hindustani fanatics, india's pashtuns, and deobandism – connections

Hindustani Fanatics, India’s Pashtuns, and Deobandism – Connections“It was probably at this low point in early August that Sayyid Nazir Hussain’s disciple Imadadullah and three of his students – Muhammad QasimNanautawi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and Rahmatullah Kairanawi – decided to make their own jihad. For reasons that are unclear but were most probablylinked to their doubts about Delhi’s religious status as a seat of jihad, these four left the city and with a number of supporters made their way along theriver Jumna to the districts of Thana Bhawan 93 , about fifty miles due north of Delhi. Here they raised their own green banner and proclaimed holy war.The town of Thana Bhawan and the surrounding area fell to them without a fight, the British civil authorities having abandoned their posts long before.“Hajji Imdadullah and his jihadis now set about transforming the district into a theocracy modeled on that first tried in Peshawar by SyedAhmad thirty years earlier. Imdadullah acted as the group’s imam, but it was twenty-four-year-old Muhammad Qasim who emerged as the real leaderof the group. He appointed himself its military commander, with twenty-eight-year-old Rashid Ahmad serving as his lieutenant and judge and theslightly older Rahmatullah acting as the link-man between their group and the rebels in Delhi.” 94The British counteroffensive continued against the mutineers within the walls of Delhi. Allen continues:“As Delhi’s walls were being breached and the city stormed on September 12, a cavalry squadron moved on the second stronghold, ThanaBhawan. Meeting strong resistance, they moved to the town of Shamlee where they left a detachment to secure the town. Returning later, they foundthe remains of the men they left behind, victims of a massacre during a last stand they attempted in a mosque.” 95The cavalry squadron soon found itself in a difficult position, blocked by superior forces to their front and pursued by determined and well-ledmen from their rear. As several Muslim troopers deserted as the remaining cavalrymen turned to charge, an aggressive action that resulted in victoryand the deaths of “several men of importance.” 96Back to Charles Allen:“However, it seems that the true leaders of the revolt at Thana Bhwan were not among the dead…. Two years later Rashid Ahmad was arrestedas a suspected rebel, but was released after six months’ detention for lack of evidence. In due course he and the man who may well have commandedthe rebels at Thana Bhawan, Muhammad Qasim, went back to Delhi to resume their studies under their old teacher Maulana Sayyid Nazir Husain.” 97Following the end of the mutiny and the trials of captured mutineers, the religious leaders of Delhi split into two groups, one that remainedconfrontational with the British authorities while the other group moved from confrontation toward educating a new generation of Muslim leaders.93. From Wikipedia: Thana Bhawan is a small town in Muzaffarnagar District in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. According to Iqbal Husain, “The fort of Ghausgarh wasbuilt at a very strategic spot, around it was settled a considerable Afghan population, the major settlements being at Jalalabad in the north, Lohari in the east and Thana Bhawanin the west.” See pg. 180 for full details regarding this Rohilla region.94. Allen, pg. 158.95. Allen, pg. 159.96. Ibid, pg. 159.97. Ibid, pp. 159-160.Tribal Analysis Center, 6610-M Mooretown Road, Box 159. Williamsburg, VA, 23188