Even in India, where Englishmen have supplanted the Mussulmans as a
ruling race, the sentiment towards British rule is not, as far as I can
learn, and compared with that of other sections of the Indian community,
a hostile one.
The Mussulmans of Delhi and the Punjab would no doubt desire a
resumption by themselves of practical authority in the country where
they were till lately masters; but they are conscious that they are not
strong enough now to effect this, and their feeling towards English rule
is certainly less bitter than towards the Hindoos, their former
subjects, now their rivals. Were they in any way specially protected in
their religious interests by the Indian Government, they would, I am
confident, make not only contented but actively loyal subjects.
As things stand, therefore, it would seem natural that, in the general
disruption which will follow the fall of Constantinople, it is to
England the various nations of Islam should look mainly for direction in
their political difficulties. The place of adviser and protector,
indeed, seems pointed out for her. With the disappearance of the Ottoman
Sultan there will be no longer any great Mussulman sovereignty in the
world, and the Mohammedan population of India, already the wealthiest
and most numerous, will then assume its full importance in the counsels
of believers.
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