Educational Inequities in Colonial India and the Agency of Teacher: Lens of Molvi Zaka Ullah

Through the analysis of the ideas and activities of Molvi Zaka Ullah (1832–1910), the present paper1 intends to explore certain historical questions pertaining to modern education in colonial India. He was one interlocutor who remained deeply involved in education throughout his life. Even when Zaka Ullah dealt with the specific subject of the education of Muslims, he sought to locate it within the overall structure of educational inequalities rather than within any framework of conspiracy against them or about them. Zaka Ullah tried to move away from the tendencies of communal homogenization and recognised the diversity of the classroom situation; sought to maintain a delicate balance between individual aspirations and concerns of the community; and transcended the dichotomy between tradition and modernity.