Islam and the Victorians: Nineteenth Century Perceptions of Muslim Practices and Beliefs

How did the Victorians perceive Muslims in the British Empire and beyond? How were these perceptions propagated by historians and scholars, poets, dramatists and fiction writers of the period? For the first time, Shahin Kuli Khan Khattak brings to life Victorian Britain’s conceptions and misconceptions of the Muslim World using a thorough investigation of varied cultural sources of the period. She discovers the prevailing representation of Muslims and Islam in the two major spheres of British influence - India and the Ottoman Empire - was reinforced by reoccurring themes: through literature and entertainment the public saw ’the Mahomedan’ as the ’noble savage’, a perception reinforced through travel writing and fiction of the ’exotic east’ and the ’Arabian Nights’. ＂Islam and the Victorians＂ will be an important contribution to understanding the apprehensions and misapprehensions about Islam in the nineteenth century, providing a fascinating historical backdrop to many of today’s concerns.

Shahin Kuli Khan Khattak completed her PhD at King’s College, London University. She is committed to voluntary projects including setting up education institutes of international standard in Pakistan and working for the Independent Bureau of Humanitarian Issues in Islamabad.