Burjor Avari (1938-2019) was a teacher of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

n history and educationist of multicultural education at the

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

. He received the honour of

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in recognition of his work in multicultural education.

Life and career

Avari was born in India in 1938 and spent his childhood in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

. He graduated in history from the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and obtained teacher training from the

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

's Institute of Education. Avari taught history in Kenyan and British schools from 1962 to 1984. He became the team leader for developing multicultural education in the schools of

Tameside The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is named after the River Tame, Greater Manchester, River Tame, which flows through the borough, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Aud ...

in 1984. In 1988, he was appointed as a Principal Lecturer at the

, where he coordinated multicultural education and taught Indian history. He was awarded the title of

in 1988 for his work in multicultural education.Burjor Avari
Manchester Metropolitan University, Retrieved 2015-05-13. Having retired in 2003, Avari holds the position of an Honorary Research Fellow at the Manchester Metropolitan University.

Works

; Books * ''India: The Ancient Past — The History of the Indian Subcontinent from 7000 BC to AD 1200'', (Routledge, 2007). . * ''Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A history of Muslim power and presence in the Indian subcontinent'', (Routledge, 2013). . * ''In Praise of Multiculturalism: Defending Diversity'', (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2012), . * ''Interwoven World: Ideas and Encounters in History'', (co-edited with George Verghese, Common Ground Publishing, Illinois, 2016). . ; Articles * "An Ethnocentric History of the World: The Case of Paul Johnson", (with George Ghevarghese Joseph), ''History Workshop'', Spring 1987, pp. 112–121. . * "Race Relations Training: The State of the Art," (with George Gheverghese Joseph), Peter David Pumfrey, Gajendra K. Verma (eds) ''Race Relations and Urban Education: Contexts and Promising Practicse'', (Psychology Press, 1990). . * "Becoming British, remaining Indian," in K. N. Malik and Peter Robb (eds) ''India and Britain: Recent Past and Present Challenges'', (Allied Publishers, 1994).

Reception

Lord

Bhikhu Parekh Bhikhu Chotalal Parekh, Baron Parekh, (born 4 January 1935) is a British political theorist, academic, and life peer. He is a Labour Party member of the House of Lords. He was Professor of Political Theory at the University of Hull from 1982 ...

has called Avari's ''India: The Ancient Past'' a balanced and well-researched book with lucid exposition. Klaus Karttunen, while noting that Avari is not a professional historian, acknowledges that he has used accounts by good historians for his sources and, when the sources are in disagreement, displays sound judgement in describing them. Muhammad Mughal of

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

also notes that Avari's account is based on the work of well-known historians. His approach to the Indian subcontinent is termed "holistic," tracing the history of the subcontinent through the geography of regions and culture. Mughal also credits Avari for successfully eliminating the perception that India has been isolated from the rest of the world by describing the inter-cultural communication that has left a mark on India's cultural patterns.Karttunen, Klaus, Book review of Burjor Avari's `India: The Ancient Past', ''Orientalistische Literaturzeitung''. Volume 110, Issue 1, Pages 70–71, , April 2015Mughal, M. A. Z. (2009
Book review of 'India : The Ancient Past : A History of Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200' by Burjor Avari
''Contemporary South Asia'', 17 (1). pp. 93-94. Francis Robinson of Royal Holloway has called ''Islamic Power in South Asia'' a story extremely well told. Working in heavily contested areas of history, Avari provides a well-balanced exposition. Muhammad Mughal has welcomed Avari's attempts at exploration of Muslims' history in South Asia and the search for answers to some of the most intriguing questions. His treatment is said to be "innovative, comprehensive and unique in style." Avari finds the sources for his study to be full of biases: those of early Muslim scholars towards their religious ideologies, those of the Anglicist school for its anti-Muslim views and those of Indian and Pakistani historiographies towards their religious and nationalist biases. He uses the recent developments in historical research to draw out reliable information from them. According to Mughal, the book sheds light on the peace-loving and multicultural aspects of South Asian Muslims which are often overlooked in political rhetoric.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avari, Burjor 2019 deaths 1938 births Alumni of the University of Manchester Historians of South Asia British historians British educational theorists Parsi people Indian expatriates in Kenya Indian expatriates in Zanzibar Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom