{"id":612,"date":"2009-07-04T08:46:07","date_gmt":"2009-07-04T03:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mohamediqbalp.wordpress.com\/2009\/07\/04\/an-indian-muslim-revolutionary-in-america\/"},"modified":"2009-07-04T08:46:07","modified_gmt":"2009-07-04T03:16:07","slug":"an-indian-muslim-revolutionary-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/07\/04\/an-indian-muslim-revolutionary-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"An Indian Muslim revolutionary in America"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"title\">The History Column: An Indian Muslim revolutionary in America<\/h1>\n<div class=\"node\">\n      <span class=\"submitted\">Submitted by admin on 2 July 2009 &#8211; 2:28am.<\/span> <span class=\"taxonomy\"><\/p>\n<ul class=\"links inline\">\n<li class=\"first taxonomy_term_6\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twocircles.net\/news\/articles\" rel=\"tag\" title=\"Articles\" class=\"taxonomy_term_6\">Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"taxonomy_term_8\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twocircles.net\/news\/features\" rel=\"tag\" title=\"Features\" class=\"taxonomy_term_8\">Features<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"last taxonomy_term_1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twocircles.net\/news\/indian-muslim\" rel=\"tag\" title=\"Indian Muslim\" class=\"taxonomy_term_1\">Indian Muslim<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content\"><!-- google_ad_section_start --><\/p>\n<p>By Ayub Khan, TwoCircles.net<\/p>\n<p><b>TwoCircles.net presents \u201cThe History Column.\u201d This fortnightly<br \/>\ncolumn features narratives, incidents, stories, from the past and not<br \/>\nso recent past of Indian Muslim history. Columnist Ayub Khan is a<br \/>\nstudent of history and Political Science.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was a hot summer night in 1927. An elderly and weak looking man<br \/>\nentered a community hall in Marysville, California. The gathered crowd<br \/>\nof over 800 Indians became ecstatic and greeted him with a thundering<br \/>\napplause. Strings of sparkling tears rolled down the face of the<br \/>\nelderly man. He went up to the stage and began speaking with his usual<br \/>\nforceful delivery but suddenly stopped. He couldn&#8217;t utter a word. There<br \/>\nwere wails and sighs from the audience. The elderly man composed<br \/>\nhimself and smiled; it&#8217;s glow sent a cheer through the audience. But he<br \/>\ndid not speak. <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2586\/3678783165_7c4300d8a9_o.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Maulana Barkatullah<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A voice that has shaken the corridors of British colonial<br \/>\nauthorities was soon going to be silent forever. This voice belonged to<br \/>\nthe great, but almost forgotten, hero of Indian independence movement<br \/>\nMaulana Barakatullah Bhopali. Maulana Bhopali&#8217;s life is one full of<br \/>\ndedication and service-a fiery journalist, a brilliant orator, an<br \/>\nerudite Islamic scholar, a nationalist to the core, an author of<br \/>\nseveral books, a polyglot who knew more than seven languages, a prime<br \/>\nminister of India&#8217;s government -in-exile. He was all this and more. <\/p>\n<p>Maulana Barakatullah passed away on his way to San Francisco on<br \/>\nSeptember 20, 1927 and was buried in the Old City Cemetery of<br \/>\nSacramento. His funeral was attended by Indian Americans of all<br \/>\nreligious persuasions and they hoped that the Maulana&#8217;s remains would<br \/>\neventually be transferred to India once it attains independence. But,<br \/>\nalas, the wish remained unfulfilled and the Maulana rests in peace in a<br \/>\nparticularly beautiful section of this historic cemetery. <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2447\/3678783127_aca25cd7ed.