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The Malkana are a Muslim ethnic group found in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar of India. [1]
In Agra District, the Malkana claimed descent from a number of Hindu castes. Those of Kiraoli, where they occupy five villages, claim descent from a Jat. [2]
In Bihar, the Malkana are mainly concentrated in the erstwhile Shahabad district. [1] In 1923, there were a recorded 1300 Malkanas in Shahabad alone. They adopted Islam due to Sufi saints. Because of being plundered by foreign invaders they adopted Islam [ citation needed ]. Arya Samaj Swami Shraddhanand's Shuddhi movement aimed at converting them to Hinduism, which led to Abdul Rashid, who shot him death in Delhi [3] [1] Many Muslim leaders attempted to counter this leading to religious tensions in Shahabad, Gaya and Munger. [1]
There were splits in the community, with many members of the community converted to Hinduism in the early part of the 20th century, during the course of the shuddhi movement. The shuddhi campaign among the Malkanas, was launched in early 1923 and led by the Arya Samaj under Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. This re-conversion campaign reached its peak by the end of 1927, by which time some 1,63,000 Malkana Muslims are said to have been brought into the Hindu fold. [4]
Dayanand Saraswati, was an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of Hinduism. His magnum opus is the book Satyarth Prakash, which has remained a highly influential text on the philosophy of the Vedas and clarifications of various ideas and duties of human beings. He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "India for Indians" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak. Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, called him one of the "makers of Modern India", as did Sri Aurobindo.
Arya Samaj is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sannyasi (ascetic) Dayanand Saraswati in the 1870s.
Contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, reform Hinduism, Neo-Hinduism, or Hindu revivalism, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism, both in a religious or spiritual and in a societal sense. The movements started appearing during the Bengali Renaissance.
Shuddhi is Sanskrit for purification. It is a term used to describe a Hindu religious movement aimed at the religious conversion of non-Hindus of Indian origin to Hinduism.
Ahir or Aheer are a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a caste, a clan, a community, a race and a tribe.
Maharaja Sir Kishan Singh, KCSI (1899–1929) was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Bharatpur (1918–1929) and successor of Maharani Girraj Kaur. During the Partition, the princely states of Alwar and Bharatpur were the sites of a pogrom directed against the Muslim Meo community.
The Arya Samaj was the first religious, cultural and educational Fiji Indian organisation established in Fiji. From its inception, in 1904, it attracted the young, educated and progressive Hindus into its fold. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, it was the sole voice of the Indian community in Fiji and as Fiji Indians won political rights, it was not surprising that first Indian members of the Legislative Council were all Arya Samajis. The influence of Arya Samaj over the Indians in Fiji gradually waned as other organisations representing Indians were established but it remained the dominant force in politics until 1959. The modern day Arya Samaj in Fiji still speaks out on issues affecting its members and its activities are visible through the numerous educational institutions that it manages.
Thakur Kundan Pal Singh Kush (1881–1967) was an Arya Samaj missionary and teacher who arrived in Fiji, from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1928. He first taught at the Dharamshala School in Nausori where he later became the founding Head Teacher of Vunimono Arya School in 1929. He taught in a number of Arya Samaj schools which included Gurukul Primary School near Lautoka in 1939, Arya Samaj Girls' School in Saweni, Lautoka, from 1940 to 1945, Swami Shraddanand Memorial School in Suva, Vunikavikaloa Arya School in Ra, and Veisari Primary School near Suva.
Hindu Maha Sabha was an organisation representing various Hindu organisations and was formed in Fiji in 1926, following the formation of All-India Hindu Maha Sabha in India. The formation of the organisation both in India and Fiji occurred after the assassination of Swami Shraddhanand, a Hindu activist in India. The formation of the Sabha in Fiji coincided with the formation of a national Muslim organisation, the Fiji Muslim League.
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement in Mauritius. Established in 1911, the Arya Paropkarini Sabha was officially registered in 1913. Since its creation Arya Samaj has had a great influence on the religious, social, educational and political lives of the people of Indian origin on the island. It has endeavoured to uphold the principles and ideals set forth by Maharishi Dayanand and his reformist movement. Some of the more notable ideals are women parity and free access to education. It has provided Hindus with a choice of progressive Hinduism, has promoted education with particular emphasis on Hindi and established orphanages, primary schools, colleges and tertiary institution.
