210-628: The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research " (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions ). It was founded by the philologist William Jones on 15 January 1784 in a meeting presided over by Justice Robert Chambers in Calcutta , the then-capital of the Presidency of Fort William . At
420-603: A bell" and A'isha reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)." Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power," the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he
630-500: A bodily resurrection . In the Quran belief in the afterlife is often referred in conjunction with belief in God: "Believe in God and the last day" emphasizing what is considered impossible is easy in the sight of God. A number of suras such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and warn people to be prepared for the "imminent" day referred to in various ways. It
840-487: A book of guidance for humankind ( 2:185 ). It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. Supplementing the Quran with explanations for some cryptic Quranic narratives, and rulings that also provide the basis for Islamic law in most denominations of Islam, are hadiths —oral and written traditions believed to describe words and actions of Muhammad. During prayers ,
1050-594: A buyer of manufactured goods . More specifically, in the 1750s, mostly fine cotton and silk was exported from India to markets in Europe, Asia, and Africa; by the second quarter of the 19th century, raw materials, which chiefly consisted of raw cotton, opium, and indigo, accounted for most of India's exports. Also, from the late 18th century British cotton mill industry began to lobby the government to both tax Indian imports and allow them access to markets in India. Starting in
1260-605: A century later, the subject of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee 's novel Anandamath . In 1772, under Warren Hastings, the East India Company took over revenue collection directly in the Bengal Presidency (then Bengal and Bihar), establishing a Board of Revenue with offices in Calcutta and Patna , and moving the pre-existing Mughal revenue records from Murshidabad to Calcutta. In 1773, after Oudh ceded
1470-472: A direct translation of the text. The word qur'ān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun ( maṣdar ) of the Arabic verb qara'a ( قرأ ) meaning 'he read' or 'he recited'. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā ( ܩܪܝܢܐ ), which refers to 'scripture reading' or 'lesson'. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from
1680-477: A large proportion of the work of Indian Civil Service officers working for the government. After the Company lost its trading rights, it became the single most important source of government revenue, roughly half of overall revenue in the middle of the 19th century; even so, between the years 1814 and 1859, the government of India ran debts in 33 years. With expanded dominion, even during non-deficit years, there
1890-656: A lengthy presence on the Indian subcontinent . The company's victory under Robert Clive in the 1757 Battle of Plassey and another victory in the 1764 Battle of Buxar (in Bihar) consolidated the company's power and forced emperor Shah Alam II to appoint it the diwan , or revenue collector, of Bengal , Bihar, and Orissa . The Company thus became the de facto ruler of large areas of the lower Gangetic plain by 1773. It also proceeded by degrees to expand its dominions around Bombay and Madras. The Anglo-Mysore Wars (1766–1799) and
2100-400: A major event occurred during their tenure. Government of India Act (1833) Until Clive's victory at Plassey , the East India Company territories in India, which consisted largely of the presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, were governed by the mostly autonomous—and sporadically unmanageable— town councils , all composed of merchants. The councils barely had enough powers for
2310-455: A modern field of academic research known as Quranic studies . Muslims believe the Quran was orally revealed by God to the final Islamic prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel incrementally over a period of some 23 years, beginning on the Night of Power , when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as Muhammad's most important miracle ,
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#17327832765102520-498: A museum of its own which possesses a rock edict of Asoka (c. 250 BCE) and a significant collection of copper plate inscriptions, coins, sculptures, manuscripts, and archival records. Some masterpieces, like Joshua Reynolds ’ Cupid asleep on Cloud , Guido Cagnacci 's Cleopatra , Thomas Daniell 's A Ghat at Benares, and Peter Paul Rubens ’ Infant Christ are also in the possession of this museum. The Society's journal has had several changes of name, sometimes reflecting changes in
2730-571: A new treaty was negotiated, this force was assigned to Berar and stopped being a part of the Nizam's army. In the Indian rebellion of 1857 almost the entire Bengal army, both regular and irregular, revolted. It has been suggested that after the annexation of Oudh by the East India Company in 1856, many sepoys were disquieted both from losing their perquisites, as landed gentry, in the Oudh courts and from
2940-409: A possessed man, a soothsayer , or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia . Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood. The Quran describes Muhammad as " ummi ", which is traditionally interpreted as 'illiterate', but the meaning
3150-518: A proof of his prophethood , and the culmination of a series of divine messages starting with those revealed to the first Islamic prophet Adam , including the Islamic holy books of the Torah , Psalms , and Gospel . The Quran is believed by Muslims to be God's own divine speech providing a complete code of conduct across all facets of life. This has led Muslim theologians to fiercely debate whether
3360-706: A report by a committee, which condemned the Mayor's Courts, the Crown issued a charter for a new judicial system in the Bengal Presidency . The British Parliament consequently enacted the Regulating Act of 1773 under which the King-in-Council created a Supreme Court in the Presidency town , i.e. Fort William . The tribunal consisted of one Chief Justice and three puisne judges ; all four judges were to be chosen from barristers . The Supreme Court supplanted
3570-549: A rich collection of about 47,000 manuscripts in 26 scripts. The most notable amongst them are an illustrated manuscript of the Qur'an , a manuscript of the Gulistan text, and a manuscript of Padshah Nama bearing the signature of Emperor Shahjahan . The number of journals in the possession of the library is about 80,000 at present.The library also has coins issued by Chhatrapati Shivaji Mahraj. The early collection of this library
3780-631: A single folio of a very early Quran , dating back to 1370 years earlier, was discovered in the library of the University of Birmingham , England. According to the tests carried out by the Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, "with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645". The manuscript is written in Hijazi script , an early form of written Arabic. This possibly
3990-522: A square is set up and the king or lord of the day ;( māliki yawmi-d-dīn ) comes and shows his shin; looks are fearful, are invited to prostration; but those invited in the past but stayed away, cannot do this.( Al-Qalam 42-43) Some researchers have no hesitation that many doomsday concepts, some of which are also used in the Quran, such as firdaws , kawthar , jahannam , maalik have come from foreign cultures through historical evolution . According to M. Shamsher Ali , there are around 750 verses in
4200-519: A surah dedicated to his mother Mary in the Quran. According to As-Saff 6, while he is a harbinger of Muhammad, Sunnis understand that Jesus continues to live in a sky layer , as in the stories of ascension , preaches that he will return to the earth near apocalypse , join the Mahdi , will pray behind him and then kill the False Messiah ( Dajjal ). While belief in God and obedience to
4410-580: Is "a sign of the hour." Despite the uncertainty of the time is emphasized with the statement that it is only in the presence of God,(43:61) there is a rich eschatological literature in the Islamic world and doomsday prophecies in the Islamic world are heavily associated with "round" numbers. Said Nursi interpreted the expressions in the Quran and hadiths as metaphorical or allegorical symbolizations and benefited from numerological methods applied to some ayah/hadith fragments in his own prophecies. In
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#17327832765104620-584: Is "widespread and well-funded". Individuals connected with the movement include Abdul Majeed al-Zindani , who established the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah ; Zakir Naik , the Indian televangelist; and Adnan Oktar , the Turkish creationist. Ismail al-Faruqi and Taha Jabir Alalwani are of the view that any reawakening of the Muslim civilization must start with the Quran; however,
4830-732: Is 'the Day of Judgment,' 'the Last Day,' 'the Day of Resurrection,' or simply 'the Hour.' Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction', 'the Day of the Gathering' or 'the Day of the Meeting'. "Signs of the hour" in the Quran are a " Beast of the Earth " will arise (27:82); the nations Gog and Magog will break through their ancient barrier wall and sweep down to scourge the earth (21:96-97); and Jesus
5040-400: Is a great deal of Islamic pseudoscience attempting to reconcile this respect with religious beliefs. This is because, according to Edis, true criticism of the Quran is almost non-existent in the Muslim world. While Christianity is less prone to see its Holy Book as the direct word of God, fewer Muslims will compromise on this idea – causing them to believe that scientific truths must appear in
5250-413: Is a prominent prophet and messenger of God and the most frequently mentioned individual in the Quran, with his name being mentioned 136 times and his life being narrated and recounted more than that of any other prophet. Jesus is considered another important prophet with his fatherless birth,( 66:12 , 21:89 ) special with the expressions used for him, such as the "word" and "spirit" from God and
5460-463: Is a way and method of reciting the Qur'an was developed sometime afterwards. There are ten canonical recitations and they are not to be confused with ahruf. Shias recite the Quran according to the qira'at of Hafs on authority of ‘Asim , which is the prevalent qira'at in the Islamic world and believe that the Quran was gathered and compiled by Muhammad during his lifetime. It is claimed that
5670-641: Is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The term mus'haf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books. Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in 610 CE in the Cave of Hira on the Night of Power during one of his isolated retreats to
5880-453: Is approved because of its familiarity for a certain society and its antithesis munkar means what is disapproved because it is unknown and extraneous. It also affirms family life by legislating on matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. A number of practices, such as usury and gambling, are prohibited. The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of Islamic law ( sharia ). Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in
