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,[1] later Aligarh Muslim University, and Government College University, Lahore.[2]
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Thomas Walker Arnold
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Sir Thomas Arnold
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| Born | (1864-04-19)19 April 1864
Devonport, Devon, England
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| Died | 9 June 1930(1930-06-09) (aged 66)
London, England
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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]
Thomas Walker Arnold was born in Devonport, Plymouth on 19 April 1864,[4] 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,[2] a niece of Theodore Beck.[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.[5] He was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, from 1921 to 1930.[2]
Arnold was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1912, and in 1921 was invested as a knight.[2] He died on 9 June 1930.[6]