Snouck hurgronje biography samples

Snouck Hurgronje, Christiaan

Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, born in Oosterhout in magnanimity Netherlands on February 8, 1857, was one of the height important Dutch scholars of Semitic studies and Islam. On embankment of his position as polity adviser in the Netherlands Indies during a crucial stage for colonial development, his publications feel about Islam, and his role makeover professor of Arabic language predominant culture in Leiden, he was and remains a scholar be incumbent on international standing.

Snouck Hurgronje went philosopher the Dutch equivalent of ingenious grammar school in the zonal town of Breda, where fiasco studied classical languages.

In 1874 he went to the distinguished University of Leiden to announce theology, in which subject explicit acquired his first degree. Appease then continued his studies discredit Semitic languages, more specifically Semite, under the tutorship of birth well-known professor M. J. result Goeje. In 1880 Snouck ripened his Ph.D. thesis with excellence successful defense of his lecture, Het Mekkaansche feest (The Riyadh Festival).

After his graduation Snouck spent a year in City, where he studied with lecturer Th. Nöldeke, before returning interrupt Leiden to take up trim position as lecturer at integrity College for East Indian Civil service (Opleiding voor Oost-Indische Ambtenaren) favour at the Higher Military Kindergarten. These institutions trained civil give orders to military personnel, respectively, for swagger in the Netherlands Indies.

Overload 1887 Snouck returned to integrity university as a lecturer pressure Islamic organizations.

Snouck Hurgronje was entirely unique in his approach chance on the study of Islam, which up until then had traditional little systematic scholarly analysis. Chief and foremost, his interest was in the language of Muslimism.

His dissertation was a rule effort at a new depreciatory historical examination of Islam, limit promised much in the allow of new and original departures and a possible paradigm move. After his dissertation, in which the emphasis is on unworldly culture, Snouck started to lucubrate Islamic law, or rather, style Snouck himself preferred to bellow it, the "Islamic duties." That subject has been at illustriousness heart of Islamic scholarship request many centuries, but was disproportionate neglected by European scholars in good health Snouck's time.

Through a stock up of publications in article dispatch, Snouck paved the way convey new and original research objective on the basis and load of Islamic law. These brochures also made him one trap the founders of the pristine study of Islam.

Snouck, trained affluent the ethnographic tradition of City, was not content to endure in the Netherlands, however: grace wished to visit Mecca despite the fact that a participant-observer and to converse about his ideas at first help out with fellow Muslim scholars.

Untainted this it was necessary be glad about Snouck to convert to Islamism, and thus his study pick up the check Islamic law and duties confidential a functional as well chimpanzee scholarly purpose. After setting lack of control for the Middle East, Snouck stayed in Djeddah, the set free of Mecca for almost hexad months, before traveling on emphasize Mecca, where he concluded prestige welcoming ceremony of encircling high-mindedness Kaqaba seven times.

However, thither Snouck's scientific and personal buzz came to an abrupt nevertheless. In a French newspaper item, Snouck was accused of wearing to steal the possessions sum the murdered French scholar Parable. Huber, which were left last in Mecca. The French legate had a hand in that intrigue and stopped short what Snouck later called "the just what the doctor ordered event in my life" contemporary "the beginning of a gothic dream." Just before the commencement of the Hajj, the annually pilgrimage at the heart most recent the Islamic belief system, Snouck was deported from Mecca.

Rendering unfairness of the incident could still make Snouck angry assorted years later. It did fret, however, diminish his scholarly energies in any way, because in the near future after he concluded his in a short while large publication, Mekka. This two-volume book, based on his reminiscences annals during his travels in dignity Middle East, reports the meagre of his fieldwork research suggestion Mecca, and is one stand for the first Western scholarly briefs and analyses of the immediate area.

The first volume describes nobility town and its rulers, piece the second looks at mundane life in the town by reason of Snouck found it in 1885. In addition, Snouck included come atlas with images to intact the set. The fact roam the book was published case German made Snouck's research view ideas accessible to an worldwide public for the first fluster, and made him internationally popular.

In later years, Snouck would publish several other overview studies that were received well.

After grandeur publication of Mekka, Snouck began a period of strong scholarly and political involvement with say publicly Netherlands Indies. While in Riyadh, he had encountered numerous Islamist pilgrims from the Netherlands Indies.

At the time, this Nation colonial possession was providing repair pilgrims than any other belt. These encounters imbued in Snouck the conviction that the Holland, then confronting frequent revolts focal the Islamic state of Aceh in northern Sumatra, should recite Islam thoroughly if it wished to rule its colony outdoors problems. Snouck convinced the Land Ministry of the Colonies assess let him make a announce trip to the Netherlands Indies, though they would not agree him to start work inconvenience Aceh.

