History Notes

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

Q1. Who was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan? (4)
Ans. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was the greatest Muslim reformer and political leader
of the 19th Century. He was born in Delhi in 1817 into a wealthy and well-known
family. In 1839 he started his career in the government as a sub-clerk and then
rose to the position of a chief judge. Throughout his life he worked for the social,
educational and political uplift of the Muslims.

Q2. Which of the following services of Sir Syed played the most important role in
the revival of Muslims in the subcontinent? (14)
1. Political
2. Educational
3. Social

Ans. In the darkest hours of their life, the Muslim community produced a great
and courageous leader in the person of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who rendered
invaluable services for the cause of downtrodden Muslims of his time. His
educational, political and social services played a great role for the revival of
Muslim community in the subcontinent.

Among his educational services a school was established in Muradabad in 1859

and also in Ghazipore in 1864. In 1863 he founded a Scientific Society in
Ghazipore where scientific works were translated from English into Persian and
Urdu for better understanding of Muslims. In 1864 the Scientific Society issued
the ‘Aligarh Institute Gazette.’ He visited England in 1869 and, on his return,
started his famous movement for the establishment of the Muslim University. So
in 1875 the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental School was set up. It was upgraded to a
college level in 1876 and then to the University of Aligarh in 1921. In 1886 the
Muhammadan Educational Conference was set up to raise the educational
standard of Muslims living in the subcontinent.

He did a great deal to improve the relations between the British and the Muslims.
The war of 1857 had developed great mistrust between the British and the
Muslims. The British blamed the Muslims for starting the revolt. To clarify the
causes of the war Sir Syed wrote ‘Essay on the Causes of the Indian Revolt’ in
which he stated that the Muslims were dragged into the war by the Hindus. He
also issued the ‘Loyal Muhammadan of India’ to remove the wrong perception of
the British that the Muslims were disloyal. In it he outlined the loyal services the
Muslims had rendered to the British Empire. The British resented being called
Nadarath but Sir Syed clarified that Nadarath came from an Arabic word Nasir
meaning helper. He wrote a book ‘Tabyin-ul-Kalam’ which was a commentary on
Bible. In it he also pointed out the similarities between Islam and Christianity.
Through this book he proved that Muslims could eat with Christians. He also
issued an Urdu journal called ‘Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq’ which contained articles from
influential Muslims. In it he also criticized the conservative attitude of the
Muslims and emphasized the need to study.

In 1885 when the Indian National Congress was founded, Sir Syed soon came to
know that it was to work only for Hindu interests. As it was a threat to Muslims,
Sir Syed openly demanded for separate seats for Muslims in local elections so
they had the right to speak out. He restrained Muslims from joining the Congress
instead he organized an alternative body called the United Patriotic Alliance
which in 1893 became the Muhammadan Defense Alliance. In the beginning,. Sir
Syed was a great advocate of Hindu-Muslim Unity but the Hindi-Urdu controversy
of 1867 had brought a change in his political thinking. In it Hindus openly
demonstrated against Urdu language and instead wanted Hindi to become the
official language. In response to this he developed his Two-Nation Theory in
which he clarified that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations who could
never live together. This Theory later on became the base of Pakistan Movement.

In view of the services rendered by Sir Syed to the Muslim community, his social
services were the most important. His social services improved the relations
between Muslims and British. Had the relations not improved, the Muslims would
have still been considered as disloyal. They would not have got the right to
express their demands nor would they have been able to counter the Hindus.
With the help of these services, the Muslims recognized their identity as a
separate nation.

Q3. Why did Sir Syed present his Two Nation Theory? (7)

Q4. Why was Sir Syed accused of being pro- British? (7)
Ans. After the War of Independence in 1857, sir Syed started working to bridge
the gap between Muslims and British but he was accused of being pro-British.
This perception was due to some reasons. When the war of 1857 had broke out,
sir Syed was working as a chief judge in Bijnaur. He saved the lives of many British
women and children. This made the Muslims unhappy and they labeled him as a
traitor. Another thing which may have become the reason was that he advocated
scientific ideas and western education. In his Urdu journal Tahdbib-ul-Akhlaq he
asked Muslims to gain scientific knowledge and western education whereas the
Muslims at that time considered scientific education as un-Islamic. Thirdly he
advocated English as the medium of education and that Muslims could only get
their right when they will know how to speak English. Also to counter the Hindus,
they would have to know how to speak English. These reasons may well support
that why was Sir Syed Ahmad accused of being pro-British.

Q5. What was the Aligarh Movement? (4)

Ans. The Aligarh movement was the movement led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan after
the 1857 rebellion. It aims were to develop good will between the British and
Muslims by removing British doubts about Muslims loyalty and Muslim doubts
about British intentions, to improve the social and economic position of the
Muslims by encouraging them to receive Western Education and take up posts in
civil service and army and also to increase political awareness amongst Muslims
that there was a threat to their position from Hindu side. It’s most significant
achievement was the establishment of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at
Aligarh, which later became Aligarh Muslim University.

Q6. For what services do Muslims remember Sir Syed Ahmad Khan? (10)

Ans. In the darkest hours of their life, the Muslim community produced a great
and courageous leader in the person of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who rendered
invaluable services for the cause of downtrodden Muslims of his time. His
educational, political and social services played a great role for the revival of
Muslim community in the subcontinent.