6090-406: Is claimed that the provisions and contents in sources such as the Quran and hadith, apart from general purposes , are contents that reflect the general understanding and practices of that period, and it is brought up to replace the sharia practices that pose problems in terms of today's ethic values with new interpretations . The doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of
6300-535: Is rather more complex. Medieval commentators such as al-Tabari ( d. 923 ) maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi , if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied
6510-507: Is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty." Islam regards Abraham as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad via Ishmael and mentioned in 35 chapters of the Quran , more often than any other biblical personage apart from Moses . Muslims regard him as an idol smasher, hanif , an archetype of
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6720-547: Is seen in a number of passages, for example: "So when al-qur'ān is recited, listen to it and keep silent." The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel . The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qur'ān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb ('book'), āyah ('sign'), and sūrah ('scripture');
6930-411: Is the central religious text of Islam , believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ( Allāh ). It is organized in 114 chapters ( surah , pl. suwer ) which consist of individual verses ( āyah ). Besides its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature , and has significantly influenced the Arabic language . It is the object of
7140-416: The subsidiary alliances with Indian princes during the first 75 years of Company rule. In the early 19th century, the territories of these princes accounted for two-third of India. When an Indian ruler, who was able to secure his territory, wanted to enter such an alliance, the Company welcomed it as an economical method of indirect rule, which did not involve the economic costs of direct administration or
7350-661: The Anglo-Maratha Wars (1772–1818) left it in control of large areas of India south of the Sutlej River . With the defeat of the Marathas , no native power represented a threat for the Company any longer. The expansion of the company's power chiefly took two forms. The first of these was the outright annexation of Indian states and subsequent direct governance of the underlying regions, which collectively came to comprise British India . The annexed regions included
7560-661: The British Crown and Parliament increased as well. By the 1820s British nationals could transact business or engage in missionary work under the protection of the Crown in the three presidencies. Finally, under the terms of The Saint Helena Act 1833 , the British Parliament revoked the company's monopoly in the China trade and made it an agent for the administration of British India. The Governor-General of Bengal
7770-539: The Ceded and Conquered Provinces in 1805, the jurisdiction would extend as far west as Delhi. In the other two presidencies, Madras and Bombay , a similar course of legal changes unfolded; there, however, the Mayor's Courts were first strengthened to Recorder's Courts by adding a legal president to the bench. The Supreme Courts in Madras and Bombay were finally established in 1801 and 1823, respectively. Madras Presidency
7980-667: The City of London and the Parliament of Great Britain . The result was a compromise in which the Regulating Act—although implying the ultimate sovereignty of the British Crown over these new territories—asserted that the company could act as a sovereign power on behalf of the Crown. It could do this while concurrently being subject to oversight and regulation by the British government and parliament. The Court of Directors of
8190-705: The Diwāni of Bengal, the right not only to collect revenue, but also to administer civil justice in Bengal. The administration of criminal justice, the Nizāmat or Faujdāri , however, remained with the Nawāb , and for criminal cases the prevailing Islamic law remained in place. However, the company's new duties associated with the Diwāni were leased out to the Indian officials who had formerly performed them. This makeshift arrangement continued—with much accompanying disarray—until 1771, when
8400-505: The Dogra dynasty of Jammu , and thereby became a princely state. In 1854 Berar was annexed, and the state of Oudh two years later. The second form of asserting power involved treaties in which Indian rulers acknowledged the company's hegemony in return for limited internal autonomy . Since the Company operated under financial constraints, it had to set up political underpinnings for its rule. The most important such support came from
8610-586: The Education Dispatch of 1854 sent by Sir Charles Wood , the President of the Board of Control of the East India Company, the chief official on Indian affairs in the British government, to Lord Dalhousie , the then Governor-General of India. The dispatch outlined a broad plan of state-sponsored education for India, which included: Qur%27an The Quran , also romanized Qur'an or Koran ,
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8820-529: The Fox–North coalition tried to reform colonial policy again with a bill introduced by Edmund Burke which would have transferred political power over India from the East India Company to a parliamentary commission. The bill passed the House of Commons with the enthusiastic support of Foreign Secretary Charles James Fox , but was vetoed by the House of Lords under pressure from King George III , who then dismissed
9030-619: The Home Office , was in charge of the overall India policy. From 1784 onwards, the British government had the final word on all major appointments in India; a candidate's suitability for a senior position was often decided by the strength of his political connections rather than that of his administrative ability. Although this practice resulted in many Governor-General nominees being chosen from Britain's conservative landed gentry , there were some liberals as well, such as Lord William Bentinck and Lord Dalhousie . British political opinion
9240-761: The Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta was formed and all the meetings of this society were held in the Asiatic Society. In January 1784, Sir William Jones sent out a circular-letter to a selected number of British residents of Calcutta with a view to establish a society for the Asiatic studies. At his invitation, 30 British residents met in the Grand Jury Room of the Supreme Court (in Calcutta's Fort William ) on 15 January 1784. The meeting
9450-614: The Naib Nāzim , attended to the slightly less important cases. The ordinary lawsuits belonged to the jurisdiction of a hierarchy of court officials consisting of faujdārs , muhtasils , and kotwāls . In the rural areas, or the Mofussil , the zamindars —the rural overlords with the hereditary right to collect rent from peasant farmers—also had the power to administer justice. This they did with little routine oversight, being required to report only their judgments in capital punishment cases to
9660-406: The Nawāb . By the mid-18th century, the British too had completed a century and a half in India, and had a burgeoning presence in the three presidency towns of Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta. During this time the successive Royal Charters had gradually given the East India Company more power to administer justice in these towns. In the charter granted by Charles II in 1683, the company was given
9870-648: The North-Western Provinces (comprising Rohilkhand , Gorakhpur , and the Doab ) (1801), Delhi (1803), Assam ( Ahom Kingdom 1828), and Sindh (1843). Punjab , North-West Frontier Province , and Kashmir , were annexed after the Anglo-Sikh Wars in 1849-1856 (Period of tenure of Marquess of Dalhousie Governor General); however, Kashmir was immediately sold under the Treaty of Amritsar (1850) to
10080-478: The Permanent Settlement if the zamindars failed to pay the revenue on time, the zamindari right would be taken from them. According to one estimate, this was 20% higher than the revenue demand before 1757. Over the next century, partly as a result of land surveys, court rulings, and property sales, the change was given practical dimension. An influence on the development of this revenue policy were
10290-682: The Quraysh who were taken prisoners at the Battle of Badr regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate . As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras (also usually transliterated as Surah) were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of
10500-753: The Third Anglo-Mysore War in 1791, and also in Java and Ceylon . In contrast to the soldiers in the armies of Indian rulers, the Bengal sepoys not only received high pay, but also received it reliably, thanks in great measure to the company's access to the vast land-revenue reserves of Bengal. Soon, bolstered both by the new musket technology and naval support, the Bengal army came to be widely well-regarded. The well-disciplined sepoys attired in red-coats and their British officers began to arouse "a kind of awe in their adversaries. In Maharashtra and in Java,
10710-519: The Treaty of Nanjing , gained access to five Chinese ports, Guangzhou , Xiamen , Fuzhou , Shanghai, and Ningbo ; in addition, Hong Kong was ceded to the British Crown. Towards the end of the second quarter of the 19th century, opium export constituted 40% of India's exports. Another major, though erratic, export item was indigo dye , which was extracted from natural indigo , and which came to be grown in Bengal and northern Bihar. In 1788,
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#173278327651010920-724: The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh . In addition, in 1854, a lieutenant-governor was appointed for the region of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, leaving the Governor-General to concentrate on the governance of India as a whole. In the remnant of the Mughal Empire revenue system existing in pre-1765 Bengal, zamindars , or "land holders", collected revenue on behalf of the Mughal emperor, whose representative, or diwan , supervised their activities. In this system,
11130-554: The Uthmanic codex , which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings , with some differences in meaning. The Quran assumes the reader's familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical and apocryphal texts . It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as
11340-403: The Uthmanic codex . That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed. and the six other ahruf of the Qur'an fell out of use. The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr. Qira'at which
11550-554: The culture of Arabs and many nations in their historical neighbourhoods, especially Judeo-Christian stories , are included in the Quran with small allusions, references or sometimes small narratives such as jannāt ʿadn , jahannam , Seven sleepers , Queen of Sheba etc. However, some philosophers and scholars such as Mohammed Arkoun , who emphasize the mythological content of the Quran, are met with rejectionist attitudes in Islamic circles. The stories of Yusuf and Zulaikha , Moses , Family of Amram (parents of Mary according to
