference works on India's religions during the Raj. The publication of these works coincided with the outbreak of the Indian Uprising of 1857, on the nature of which William's correspondence with his brother and others allows some reconsideration, especially in respect of Muslim participation. Powell also examines the response of Indian Muslim scholars, particularly of Sir Saiyid Ahmad Khan, to William's critiques of Islam and the brothers' patronage of Oriental scholarship, comparative religion and education during their long retirement back in their native Scotland. The study contributes to current debates about the Scottish contribution to Empire with particular reference to India and to cultural issues. AVRIL A. POWELL is Reader Emerita in the History Department at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Reviews
[A] fascinating and extremely rich study [and] a highly readable work [which] goes a long way towards highlighting the complex intranational dynamics within the 'British' Empire. * SCOTTISH STUDIES NEWSLETTER, no. 42, Autumn 2013 *
The book is an outstanding example of sound and engaging historical scholarship. * CANADIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY, Autumn 2013 *
Powell has contributed significantly to our understanding of British rule in South Asia and also to the global history of Christianity in the modern world. * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *
A highly valuable contribution to the so called Orientalist/liberal - Anglicist/utilitarian debate of the late 1820s and the 1830s. [...] Without doubt the book deserves great scholarly attention and a prominent place on the shelves of academic libraries. * H-SOZ-U-KULT *
This is a welcome study. readers will walk away with a nuanced understanding of the intellectual climate in the British Raj during its heyday. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES *
A first-class piece of research to which scholars will refer for years to come. * JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY *
[A] meticulous and magisterial study. * INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH *
Highly recommended. * CHOWKIDAR *



Book Information
ISBN 9781843835790
Author Avril A. Powell
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint The Boydell Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 1g