Syed Ahmed Khan
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Bio
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Bahadur, born on October 17, 1817 at Delhi, died March 27, 1898 at Aligarh, was a Muslim educator, jurist, and author, founder of the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College, which later became Aligarh Muslim University, at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father, who received an allowance from the Mughal administration, became something of a religious recluse; his maternal grandfather had twice served as prime minister of the Mughal emperor of his time and had also held positions of trust under the East India Company. Sir Syed's brother established one of the first printing presses at Delhi and started one of the earliest newspapers in Urdu.
The death of Sir Syed's father left the family in financial difficulties. He started his career as a clerk with the East India Company in 1838. He qualified three years later as a sub-judge and served in the judicial department.
Sir Syed Ahmad was a multitalented man, and his position in the judicial department left him time to be active in many fields. His career as an author (in Urdu) started at the age of 23 with religious tracts. In 1847 he brought out a noteworthy book, Athar Assanadid ("Monuments of the Great"), on the antiquities of Delhi. Even more important was his pamphlet, "The Causes of the Indian Revolt". In this booklet he ably and fearlessly laid bare the weaknesses and errors of the British administration that had led to dissatisfaction and the so-called Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Widely read by British officials, it had considerable influence on British policy.
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The supreme interest of Sir Syed's life was education, in its widest sense. He established schools at Muradabad (1858) and Ghazipur (1863). A more ambitious undertaking was the foundation of the Scientific Society, which published translations of many educational texts and issued a bilingual journal, in Urdu and English.
These institutions were for the use of all citizens and were jointly operated by Hindus and the Muslims; however, Sir Syed and many other Muslims felt threatened by their minority status; Sir Syed, against great opposition, felt that as a culture Indian Muslims should accept Western education and, to a limited extent, Western culture. During a visit to England (1869-70) he prepared plans for a great educational institution, a "Muslim Cambridge". On his return he set up a committee for the purpose and also started an influential journal, Tahdhib al-Akhlaq ("Social Reform"), for the "uplift and reform of the Muslim". A Muslim school was established at Aligarh in May 1875, and, after his retirement in 1876, Sir Syed devoted himself to enlarging it into a college. In January 1877 the foundation stone of the college was laid by the Viceroy. This college made rapid progress.
In 1886 Sir Syed organized the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference, which met annually to promote education and to provide Muslims with a common platform. Sir Syed advised Muslims against joining active politics and to concentrate instead on education.
However the attitude of Hindus and congress compelled Sir Syed to reconsider his ideas, He was pained to see both congress and hindus working against the interest of the muslims. Congress was working as a pure hindu body using certain Moslems as show boys for their agendas and was working on the lines which would have erased the civil rights of muslims completely from the indian society.Sir Syed always advocated Hindu Muslim unity and did every effort to bring them closer on one single platform.The membership of British Indian association was kept open for the Hindus and Muslims. In 1886 Sir Syed Founded the British Indian association which worked for the safeguards of the rights of Indian People.
Hindi-Urdu Controversy
In 1876, some Hindus began to demand that Hindi should be made an official language in place of Urdu. Communal violence broke out as the issue was taken up by firebrands. Sir Syed had once stated, "I look to both Hindus and Muslims with the same eyes & consider them as my own eyes. By the word nation I only mean Hindus and Muslims and nothing else. We Hindus and Muslims live together under the same soil under the same government. Our interest and problems are common and therefore I consider the two factions as one nation." Speaking to Mr. Shakespeare, the governor of Banaras, after the language controversy heated up, he said "I am now convinced that the Hindus and Muslims could never become one nation as their religion and way of life was quite distinct from one and other."
Sir Syed, the foremost intellectual among the Indian Muslim population and probably the native Indian to whom the British lent the most credence, was greatly affected by the Hindi-Urdu Controversy. In a prescient moment, Sir Syed later said "now I am convinced that both these communities will not join whole heartedly in anything. At present there is no open hostility between the two communities but it will increase immensely in the future." Proponents of the creation of an Islamic republic called Pakistan often label Sir Syed one of the originators of the idea, based on this quote and others like it.
Publications
- Asbab-e-Baghawath-e-Hind, ("Causes of the Indian Revolt")
Khutba'at-e-Ahmadia ("Lectures by Ahmed")
Magazines he started
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- Tehzib-ul-Ikhlaq
- Scientific Society Magazine
Organizations he started
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Institutions he started
- Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College, later the Aligarh Muslim University
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