Created by Dawnseeker2000
Last edited February 26, 2026
>Ser Amantio di Nicolao
quick update
 
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{{Short description|British orientalist and historian (1864–1930)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2012}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| image       = Thomasarnoldorientalist.jpg
| image           = Thomasarnoldorientalist.jpg
| caption     = Sir Thomas Arnold
| caption         = Sir Thomas Arnold
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name            = Thomas Walker Arnold
| name            = Thomas Walker Arnold
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| birth_place      = [[Devonport, Devon]], England
| birth_place      = [[Devonport, Devon]], England
| death_date      = {{death date and age|1930|6|9|1864|4|19|df=y}}
| death_date      = {{death date and age|1930|6|9|1864|4|19|df=y}}
| death_place      =
| death_place      = [[London]], England
| influenced      = [[Muhammad Iqbal]]
}}
}}
'''Sir Thomas Walker Arnold''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|CIE|FBA}} (19 April 1864&ndash;9 June 1930) was a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] [[Oriental studies|orientalist]] and historian of [[Islamic art]]. He taught at [[Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/plymouth/thomasarnold.htm|title=Empire in Your Backyard: Imperial Plymouth|website=britishempire.co.uk|access-date=2016-05-05}}</ref> later [[Aligarh Muslim University]], and [[Government College University, Lahore]].<ref name="Iranica">{{Cite web|last=Robinson|first=B.W.|title=ARNOLD, THOMAS WALKER – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arnold-sir-thomas-walker-british-orientalist-1864-1930|access-date=2016-08-08|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref>


Arnold was a friend of [[Sir Syed Ahmed Khan]], who influenced him to write the famous book ''The Preaching of Islam'',<ref name=Iranica/> and of [[Shibli Nomani]], with whom he taught at Aligarh. He taught [[Syed Sulaiman Nadvi]] and the poet-philosopher [[Muhammad Iqbal]].<ref name=aligarhmovement>{{Cite web|url=http://aligarhmovement.com/karwaan_e_aligarh/sir_thomas_walker_arnold|title=Sir Thomas Walker Arnold {{!}} Aligarh Movement|website=aligarhmovement.com|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref> He was the first English editor for the first edition of ''[[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]]''.<ref name=Iranica/>
'''Sir Thomas Walker Arnold''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|CIE|FBA}} (19 April 1864 &ndash; 9 June 1930) was a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] [[Oriental studies|orientalist]] and historian of [[Islamic art]]. He taught at [[Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College]] (MAO College),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/plymouth/thomasarnold.htm|title=Empire in Your Backyard: Imperial Plymouth|website=britishempire.co.uk|access-date=2016-05-05}}</ref> later [[Aligarh Muslim University]], and [[Government College University, Lahore]].<ref name="Iranica">{{Cite web|last=Robinson|first=B.W.|title=ARNOLD, THOMAS WALKER – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arnold-sir-thomas-walker-british-orientalist-1864-1930|access-date=2016-08-08|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref>
 
Arnold was a friend of [[Sir Syed Ahmed Khan]], who influenced him to write the famous book ''[[The Preaching of Islam]]'',<ref name=Iranica/> and of [[Shibli Nomani]], with whom he taught at Aligarh. He taught [[Syed Sulaiman Nadvi]] and the poet-philosopher [[Muhammad Iqbal]].<ref name=aligarhmovement>{{Cite web|url=http://aligarhmovement.com/karwaan_e_aligarh/sir_thomas_walker_arnold|title=Sir Thomas Walker Arnold {{!}} Aligarh Movement|website=aligarhmovement.com|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref> He was the first English editor for the first edition of ''[[The Encyclopaedia of Islam]]''.<ref name=Iranica/>


==Life==
==Life==
Thomas Walker Arnold was born in [[Devonport, Plymouth]] on 19 April 1864,<ref name=MakingBritain/> and educated at the [[City of London School]]. From 1888 he worked as a teacher at the [[Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College]], [[Aligarh]]. In 1892 he married Celia Mary Hickson,<ref name=Iranica/> a niece of [[Theodore Beck]].<ref name=MakingBritain/> In 1898, he accepted a post as Professor of Philosophy at the [[Government College, Lahore]] and later became Dean of the Oriental Faculty at [[University of the Punjab|Punjab University]].<ref name=Iranica/> From 1904 to 1909 he was on the staff of the India Office as Assistant Librarian. In 1909 he was appointed Educational Adviser to Indian students in Britain.<ref name=MakingBritain>{{Cite web|url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/thomas-w-arnold|title=Thomas W. Arnold {{!}} Making Britain|website=open.ac.uk|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref> From 1917 to 1920 he acted as Adviser to the [[Secretary of State for India]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/949681.Thomas_Walker_Arnold|title=Thomas Walker Arnold|website=Goodreads|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref> He was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies|School of Oriental Studies]], [[University of London]], from 1921 to 1930.<ref name=Iranica/>
Thomas Walker Arnold was born in [[Devonport, Plymouth]] on 19 April 1864,<ref name=MakingBritain/> and educated at the [[City of London School]] and [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]].<ref name=WW/> From 1888, he worked as a teacher at the [[Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College|MAO College]], [[Aligarh]].<ref name=Iranica/><ref name=MakingBritain/>
 