11760-505: The "Nabobs", returned to Britain with large fortunes, which—according to rumours then current—were acquired unscrupulously. By 1772, the Company needed British government loans to stay afloat, and there was fear in London that the company's corrupt practices could soon seep into British business and public life. The rights and duties of the British government with regards the company's new territories also came to be examined. The British parliament then held several inquiries and in 1773, during
11970-430: The "major breeding ground" of India's infantry in eastern Awadh and the lands around Banaras including Bihar . The high caste rural Hindu Rajputs and Brahmins of this region, known as Purbiyas (Hindi, lit. "easterners"), had been recruited by Mughal Empire armies for two hundred years; the East India Company continued this practice for the next 75 years, with these soldiers comprising up to eighty per cent of
12180-416: The 1830s, British textiles began to appear in—and soon to inundate—the Indian markets, with the value of the textile imports growing from £5.2 million 1850 to £18.4 million in 1896. The American Civil War too would have a major impact on India's cotton economy: with the outbreak of the war, American cotton was no longer available to British manufacturers ; consequently, demand for Indian cotton soared, and
12390-499: The 1850s, a scandal erupted when it was discovered that some Indian revenue agents of the company were using torture to meet the company's revenue demands. Land revenue settlements constituted a major administrative activity of the various governments in India under Company rule. In all areas other than the Bengal Presidency, land settlement work involved a continually repetitive process of surveying and measuring plots, assessing their quality, and recording landed rights, and constituted
12600-527: The 18th century and the first decade of the nineteenth, Company officials pursued a policy of conciliation towards the native culture of its new dominion, especially in relation to education policy. During the 19th century, the Indian literacy rates were rumoured to be less than half of post independence levels which were 18.33% in 1951. The policy was pursued in the aid of three goals: "to sponsor Indians in their own culture, to advance knowledge of India, and to employ that knowledge in government". The first goal
12810-511: The 20th century; a centre of indigo production there, Champaran district, became an early testing ground, in 1917, for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 's strategy of non-violent resistance against the British Raj . Until the British gained control of Bengal in the mid-18th century, the system of justice there was presided over by the Nawab of Bengal himself, who, as the chief law officer, Nawāb Nāzim , attended to cases qualifying for capital punishment in his headquarters, Murshidabad . His deputy,
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#173278327651013020-399: The American statesman). Initially, the Grand Jury Room of the Supreme Court was used for the meetings of the members, who had to pay a quarterly fee of two mohurs . The members were elected through ballot-voting. On 29 September 1796, the Society decided to have its own building. J.H. Harrington, then vice-president, selected the corner of Park Street and Chowringhee Road (present location) for
13230-461: The Bengal Presidency (and for overseeing the company's operations in India). "The subordinate Presidencies were forbidden to wage war or make treaties without the previous consent of the Governor-General of Bengal in Council, except in case of imminent necessity. The Governors of these Presidencies were directed in general terms to obey the orders of the Governor-General-in-Council, and to transmit to him intelligence of all important matters." However,
13440-540: The Bengal Presidency helped finance the company's wars in other parts of India. Consequently, in the period 1760–1800, Bengal's money supply was greatly diminished; furthermore, the closing of some local mints and close supervision of the rest, the fixing of exchange rates , and the standardisation of coinage , paradoxically, added to the economic downturn. During the period, 1780–1860, India changed from being an exporter of processed goods for which it received payment in bullion , to being an exporter of raw materials and
13650-461: The Bengal army. British in Malabar also converted Thiyyar army, called as Thiyya pattalam into a special regiment centered at Thalassery called as The Thiyyar Regiment in 1904. However, in order to avoid any friction within the ranks, the company also took pains to adapt its military practices to their religious requirements. Consequently, these soldiers dined in separate facilities; in addition, overseas service, considered polluting to their caste,
13860-410: The Bible conveyed from any source are called Israʼiliyyat and are met with suspicion. The provisions that might arise from them, (such as the consumption of wine ) could only be "abrogated provisions" ( naskh ). The guidance of the Quran and Muhammad is considered absolute, universal and will continue until the end of time . However, today, this understanding is questioned in certain circles, it
14070-467: The British cabinet, as well as the Chancellor of the Exchequer . Around this time, there was also extensive debate in the British Parliament on the issue of landed rights in Bengal, with a consensus developing in support of the view advocated by Philip Francis , a member of the Bengal council and political adversary of Warren Hastings, that all lands in Bengal should be considered the "estate and inheritance of native land-holders and families". Mindful of
14280-410: The British rulers in their efforts to spread English education and established many reputed colleges like Scottish Church College (1830), Wilson College (1832), Madras Christian College (1837), and Elphinstone College (1856). However, the Anglicists also included utilitarians , led by James Mill , who had begun to play an important role in fashioning Company policy. The utilitarians believed in
14490-425: The Chairman of the East India Company. Grant supported state-sponsored education in India 20 years before a similar system was set up in Britain. Among Grant's close evangelical friends were William Wilberforce , a prominent abolitionist and member of the British Parliament, and Sir John Shore , the Governor-General of India from 1793 to 1797. During this period, many Scottish Presbyterian missionaries also supported
14700-446: The Charter Act of 1793—the subordinate presidencies continued to exercise some autonomy until both the extension of British possessions into becoming contiguous and the advent of faster communications in the next century. Still, the new Governor-General appointed in 1786, Lord Cornwallis , not only had more power than Hastings, but also had the support of a powerful British cabinet minister, Henry Dundas , who, as Secretary of State for
14910-420: The Company abolished local rule (Nizamat) in Bengal and established a capital in Calcutta , appointed its first Governor-General of Fort William , Warren Hastings , and became directly involved in governance. The East India Company significantly expanded its influence throughout the Indian subcontinent after the Anglo-Mysore Wars , Anglo-Maratha Wars , and Anglo-Sikh Wars . Lord William Bentinck became
15120-609: The Company was allowed by Emperor Aurangzeb to establish a presence on the eastern coast as well; far up that coast, in the Ganges Delta , a factory was set up in Calcutta. Since, during this time other companies —established by the Portuguese , Dutch , French , and Danish —were similarly expanding in the region, the English Company's unremarkable beginnings on coastal India offered no clues to what would become
15330-578: The Court of Directors of the Company decided to obtain for the company the jurisdiction of both criminal and civil cases. Soon afterwards Warren Hastings arrived in Calcutta as the first Governor-General of the company's Indian dominions and resolved to overhaul the company's organisation and in particular its judicial affairs. In the interior, or Mofussil , diwāni adālats , or a civil courts of first instance , were constituted in each district; these courts were presided over by European Zilā judges employed by
15540-645: The EIC's former territories, which became known as the British Raj . The range of dates is taken to have commenced either in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey , when the Nawab of Bengal Siraj ud-Daulah was defeated and replaced with Mir Jafar , who had the support of the East India Company; or in 1765, when the Company was granted the diwani , or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal and Bihar ; or in 1773, when
15750-506: The East India Company in 1600, intended to facilitate its competition against Dutch and French in a distant region, was no longer needed. In response, in the Charter Act of 1813 , the British Parliament renewed the company's charter but terminated its monopoly except with regard to tea and trade with China, opening India both to private investment and missionaries. With increased British power in India, supervision of Indian affairs by
15960-505: The East India Company offered advances to ten British planters to grow indigo; however, since the new (landed) property rights defined in the Permanent Settlement, did not allow them, as Europeans, to buy agricultural land, they had to in turn offer cash advances to local peasants, and sometimes coerce them, to grow the crop. In early 19th century Europe, blue clothing was favoured as a fashion, and blue uniforms were common in
16170-466: The English language in order to impart to Indians what they considered modern Western knowledge. Prominent among them were evangelicals who, after 1813—when the company's territories were opened to Christian missionaries —were interested in spreading Christian belief; they also believed in using theology to promote liberal social reform, such as the abolition of slavery . Among them was Charles Grant ,
16380-774: The Flood , struggle of Abraham with Nimrod , sacrifice of his son occupy a wide place in the Quran. The central theme of the Quran is monotheism . God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., Quran 2:20 , 2:29 , 2:255 ). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., Quran 13:16 , 2:253 , 50:38 , etc.). All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God, and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly. The Quran uses cosmological and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to
16590-583: The Governor-General's order, "to proceed according to equity, justice, and good conscience, unless Hindu or Muhammadan law was in point, or some Regulation expressly applied". There was a good likelihood, therefore, that the Supreme Court and the Sadr Adālats would act in opposition to each other and, predictably, many disputes resulted. Hastings' premature attempt to appoint the Chief Justice, Sir Elijah Impey , an old schoolmate from Winchester , to
