Syed Ahmed Khan

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Image:Sir Syed1.jpg Syed Ahmad Khan (Urdu: سید احمد خان ) (October 17, 1817, Delhi - March 27, 1898, Aligarh), was an Indian Muslim educator, jurist, and author, who led the Aligarh Movement which resulted in the formation of the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College,later to blossom into theAligarh Muslim University, at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Biography

His father, who received an allowance from the Mughal administration, became something of a religious recluse; his maternal grandfather Khawaja Fareeduddin was a 'scholar-bureaucrat’, to use a contemporary, expression, had twice served as the Principal Adviser to the titular Mughal "king" of Delhi. For an India, Khawaja Fareed held, arguably, positions of highest responsibility under the British East India Company. With an "other worldly father", Khawaja Fareeduddin played an important role in the upbringing of his maternal grand-children. Syed Ahmed's elder brother, too, was a pioneer in his own way as a the founder of the first Urdu Printing Press in Delhi and editor of the first ever newspaper in that language. Syed Ahmed acquired education typical of the Muslim aristocracy of the time- he received instructions in Arabic, Persian, Mathematics, Astronomy and Islamic Jurisprudence from the galaxy of scholars which adorned Delhi around that time despite the virtual eclipse of the Mughal empire. No introvert, Syed Ahmed was equally adept in outdoor activities like swimming and wrestling and was a "gentleman of leisure" till the death of his father in 1838. As was to become almost second nature to the man, he had extraordinary foresight to spurn offers from the nominal mughal ruler for a high-sounding, but in reality a rather in fructuous appointment in the Mughal court and settled for the job of the Clerk of the Court under the British East India Company at Agra, some 105 miles from Delhi- a career choice that was to prove critical for Muslims of the Indian sub-continent.

Image:MAO College.jpg 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.

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.

Image:Sir syeds grave.jpg 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, Tahzib 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 the Congress Part compelled Sir Syed to reconsider his ideas, He was pained to see both Congress and Hindus working against the interest of the Muslims. 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 both Hindus and Muslims. In 1886 Sir Syed Founded the British Indian association which worked for the safeguards of the rights of Indian People.

Altaf Hussain Hali, the famous Urdu poet who was also a friend and associate, wrote Sir Syed's biography Hayat-i-Javed.

Hindi-Urdu Controversy

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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.

Timeline

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Works

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Publications

• Asbab-e-Baghawath-e-Hind (Causes of the Indian Revolt)
• Khutba'at-e-Ahmadia (Lectures by Ahmed)

Magazines he started

• Tehzib-ul-Ikhlaq
• Scientific Society Magazine
• Ain-i-Akbari

Organizations he founded

• Mohammadan Educational Conference

Institutions he founded

• Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College, later the Aligarh Muslim University

References

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See also

• Aligarh Muslim University
• Indian Mutiny
• Hayat-i-Javed
• Ross Masood, the only grandson

External links

| title = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898)
| work  = Story of Pakistan
| url   = http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P001

| title = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
| work  = Pioneers of Freedom
| url   = http://www.cybercity-online.net/pof/sir_syed_ahmad_khan.html

| title = Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
| work  = Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology
| url   = http://www.ssuet.edu.pk/stidemo/ssuet/sirsyed/main.html

| title = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
| work  = Cyber AMU
| url   = http://www.cyberamu.com/ulc/sirsyed.php

| title = Sir Syed & Aligarh by Professor Ziauddin Ahmed
| work  = AMU Post
| url   = http://www.geocities.com/mqzaidi/archives/syed.html

| title = Sir Syed: Reformer Par Excellence by Sheikh Ali
| work  = Islamic Voice
| url   = http://www.islamicvoice.com/january.2000/profile.htm

| title = Aligarh Movement by R. Upadhyay
| work  = South Asia Analysis Group
| url   = http://www.saag.org/papers7/paper611.html

| title = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan-Man with a Great Vision
| work  = Islamic Research Foundation
| url   = http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_401_450/sir_syed_ahmad_khanman_with_a_g.htm

| title = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (pics)
| work  = Webshots
| url   = http://community.webshots.com/album/68407462lRwWTz

| title = Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's Descendants
| work  = The Wisdom Fund
| url   = http://www.twf.org/bio/SAKhan.html

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