Among his educational services a school was established in Muradabad in 1859

and also in Ghazipore in 1864. In 1863 he founded a Scientific Society in
Ghazipore where scientific works were translated from English into Persian and
Urdu for better understanding of Muslims. In 1864 the Scientific Society issued
the ‘Aligarh Institute Gazette.’ He visited England in 1869 and, on his return,
started his famous movement for the establishment of the Muslim University. So
in 1875 the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental School was set up. It was upgraded to a
college level in 1876 and then to the University of Aligarh in 1921. In 1886 the
Muhammadan Educational Conference was set up to raise the educational
standard of Muslims living in the subcontinent.
He did a great deal to improve the relations between the British and the Muslims.
The war of 1857 had developed great mistrust between the British and the
Muslims. The British blamed the Muslims for starting the revolt. To clarify the
causes of the war Sir Syed wrote ‘Essay on the Causes of the Indian Revolt’ in
which he stated that the Muslims were dragged into the war by the Hindus. He
also issued the ‘Loyal Muhammadan of India’ to remove the wrong perception of
the British that the Muslims were disloyal. In it he outlined the loyal services the
Muslims had rendered to the British Empire. The British resented being called
Nadarath but Sir Syed clarified that Nadarath came from an Arabic word Nasir
meaning helper. He wrote a book ‘Tabyin-ul-Kalam’ which was a commentary on
Bible. In it he also pointed out the similarities between Islam and Christianity.
Through this book he proved that Muslims could eat with Christians. He also
issued an Urdu journal called ‘Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq’ which contained articles from
influential Muslims. In it he also criticized the conservative attitude of the
Muslims and emphasized the need to study.

In 1885 when the Indian National Congress was founded, Sir Syed soon came to
know that it was to work only for Hindu interests. As it was a threat to Muslims,
Sir Syed openly demanded for separate seats for Muslims in local elections so
they had the right to speak out. He restrained Muslims from joining the Congress
instead he organized an alternative body called the United Patriotic Alliance
which in 1893 became the Muhammadan Defense Alliance. In the beginning,. Sir
Syed was a great advocate of Hindu-Muslim Unity but the Hindi-Urdu controversy
of 1867 had brought a change in his political thinking. In it Hindus openly
demonstrated against Urdu language and instead wanted Hindi to become the
official language. In response to this he developed his Two-Nation Theory in
which he clarified that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations who could
never live together. This Theory later on became the base of Pakistan Movement.

In short, sir Syed came forward to guide the Muslims when they were on the
verge of elimination from the Indian society because of Hindu and British
domination. He awakened the Muslims to animate their dormant spirits in order
to put up a resolute struggle for the revival of their past position of eminence. He
can rightly be called the father of the ‘Pakistan Movement’.

Q7. What were Sir Syed’s most significant contributions to the improvement of
education among Muslims? (10)
Q8. Why did Sir Syed try to improve relations between the Muslims and the
British? (7)

Partition of Bengal

Q1. Why was Bengal divided in 1905? (7)

Ans. Bengal was the largest province of the subcontinent and also the one with
the highest population. Western Bengal was a Hindu majority region with a
population of 42 million Hindus and 12 million Muslims. On the other hand East
Bengal being a Muslim majority area had 18 million Muslims and 12 million
Hindus. There were ten times as many people as there were in whole of Britain at
this time. This was no doubt a huge area to govern as one unit.
It was also huge in area wise so the provincial governors could not know what
was happening in every area.
So in 1903 Viceroy Curzon suggested that Bengal should be partitioned into two
units to improve administrative efficiency. Hence in 1905 Bengal was divided in
West Bengal and East Bengal respectively. The eastern province now also included
Assam, Dhaka, Chittagong and Mymensingh. Whatever reasons the British had for
this decision, it was to lead to conflicts between Muslims and Hindus.

Q2. Why did British reverse the partition of Bengal in 1911? (7)
Ans. While the Muslims benefited from the Partition of Bengal, the Hindus were
totally against it. They regarded the partition as part of British divide and rule
policy. Some also considered as a British attempt to weaken Hindu unity by
establishing a Muslim majority province. The annulment of Bengal partition was
for a number of reasons. The Partition had led to a huge political crisis. In West
Bengal there were factories which belonged to Hindus. On the other hand the
people working in theses factories were Muslims living in East Bengal. This
created economic problem for the Hindus. 16 October the day the partition was
put into effect became a day of mourning. There were hundreds of protest
meeting and many petitions sent to the government. Later there was even an
assassination attempt on future viceroy Lord Minto. Protest movements led by
the Indian nationalist and the Congress like the Swadeshi movement pressurized
the British and they were forced to reconsider the wisdom of their decision. At
the hands of these protest movements the British suffered a great economic loss.

Q3. What was the Swadeshi Movement? (4)

Ans. The Swadeshi Movement of 1905 started as an Anti-Partition agitation
against the British government’s decision to partition Bengal. The protest
movement demanded for boycott of all British goods such as silk, spices and
clothes. British clothes were thrown on fire and people started using locally
produced goods. Workers denied going to British factories. Soon the sale of
British goods dropped dramatically.