M. K. A. Siddiqui

1929 – 28 July 2022

20 books found

Prof. (Dr.) Mohammad Khalil Abbas Siddiqui (born 1929) remains a foundational pillar in post-independence Indian sociology and anthropology, celebrated for his pioneering empirical research on urban minorities, social stratification, and vulnerable indigenous populations. Beginning his academic journey in classical literature, he earned a degree in Persian and a first-class-first Master’s in Urdu from Calcutta University before pivoting to the social sciences, where he completed a second Master’s and a Ph.D. in Anthropology. This rare socio-linguistic grounding uniquely equipped him for a brilliant three-decade career at the Anthropological Survey of India starting in 1953, followed by a Senior Fellowship with the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in 1988, and a tenure as Research Professor at Kolkata's historic Asiatic Society in 1994. Dr. Siddiqui's most transformative contribution to South Asian scholarship was his rigorous dismantling of the myth of a monolithic, homogeneous Muslim community. In his landmark 1974 ethnography, Muslims of Calcutta: A Study in Aspects of Their Social Organisation, he documented over 60 distinct endogamous groups within the city, revealing that while Islamic theology is egalitarian, South Asian Muslim society functionally adapted local Hindu social structures, resulting in internal caste-like hierarchies based on occupation, lineage, and endogamy. He expanded this structural critique in his 2004 book, Marginal Muslim Communities in India, and Inter-Community Relations, fiercely advocating for the socio-economic upliftment of ultra-marginalized groups decades before their struggles were recognized by official state panels like the Sachar Committee. Beyond urban centers, Dr. Siddiqui dedicated immense energy to tribal ethnography, co-authoring authoritative monographs such as The Didayi: A Forgotten Tribe of Orissa and writing Hindustan ke Adivasi to document how primitive cultures navigated modern economic displacement and religious assimilation. Authoring over 34 books and 150 scientific papers, including his global demographic masterwork, An Encyclopedic Compendium of Muslim Communities in the World, his prolific legacy continues to serve as an indispensable roadmap for modern researchers analyzing the intricate intersections of religion, caste, and class across the Indian subcontinent.