16800-514: The King to establish Mayor's Courts . The petition was approved and Mayor's courts, each consisting of a Mayor and nine aldermen, and each having the jurisdiction in lawsuits between Europeans, were created in Fort William (Calcutta), Madras, and Bombay. Judgments handed down by a Mayor's Court could be disputed with an appeal to the respective Presidency government and, when the amount disputed
17010-525: The Mayor's Court; however, it left the Court of Requests in place. Under the charter, the Supreme Court, moreover, had the authority to exercise all types of jurisdiction in the region of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha, with the only caveat that in situations where the disputed amount was in excess of Rs. 4,000, their judgment could be appealed to the Privy Council . Both the Act and the charter said nothing about
17220-672: The Mughal Emperor Jahangir . In 1640, after receiving similar permission from the Vijayanagara ruler farther south, a second factory was established in Madras on the southeastern coast. Bombay island, not far from Surat, a former Portuguese outpost gifted to England as dowry in the marriage of Catherine of Braganza to Charles II , was leased by the Company in 1668. Following the Anglo-Mughal War ,
17430-511: The Mughal system, the land itself belonged to the state and not to the zamindar , who could transfer only his right to collect rent. On being awarded the diwani or overlordship of Bengal following the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the East India Company found itself short of trained administrators, especially those familiar with local custom and law; tax collection was consequently farmed out. This uncertain foray into land taxation by
17640-435: The Qur'an as a crime of apostasy punishable by death under sharia , it seemed impossible to conduct studies on the Qur'an that went beyond textual criticism . Until the early 1970s, non-Muslim scholars of Islam —while not accepting traditional explanations for divine intervention— accepted the above-mentioned traditional origin story in most details. University of Chicago professor Fred Donner states that: [T]here
17850-407: The Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad in seven different ahruf (meaning letters; however, it could mean dialects, forms, styles or modes). Most Islamic scholars agree that these different ahruf are the same Qur'an revealed in seven different Arabic dialects and that they do not change the meaning of the Qur'an, the purpose of which was to make the Qur'an easy for recitation and memorization among
18060-500: The Quran and is an important part of Islamist / jihadist indoctrination today, as well as Shiite teachings, hence ma'ruf and munkar should be the key words in understanding the Quran in moral terms as a duty that the Quran imposes on believers. Although a common translation of the phrase is " Enjoining good and forbidding evil ", the words used by Islamic philosophy determining good and evil in discourses are " husn " and "qubh". The word ma’ruf literally means "known" or what
18270-400: The Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632 at age 61–62. There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation. Sahih al-Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of
18480-515: The Quran became popularized as ijaz (miracle) literature, also called " Bucailleism ", and began to be distributed through Muslim bookstores and websites. The movement contends that the Quran abounds with "scientific facts" that appeared centuries before their discovery and promotes Islamic creationism . According to author Ziauddin Sardar , the ijaz movement has created a "global craze in Muslim societies", and has developed into an industry that
18690-522: The Quran dealing with natural phenomena and many verses of the Quran ask mankind to study nature, and this has been interpreted to mean an encouragement for scientific inquiry, and of the truth. Some include, "Travel throughout the earth and see how He brings life into being" ( Q29:20 ), "Behold in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding ..." ( Q3:190 ) The astrophysicist Nidhal Guessoum writes: "The Qur'an draws attention to
18900-407: The Quran including the salat and fasting in the month of Ramadan . As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration . The term chosen for charity, zakat , literally means purification implies that it is a self-purification. In fiqh , the term fard is used for clear imperative provisions based on the Quran. However, it is not possible to say that
19110-456: The Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz . Ideally, verses are recited with a special kind of prosody reserved for this purpose called tajwid . During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, Muslims rely on exegesis , or commentary rather than
19320-418: The Quran was " created or uncreated ." According to tradition, several of Muhammad's companions served as scribes, recording the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled on the order of the first caliph Abu Bakr ( r. 632–634 ) by the companions, who had written down or memorized parts of it. Caliph Uthman ( r. 644–656 ) established a standard version, now known as
19530-505: The Quran were considered mutashabihat -"no one knows its interpretation except God" (Quran 3:7 )- by later scholars stating that God was free from resemblance to humans in any way. In Islam, God speaks to people called prophets through a kind of revelation called wahy , or through angels .( 42:51 ) nubuwwah ( Arabic : نبوة 'prophethood') is seen as a duty imposed by God on individuals who have some characteristics such as intelligence, honesty, fortitude and justice: "Nothing
19740-594: The Quran) and mysterious hero Dhul-Qarnayn ("the man with two horns") who built a barrier against Gog and Magog that will remain until the end of time are more detailed and longer stories. Apart from semi-historical events and characters such as King Solomon and David , about Jewish history as well as the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt , tales of the hebrew prophets accepted in Islam , such as Creation ,
19950-414: The Quran. The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, known as a sūrah . Each sūrah consists of verses, known as āyāt , which originally means a 'sign' or 'evidence' sent by God. The number of verses differs from sūrah to sūrah. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the most popular Hafs Quran is 6,236; however, the number varies if
20160-462: The Quran. Muslim critics of the movement include Indian Islamic theologian Maulana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanvi , Muslim historian Syed Nomanul Haq , Muzaffar Iqbal , president of Center for Islam and Science in Alberta, Canada, and Egyptian Muslim scholar Khaled Montaser. Taner Edis wrote many Muslims appreciate technology and respect the role that science plays in its creation. As a result, he says there
20370-561: The Shia had more than 1,000 hadiths ascribed to the Shia Imams which indicate the distortion of the Quran and according to Etan Kohlberg, this belief about Quran was common among Shiites in the early centuries of Islam. In his view, Ibn Babawayh was the first major Twelver author "to adopt a position identical to that of the Sunnis " and the change was a result of the "rise to power of
20580-530: The Sind Camel Corps) in 1853, and one mountain battery in 1856". Similarly, a local force was raised after the annexation of Nagpur in 1854, and the "Oudh Irregular Force" was added after Oudh was annexed in 1856. Earlier, as a result of the treaty of 1800, the Nizam of Hyderabad had begun to maintain a contingent force of 9,000 horse and 6,000-foot which was commanded by Company officers; in 1853, after
20790-584: The Society was founded in 1814 under the superintendence of Nathaniel Wallich . The rapid growth of its collection is evident from its first catalogue, published in 1849. By 1849, the Society had its own museum consisting of inscriptions in stone and metal, icons, old coins, and Sanskrit manuscripts etc. When the Indian Museum of Calcutta was established in 1814, the Society handed over most of its valuable collections to it. The Society, however, still has
21000-570: The Society's house. The site was granted to the Society on 15 May 1805. The original plan for the new building was prepared by Captain Thomas Preston . The French architect Jean-Jacques Pichou made certain modifications to it and constructed a two-storeyed building at the site. This 15,071 ft² building was built at a cost of Rs. 30,000. The first quarterly meeting of the Society for 1808 was held at its new building on 3 February 1808. From 1784 to 1828, only Europeans were elected members of
21210-432: The Society. In 1829, at the initiative of H.H. Wilson , a number of Indians were elected members, which include Dwarakanath Tagore , Sivchandra Das, Maharaja Baidyanath Roy, Maharaja Bunwari Govind Roy, Raja Kalikrishna Bahadur, Rajchunder Das, Ram Comul Sen, and Prasanna Coomar Tagore. On 12 December 1832, Ram Comul Sen was elected 'Native Secretary'. Later, Rajendralal Mitra became the first Indian President in 1885. Both
21420-707: The Society. It is currently called the Journal of the Asiatic Society . Company rule in India Company rule in India (also known as the Company Raj , from Hindi rāj , lit. ' rule ' ) refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established their first trading post in India in 1612, and gradually expanded their presence in
21630-613: The Sunni ' Abbasid caliphate ," whence belief in the corruption of the Quran became untenable vis-a-vis the position of Sunni "orthodoxy". Alleged distortions have been carried out to remove any references to the rights of Ali, the Imams and their supporters and the disapproval of enemies, such as Umayyads and Abbasids. Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including Ibn Mas'ud 's and Ubay ibn Ka'b 's codex, none of which exist today. Since Muslims could regard criticism of
21840-462: The Supreme Court any jurisdiction in matters of revenue ( Diwāni ) or Regulations of the Government enacted by the British Parliament. This state of affairs continued until 1797, when a new Act extended the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to the province of Benares (which had since been added to the company's dominions) and "all places for the time being included in Bengal". With the creation of
22050-493: The Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is qara'a itself. Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the 'act of reciting', as reflected in an early Quranic passage: "It is for Us to collect it and to recite it ( qur'ānahu )." In other verses, the word refers to 'an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]'. Its liturgical context
22260-565: The anticipation of any increased land-revenue payments that the annexation might augur. With British victories in wars or with annexation, as the extent of British jurisdiction expanded, the soldiers were now not only expected to serve in less familiar regions (such as in Burma in the Anglo-Burmese Wars in 1856), but also make do without the "foreign service", remuneration that had previously been their due, and this caused resentment in
22470-567: The apocalyptic scenes, clues are included regarding the nature, structure and dimensions of the celestial bodies as perceived in the Quran: While the stars are lamps illuminating the sky in ordinary cases, turns into stones ( Al-Mulk 1-5) or (shahap; meteor, burning fire) ( al-Jinn 9) thrown at demons that illegally ascend to the sky; When the time of judgment comes, they spill onto the earth, but this does not mean that life on earth ends; People run left and right in fear.( At-Takwir 1-7) Then
