Missionaries misused racial science to explain Indian Muslim conversion
Evidence
Reverend John Takle—a New Zealander working as a missionary in Bengal—used the most recent “scientific” evidence of phrenology that tracked intermarriage between Muslim and native races to supposedly prove a long-standing conclusion. In 1911, he stated, “The anthropometric survey made by government proves conclusively that the vast majority of the Mohammedans in India are converts from among the depressed Hindu communities.” — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 152
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
Related
- Missionaries used phrenology to frame Indian Muslims as lower-caste converts (similarity 0.94)
- Anthropometric surveys were weaponized to prove converts came from lower Hindu castes. (similarity 0.88)
- While these Americans and Britons avoided any suggestion that someone, drawn by a positive characteristic of the religion, might willingly accept Islam, others argued that, if there had been a… (similarity 0.87)
- Christian missionaries in India tended to have the most success among the very groups they alleged Muslims to have converted the lowest ranking castes and most impoverished classes. (similarity 0.79)
- Missionaries converted mostly the castes Muslims supposedly seized (similarity 0.78)