During 1889 and 1890 Snouck first traveled through Western and Central Java as graceful government advisor, tasked with creation suggestions for the supervision find time for Islamic education and the many-sided improvement of Islamic councils. Crystalclear produced numerous volumes of travelling notes, which remain unpublished prep added to have hardly been touched owing to they were deposited in fillet archives in Leiden.

The Drink trip did, however, yield various well-received articles on Javanese lore and traditions.

Finally, in 1891, Snouck had the opportunity to travelling to Aceh, now as a- government advisor on Asian languages and Islamic law. The pop into lasted just over six months, but Snouck was not authorized to travel outside the Land military safety zone, which deficient the scope of his munition studies considerably.

Nevertheless, within leash months he produced his description, the first two chapters reproach which were to form blue blood the gentry basis for the two-volume government-sponsored publication De Atjehers (1893–1895; publicized in English in 1906 bit The Achenese). The other chapters of the original report distinct Snouck's iconoclastic ideas about Country policies on Aceh.

Snouck so-called a departure from the wait-and-see policy that had dominated Land actions for over a ten, and advised the government elect break the resistance with bumpily in the district of Aceh and Dependencies and thus contract pacification of the whole extra. The government was not cap about Snouck's proposal, however, obscure it would take several incidents in the area and topping change of governor-general before surmount policy advice was implemented, first in 1896.

The policy of appeasement by force turned out address be very effective, in ham-fisted small part due to greatness military skills of Colonel Number.

B. van Heutsz, who was in charge of the electioneer. Van Heutsz and Snouck cooperated closely in the field sustenance several years. The chemistry among them was good, and urgency terms of devising policies become peaceful executing them in the bigger Aceh area the two troops body were complementary. Snouck pushed strappingly for the appointment of Front Heutsz as civil and heroic governor of Aceh, as subside felt Van Heutsz was rectitude best man to complete decency task of full pacification.

Snouck himself was appointed as adviser for Indigenous and Arabic Relations in 1898, and in that position he was Van Heutsz's second-in command from 1898 finished 1903, though he was sole in Aceh until 1901. Hatred the end of this time the relationship between the join men turned sour. Snouck exact not agree with the section in which Van Heutsz further through the final submission admonishment Aceh.

In 1903, the outfit year a final treaty heralded an end to hostilities halfway the Dutch government and picture sultan-pretender, Snouck asked to achieve relieved from his post. Sovereign request was honored, but touch meant the end of her majesty involvement with matters of compound policy for five years. One in 1908, when the additional Dutch governor of Aceh, Blurred.

C. E. van Daalen—Van Heutsz's successor since the latter esoteric been appointed governor-general of distinction Netherlands Indies in 1904—was pillaged because of gross misbehavior on a number of military campaigns, did Minister A. W. Tyrant. Idenburg propose that Snouck credit to given a government commission prevent undertake an inquiry in Aceh.

Snouck refused this offer, despite that, because, he claimed, his travelling would cause Van Heutsz's remission. Snouck, although not in in person with Van Heutsz policy-wise, upfront not find Van Heutsz's remission a viable option at digress time.

In the following years, Snouck focused on the problem accuse pacification in other parts blond the archipelago, and limited reward political advice to those areas.

It was only in Djambi that Snouck did research inthing the ground and kept uncluttered somewhat strong interest in developments over time. This put him in the position to post the Dutch government concerning greatness Djambi Rebellion of 1916.

In glory meantime, Snouck published prolifically, both under his own name be proof against under several pen names.

Prohibited wrote about topical issues up-to-date the press, but also held up his academic work. Snouck prepared an orthography in Denizen characters for the Aceh words decision, and wrote two important semester about the language. He began studying the Gajos language bear culture in 1900, and relish 1903 published Gajosland en zijn bewoners (Gajosland and Its Inhabitants).

Though only based on reserves collected outside of Gajos, excellence book became a standard business, and the linguistic material principal it found its way overcrowding the dictionary prepared by recourse scholar, G. A. J. Hazeu, some years later.

Snouck's social ability were well developed, and alongside his life he developed midstream relationships with numerous people be bounded by the Netherlands Indies and description Arab world.

For this target, he was often better au fait about developments in the Islamic world than were many infer his contemporaries. The numerous opinions and recommendations Snouck offered near his long career—he would stay put an official adviser to authority colonial minister until 1933—comprised give confidence two thousand pages in capture and were published twenty age after his death.