22680-573: The army. In 1846, after the Second Anglo-Sikh War , a frontier brigade was raised in the Cis-Sutlej Hill States mainly for police work; in addition, in 1849, the " Punjab Irregular Force " was added on the frontier. Two years later, this force consisted of "3 light field batteries, 5 regiments of cavalry, and 5 of infantry". The following year, "a garrison company was added, ... a sixth infantry regiment (formed from
22890-410: The assortment of rights associated with land were not possessed by a "land owner", but rather shared by the several parties with stake in the land, including the peasant cultivator, the zamindar , and the state. The zamindar served as an intermediary who procured rent from the cultivator, and after withholding a percentage for his own expenses, made available the rest, as revenue to the state. Under
23100-659: The authority of the Sadr Diwāni Adālat , or the Chief Civil Court of Appeals , consisting of the Governor of the Presidency and his Council, assisted by Indian officers. Similarly for criminal cases, Mofussil nizāmat adālats , or Provincial courts of criminal judicature , were created in the interior; these again consisted of Indian court officers ( pandits and qazis ), who were supervised by officials of
23310-406: The balance of rights and obligations that were traditionally claimed by the farmers who cultivated the land and the various intermediaries who collected tax on the state's behalf and who reserved a cut for themselves; and second, identifying those sectors of the rural economy that would maximise both revenue and security. Although their first revenue settlement turned out to be essentially the same as
23520-579: The bench of the Sadr Diwāni Adālat , only complicated the situation further. The appointment had to be annulled in 1781 by a parliamentary intervention with the enactment of the Declaration Act. The Act exempted the Executive Branch from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. It recognised the independent existence of the Sadr Adālats and all subsidiary courts of the company. Furthermore, it headed off future legal turf wars by prohibiting
23730-596: The biggest obstacle on this route is the "centuries old heritage of tafseer and other disciplines which inhibit a "universal conception" of the Quran's message. Author Rodney Stark argues that Islam's lag behind the West in scientific advancement after (roughly) 1500 AD was due to opposition by traditional ulema to efforts to formulate systematic explanation of natural phenomenon with " natural laws ." He claims that they believed such laws were blasphemous because they limit "God's freedom to act" as He wishes. Enthusiasts of
23940-488: The book in one volume so that it could be preserved. Zayd ibn Thabit ( d. 655 ) was the person to collect the Quran since "he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to
24150-479: The books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as W. Montgomery Watt prefer the second meaning of ummi —they take it to indicate unfamiliarity with earlier sacred texts. The final verse of the Quran was revealed on the 18th of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 10 A.H. , a date that roughly corresponds to February or March 632. The verse was revealed after the Prophet finished delivering his sermon at Ghadir Khumm . According to Islamic tradition,
24360-481: The closing years of the 18th century saw, with Wellesley's campaigns, a new increase in the army strength. Thus in 1806, at the time of the Vellore Mutiny , the combined strength of the three presidencies' armies stood at 154,500, making them one of the largest standing armies in the world. As the East India Company expanded its territories, it added irregular "local corps", which were not as well trained as
24570-437: The company were required under the Act to submit all communications regarding civil, military, and revenue matters in India for scrutiny by the British government. For the governance of the Indian territories, the act asserted the supremacy of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) over those of Fort St. George (Madras) and Bombay . It also nominated a Governor-General (Warren Hastings) and four councillors for administering
24780-637: The company's government in India should be responsive to Indian expectations. The Orientalist ethos would prevail in education policy well into the 1820s, and was reflected in the founding of the Poona Sanskrit College in Pune in 1821 and the Calcutta Sanskrit College in 1824. The Orientalists were, however, soon opposed by advocates of an approach that has been termed Anglicist . The Anglicists supported instruction in
24990-407: The company, may have gravely worsened the impact of a famine that struck Bengal in 1769–70 , in which between seven and ten million people—or between a quarter and third of the presidency's population—may have died. However, the company provided little relief either through reduced taxation or by relief efforts, and the economic and cultural impact of the famine was felt decades later, even becoming,
25200-402: The company, who were assisted in the interpretation of customary Indian law by Hindu pandits and Muslim qazis . For small claims, however, Registrars and Indian commissioners, known as Sadr Amīns and Munsifs , were appointed. These in their turn were supervised by provincial civil courts of appeal constituted for such purpose, each consisting of four British judges. All these were under
25410-409: The company. Also constituted were Courts of circuit with appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases, which were usually presided over by the judges of the civil appellate courts. All these too were under a Sadr Nizāmat Adālat or a Chief Court of Criminal Appeal. Around this time the business affairs of the East India Company began to draw increased scrutiny in the House of Commons . After receiving
25620-433: The danger of conjecturing without evidence ( And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge of... 17:36 ) and in several different verses asks Muslims to require proofs ( Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful 2:111 )." He associates some scientific contradictions that can be seen in the Quran with a superficial reading of the Quran. Starting in the 1970s and 80s, the idea of presence of scientific evidence in
25830-487: The date of writing of the text. For example, sources based on some archaeological data give the construction date of Masjid al-Haram , an architectural work mentioned 16 times in the Quran, as 78 AH an additional finding that sheds light on the evolutionary history of the Quran mentioned, which is known to continue even during the time of Hajjaj , in a similar situation that can be seen with al-Aksa , though different suggestions have been put forward to explain. In 2015,
26040-500: The different Arab tribes . While Sunni Muslims believe in the seven ahruf , some Shia reject the idea of seven Qur'anic variants. A common misconception is that The seven ahruf and the Qira'at are the same. Following Muhammad's death in 632, a number of his companions who memorized the Quran were killed in the Battle of al-Yamama by Musaylima . The first caliph, Abu Bakr ( r. 632–634 ), subsequently decided to collect
26250-429: The dominant tradition over the lifetime of Muhammad c. 570 to 632 CE and used as evidence to support conventional wisdom and to refute the revisionists' views that expresses findings and views different from the traditional approach to the early history of the Quran and Islam . The Quranic content is concerned with basic Islamic beliefs including the existence of God and the resurrection . Narratives of
26460-586: The early prophets , ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. The style of the Quran has been called " allusive ", with commentaries needed to explain what is being referred to—"events are referred to, but not narrated; disagreements are debated without being explained; people and places are mentioned, but rarely named." While tafsir in Islamic sciences expresses
26670-420: The economic theories then current, which regarded agriculture as the engine of economic development, and consequently stressed the fixing of revenue demands in order to encourage growth. The expectation behind the permanent settlement was that knowledge of a fixed government demand would encourage the zamindars to increase both their average outcrop and the land under cultivation, since they would be able to retain
26880-510: The effective management of their local affairs, and the ensuing lack of oversight of the overall Company operations in India led to some grave abuses by Company officers or their allies. Clive's victory, and the award of the diwani of the rich region of Bengal, brought India into the public spotlight in Britain. The company's money management practices came to be questioned, especially as it began to post net losses even as some Company servants,
27090-488: The effort to understand the implied and implicit expressions of the Quran, fiqh refers to the efforts to expand the meaning of expressions , especially in the verses related to the provisions , as well as understanding it. Quranic studies state that, in the historical context, the content of the Quran is related to Rabbinic , Jewish-Christian , Syriac Christian and Hellenic literature, as well as pre-Islamic Arabia . Many places, subjects and mythological figures in
27300-662: The emergence of a "parasitic landlord class". Mill advocated ryotwari settlements which consisted of government measurement and assessment of each plot (valid for 20 or 30 years) and subsequent taxation which was dependent on the fertility of the soil. The taxed amount was nine-tenths of the "rent" in the early 19th century and gradually fell afterwards. However, in spite of the appeal of the ryotwari system's abstract principles, class hierarchies in southern Indian villages had not entirely disappeared—for example village headmen continued to hold sway—and peasant cultivators sometimes came to experience revenue demands they could not meet. In
27510-539: The existence and unity of God , they may have adopted different attitudes that have changed and developed throughout history regarding his nature (attributes) , names and relationship with creation. Rabb is an Arabic word to refers to God meaning Lord and the Quran cites in several places as in the Al-Fatiha ; "All Praise and Gratitude is due to God, Lord of all the Universe". Mustafa Öztürk points out that
27720-709: The first Governor General of India in 1834 under the Government of India Act 1833 . The English East India Company ("the Company") was founded in 1600, as The Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies . It gained a foothold in India with the establishment of a factory in Masulipatnam on the Eastern coast of India in 1611 and the grant of the rights to establish a factory in Surat in 1612 by
27930-502: The first Muslims believed that this god lived in the sky with the following words of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal : "Whoever says that Allah is everywhere is a heretic, an infidel. He should be invited to repent, but if he does not, be killed." This understanding changes later and gives way to the understanding that "God cannot be assigned a place and He is everywhere." Also actions and attributes suh as coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sadness etc. similar to humans used for this God in
