My
three and half year stay in the South changed the perspective of the thought in
the North India that south is just an appendix, an incidental extension of, of
the North Indian Muslin society. The achievements of the Muslims of South India
stand favorable comparison not only with those in the north but anywhere in the
Muslim world.
It
is almost a thousand miles from Delhi to Hyderabad. Here the ruling Muslims had
to make serious efforts to live with the majority Hindus or face
extinction. There was no going
back. Their boats were burned when they
crossed into the south.
And
the south is a different world. We are
no longer in the shadow of mighty mountain rangers and by powerful rivers-the
home of divine spirits but on anonymous plains and plateaus. The weather is mild, the landscape
gentle. No longer Aryan, we are in
Dravidian land. Telugu, the Italian of
the East, and Tamil not Hindi, are spoken here.
The issues in Hindu society are different. Muslims do not form a central obsession. The Brahmans do, against whom there are
strong feelings and moments inconceivable in the north. The threat in the south was not seen in
communal, Hindu –Muslim, terms but in that of militant northern empires wishing
to extend their borders.
There
is a gentleness, a softness, of speech and bearing in the south which contrasts
with the aggressive manners of north Indian groups. The growth of the recent communal violence in
the south is widely explained as one of the unsavory imports, an aspect of
north Indian society and politics.
Historical or social precedence does not exist for it in the south. However, Muslim society is diverse and
complex, evoking different responses in different places. The one emotion that is around in all Muslims
is nostalgia for the past. Muslims
confronting the glories of their history feel a sense of loss. The nostalgia for past greatness is rooted in
the Arab view of history. It is a legitimate perception. After the destruction of Baghdad by the
Mongols, Arab history would never be the same again. The past, therefore, became a crutch an
anodyne. And for Muslims in South Asia never more so as than in what was once
the Muslim Deccan, the kingdom of Golkonda, and its successor, the state of
Hyderabad.
Here
Muslims suffer from what I am calling the “Andalus
syndrome”. Andalusia, as we know,
once formed the great Muslim civilization in the Iberian Peninsula and what is
now Spain. Interesting conceptual
similarities are discernible between the Andalusian’s and Hyderabad
civilization, although there is a gap of 500 years between the times they came
to an end, and three continents separate them.
An Umayyad started the dynasty in Andalusia
when the Umayyad dynasty and empire had collapsed in Damascus, the capital; in
Hyderabad, a Mughal governor sent from Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire,
established the dynasty which was to shine long after the Mughal Empire was
dead. A synthesis of religions cultures
is recorded in Hyderabad between Hindus and Muslims and in Andalusia between
Christians, Jews and Muslims. The
synthesis stimulated a flourishing of art, architecture and literature. Muslims were never quite masters of the
Iberian nor the Indian peninsula. The
civilization of Hyderabad and Andalusia ended abruptly, in mid-air, leaving a
permanent trauma, a sense of bewilderment, in their societies.
A
forlorn nostalgia, a pain, an emotion sometimes too deep for words, haunts
these societies. Andalusians in Morocco
prominently displayed the keys of their former homes as symbols of the lost
land. Hyderabadis in Karachi continue to
eat Hyderabadi food and wear Hyderabadi clothes on special occasions, preserved
as a part of their lost, cherished civilization. The Andalus syndrome creates a neurosis, a
perplexity, in society. It is yearning
for a past that is dead but will not be buried, a fear of an unreliable future
which is still to be born.
The
Bahmani sultans overcoming Hindu kings ruled for two centuries. Their territory was then split into five
Muslim sultanates. One of these was the
Qutub Shahi kingdom of Golkonda. Seven Qutub Shahi king ruled for just under
two centuries. They were enthusiastic
builders and tolerant rulers. The city
of Hyderabad, the Char Minar tower-a symbol of the city-the Makkah Masjid,
royal tombs and the Golkonda fort are their monuments. Their Shaiism was pronounced –Hyderabad
derives from Hyder, a name of Ali, and the Char Minar is in the shape of tazya,
symbolic of Karbala. Historians suggest
their Shila fervor roused the orthodox fury of the Mughal of Emperor Aurangzeb. The emperor destroyed the last Qutub Shahi
king, moving south from Delhi for the purpose.
