Quentin45E at 08:28, 21 December 2025

2025-12-21T08:28:41Z

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{{Short description|Cultural and debating society in Cambridge, England}}
{{Infobox
| title = The Cambridge University Majlis
| label1 = Formation
| data1 = 1891
| label3 = Type
| data3 = Student cultural and debating society
| label4 = Headquarters
| data4 = [[Cambridge]], England
| label6 = President
| data6 = Serika Siriwardhana (2024-25)
| label8 = President Emeritus
| data8 = Amartya Sen
| label9 = Affiliated societies
| data9 = [[Oxford Majlis]]
| label10 = Website
| data10 = {{url|https://cambridgemajlis.org/}}
}}
The '''Cambridge University Majlis''', also known as the '''Cambridge Majlis''', is a [[South Asia]]n cultural and [[Debate|debating]] society in [[Cambridge]], England. Founded in 1891,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Cambridge Majlis {{!}} South Asian Britain|url=https://southasianbritain.org/organizations/cambridge-majlis/ |access-date=2025-09-01|website=southasianbritain.org}}</ref> the society became an intellectual, social and practical hub for [[anti-colonial]] thinking and action<ref>{{Cite web |title='History-making and history-keeping': The Cambridge Majlis exhibition at the Wren Library |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/arts/25343 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Varsity Online |language=en}}</ref> alongside its counterparts in [[Oxford]] (founded in 1896)<ref name=":0" /> and [[London]].

The Cambridge Majlis has a long and extensive tradition of hosting important leaders, both from South Asia and otherwise, including [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mohandas Gandhi]], [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], [[E. M. Forster]], [[Charles Freer Andrews]], [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]], [[Sarojini Naidu]], [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] and [[John Maynard Keynes]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=The Cambridge Majlis, reborn |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/features/17359 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Varsity Online |language=en}}</ref>

Previous presidents of the Cambridge Majlis have included [[Amartya Sen]] and [[Jatindra Mohan Sengupta]]. Notable past members include [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and [[Sri Aurobindo|Aurobindo Ghose]].<ref name=":0" />

== History ==
Originally founded in 1891 for [[India|Indian]] students at the [[University of Cambridge]], the Cambridge Majlis became an organization for the debate of political and social matters, as well as for socialization.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wangchuk |first=Rinchen Norbu |date=2021-10-26 |title=Nehru To Bose: Inside The Debating Society That Gave India Her Freedom Fighters |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/264599/cambridge-majlis-debate-society-indian-freedom-figher-nehru-bose-british-raj/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=The Better India |language=en-US}}</ref> In its early days, the society would often meet at the home of surgeon Upendra Krishna Dutt.<ref name=":0" /> The name [[Majlis]] comes from the [[Persian language|Persian]] word for assembly.<ref name=":1" /> Many future prominent Indian politicians trained in debate at the society.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Cambridge Majlis exhibition to showcase the society's lost history {{!}} Corpus Christi College University of Cambridge |url=https://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/articles/cambridge-majlis-exhibition-showcase-societys-lost-history |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=www.corpus.cam.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

Archives from the [[British Library]] show that the society's allegedly '[[Sedition|seditious]] activities' and '[[Communism|communist]] leanings' led to the [[Metropolitan Police]] and [[Scotland Yard]] monitoring its activities.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2023-03-28 |title=Cambridge Majlis celebrates South Asians and Anti-Colonial history |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/news/cambridge-majlis-celebrates-south-asians-and-anti-colonial-history-3282156 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref>

The Cambridge Majlis went into a period of inactivity in 1971 due to transnational geopolitical divisions on the subcontinent following the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]. The society was revived by students in 2019.<ref name=":1" />

The history of the society was celebrated in a 2023 archival exhibition at the [[Wren Library]], [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] organised under then-President Laleh Bergman Hossain.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

== Speakers and debates ==
One of the oldest student debating societies in Cambridge, the society has debated subjects such as the Government of India Act and the British policy of [[divide and rule]].<ref name=":3" /> The first debate of the revived society in 2019 was on the motion ‘This House Regrets the [[Indo-Pakistani war of 1971|1971 Indo-Pakistan War]]’.<ref name=":1" />

The Cambridge Majlis has a long history of receiving addresses from prominent figures. Past high profile speakers include:

* [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]] activist [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mohandas Gandhi]]
* Founder of [[Pakistan]] [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wolpert |first=Stanley A. |url=http://archive.org/details/jinnahofpakistan0000wolp |title=Jinnah of Pakistan |date=1984 |publisher=New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-503412-7 |page=143}}</ref>
* [[England|English]] novelist and writer [[E. M. Forster]]
* English economist and philosopher [[John Maynard Keynes]]
* [[Church of England|Anglican]] priest and Christian missionary, educator and social reformer [[Charles Freer Andrews]]
* Indian political leader and a social reformer [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]]
* Indian political activist and poet [[Sarojini Naidu]]
* Indian revolutionary, politician and author [[Lala Lajpat Rai]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:1891 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Student debating societies]]

Cambridge Majlis - Revision history

Quentin45E at 08:28, 21 December 2025