The earliest efforts to establish the Arya Samaj in Trinidad and Tobago were made by visiting missionaries in the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1930s their activities led to the establishment of a new organisation, which first was called the Arya Samaj Association, but later was renamed Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Trinidad. The main activity of the sabha was giving support to the construction of Aryan temples and schools. Unfortunately the organisation was frequently plagued by split-offs, which caused a decrease of its membership.
Swami Shraddhanand, also known as Mahatma Munshi Ram Vij, was an Arya Samaj sannyasi and an Indian Independence activist who propagated the teachings of Dayananda Saraswati. This included the establishment of educational institutions, like the Gurukul Kangri University, and played a key role on the Sangathan and the Shuddhi (purification), a Hindu reform movement in the 1920s.
Pundit Ganga Prasad Upadhyaya (1871-1968) was an Arya Samaji writer. He served as professor of Meerut College at Allahabad University and as chief judge at Tehri, Garhwal District, from which post he retired to serve the Arya Samaj full-time. . He was the father of Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati, another notable Arya Samaji author and Vishwa Prakash, Shree Prakash and Ravi Prakash.
Lala Hansraj also known as Mahatama Hansraj, was an Indian educationist and a follower of Arya Samaj movement founder, Swami Dayanand. He founded, with Gurudatta Vidhyarthi, the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System (D.A.V.) in Lahore on 1 June 1886, where the first D.A.V. school was set up in memory of Dayanand who had died three years earlier.
The Singh Sabha Movement, also known as the Singh Sabha Lehar, was a Sikh movement that began in Punjab in the 1870s in reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Hindu reform movements and Muslims. The movement was founded in an era when the Sikh Empire had been dissolved and annexed by the British, the Khalsa had lost its prestige, and mainstream Sikhs were rapidly converting to other religions. The movement's aims were to "propagate the true Sikh religion and restore Sikhism to its pristine glory; to write and distribute historical and religious books of Sikhs; and to propagate Gurmukhi Punjabi through magazines and media." The movement sought to reform Sikhism and bring back into the Sikh fold the apostates who had converted to other religions; as well as to interest the influential British officials in furthering the Sikh community. At the time of its founding, the Singh Sabha policy was to avoid criticism of other religions and political matters.
Pandit Lekh Ram was a 19th-century social reformer, publicist, and writer from Punjab, India. He was the leader of the radical wing within the Arya Samaj, an Indian Hindu reform movement. He was known for his criticism of the caste system, superstitions, and blind faith prevalent in Hindu society. He also advocated for the education and empowerment of women. He is also known particularly for his encounters with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, and as a subject of his death prophecy. Lekh Ram's outspoken views and writings made him a controversial figure, and he faced opposition and violence from conservative Hindus and Muslims. His assassination by an unidentified assailant on March 6, 1897 is believed by Ahmadi Muslims to have occurred in accordance with Ahmad's prophecy concerning him.
Ghar Wapsi is the programme of religious conversion to Hinduism from Islam, Christianity, and other religions in India conducted by Indian Hindu nationalist organisations Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and their allies. The term owes to the Hindu nationalist ideology that all people of India are ancestrally Hindu and, hence, conversion to Hinduism is one of "returning home" to their ancestral roots.
Swami Achhootanand, also known as Achutanand or Hariharanand, was an Indian anti-caste intellectual, Dalit writer, and social reformer. A former Arya Samajist, he became disillusioned with the Arya Samaj and established the Adi Hindu movement. He was a poet, critic, dramatist, and historian.
Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa also known as JRM, is a historical organisation of Indian Sunni Barelvi Muslims associated with Sufism. It was founded by scholar and 19th-century Mujadid Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi on 17 December 1920 in Bareilly, India, to propagate Islamic teachings in accordance with Ahle Sunnah wal Jama'ah. The self-described aim of the group is to "deny misguided sects and safeguard the beliefs (Aqaa'id) of the Ahle Sunnah wal Jama'ah."
Sanātanī is a term used to describe Hindu duties that incorporate teachings from the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and other Hindu religious texts and scriptures such as the Ramayana and its many versions, as well as the Mahabharata, which itself is often described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and a practical, self-contained guide to life. The word Sanātanī is coined from Sanātana Dharma which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.