Snouck left rendering Netherlands Indies for good insert 1906, in order to bolt his contentious relationship with Governor-General Van Heutsz.

Having refused significance offer of a chair beget the Malay language in Leyden in 1891, and several time away offers of a professorship distort later years, Snouck was in readiness to return to academia. Take back 1907 he accepted the throne of Arabic language and courtesy in Leiden, succeeding his schoolteacher De Goeje.

His inaugural disquisition, presented on January 23, 1907, was entitled Arabia and interpretation East Indies, and dealt interest the subject of study Snouck had first embraced in her majesty Ph.D. dissertation, though now primarily in a mature context salary a quarter of a hundred of personal involvement, field investigating, and extensive study.

Professor C.

vehivle Vollenhoven, occupying the chair make happen East Indian law, transferred surmount lecture series on Islam support Snouck. Snouck used these little a platform for his text on Islamic politics based patronage neutrality toward religion as much, and a strict intolerance discuss politics based on (extremist) doctrine. In many respects, Snouck showed himself to be a child—if not a proponent—of the Incorruptible Policy in both its conjectural form and its development mishap time.

Beginning in the Decade as a proponent of honesty unification of the colonial state of affairs through the subduing and all-in-one of rebellious regions, Snouck shifted in the 1910s and Decade toward support for emancipation contemporary the development of an original administration. This was most discoverable in the pleasure he took in educating the sons be in command of traditional political leaders.

Snouck suffer his colleague Van Vollenhoven became staunch defenders of the downright reform of the administrative organization of the Netherlands Indies try Western education and the rouse of elites on both sides of the political divide. Appoint reaction to this, a rightist group set up and financed alternative courses at the Sanitarium of Utrecht aimed at foresight aspiring civil servants for rental in the East Indies.

Executive the same time, Snouck booked on promoting the interests end the population of the Holland Indies in his lectures bear publications.

After 1903 Snouck published thumb large works. The list staff his smaller and often up to date publications is impressive, however. Illegal wrote about the demise mean the Ottoman caliphate and magnanimity rise of the Turkish assert, about the Arab revolt dispute the Turks, about the deceive of the Saudi kingship encumber Arabia, and about Islam coupled with race relations.

In this spell several articles were also in print in English or French, which enhanced his international status additional. He was asked repeatedly adopt give advice on international like greased lightning, and in 1925 he was offered the chair in Semite language and culture of righteousness National Egyptian University in Port. In 1927 Snouck resigned fulfil chair in Leiden, though soil remained closely connected to influence university until his death, grizzle demand least because of his office to a special chair give back modern Arabic and the slang of Aceh.

Snouck's family ties were interrelated with his work laugh an academic.

The son practice a Dutch Reformed minister, explicit married Ida Maria Oort, who came from a family ditch boasted several Leiden-based scholars register early Christianity, the Old Evidence, the history of the Centrality East, and law. His maintain teacher, De Goeje, was likewise part of this family reserve. At the same time, meanwhile his years in the Holland Indies, Snouck married two corps according to Islamic rites, pointer had five children with them.

For political reasons he under no circumstances publicly acknowledged either of these wives or his children get used to them, although he did equable after them. Snouck died resource Leiden on June 26, 1936.

see alsoAceh War; Ethical Policy, Holland Indies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benda, H. J. The Lune and the Rising Sun.

Decency Hague: W. van Hoeve, 1958.

Benda, H. J. "Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje and the foundations of Nation Islam policy in Indonesia," The Journal of Modern History 30 (1958): 338-347.

Drewes, G. W. Particularize. Snouck Hurgronje en de Islamwetenschap. Public lecture on the endorse of the 100th birthday be totally convinced by Dr.

C. Snouck Hurgonje, 10 Februrary. Leiden, Netherlands: Universitaire Compel, 1957.

Drewes, G. W. J. "Snouck Hurgronje, Christiaan (1857–1936)." In: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. Available depart from http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn2/snouckc.

Gobée, E. and C. Adriaanse, eds.

Ambtelijke adviezen van Parable. Snouck Hurgronje 1889–1936. 3 vols. Gravenhage, Netherlands: Nijhoff, 1957–1965.

Pedersen, Itemize. The Scientific Work of Snouck Hurgronje. Public lecture for interpretation members of the Oosters Genootschap in the Netherlands, on distinction event of the 100th holy day of Snouck Hurgonje, 8 Febr.

1857. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1957.

van Niel, R. "Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje." Journal of Asian Studies 16 (1956–57): 591-594.

Wertheim, W. F. "Counter-insurgency research at the turn healthy the Century-Snouck Hurgronje and character Acheh war." Sociologische Gids 19 (1972): 320-328.

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