THE ADVOCATE
Rafiuddin Ahmed
1865–1954
Until Abdul Karim came into Victoria’s life in 1887, she knew relatively little about the 30 million or so Muslims who made up around a seventh of the Indian population during her reign. How much Karim turned her head in the direction of Islam in India is an open question. The India Office suspected he did, as did her advisors at court.
A more likely source for the queen’s growing sympathy for Indian Muslims, however, was a lawyer from Pune, Rafiuddin Ahmed, who came to London shortly after the arrival of Abdul Karim in the royal household.
At the end of 1892, Ahmed pulled off a sensation, publishing – in The Strand magazine – facsimiles of pages from the queen’s journal, written in the Hindustani script that she had been learning from Karim. Ahmed had been given access to the queen’s diary following two audiences with her, one in London and one at Balmoral.
She was clearly taken with the handsome ‘Maulvi’ (lawyer), describing him as “remarkably clever & most loyal & anxious to bring about the best of feeling between England and India”. She gave him her seal of approval by having his portrait painted.
Rafiuddin Ahmed had strong opinions on Hindu dominance of the Indian National Congress, and on the treatment of Hajj pilgrims travelling from India to Mecca. The queen passed on these concerns to her officials in India – and as a result they were forced to act.