From the line of his governor, Mir Qamarud-din, came the Nizams, who
ruled from the north, from Delhi again, when his state was occupied and merged
with the Indian Republic in 1948.
Clive,
Sivaji, Wellesley, Hastings, Haider Ali, Tipu, the Nizams, were the central
actors in the Indian drama; and they all played their part in the south. Only in the nineteenth century would the
centre of gravity shift to the north of India.
From
the middle of the nineteenth century, when the British saw Muslims as the main
culprits for the uprisings of 1857 and discriminated against them, to the
middle of the twentieth century was a period of despair for Muslims in South
Asia. At a time when Muslim fortunes
were at a low ebb, Muslim civilization in Hyderabad shone brightly. It is thus doubly significant.
Little
did Mir Qamarud-din, the Mughal Viceroy in the Deccan, realize that his dynasty
would one day hold the torch for Muslim civilization in South Asia when he
assumed the title of Asif Jah in 1724 and declared virtual independence from
Delhi. His state, Hyderabad, was
assuming the mantle of succession to the Bahmanis, Vijayanagar and the Muslim
sultanates. Seven Nizams-Asif Jah I to VII-ruled Hyderabad. All except the last are buried in Makkah Masjid. In the late eighteenth century the Nizam
remained loyal to the British against his fellow Muslim, Tipu Sultan, and also
in the next century, during the uprisings in 1857. In 1918 the British conferred on Nizam Mir
Osman Ali Khan the highest title in India, “His exalted Highness”.
The
area of Hyderabad, although fluctuating with the expansion and designs of
British power, was just over 82,000 square miles when the state was finally
absorbed into India in 1948. The state
had its own railways, army post and currency.
The administration was headed by a Prime Minister, notably those
furnished by the Salar Jangs. Osmania’s library was one of the best stocked in
India and today has about half a million books.
In
nineteenth century India Sir Sayyed Ahmad and Sir Salar jang I, Prime Minister
of Hyderabad, were famed for their efforts in education for, and their vision
of, Muslim society. During 1857 both
demonstrated their loyalty to the British.
In 1888 was founded the Dairatul-Maarif-it-Osmania, an institution which
promoted the collection of rare and original Arabic manuscripts and their
translation into Urdu. Famous works of
literature were translated into Urdu by a vigorous department, the Darul
Tarjumah.
One of the lasting contributions of the Nizam is his patronage of the
translation of the holy Quran made by Marmaduke Pickthall, an English Muslim,
into English. Imad-ul-Mulk was
considered one of the best English writers of his time. He wrote the petition submitted by the
delegation whose leader was the Aga Khan to Lord Minto, Viceroy of India, in
1906. The petition sowed the seeds for
the Muslim league and the idea of Pakistan. Sir Ross Masood, the grandson of
Sir Sayyed Ahmad, was his Director of Education-he later became Vice-Chancellor
of Aligarh University, Professor von Furer Haimendorf was advisor on tribal
affairs, and later became professor of Anthropology in London University.
A
market in Hyderabad, still known as Madinah market, donated its earnings to the
people of Madinah in a gesture of Islamic brotherhood. A generation later the discovery of oil in
Saudi Arabia and the loss of Hyderabad state would reverse the economic
situation of the two societies in a poignant twist of history.
The
Hyderabad civilization was rapidly reaching its climax, in a burst of fresh
creativity, when it was terminated at that point. In the early twentieth century
when India was beginning to demand first greater participation in government,
and later independence from the British, Hyderabad, maintaining its island
mentality, remained isolated from the mainstream of politics. This artificial isolation created a hot-house
atmosphere in the state, explaining its brilliant growth-reaching a peak at the
time India achieved independence in 1947- and also its abrupt downfall.
Makkah
Masjid, Madinah market, Saracenic arches, the Arabic language-here was an
attempt made by its rulers to create a society which drew inspiration from
outside, non local, source. The
foundations of society were thus weak. Grand
titles, elegant clothes, sophisticated cuisine, patronage of arts-Hyderabad
civilization reflected leisure, wealth and security. But beneath the brilliance was the reality of
a highly feudal order, an exclusive language, an imported religion surrounded
by a vast non Muslim majority. A small
but active communist movement merged with that of the congress to demand change
and assisted in the demise of the Nizam state. Hyderabad was a house built on
sand. An artificial creation, it
collapsed easily.The unreal politics of the Majlis-i-Ittehad-i-Muslimeen, the
local Muslim party, in attempting to turn the clock back, further isolated
Hyderabad. These factors would cost the
Muslims dearly.