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Headstone of Maulana Barakatullah&#8217;s grave in Sacramento Historic Old City Cemetery (Courtesy: Sharon Patrician)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Maulana Barakatullah Bhopali was born somewhere between 1859 and<br \/>\n1861 in the princely state of Bhopal in India. His father Maulvi<br \/>\nMuhammad Shujaat Ullah was a Madrassa teacher originally with meager<br \/>\nresources and income. A bright student Barakatullah successfully<br \/>\ncompleted his religious education at Madrasa-e-Sulaimaniya and<br \/>\nqualified as an Alim in 1878. He served as a teacher at the same school<br \/>\nfrom 1879-1880. He was able to utilize the intellectual milieu of<br \/>\nprincely Bhopal and was likely to have come in contact with the<br \/>\nscholar-prince Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan Qanauji. He is also reported to<br \/>\nhave met the pan-Islamist and reformer Jamaluddin Afghani in 1882 and<br \/>\nwas much impressed of his ideas. <\/p>\n<p>In 1883 he disappeared mysteriously from Bhopal and ended up in<br \/>\nBombay where he enrolled himself in Wilson High School in Khetwadi.<br \/>\nDespite being a mature student he did not mind attending the elementary<br \/>\ngrades. At the insistence of a certain Mr. Scot he began taking private<br \/>\nlessons in English from him in return for teaching Urdu. Within three<br \/>\nyears he was proficient enough to qualify for the university entrance<br \/>\nexamination. <\/p>\n<p>He went to London in 1887 and served as a private tutor teaching<br \/>\nArabic, Persian, and Urdu. He himself learned German, French, and<br \/>\nJapanese. He was invited by the British convert Abdullah Quilliam to<br \/>\nwork at the Muslim Institute in Liverpool in 1895. He subsequently<br \/>\ntaught at the Oriental College of University of Liverpool. He later<br \/>\ndistanced himself from the Muslim Institute over its style of<br \/>\nfunctioning.<\/p>\n<p>While in England he came into contact with Indian revolutionaries at<br \/>\nIndia House. In response to the then British Prime Minister Gladstone&#8217;s<br \/>\nracist comments about India he launched a flurry of articles and<br \/>\nspeeches criticizing the policies. As a result his activities were<br \/>\nseverely restricted. <\/p>\n<p>He left for New York in 1899 at the insistence of Muslim scholar and<br \/>\nactivist Muhammad Alexander Russell Webb. In his six year stint in New<br \/>\nYork he churned out a prolific number of articles related to Islam and<br \/>\nIndia which were published in Webb&#8217;s The Muslim World and also in<br \/>\nmainstream newspapers such as the Forum. To earn an income he taught<br \/>\nArabic. He developed contacts with the Indian community in other cities<br \/>\nof US and Canada and sought to instill the revolutionary spirit in<br \/>\nthem. While in America he kept in touch with fellow revolutionaries in<br \/>\nIndia and had a scholarly exchange with the poet and nationalist leader<br \/>\nMaulana Hasrat Mohani. In these letters he stressed on the need for<br \/>\nHindu-Muslim unity in the freedom struggle. He became a founder member<br \/>\nof the Ghadr Party started by the Indians in San Francisco. <\/p>\n<p>Maulana Barakatullah reached Japan in 1909 and was appointed a<br \/>\nprofessor of oriental languages at the University of Tokyo. He brought<br \/>\nout a journal The Islamic Fraternity which was known for its<br \/>\nanti-colonial content. After its suppression he brought out another<br \/>\nnewspaper by the name of El Islam which was banned in British India. As<br \/>\na result of his activities his appointment at the university was<br \/>\nterminated in 1914. This, however, did not unnerve Maulana<br \/>\nBarakatullah. He treated the world as his playground and moved his<br \/>\nactivities elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3572\/3678783199_cbec5f4e33_o.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Maulana Barakatullah (extreme right) with the Turko-German Mission.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>He accompanied the Turko-German Mission to Kabul in 1915 and joined<br \/>\nMaulana Ubaidullah Sindhi and Raja Mahendra Pratap to form the<br \/>\nProvincial government of India. He served as the Prime Minister of the<br \/>\ngovernment-in-exile. In 1919 he met Lenin and sought his help in<br \/>\nIndia&#8217;s struggle for freedom. Throughout the the early 1920s he<br \/>\ntravelled widely in Germany, France, and Russia organizing the<br \/>\nexpatriate Indian communities on the revolutionary path.<\/p>\n<p>His 1927 visit was his second one to the New World and would prove<br \/>\nto be his last. He was suffering from diabetes and had a host of other<br \/>\nailments but his love for the nation was such that he undertook the<br \/>\nlong journey from Germany along with long time friend and fellow<br \/>\nrevolutionary Mahendra Pratap. He arrived in New York in July 1927 and<br \/>\nstayed at a hotel in Times Square. On 15th July 1927, he was given a<br \/>\nreception by the Indian community at Ceylon Indian Inn on 49th Street.