A Muslim Conspiracy in British India? by Chandra Mallampalli - 9781316647233

A Muslim Conspiracy in British India?Politics and Paranoia in the Early Nineteenth-Century Deccan\nAuthor(s): Chandra Mallampalli\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781316647233, 978-1316647233\nSynopsis\nAs the British prepared for war in Afghanistan in 1839, rumors spread of a Muslim conspiracy based in India's Deccan region. Colonial officials were convinced that itinerant preachers of jihad - whom they labelled 'Wahhabis' - were collaborating with Russian and Persian armies, and inspiring Muslim princes to revolt. Officials detained and interrogated Muslim travelers, conducted weapons inspections at princely forts, surveyed mosques, and ultimately annexed territories of the accused. Using untapped archival materials, Chandra Mallampalli describes how local intrigues, often having little to do with 'religion', manufactured belief in a global conspiracy against British rule. By skillfully narrati.