Matters
were worsened by the Nizam’s feeble and ambiguous attempts to establish an
independent state, and vaguer sentiments about joining Pakistan, with which he
has no borders. The conquest of
Hyderabad was a walk over as the ill-disciplined Hyderabad force, the Razakars,
scattered before the Indian army. There
was no match between the units of the India Army, fresh from winning laurels in
the Second World War, and Hyderabad troops who had not fought a serious war in centuries.
After
the success of what is officially called the Police Action of 1948 Hyderabad
became part of the Indian Republic. That
time Hyderabad, Muslim society was divided into three categories: a small,
aristocratic elite, mostly relatives of the Nizam and jagirdars, a growing
middle class of doctors, academics and service people, and the majority who
were generally poor-domestic servants, labors on the land, shop assistants. While the upper and lower classes remained
behind in India, dazed baffled and doubtful, many of the middle class migrated
to Pakistan. The abrupt removal of the middle class, the most dynamic component
of society, ensured its collapse in Hyderabad.
It is a collapse which is evident today.
The
remnant of the middle class who did not migrate to Pakistan camouflaged
themselves. Religious custom were
altered-Hello was substituted for salaam, goodbye for hafiz-and symbols-beards
for men, burkha for women-were dropped Hindu symbolism was adopted, for
instance the bindi, the circle on the forehead, by women. In some cases names, the final tell tale were
changed altogether or disguised.
Becoming invisible, many Muslims did well. They became business executive and civil
servants. Their invisibility was a cause
and consequence of their success.
Overnight,
therefore, Hyderabad civilization-dress, food language-became obsolete,
redundant, a thing of the past. In 1948 Urdu ceased to be the medium of
instruction at the Osmania University and the jagirdari system was abolished;
In 1965 the name of the state, Hyderabad, disappeared from the map and its
territories were merged with three neighboring states. The state, from over 80,000 square miles, was
literally cut down to size and reduced to the district of Hyderabad, just over
5,000 square miles. Its name and its
identity were gone; the story of the state of Hyderabad was over.
For
Muslims there was now the price to pay for the years of domination and rule. Professor Ratna Naidu of Hyderabad University,
studying communal violence, has concluded: “The Hindu has for decades stores
within his unconscious rages against the Muslims for humiliating memories they
evoke for their conquering role in Indian history, for their role in dividing
the subcontinent, for their special status today as a political pawn during
elections, and the pseudo-privileges which these generate, such as the
retention of their personal laws”.
Although
forming 8 percent of Andhra Pradesh 45 million population, they are generally
under-represented. 1 Muslim out of a
total of 77 is registered as an owner of a major or medium industry in the
state; 11 Muslim and Christian candidates out of 300 in 1957 and 11 out of 294
in 1983 were members of parliament; about 7 per cent Muslims in 1956 and the
same percentage in 1983were in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet. 3 Muslims and Christian out of 43 in 1951-2
and 1 out of 42 in 1980, 2 0ut 0f 42 in 1990 and 1 in 2004 are Lok Sabha
members from Andhra Pradesh. Their
general poverty-Muslims are rickshaw pullers and servant- and low literacy rate
–about 25 percent also the only a backward but an invisible minority.
Today,
perhaps the best known Muslim from Hydrabad is Azharuddin, the star batsman of
the yesteryears Indian cricket team (for scoring centuries in each of his first
three tests against England he is in the Guinness Book of Records, in
1986).. There are only 3 Muslims in the
83 entries in the Who’s Who section of the Andhra Pradesh year Book (2010).
Muslims cling to their language, Urdu and customs tenaciously: Urdu signs on
Muslim shops spirited, though small Urdu dailies; woman in burkhas; men in
achkan sherwani and Muslim beards are the evidence.
