Harryson3545 at 08:51, 2 April 2026

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{{Short description|Indian historian and educator (1938–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use Indian English |date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox scholar
| name = Burjor Avari
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1938}}
| birth_place = [[British India]]
| death_date = 2019
| death_place = Manchester
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| workplaces = [[Manchester Metropolitan University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Manchester]]
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| main_interests = South Asian history
| principal_ideas =
| major_works = {{ubl|''India: The Ancient Past''|''Islamic Civilization in South Asia''}}
| awards =
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}}

'''Burjor Avari''' (1938–2019) was a [[British Indians|British-Indian]] historian and professor of [[South Asia]]n history at the [[Manchester Metropolitan University]] in the UK. He received an [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] in recognition of his work in multicultural education.

==Life and career==
Avari was born into a [[Parsi]] family in [[Navsari]], in modern-day Gujarat, India, in 1938 and spent his childhood in [[Kenya]] and [[Zanzibar]]. He graduated in history from the [[University of Manchester]] and obtained teacher training from the [[Oxford University]]'s Institute of Education.<ref name=ancient>
{{cite book |title=India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-Continent from C. 7000 BC to AD 1200 |first=Burjor |last=Avari |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-1134251629 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y88nzRtTNUAC |at=front cover}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Burjor Avari obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jun/19/burjor-avari-obituary |newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 June 2019}}</ref>

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]] in 1984. In 1988, he was appointed as a principal lecturer at [[Manchester Metropolitan University]], where he coordinated multicultural education and taught Indian history. He was awarded the title of [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] in 1988 for his work in multicultural education.<ref name=ancient/><ref name=profile>
[https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/hpp/staff/profile/index.php?profile_id=92 Burjor Avari], Manchester Metropolitan University, Retrieved 13 May 2015.
</ref>

Avari retired in 2003 and subsequently held the position of Honorary Research Fellow at the Manchester Metropolitan University.<ref name=Islamic>
{{cite book |last=Avari |first=Burjor |title=Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A history of Muslim power and presence in the Indian subcontinent |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-58061-8 |page=ii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGHpVtQ8eKoC}}
</ref>

==Works==
'''Books'''
* ''India: The Ancient Past — The History of the Indian Subcontinent from 7000 BC to AD 1200'', (Routledge, 2007). {{ISBN|9781134251629}}
* ''In Praise of Multiculturalism: Defending Diversity'', (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2012), {{ISBN|9781905476732}}
* ''Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A history of Muslim power and presence in the Indian subcontinent'', (Routledge, 2013). {{ISBN|9780415580618}}
* ''Interwoven World: Ideas and Encounters in History'', (co-edited with George Verghese, Common Ground Publishing, Illinois, 2016). {{ISBN|978-1612298283}}

'''Articles'''
* "An Ethnocentric History of the World: The Case of Paul Johnson", (with [[George Gheverghese Joseph]]), ''History Workshop'', Spring 1987, pp. 112–121. {{JSTOR|4288751}}
* "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 Practice'', (Psychology Press, 1990). {{ISBN|185000711X}}
* "Becoming British, remaining Indian," in K. N. Malik and Peter Robb (eds) ''India and Britain: Recent Past and Present Challenges'', (Allied Publishers, 1994)

==Reception==
'''''India: The Ancient Past'''''

[[Bhikhu Parekh]] called Avari's ''India: The Ancient Past'' a balanced and well-researched book with lucid exposition.<ref name=ancient/> Klaus Karttunen, while noting that Avari is not a professional historian, acknowledged that he used accounts by good historians for his sources and, when the sources were in disagreement, displayed sound judgement in describing them.<ref name=Karttunen/> Muhammad Mughal of [[Durham University]] also noted that Avari's account was based on the work of well-known historians. He termed Avari's approach to the Indian subcontinent as "holistic", tracing the history of the subcontinent through the geography of regions and culture. Mughal also credited Avari for successfully eliminating the perception that India has been isolated from the rest of the world by describing the intercultural communication that has left a mark on India's cultural patterns.<ref name=Karttunen>Karttunen, Klaus, Book review of Burjor Avari's 'India: The Ancient Past', ''Orientalistische Literaturzeitung''. Volume 110, Issue 1, Pages 70–71, {{doi|10.1515/olzg-2015-0025}}, April 2015</ref><ref name=ancient_review>Mughal, M. A. Z. (2009) [https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/yiZwNrc4VuedQrvdyxDv/full 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.</ref>

'''''Islamic Civilization in South Asia'''''

[[Francis Robinson]] of [[Royal Holloway, University of London|Royal Holloway]] called ''Islamic Civilization in South Asia'' a story extremely well told, stating that, working in heavily contested areas of history, Avari provided a well-balanced exposition.<ref name=Islamic/> Muhammad Mughal welcomed Avari's attempts to explore Muslim history in South Asia. He called his approach "innovative, comprehensive and unique in style". He pointed out that the book sheds light on the peace-loving and multicultural aspects of South Asian Muslims, which are often overlooked in political rhetoric.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mughal|first=M. A. Z.|date=2015|title=Book review: Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent, written by Burjor Avari|journal=Numen|volume=62|issue=2–3|pages=379–382|doi=10.1163/15685276-12341374|issn=0029-5973|url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/15108/1/15108.pdf}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

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

Burjor Avari - Revision history

Harryson3545 at 08:51, 2 April 2026