This paper explores the nature of conflict that unfolded between the supporters of traditionalist and modernist education in Tsarist Central Asia. The paper explores the viewpoint of each camp and explores the causes of such approach. The paper finds that the conflict or divergence was driven by the desire to ensure the protection of political and economic interests each camp cherished. While status quo offered traditionalists economic security and political power, the new order and industrialization that came to Central Asia in the wake of Tsarist conquests offered modernists a future in which their political power and economic prosperity was ensured. Both camps diverged in rationalizing education as means to sustaining their world view. However, they also converged in their instrumental approach to education. Arguments that each camp offered to support their vision of education are relevant to the debates between the modern and traditional education in the modern Muslim world, especially Pakistan.