28140-476: The governed population, one that was expressed by the conservative Bengali reformer Radhakanta Deb as the "duty of the Rulers of Countries to preserve and Customs and the religions of their subjects". The second goal was motivated by the concerns among some Company officials about being seen as foreign rulers. They argued that the company should try to win over its subjects by outdoing the region's previous rulers in
28350-553: The government and formed a new ministry under Fox's rival William Pitt the Younger . Pitt's India Act left the East India Company in political control of India but established a Board of Control in England both to supervise the East India Company's affairs and to prevent the company's shareholders from interfering in the governance of India. The Board of Control consisted of six members, which included one Secretary of State from
28560-503: The government was the ultimate lord of the soil and should not renounce its right to 'rent', i.e. the profit left over on richer soil when wages and other working expenses had been settled." Another keystone of the new system of temporary settlements was the classification of agricultural fields according to soil type and produce, with average rent rates fixed for the period of the settlement. According to Mill, taxation of land rent would promote efficient agriculture and simultaneously prevent
28770-451: The holy book. In 1983, Keith L. Moore , had a special edition published of his widely used textbook on Embryology ( The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology ), co-authored by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani with Islamic Additions, interspersed pages of "embryology-related Quranic verse and hadith" by al-Zindani into Moore's original work. Ali A. Rizvi studying the textbook of Moore and al-Zindani found himself "confused" by "why Moore
28980-562: The imprecise wording of the Act left it open to be variously interpreted; consequently, the administration in India continued to be hobbled by disunity between the provincial governors, between members of the council, and between the Governor-General himself and his Council. The Regulating Act also attempted to address the prevalent corruption in India: Company servants were henceforth forbidden to engage in private trade in India or to receive "presents" from Indian nationals. In 1783,
29190-461: The increased demands that the company had placed on them; consequently, many defaulted, and by one estimate, up to one-third of their lands were auctioned during the first two decades following the permanent settlement. The new owners were often Brahmin and Kayastha employees of the Company who had a good grasp of the new system, and, in many cases, some had prospered under it. Since the zamindars were never able to undertake costly improvements to
29400-472: The land envisaged under the Permanent Settlement, some of which required the removal of the existing farmers, they soon became rentiers who lived off the rent from their tenant farmers. In many areas, especially northern Bengal, they had to increasingly share the revenue with intermediate tenure holders, called jotedars , who supervised farming in the villages. Consequently, unlike the contemporaneous Enclosure movement in Britain, agriculture in Bengal remained
29610-436: The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article ( al- ), the word is referred to as the waḥy ('revelation'), that which has been "sent down" ( tanzīl ) at intervals. Other related words include: dhikr ('remembrance'), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning; and ḥikmah ('wisdom'), sometimes referring to
29820-484: The major languages of the world. It has also a collection of 293 maps, microfiche of 48,000 works, microfilm of 387,003 pages, 182 paintings, 2500 pamphlets, and 2150 photographs. The earliest printed book preserved in this library is Juli Firmici's Astronomicorum Libri published in 1499. It has in its possession a large number of books printed in India in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The library also possesses many rare and scarcely available books. The library has
30030-418: The manuscripts, which he dated to the early part of the 8th century. Puin has noted unconventional verse orderings, minor textual variations, and rare styles of orthography, and suggested that some of the parchments were palimpsests which had been reused. Puin believed that this implied an evolving text as opposed to a fixed one. It is also possible that the content of the Quran itself may provides data regarding
30240-542: The material" Abu Bakr worked with "had already been assembled", which since he was the first caliph, would mean they were collected when Muhammad was still alive. Around the 650s, the Islamic expansion beyond the Arabian Peninsula and into Perisa , the Levant and North Africa , as well as the use of the seven ahruf , had caused some confusion and differences in the pronunciation of the Qur'an, and conflict
30450-456: The military; consequently, the demand for the dye was high. The European demand for the dye, however, proved to be unstable, and both creditors and cultivators bore the risk of the market crashes in 1827 and 1847. The peasant discontent in Bengal eventually led to the Indigo rebellion in 1859–60 and to the end of indigo production there. In Bihar, however, indigo production continued well into
30660-617: The money supply in India was restricted and the company was indisposed to shipping bullion from Britain, it decided upon opium , which had a large underground market in Qing China and which was grown in many parts of India, as the most profitable form of payment. However, since the Chinese authorities had banned the importation and consumption of opium, the Company engaged them in the First Opium War , and at its conclusion, under
30870-639: The moral worth of an education that aided the good of society and promoted instruction in useful knowledge . Such useful instruction to Indians had the added consequence of making them more suitable for the company's burgeoning bureaucracy. By the early 1830s, the Anglicists had the upper hand in devising education policy in India. Many utilitarian ideas were employed in Thomas Babbington Macaulay 's Minute on Indian Education of 1835. The Minute , which later aroused great controversy,
31080-428: The more informal pre-existing Mughal one, the company had created a foundation for the growth of both information and bureaucracy. In 1793, the new Governor-General, Lord Cornwallis , promulgated the permanent settlement of land revenues in the presidency, the first socio-economic regulation in colonial India. By the terms of the settlement rajas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars and they were asked to collect
31290-402: The mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to hadith (traditions ascribed to Muhammad) and Muslim history , after Muhammad and his followers immigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his companions to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of
31500-416: The movement argue that among the miracles found in the Quran are "everything, from relativity , quantum mechanics , Big Bang theory , black holes and pulsars , genetics , embryology , modern geology , thermodynamics , even the laser and hydrogen fuel cells ". Zafar Ishaq Ansari terms the modern trend of claiming the identification of "scientific truths" in the Quran as the "scientific exegesis" of
31710-446: The orientalist Brajendranath De , and one of his grandsons, the historian Barun De , were for some time vice-president of the Asiatic Society. One of the main activities of the Asiatic Society was to collect the old manuscripts of India. There was an enormous collection of Sanskrit manuscripts with the society. At present, the library of the Asiatic Society has a collection of about 117,000 books and 79,000 journals printed in almost all
31920-486: The peasants bore the brunt of the increased demand, there being little protection for their traditional rights in the new legislation. Forced labour of the peasants by the zamindars became more prevalent as cash crops were cultivated to meet the Company revenue demands. Although commercialised cultivation was not new to the region, it had now penetrated deeper into village society and made it more vulnerable to market forces. The zamindars themselves were often unable to meet
32130-543: The perfect Muslim, and revered prophet and builder of the Kaaba in Mecca. The Quran consistently refers to Islam as 'the religion of Abraham' ( millat Ibrahim ). Besides Isaac and Jacob , Abraham is commonly considered an ideal father by Muslims. In Islam, Eid-al-Adha is celebrated to commemorate Abraham's attempt to sacrifice his son by surrendering in line with his dream,( As-Saaffat ; 100–107) which he accepted as
32340-734: The political costs of gaining the support of alien subjects. In return, the Company undertook the "defence of these subordinate allies and treated them with traditional respect and marks of honor." Subsidiary alliances created the princely states , of the Hindu maharajas and the Muslim nawabs . Prominent among the princely states were: Cochin (1791), Jaipur (1794), Travancore (1795), Hyderabad (1798), Mysore (1799), Cis-Sutlej Hill States (1815), Central India Agency (1819), Cutch and Gujarat Gaikwad territories (1807–1820), Rajputana (1818), and Bahawalpur (1833). The Governors-General ( locum tenens ) are not included in this table unless
32550-413: The power to establish "courts of judicature" in locations of its choice, each court consisting of a lawyer and two merchants. This right was renewed in the subsequent charters granted by James II and William III in 1686 and 1698 respectively. In 1726, however, the Court of Directors of the Company felt that more customary justice was necessary for European residents in the presidency towns, and petitioned
32760-579: The premiership of Lord North , enacted the Regulating Act , which established regulations, its long title stated, "for the better Management of the Affairs of the East India Company , as well in India as in Europe ". Although Lord North himself wanted the company's territories to be taken over by the British state, he faced determined political opposition from many quarters, including some in
32970-412: The prices soon quadrupled. This led many farmers in India to switch to cultivating cotton as a quick cash crop; however, with the end of the war in 1865, the demand plummeted again, creating another downturn in the agricultural economy. At this time, the East India Company's trade with China began to grow as well. In the early 19th century, demand for Chinese tea had greatly increased in Britain; since
33180-446: The profits from the increased output; in addition, it was envisaged that land itself would become a marketable form of property that could be purchased, sold, or mortgaged. A feature of this economic rationale was the additional expectation that the zamindars, recognising their own best interest, would not make unreasonable demands on the peasantry. However, these expectations were not realised in practice, and in many regions of Bengal,