In 1898, he accepted a post as Professor of Philosophy at the [[Government College, Lahore]] and later became Dean of the Oriental Faculty at [[University of the Punjab|Punjab University]].<ref name=Iranica/>
 
From 1904 to 1909, he was on the staff of the India Office as Assistant Librarian. In 1909, he was appointed Educational Adviser to Indian students in Britain.<ref name=MakingBritain>{{Cite web|url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/thomas-w-arnold|title=Thomas W. Arnold {{!}} Making Britain|website=open.ac.uk|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref> From 1917 to 1920, he acted as Adviser to the [[Secretary of State for India]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/949681.Thomas_Walker_Arnold|title=Thomas Walker Arnold|website=Goodreads|access-date=2016-08-08}}</ref> He was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies|School of Oriental Studies]], [[University of London]], from 1921 to 1930.<ref name=Iranica/>
 
Arnold died on 9 June 1930<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/preachingofislam00arno|title=The preaching of Islam : a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith|last=Arnold|first=Thomas Walker|date=1913-01-01|publisher=London : Constable}}</ref> at [[Municipal Borough of Edmonton|Edmonton]], [[Middlesex]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=jiFobZm8hyCth0ny6k0Olg&scan=1|title=Arnold Thomas W|accessdate=26 February 2026|work=[[FreeBMD]]|publisher=ONS}}</ref>
[[File:Brieven van Thomas Walker Arnold (1864-1930) aan Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) Or. 8952 A 80.pdf|thumb|page=3|Letter to Snouck Hurgronje (1902)]]


Arnold was invested as a Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]] in 1912, and in 1921 was invested as a [[Knighthood|knight]].<ref name="Iranica" /> He died on 9 June 1930.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/preachingofislam00arno|title=The preaching of Islam : a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith|last=Arnold|first=Thomas Walker|date=1913-01-01|publisher=London : Constable}}</ref>
==Personal life==
In 1892, Arnold married Celia Mary, a daughter of G. Hickson, and they had one daughter.<ref name=WW/><ref name=Iranica/> His wife was a niece of [[Theodore Beck]].<ref name=MakingBritain/>
==Honours==
*Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]], 1912<ref name=WW/><ref name="Iranica" />
*[[Knight bachelor]], 1921<ref name=WW/><ref name="Iranica" />
*[[Fellow of the British Academy]], 1926<ref name=WW/>
*Honorary Fellow, [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]]<ref name=WW/>
*Honorary degree of [[doctor of philosophy]], [[Charles University#Split into Czech and German universities|German University, Prague]]<ref name=WW>[https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U205378 "Arnold, Sir Thomas Walker (19 April 1864–9 June 1930)"], ''Who Was Who'',
online edition by Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007 {{subscription}}</ref>


==Works==
==Works==
*{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/preachingislama00arnogoog|title=The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith|year=1896|publisher=A. Constable and co.|location=Westminster|access-date=2011-05-29}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/preachingislama00arnogoog|title=The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith|year=1896|publisher=[[Constable & Robinson|A. Constable and co.]]|location=Westminster|access-date=2011-05-29}}
* (trans. and ed.) ''The little flowers of Saint Francis'' by [[Francis of Assisi]]. London: J.M. Dent, 1898.
* (trans. and ed.) ''[[Little Flowers of St. Francis|The little flowers of Saint Francis]]'' by [[Francis of Assisi]]. London: [[J.M. Dent]], 1898.
* ''The Court Painters of the Grand Moghuls''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1921.
* ''The Court Painters of the Grand Moghuls''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 1921.
* ''The Caliphate''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. Reissued with an additional chapter by Sylvia G. Haim: Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1965.
* ''The Caliphate''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. Reissued with an additional chapter by Sylvia G. Haim: [[Routledge and Kegan Paul]], London 1965.
* ''Painting in Islam, A Study of the Place of Pictorial Art in Muslim Culture''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928. Reprint ed. 1965.
* ''Painting in Islam, A Study of the Place of Pictorial Art in Muslim Culture''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928. Reprint ed. 1965.
* ''Bihzad and his Paintings in the Zafar-namah ms''. London: B. Quaritch, 1930.
* ''Bihzad and his Paintings in the Zafar-namah ms''. London: [[B. Quaritch]], 1930.
* (with Alfred Guillaume) ''The Legacy of Islam''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1931.
* (with Alfred Guillaume) ''The Legacy of Islam''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1931.
* ''The Old and New Testaments in Muslim Religious Art''. London: Pub. for the British Academy by H. Milford, Oxford University Press. [[Schweich Lectures]] for 1928.
* ''The Old and New Testaments in Muslim Religious Art''. London: Pub. for the British Academy by [[Humphrey Sumner Milford|H. Milford]], Oxford University Press. [[Schweich Lectures]] for 1928.


