Education has been an integral part of socioeconomic and cultural development from the earliest time. In India, Hindus in general continued their system of educating the girls within the family while the first regular girl's school for Bengali girls established in 1819 in Madras by the Muslim rulers focussing on religious education. During the later half of the 19^th century and the early 20^th century, some prominent Muslim leaders placed hurdles in the dissemination of education among Muslim females against the favorable attitude by a number of institutions and the British rulers. Sir Syed, a prominent Muslim leader and an educationist who made tremendous contribution towards Muslim male education was unwilling to seek equality for Muslim female education. This paper discusses the historical perspective of Muslim female education in India focussing on the role of various institutions including Christian missionaries, colonial government, and Anjuman-I-Islam in taking bold steps towards female education. Examples in support of Muslim female education were cited from Islamic prescriptions. This paper revolves around a threadbare discussion on the role of individuals who supported female education, such as Nazir Ahmad, Badruddin Tayabji and Sheikh Abdullah, and the opposition towards female education by Sir Syed have been highlighted. At the end, it focuses on the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Abdullah whose immense contribution resulted in the widespread female education even at higher level in India. This paper also presents the similarities in the movement of female education between Sheikh Abdullah and Ismail Bey Gaspirali of Turkey.

Education has been a very important part of social and cultural life from the earliest time. Nevertheless, female education was very much a question of class, and most women belonging to the ruling class aristocracy and even merchant class could read and write. While Hindus continued their system of educating the girls within the family, the madrasas as set up by the Muslim rulers, attached to the mosques, were aimed at religious education (Seth, 2001). Even the cooking and sewing classes were conducted in a religious framework to advance women's knowledge and skills and to reinforce Islamic values. But progress in women's literacy was slow: by 1921 only four out of 1,000 Muslim females were literate in India.

The Prophet Mohammad, the father of four daughters, emphasized the point by saying, "whoever doeth good to girls, it will be a curtain for him from hell fire". The Prophet Mohammad also said that "anyone who has had the responsibility for the education of three girls and has done well by them, is surely guaranteed a place in heaven" (www.arabicnews.com).

It is, therefore, not surprising that education was considered vital in Islam both for male and female. One cannot become a true follower of Islam, unless they are educated. Q'uran says, "say, are those who know equal to those who do not know ?(39:9), if the collective acquisition and creation of knowledge among Muslims is at a very low level their understanding of God's will as enunciated by the Q'uran and Sunnah would be equally inadequate" (www.arabicnews.com). This explanation still holds true. However, the Muslim debate during the later half of the 19^th century was not so much whether women should be educated as how, and in particular, where. It had long been customary for girls to be tutored or taught in small groups in the Zenana, which allowed them to maintain purdah and to avoid endangering their own and their families' reputations by going out in public (Minault, 1998, p. 6). During the 1860s, the colonial government of the Punjab even subsidized such Zenana schools, but during the 1870s and 1880s, it was forced to reduce its support for financial reasons. Besides the development of the Muslim girls, schools seems to have lagged decades behind the development of schools for Hindu girls; the educated Muslim women were overwhelmingly home-schooled well upto the early 20^th century. This was mainly due to the discouraging attitude towards women education of Muslim leaders such as Sir Syed.

History and Culture Journal, Historical Perspectives, Muslim Female Education, Cultural Development, Christian Missionaries, Muslim Leaders, Modern Education, Kindergarten Systems, Indian Muslims, Western Civilization, Colonial Government, Mass Educational Programs, Community Development, Human Resources, Female Education Association.