The Ulama in the Age of Colonialism

prevailing conditions instead of plunging into armed conflict at an inappropriate time and thereby bringing about further destruction. This is a chilling reminder of how unaware the Ulama at this time were of the conditions that prevailed around them. Although Europe had entered the age of modern communications by this time, the Ulama seemed to be unaware of this significant development. Modern means of communications played a vital role in the British victory in the revolt of 1857, but there is no mention of these in the literature produced by the Indian Ulama of that period. In his book, The Ifs of History, the British writer F. J. C. Hearnshaw has given many examples that had so and so events or discoveries not taken place, history would have been different. The 19th chapter of this book is titled, ‘If There Had Been No Electric Telegraph in the Fifties.’ An extract from this chapter is: “There were in India at the time only 45000 British troops as against more than 250,000 sepoys. Nothing could have saved the lives of any of the British residents, whether military or civilian, in the whole of the Ganges valley, nothing could have