ABSTRACT
The widespread commercialization of agriculture which came in the wake of British rule brought about a new stratification among the peasants. Revivalist movements like the Tariqa-i-Muhammadiya, the Wahhabis, the Fara’idis and the Ta’aiyyunis created an impact exactly among these people. Although differing in details they all served to promote an Islamic identity among the Muslim peasantry and arrested their assimilation with the local inhabitants belonging to other belief systems. The deep impact made by these revivalist movements on the Muslim mind can be gauged from the eagerness with which some Malda villages sent contributions for waging a jihad on the North-West Frontier to drive out the British from India. The Attlee Government then sent three cabinet delegates to work out a formula for the Interim Government and a Constitution.
