Kolonyal Nüfus Sayımı ve 'Hint Müslüman Kimliği'nin Oluşumu Pencap Örneği

Year 2025, Volume: 12 Issue: Özel Sayı, 223 - 243, 30.11.2025

Mehmet Masatoğlu

https://doi.org/10.33718/tid.1768488

Abstract

Bu makale, Britanya Hindistanı’nda 1871–1941 yılları arasında gerçekleştirilen kolonyal nüfus sayımlarının Müslüman kimliğin inşasındaki rolünü Pencap örneği üzerinden incelemektedir. Çalışma, nüfus sayımlarının yalnızca demografik kayıt tutma araçları olmadığını; aynı zamanda toplumsal aidiyetleri belirli kalıplara sokan, esnek ve iç içe geçmiş kimlik biçimlerini katı, hiyerarşik ve standart kategorilere dönüştüren bir bilgi rejiminin temel parçası olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Pencap bağlamında kast aidiyetleri, biradari ağları ve mezhebi ayrışmalar bu sömürgeci yorumlama çerçevesi altında yeniden yorumlanmış; kırsal–kentsel ayrımlar ile zamindar–zanaatkâr gerilimleri temsil, eğitim, istihdam ve askerî seferberlik gibi alanlarda sayım kaynaklı sınıflandırmalarla kesişmiştir. Yöntemsel olarak çalışma, 1871–1941 arası Punjab Census Reports ve ilgili idari düzenlemelerin yakından okunmasına; bunların siyasal talepler, Müslüman toplum liderleri ve kuruluşları tarafından sunulan dilekçeler, seçim pratikleri ve temsil mücadelelerindeki yansımalarının izlenmesine; ayrıca dinler tarihi literatürüyle karşılaştırmalı bir analize dayanmaktadır. Bulgular, sayım kategorilerinin yalnızca dışarıdan dayatılan bir yapı değil, aynı zamanda yerel aktörler tarafından stratejik biçimde benimsenen araçlar olduğunu göstermektedir. Örneğin köylü toplulukları vergi muafiyetleri için kendi adlarını resmî kayıtlarda öne çıkarmış, tarikat şeyhleri mürid topluluklarını ayrı mezhep kategorileri altında tanımlatmaya çalışmış, tüccar loncaları ise ekonomik çıkarlarını korumak için özel kimlik sınıflandırmalarına başvurmuştur. Seyyid Ahmed Han, sayım verilerini Müslümanların kurumsal, siyasal ve eğitsel güçlenmesi için modernist bir programa eklerken; Muhammed İkbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam adlı eserinde durağan sınıflandırmaları aşan, khudi ve kolektif özne kavramlarıyla beslenen dinamik bir İslami kimlik vizyonu ortaya koymuştur. İkbal’in bu yaklaşımı, sömürge sonrası İslami siyasette kimliğin özcü kalıplar yerine sürekli yenilenen bir bilinç ve eylem alanı olarak yorumlanmasına ilham vermiştir. Dinler tarihi açısından bakıldığında, sayımlar yalnızca İslam içindeki çoğulluğu (Sünnî, Şiî, Ehl-i Hadis, Diyûbandî, Berelvî) görünür kılmamış; aynı zamanda Hindu ve Sih gelenekleriyle sınır çizimlerini de yeniden şekillendirmiştir. Bu gözlemden yola çıkarak bu çalışmada, kolonyal sayımların idari bir enstrüman olmanın ötesinde epistemik ve siyasal dönüşümün anahtar mekanizması olduğunu; Pencap’ta Müslüman kimliğin bu çerçevede kurgulandığını savunmaktadır.

Keywords

Dinler Tarihi , Hindistan , Pencap , Hint Müslüman Kimliği , Hindu Müslüman İlişkileri

Colonial Census and the Making of ‘Indian Muslim Identity’ The Case of Punjab

Abstract

This article examines the role of colonial censuses conducted in British India between 1871 and 1941 in the construction of Muslim identity, focusing on the Punjab case. It argues that the censuses were not merely instruments of demographic record keeping, but rather constituted a fundamental part of a knowledge regime that transformed flexible, overlapping forms of belonging into rigid, hierarchical, and standardized categories. In the Punjab context, caste affiliations, biradari networks, and sectarian divisions were reinterpreted through this colonial interpretive framework; rural–urban distinctions and tensions between zamindars and artisans intersected with census-based classifications in areas such as representation, education, employment, and military mobilization. Methodologically, the study relies on a close reading of the Punjab Census Reports between 1871 and 1941 and related administrative regulations; it traces their reflections in political demands, petitions submitted by Muslim community leaders and organizations, electoral practices, and struggles for representation, while also engaging in a comparative analysis with the literature of the history of religions. The findings reveal that census categories were not only externally imposed structures but also instruments strategically appropriated by local actors. For example, peasant communities highlighted their names in official records to obtain tax exemptions, Sufi sheikhs sought to have their disciples classified under separate sectarian categories, and merchant guilds made use of specific identity classifications to protect their economic interests. While Syed Ahmad Khan incorporated census data into a modernist program aimed at strengthening Muslims institutionally, politically, and educationally, Muhammad Iqbal, in his The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, articulated a dynamic vision of Islamic identity that transcended static classifications, nourished by the concepts of khudi and collective subjectivity. Iqbal’s approach inspired postcolonial Islamic politics to interpret identity not as an essentialist construct but as a field of consciousness and action that is constantly renewed. From the perspective of the history of religions, the censuses not only made visible the internal plurality of Islam (Sunnī, Shīʿī, Ahl-i Hadis, Deobandī, Barelwī) but also reshaped boundary-making with Hindu and Sikh traditions. Building on this observation, this study argues that colonial censuses functioned not merely as administrative instruments but as key mechanisms of epistemic and political transformation, through which Muslim identity in Punjab was constructed.

Keywords

History of Religions , India , Punjab , Indian Muslim Identity , Hindu-Muslim Relations

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