Karl Gottlieb Pfander

Karl Gottlieb Pfander (1803–1865), spelt also as Carl Gottlieb Pfander or C.G. Pfander, was a Lutheran Christian priest, missionary and apologist; he served as a missionary in Central Asia and Trans-Caucasus under the Basel Mission, and as a polemicist to the North-Western Provinces of India under the Church Missionary Society. He was known for converting Muslims to Christianity.

He authored ''Mizan al-Haqq'' (The Balance of Truth), an apologetic, ''Remarks on the nature of Muhammedanism'', and more.

Biography

One of nine children, the son of a village baker was born on 3 November 1803 at Württemberg, Germany—Württemberg, his birthplace was one of the few places notorious for Pietistic form of Evangelism, influenced by Pietistic Lutherans like J.A. Bengel and F.C. Oetinger. Pfander attended a local Latin school, and then grammar school in Stuttgart. At the age of sixteen, he had already decided to become a Protestant Christian missionary; accordingly, he got his missionary training in Germany between 1819 and 1821. In due course, he was accepted for training at the newly established Evangelical Institute at Basel in Switzerland between 1821 and 1825, and became fluent in Persian, Turkish, and Arabic languages. Karl Gottlieb Pfander was ordained as a Lutheran priest, with his holy orders being conferred in the state church. During his first appointment with the Basel Mission (BM) 'German:'' Evangelische Missions Gasellschaftat Shusha in Karabakh Khanate, Azerbaijan, he quickly learned Armenian and Azerbaijani languages, and fine-tuned his Persian language skills; he served for twelve years at BM society between 1825 and 1837, studying the Arabic language and Quran. He married Sophia Reuss, first wife; a German, in Moscow on 11 July 1834; however, she died in a childbed in Shusha on 12 May 12, 1835. In 1837, he joined the Church Missionary Society (CMS) when BM was closed by Russia in Central Asia; consequently, he was sent to India for sixteen years between 1837 and 1857. He married Emily Swinburne, second wife; an English woman, in Calcutta on 19 January 1841, who bore him three boys and three girls. In 1858, he was sent to Istanbul by CMS following an uprising against the British rule in India. Pfander returned to Britain when CMS activity in the city was suspended as Ottoman opposed his controversialist approach. He died on 1 December 1865 at Richmond, London.

He is buried at St Andrew's Church, Ham Common. His epitaph reads that he was "a leading champion in the great controversy between Christianity and Islam."

South Caucasus (1825–1836)

In 1825, after Pfander was ordained, he was stationed at Shusha, provincial-capital of Karabakh, Transcaucasus—also called South Caucasus – north of Russia, west of Turkey, and south of Iran – All of Azerbaijan. Pfander did missionary work in Karabakh and neighbouring lands. Out of several Basel Mission missionaries, some missionaries concentrated on reforming Armenian Orthodox Church, which they believed to be corrupt and bankrupt—one-third of the local population were Armenian Christians—this newly established province had migration of Armenian people before and after 1828 from Persia (''present'' Iran).

Pfander, on behalf of Basel Mission concentrated in evangelizing and communicating Gospel to local Muslims—about two-thirds of local population were Muslims. Pfander believed that if Muslims read New Testament translated into Persian language, their preferred language, they would automatically abandon Islam and acknowledge its superiority and truth. For this, Pfander made several excursions to Iran and also spent a year at Baghdad, Iraq, to master Persian language. From 1825 to 1829, he worked in Shusha and neighbouring lands.

In 1835, Russia forbade all missionary operations in Shusha except those of the Greek church; consequently, he was forced to leave Shusha. He returned to Shusha in 1836 after he went to Istanbul in 1835, but left to Calcutta, India, in 1837.

Central Asia (1829–1835)

Between 1829 and 1831, he worked with Anthony Norris Groves, Baghdad, and for a year assisted Groves' efforts to establish a mission base and school there. From March 1831, he worked in Persia, and returned to Shusha. While working in Trans-Caucasus, he made several visits to Central Asia – Iran—to master Persian language.

Colonial India: Agra Province (1841–1855)

With British parliament opening up for Protestant missionary activities in 1813 in India, several missionaries started operating in India that were under control of the East India Company. In 1814, the first Anglican bishop was secretly consecrated in Calcutta. From 1832, non-British missionaries were also allowed to operate in the Indian subcontinent. Agra, famous for Islamic learning and culture, had been transformed into an administrative centre for India's North-West province by the British government. Both Agra and Lucknow became home to missionaries who engaged in interfaith dialogue with the local Muslim ulema and published polemical books against the Islamic creed. Stationed here at the time included former Muslim convert to Christianity Abdul Masih and Joseph Wolff.

After a disastrous famine in 1837, a large orphanage was opened by the authorities in Agra and several orphaned children were taken in and subsequently baptized as Christians.
With the financial success of the orphanage, the East India Company launched Orphan Press, employing the orphans at Agra. The success of Serampore Baptist Press for the East India Company in lower Bengal by Serampore Trio was soon replicated at Sikandra in the 1840s for printing Urdu