The
Majlis –i-Ittehad-i-Musleem capitalized on such sentiments and has establish a
strong following in it, cannot, therefore provide universal answer or
appeal. Its politics are strident, its
policies sterile. It therefore
perpetuates the very condition it wishes to abolish. The Majlis in a sense symbolize
the Muslim community. It has been out of
step with larger developments from the start. Earlier , when congress
represented the freedom movement, it opposed the party and as a result
suffered. Its present support of the
congress has isolated it from the emergent and triumphant local parties, in
particular the Telgu desam. The Masjid kind of politics reinforces the isolation
of the Muslims in the south. In contrast,
since independence Muslims in the north remained in the main stream of life,
many raising to high positions, including that of the President of India. They played an active part in the struggle of
independence, many contributing to the politics of Congress.
In
Andhra Pradesh there are only 7 per cent who speak Urdu compared to 86 per cent
who claim Telgu as their mother tongue.
Another recent cultural development which further reinforcement the
sense of Muslim isolated is wide spread and energetic Hindu revivalism. Hindu revivalism is not directly related to
Muslim; nevertheless, it makes life uncomfortable for them. In Andhra Pradesh the revival is a
combination of various factors. In part
it is a reassertion of Telgu language and culture in part a political statement
against the domination of Delhi represented by the Congress- the historical
revolt of the South against the North.
The man who symbolized the revival was, T Rama Rao, the former Chief Minister
of Andhra Pradesh.
Muslim
finds Hindus “cowardly and mean”. Hindus
complains: “The Muslims are good in only two things- they eat and copulate like
beats”. “Muslim claims to social superiority were dismissed: A Hindu
untouchable of yesterday becomes a Muslim today; and tomorrow he will start
proclaiming that his forefathers lived in Arabia”. Muslims in Andhra Pradesh
are crowded in Hyderabad city, where they form a large percentage of its
population. Professor Ratna Naidu
described what she called their “ghetto mentality”. Poverty, overcrowding, lack of facilities
such as water, and the constant communal pressure make life difficult for them.
Their history only appears to worsen matters for Muslims. The past grandeur, the splendid buildings,
appear to mock their contemporary situation.
An
avenue of escape was provided for Muslims by employment opportunities in Arab
countries. The visible signs of
affluence-a television, perhaps an AC, among Muslims arose jealously in neighbors. The underlying anger expresses itself in open
resentment when the migrant workers return to Hyderabad. A moral argument is also employed. Rumors
circulate of unscrupulous Muslims who employ or marry –women from Hyderabad but
abuse them sexually by loaning their favors to rich client in the Arab
state. The theme of poor Hyderabad girls
being married off to outsiders who make their fortunes in Arab lands was
explored with melancholy brilliant in the Indian film Bazaar.
The
importance of Allah on a necklace or rosary is exaggerated. There is also the
Pakistan factor. Pakistan remains a symbol of fear and hate, a menace, for non
Muslim Indian it is a convenient lightening rod. If it did not exist it would have had to be
invented it is also perhaps indirectly unconsciously, employed to apply
pressure on Muslims. You are pro
Pakistan the charge can be carried to absurd limits. The increasing incident of
communal violence, therefore has many explanation; a minor revivalism
dramatized by Arab money and coinciding with a major Hindu revival, Pakistan,
the politics of India the ghetto mentality poverty, illiteracy. And shot though
all these is the sense of loss he yearning for past. For those of the old
Muslim elite who are still alive affectionate memories of the past mingle with
the realities of today. It was not so
much the loss of wealth that mattered to him as the loss of faith in the life
in which he had been brought up.
The
emerging realities the emerging relationship between Hindu and Muslim, are
symbolized by the Lord Venkateshwara temple. Popularity called the Birla
temple, after its buildings and situated on a hillock, it dominoes Hyderabad.
It is made of a thousand tons of marble brought from Rajasthan by artisans who
it believed are descendants of the makers of the Taj Mahal. Bright lights shine
on it at night making it visible for miles.
Like the Sacre Coeur in Paris, which it resemble in the night from a
distance, the temple commands the city.
In contrast the Char minor tower once the heart of the city survive
amidst the noise, bustle and traffic more as an archaeological wonder, a
tourist attraction than a live monument.
The only signs of recent investment are in the Hindu temple attached to
its base and providing another source of communal friction. The contrast is symbolic of dominant Hindu
and decaying Muslim society.
