Maria Russell and Syed Ameer Ali

This article analyses a complex inter-racial friendship between a British woman and an Indian Muslim in 1870 s London. Maria Russell and Ameer Ali were from similar middle-class backgrounds and both possessed high academic capabilities. Each enjoyed excellent early educational provision, but Maria’s ended abruptly when aged 21, while the Islamic scholar Ameer went on to achieve huge intellectual and professional success as a highly-respected and influential writer and high-court judge. This paper details the friendship formed between the two in 1870 s London, recorded in letters written by Ali while he was enjoying a British-Empire scholarship, and follows them during their later lives, giving a gendered analysis of the nature of opportunities available to the middle classes in Victorian Britain

Ancient history · Empire · Friendship · Islam · Middle class · Political science · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Education and Islamic Studies · Gender Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Race, History, and American Society