<br \/>\nHe also met the Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal<br \/>\nNegro Improvement Association and African Communities League. The two<br \/>\nalso spoke at a joint gathering of African-Americans and Indians. He<br \/>\nalso travelled to Chicago, Gary, and several other cities of the<br \/>\nMidwest renewing his links with the Indian and Irish communities among<br \/>\nwhom he had many friends.<\/p>\n<p>He arrived at the Yugantar Ashram, the Ghadr Party&#8217;s headquarters in<br \/>\nSan Francisco and was pleased with its work. He then proceeded to<br \/>\nMarysville where he was destine to give his last public speech.<br \/>\nThroughout this trip his constant companion was Raja Mahendra Pratap<br \/>\nwho was himself not keeping well and aging. According to Mahendra<br \/>\nPratap&#8217;s autobiography the Maulana last words were: &#8220;I have been<br \/>\nsincerely struggling all my life for the independence of my country.<br \/>\nToday, when I am leaving this world, I have regret that my attempts did<br \/>\nnot succeed. But at the same time I am also satisfied that hundreds and<br \/>\nthousands of others have followed me who are brave and truthful&#8230;With<br \/>\nsatisfaction I place the destiny of my beloved nation in their hands.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Maulana Barakatullah Bhopali was an epitome of sincerity and<br \/>\ndedication towards one&#8217;s nation. A die hard to the core he never<br \/>\nmarried as he considered it be distracting from his duty to the freedom<br \/>\nstruggle. It is an irony that this legendary son of the Indian freedom<br \/>\nmovement is reduced to the margins of Indian history. His name doesn&#8217;t<br \/>\nfind a mention in the country&#8217;s text books nor does his portrait grace<br \/>\nthe famed halls of the Indian parliament. There is, however, a<br \/>\nuniversity named after him in his native Bhopal. <\/p>\n<p>Maulana Barakatullah&#8217;s sojourns in America also testify to the long<br \/>\nstanding links which Indian Muslims have maintained with the new world.<br \/>\nContrary to popular perceptions Indian Muslims did not begin arriving<br \/>\nin America in the 1960s but at least sixty years earlier. The registers<br \/>\nof cemeteries across California will verify this fact. <\/p>\n<p>Maulana is buried at Old City Cemetery (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.oldcitycemetery.com\/\" title=\"http:\/\/www.oldcitycemetery.com\/\">http:\/\/www.oldcitycemetery.com\/<\/a>) of Sacramento, his grave is in Section A50. <\/p>\n<p><b>Map of the cemetery:<\/b> <a href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Old+City+Cemetery+Committee&amp;sll=38.566824,-121.493168&amp;sspn=0.015905,0.038581&amp;gl=us&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;z=15\" title=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Old+City+Cemetery+Committee&amp;sll=38.566824,-121.493168&amp;sspn=0.015905,0.038581&amp;gl=us&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;z=15\">http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=s_q&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Old+City+Cem&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Old+City+Cemetery+Committee&amp;sll=38.566824,-121.493168&amp;sspn=0.015905,0.038581&amp;gl=us&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=h&amp;ll=38.566824,-121.493168&amp;spn=0.015905,0.038581\" style=\"color:rgb(0,0,255);text-align:left;\">View Larger Map<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- google_ad_section_end --><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear-block clear\">\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The History Column: An Indian Muslim revolutionary in America Submitted by admin on 2 July 2009 &#8211; 2:28am. Articles Features Indian Muslim By Ayub Khan, TwoCircles.net TwoCircles.net presents \u201cThe History Column.\u201d This fortnightly column features narratives, incidents, stories, from the past and not so recent past of Indian Muslim history. Columnist Ayub Khan is a&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2009\/07\/04\/an-indian-muslim-revolutionary-in-america\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venusimportexport.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}