33390-502: The prophets (Khidr-Moses story Quran 18:65–82 ) and even employ jinn (Dhulqarnayn). Those who "spend their wealth" on people who are in need because they devoted their lives to the way of Allah and whose situation is unknown because they are ashamed to ask, will be rewarded by Allah. ( Al Baqara ; 272-274) In the story of Qārūn , the person who avoids searching for the afterlife with his wealth and becomes arrogant will be punished, arrogance befits only God. ( Al Mutakabbir ) Characters of
33600-427: The prophets are the main emphasis in the prophetic stories, there are also non-prophetic stories in the Quran that emphasize the importance of humility and having profound-inner knowledge ( hikmah ) besides trusting in God. This is the main theme in the stories of Khidr , Luqman and Dhulqarnayn. According to the later ascriptions to these stories, it is possible for those with this knowledge and divine support to teach
33810-464: The province of the subsistence farming of innumerable small paddy fields . The zamindari system was one of two principal revenue settlements undertaken by the Company in India. In southern India , Thomas Munro , who would later become Governor of Madras, promoted the ryotwari system or the Munro system, in which the government settled land-revenue directly with the peasant farmers, or ryots . It
34020-527: The ranks. The Bombay and Madras armies, and the Hyderabad contingent, however, remained loyal. The Punjab Irregular Force not only did not revolt, it played an active role in suppressing the mutiny. The rebellion led to a complete re-organisation of the Indian army in 1858 in the new British Raj . The reforms initiated after 1784 were designed to create an elite civil service where very talented young Britons would spend their entire careers. Advanced training
34230-569: The region over the following decades. During the Seven Years' War , the East India Company began a process of rapid expansion in India which resulted in most of the subcontinent falling under their rule by 1857, when the Indian Rebellion of 1857 broke out. After the rebellion was suppressed, the Government of India Act 1858 resulted in the EIC's territories in India being administered by the Crown instead. The India Office managed
34440-510: The relation between the judiciary (Supreme Court) and the executive branch (Governor-General); equally, they were silent on the Adālats (both Diwāni and Nizāmat ) created by Warren Hastings just the year before. In the new Supreme Court, the civil and criminal cases alike were interpreted and prosecuted accorded to English law ; in the Sadr Adālats , however, the judges and law-officers had no knowledge of English law, and were required only, by
34650-404: The relevant verses are understood in the same way by all segments of Islamic commentators; For example, Hanafis accept 5 daily prayers as fard. However, some religious groups such as Quranists and Shiites , who do not doubt that the Quran existing today is a religious source, infer from the same verses that it is clearly ordered to pray 2 or 3 times, not 5 times. About six verses adress to
34860-476: The rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the company. It was named permanent because it fixed the land tax in perpetuity in return for landed property rights for zamindars ; it simultaneously defined the nature of land ownership in the presidency, and gave individuals and families separate property rights in occupied land. Since the revenue was fixed in perpetuity, it was fixed at a high level, which in Bengal amounted to £3 million at 1789–90 prices. According to
35070-474: The reports of abuse and corruption in Bengal by Company servants, the India Act itself noted numerous complaints that " 'divers Rajahs, Zamindars, Talukdars, and landholders' had been unjustly deprived of 'their lands, jurisdictions, rights, and privileges ' ". At the same time the company's directors were now leaning towards Francis's view that the land-tax in Bengal should be made fixed and permanent, setting
35280-409: The revelation or part of it. The Quran describes itself as 'the discernment' ( al-furqān ), 'the mother book' ( umm al-kitāb ), 'the guide' ( huda ), 'the wisdom' ( hikmah ), 'the remembrance' ( dhikr ), and 'the revelation' ( tanzīl ; 'something sent down', signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place). Another term is al-kitāb ('The Book'), though it
35490-458: The sepoys were regarded as the embodiment of demonic forces, sometimes of antique warrior heroes. Indian rulers adopted red serge jackets for their own forces and retainers as if to capture their magical qualities." In 1796, under pressure from the company's board of directors in London, the Indian troops were re-organised and reduced during the tenure of John Shore as Governor-General. However,
35700-633: The stage for the Permanent Settlement (see section Revenue collection below). The India Act also created in each of the three presidencies a number of administrative and military posts, which included: a Governor and three Councilors, one of which was the Commander in Chief of the Presidency army. Although the supervisory powers of the Governor-General-in-Council in Bengal (over Madras and Bombay) were extended—as they were again in
35910-406: The standard copy from her. According to historian Michael Cook , early Muslim narratives about the collection and compilation of the Quran sometimes contradict themselves: "Most ... make Uthman little more than an editor, but there are some in which he appears very much a collector, appealing to people to bring him any bit of the Quran they happen to possess." Some accounts also "suggest that in fact
36120-619: The status of women. Schools would be established in which they would teach the English language . The 1830s and 1840s, however, were not times of prosperity: After its heavy spending on the military, the company had little money to engage in large-scale public works projects or modernisation programs. After gaining the right to collect revenue in Bengal in 1765, the Company largely ceased importing gold and silver , which it had hitherto used to pay for goods shipped back to Britain. In addition, as under Mughal Empire rule, land revenue collected in
36330-477: The stories can be closed-mythical, (khidr) demi-mythologic or combined characters, and it can also be seen that they are Islamized. While some believe he was a prophet, some researchers equate Luqman with the Alcmaeon of Croton or Aesop . Commanding ma’ruf and forbidding munkar (Ar. ٱلْأَمْرُ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَٱلنَّهْيُ عَنِ ٱلْمُنْكَرِ) is repeated or referred to in nearly 30 verses in different contexts in
36540-430: The support of indigenous learning. Guided by this belief, the Benares Sanskrit College was founded in Varanasi in 1791 during the administration of Lord Cornwallis. The promotion of knowledge of Asia had attracted scholars as well to the company's service. Earlier, in 1784, the Asiatick Society had been founded in Calcutta by William Jones , a puisne judge in the newly established Supreme Court of Bengal. Soon, Jones
36750-408: The task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones (collectively known as suhuf , any written work containing divine teachings) and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. In 644, Muhammad's widow Hafsa bint Umar was entrusted with the manuscript until the third caliph, Uthman ( r. 644–656 ), requested
36960-447: The terms to prove the existence of God . Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: "It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?" Even though Muslims do not doubt about
37170-530: The text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again—a practice which was common in ancient times due to the scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text ( scriptio inferior ) is still barely visible. Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 CE with a 99 percent probability. The German scholar Gerd R. Puin has been investigating these Quran fragments for years. His research team made 35,000 microfilm photographs of
37380-458: The text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are. There has been no critical text produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based. In 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sana'a , Yemen , manuscripts "consisting of 12,000 pieces" were discovered that were later proven to be the oldest Quranic text known to exist at the time. The Sana'a manuscripts contain palimpsests , manuscript pages from which
37590-421: The then Governor-General. The college was later to play an important role both in the development of modern Indian languages and in the Bengal Renaissance . Advocates of these related goals were termed, " Orientalists ". The Orientalist group was led by Horace Hayman Wilson . Many leading Company officials, such as Thomas Munro and Montstuart Elphinstone , were influenced by the Orientalist ethos and felt that
37800-493: The time of its foundation, this Society was named as " Asiatick Society ". In 1825, the society was renamed as "The Asiatic Society". In 1832 the name was changed to " The Asiatic Society of Bengal " and again in 1936 it was renamed as " The Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal ". Finally, on 1 July 1951, the name of the society was changed to its present one. The Society is housed in a building at Park Street in Kolkata (Calcutta). The Society moved into this building during 1808. In 1823,
38010-410: The trial drew applause and focused attention on India, Hastings was eventually acquitted, due in part to the revival of nationalism in Britain in the wake of the French Revolution . Nonetheless, Burke's effort had the effect of creating a sense of responsibility in British public life for the company's dominion in India. Soon rumblings appeared amongst merchants in London that the monopoly granted to
38220-529: The tributary state of Benaras , the revenue collection system was extended to the territory with a Company Resident in charge. The following year—with a view to preventing corruption—Company district collectors , who were then responsible for revenue collection for an entire district, were replaced with provincial councils at Patna, Murshidabad, and Calcutta, and with Indian collectors working within each district. The title, "collector", reflected "the centrality of land revenue collection to government in India: it
38430-457: The universe) may be considered the second great doctrine of the Quran. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time. The Quran does not assert a natural immortality of the human soul , since man's existence is dependent on the will of God: when he wills, he causes man to die; and when he wills, he raises him to life again in
38640-638: The way a woman should dress when walk in public; Muslim scholars have differed as how to understand these verses, with some stating that a Hijab is a command ( fard ) to be fulfilled and others say simply not. Research shows that the rituals in the Quran, along with laws such as qisas and tax ( zakat ), developed as an evolution of pre-Islamic Arabian rituals. Arabic words meaning pilgrimage ( hajj ), prayer ( salāt ) and charity (zakāt) can be seen in pre-Islamic Safaitic-Arabic inscriptions, and this continuity can be observed in many details, especially in hajj and umrah . Whether temporary marriage , which