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=171&inst_id=19 Arnold, Sir Thomas Walker], School of Oriental and African Studies: home page
*[http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=171&inst_id=19 Arnold, Sir Thomas Walker] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509021122/http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=171&inst_id=19 |date=9 May 2008 }}, School of Oriental and African Studies: home page
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arnold-sir-thomas-walker-british-orientalist-1864-1930 Sir Thomas Walker] entry in [[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arnold-sir-thomas-walker-british-orientalist-1864-1930 Sir Thomas Walker] entry in [[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]


{{FBA 1926}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1864 births]]
[[Category:1930 deaths]]
[[Category:1930 deaths]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Aligarh Muslim University]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Government College University, Lahore]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Aligarh Muslim University faculty]]
[[Category:British art critics]]
[[Category:British historians of Islam]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:English orientalists]]
[[Category:English orientalists]]
[[Category:British scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:Historians of Indian art]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:People educated at the City of London School]]
[[Category:People educated at the City of London School]]
[[Category:Government College University, Lahore faculty]]
[[Category:People from Devonport, Plymouth]]
[[Category:Victorian writers]]
[[Category:Victorian writers]]
[[Category:19th-century English writers]]
[[Category:19th-century English writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]

Latest revision as of 18:08, 26 February 2026



Thomas Walker Arnold

Sir Thomas Arnold
Born(1864-04-19)19 April 1864
Died9 June 1930(1930-06-09) (aged 66)
London, England

Sir Thomas Walker Arnold CIE FBA (19 April 1864 – 9 June 1930) was a British orientalist and historian of Islamic art. He taught at Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO College),[1] later Aligarh Muslim University, and Government College University, Lahore.[2]

Arnold was a friend of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who influenced him to write the famous book The Preaching of Islam,[2] and of Shibli Nomani, with whom he taught at Aligarh. He taught Syed Sulaiman Nadvi and the poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal.[3] He was the first English editor for the first edition of The Encyclopaedia of Islam.[2]

Life[edit | edit source]

Thomas Walker Arnold was born in Devonport, Plymouth on 19 April 1864,[4] and educated at the City of London School and Magdalene College, Cambridge.[5] From 1888, he worked as a teacher at the MAO College, Aligarh.[2][4]

In 1898, he accepted a post as Professor of Philosophy at the Government College, Lahore and later became Dean of the Oriental Faculty at Punjab University.[2]

From 1904 to 1909, he was on the staff of the India Office as Assistant Librarian. In 1909, he was appointed Educational Adviser to Indian students in Britain.[4] From 1917 to 1920, he acted as Adviser to the Secretary of State for India.[6] He was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, from 1921 to 1930.[2]

Arnold died on 9 June 1930[7] at Edmonton, Middlesex.[8]

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Letter to Snouck Hurgronje (1902)

Personal life[edit | edit source]

In 1892, Arnold married Celia Mary, a daughter of G. Hickson, and they had one daughter.[5][2] His wife was a niece of Theodore Beck.[4]

Honours[edit | edit source]

Works[edit | edit source]

  • The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith. Westminster: A. Constable and co. 1896. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  • (trans. and ed.) The little flowers of Saint Francis by Francis of Assisi. London: J.M. Dent, 1898.
  • The Court Painters of the Grand Moghuls. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1921.
  • The Caliphate. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. Reissued with an additional chapter by Sylvia G. Haim: Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1965.
  • Painting in Islam, A Study of the Place of Pictorial Art in Muslim Culture. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928. Reprint ed. 1965.
  • Bihzad and his Paintings in the Zafar-namah ms. London: B. Quaritch, 1930.
  • (with Alfred Guillaume) The Legacy of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1931.
  • The Old and New Testaments in Muslim Religious Art. London: Pub. for the British Academy by H. Milford, Oxford University Press. Schweich Lectures for 1928.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Empire in Your Backyard: Imperial Plymouth". britishempire.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Robinson, B.W. "ARNOLD, THOMAS WALKER – Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  3. "Sir Thomas Walker Arnold | Aligarh Movement". aligarhmovement.com. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Thomas W. Arnold | Making Britain". open.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Arnold, Sir Thomas Walker (19 April 1864–9 June 1930)", Who Was Who, online edition by Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007 (subscription required)
  6. "Thomas Walker Arnold". Goodreads. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  7. Arnold, Thomas Walker (1 January 1913). The preaching of Islam : a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith. London : Constable.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  8. "Arnold Thomas W". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 26 February 2026.

External links[edit | edit source]