Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddin - Khalifatul-Masih I — Page 122
WISE COUNSELLOR Hadrat Maulw i Nur-ud-D i n ra — Khalifatul Masih I 122 XI WISE COUNSELLOR The Indian Mutiny of 1857, later called the Indian War of Independence, had left the Muslims of India wallowing helplessly in a trough of misery and despondency. The East India Company, virtual ruler of India, mistakenly held the Muslims largely responsible for the horrors of the Mutiny and was in a vengeful mood. The last and certainly the least of the Moghuls, who had been a pensioner of the Company, and was a mere puppet, wielding no authority of any kind, had been forced by the rebels to pretend sympathy with their cause. In the situation in which he found himself he had been left little choice. He paid heavily and tragically for his misfortune. He was deported to Burma and ended his miserable existence in Rangoon, where he was buried. While in Delhi he had at least served the Muslims as a pitiful reminder of their past glory and helped maintain the illusion of a social and cultural rallying point. With his departure there was left nothing but the stark and tragic reality. Religion and culture were both in decline. The Muslim divines, by and large, were ignorant, reactionary and obscurantist. With the assumption by the British crown of the administration of British India, things began to improve, slowly and hesitantly, but the Muslims continued severely handicapped and could derive no advantage from the improvement, such as it was. Under Lord Macaulay’s advice English was adopted as