38850-434: The will of God. In Judaism, the story is perceived as a narrative designed to replace child sacrifice with animal sacrifice in general or as a metaphor describing "sacrific[ing one's] animalistic nature", Orthodox Islamic understanding considers animal sacrifice as a mandatory or strong sunnah for Muslims who meet certain conditions, on a certain date determined by the Hijri calendar every year. In Islam, Moses
39060-496: Was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer." The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being
39270-520: Was a pre-Islamic Arabic tradition and was widely practiced among Muslims during the lifetime of Muhammad, was abolished in Islam is also an area where Sunni and Shiite understandings conflict as well as the translation / interpretation of the related verse Quran 4:24 and ethical - religious problems regarding it. Although it is believed in Islam that the pre-Islamic prophets provided general guidance and that some books were sent down to them, their stories such as Lot and story with his daughters in
39480-556: Was a gift from the Seringapatam Committee on 3 February 1808 consisting of a collection from the Palace Library of Tipu Sultan . The library received the Surveyor-General Colonel Mackenzie's collection of manuscripts and drawings in December 1822. Since 1849, the Society has printed Bibliotheca Indica , a collection of rare and unpublished works belonging to or treating of Oriental literature and containing original text-editions as well as translations into English, and also grammars, dictionaries, bibliographies, and studies. The museum of
39690-448: Was a very early attempt to establish a uniform consonantal text of the Qurʾān from what was probably a wider and more varied group of related texts in early transmission.… After the creation of this standardized canonical text, earlier authoritative texts were suppressed, and all extant manuscripts—despite their numerous variants —seem to date to a time after this standard consonantal text was established. Although most variant readings of
39900-620: Was also shaped by the attempted Impeachment of Warren Hastings ; the trial, whose proceedings began in 1788, ended with Hastings' acquittal, in 1795. Although the effort was chiefly coordinated by Edmund Burke, it also drew support from within the British government. Burke accused Hastings not only of corruption, but—appealing to universal standards of justice—also of acting solely upon his own discretion, without concern for law, and of wilfully causing distress to others in India. Hastings' defenders countered that his actions were consistent with Indian customs and traditions. Although Burke's speeches at
40110-406: Was also unusual in being the first to rely on village headmen and panchāyats for cases involving small claims. This judicial system in the three presidencies was to survive the company's rule, the next major change coming only in 1861. Education of Indians had become a topic of interest among East India Company officials from the outset of the company's rule in Bengal. In the last two decades of
40320-427: Was appointed Governor of the Bombay Presidency , played an influential role in the planning of the first medical college in Bombay, which after his unexpected death was named Grant Medical College when it was established in 1845. During 1852–1853 some citizens of Bombay sent petitions to the British Parliament in support of both establishing and adequately funding university education in India. The petitions resulted in
40530-416: Was arising between different Arab tribes due to some claiming to be more superior to other Arab tribes and non-Arabs based on dialect, which Uthman noticed. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard text of the Quran. Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death in 632, the complete Quran was committed to written form as
40740-415: Was closer to traditional practice in the region and ideologically more progressive, allowing the benefits of Company rule to reach the lowest levels of rural society. At the heart of the ryotwari system was a particular theory of economic rent —and based on David Ricardo 's Law of Rent —promoted by utilitarian James Mill who formulated the Indian revenue policy between 1819 and 1830. "He believed that
40950-417: Was enriched by the contributions it received from its members. On 25 March 1784, the library received seven Persian manuscripts from Henri Richardson. The next contribution came from William Marsden , who donated his book The History of Sumatra (1783) on 10 November 1784. Robert Home, the first Library-in-Charge (1804) donated his small but valuable collection of works on art. The first accession of importance
41160-412: Was first tried in small scale by Captain Alexander Read in the areas that were taken over from the wars with Tipu Sultan. Subsequently, developed by Thomas Munro, this system was gradually extended all over South India. This was, in part, a consequence of the turmoil of the Anglo-Mysore Wars , which had prevented the emergence of a class of large landowners; in addition, Munro and others felt that ryotwari
41370-415: Was greater than Rs. 4,000, with a further appeal to the King-in-Council . In 1753, the Mayor's courts were renewed under a revised letters patent ; in addition, Courts of Requests for lawsuits involving amounts less than Rs. 20 were introduced. Both types of courts were regulated by the Court of Directors of the East India Company. After its victory in the Battle of Buxar , the Company obtained in 1765
41580-466: Was just enough money to pay the salaries of a threadbare administration, a skeleton police force, and the army. In 1772, when Hastings became the first Governor-General one of his first undertakings was the rapid expansion of the Presidency's army. Since the available soldiers, or Sepoys , from Bengal—many of whom had fought against the British in the Battle of Plassey – were now suspect in British eyes, Hastings recruited farther west from
41790-409: Was not required of them, and the army soon came to recognise Hindu festivals officially. "This encouragement of high caste ritual status, however, left the government vulnerable to protest, even mutiny, whenever the sepoys detected infringement of their prerogatives." The Bengal Army was used in military campaigns in other parts of India and abroad: to provide crucial support to a weak Madras army in
42000-524: Was one of " Orientalism ", that is of adjusting to the way of life and customs of the Indian people and not trying to reform them. That changed after 1813, as the forces of reform in the home country, especially evangelical religion, Whiggish political outlook, and Utilitarian philosophy worked together to make the company an agent of Anglicization and modernisation. Christian missionaries became active, but made few converts. The Raj set out to outlaw sati (widow-burning) and thuggee (ritual banditry) and upgrade
42210-456: Was one of the earliest extant exemplars of the Quran, but as the tests allow a range of possible dates, it cannot be said with certainty which of the existing versions is the oldest. Saudi scholar Saud al-Sarhan has expressed doubt over the age of the fragments as they contain dots and chapter separators that are believed to have originated later. The Birmingham manuscript caused excitement amongst believers because of its potential overlapping with
42420-464: Was presided over by Sir Robert Chambers. At this meeting, Jones explained the aims of the Society he would establish. The Memorandum of Articles of the Asiatic Society, prepared by Jones said: The bounds of investigations will be the geographical limits of Asia, and within these limits its enquiries will be extended to whatever is performed by man or produced by nature. Notable early members were Charles Wilkins and Alexander Hamilton (the cousin of
42630-504: Was promoted especially at the East India Company College (until 1853). Haileybury emphasised the Anglican religion and morality and trained students in the classical Indian languages. Many students held to Whiggish , evangelical , and Utilitarian convictions of their duty to represent their nation and to modernise India. At most there were about 600 of these men who managed the Raj's customs service, taxes, justice system, and its general administration. The company's original policy
42840-401: Was redesignated as the Governor-General of India . The Governor-General and his executive council were given exclusive legislative powers for the whole of British India. Since the British territories in north India had now extended up to Delhi, the Act also sanctioned the creation of a Presidency of Agra . With the annexation of Oudh in 1856, this territory was extended and eventually became
43050-549: Was so 'astonished by'" the Quranic references, which Rizvi found "vague", and insofar as they were specific, preceded by the observations of Aristotle and the Ayr-veda , or easily explained by "common sense". Critics argue, verses that proponents say explain modern scientific facts, about subjects such as biology , the origin and history of the Earth, and the evolution of human life , contain fallacies and are unscientific. As of 2008, both Muslims and non-Muslims have disputed whether there actually are "scientific miracles" in
43260-400: Was supported by some administrators, such as Warren Hastings, who envisaged the company as the successor of a great Empire, and saw the support of vernacular learning as only befitting that role. In 1781, Hastings founded the Madrasa 'Aliya , an institution in Calcutta for the study of Arabic and Persian languages, and Islamic law . A few decades later a related perspective appeared among
43470-403: Was the government's primary function and it moulded the institutions and patterns of administration". The Company inherited a revenue collection system from the Mughals in which the heaviest proportion of the tax burden fell on the cultivators, with one-third of the production reserved for imperial entitlement; this pre-colonial system became the Company revenue policy's baseline. However, there
43680-400: Was to advance his famous thesis on the common origin of Indo-European languages . The third related goal grew out of the philosophy then current among some Company officials that they would themselves become better administrators if they were better versed in the languages and cultures of India. It led in 1800 to the founding of the College of Fort William , in Calcutta by Lord Wellesley ,
43890-470: Was to influence education policy in India well into the next century. Since English was increasingly being employed as the language of instruction, Persian was abolished as the official language of the company's administration and courts by 1837. However, bilingual educations was proving to be popular as well, and some institutions such as the Poona Sanskrit College commenced teaching both Sanskrit and English. Charles Grant's son, Sir Robert Grant , who in 1834
44100-426: Was vast variation across India in the methods by which the revenues were collected; with this complication in mind, a Committee of Circuit toured the districts of expanded Bengal Presidency in order to make a five-year settlement, consisting of five-yearly inspections and temporary tax farming . In their overall approach to revenue policy, Company officials were guided by two goals: first, preserving as much as possible
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