| HOW IMPORTANT WAS 7 DEVELOPMENT OF THE fontents. Key Questions addressed in this chapter el in tls chapter 09 of their national > ‘What was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan‘s contribution to gs education, politics and religion? }eory, and its origins S work on Muslims and the How important was his ‘Two-Nation Theory’? What was the Hindu-Urdu Controversy? Aligarh College pnal Congress and the > How successful was the Aligarh Movement? Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) Early Biographical Details Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was born in 1817, in Delhi, He came from a wealthy family which was well known and respected in the area. Great care was taken by his father to ensure that he received a high-quality education By the age of 18, Sir Syed was skilled in Arabic, Persian, Mathematics and Medicine. He had also been introduced to some of India's most able writers and had developed a love for Literature. In 1838, Sir Syed's father died and he was forced to seek employment. He Quickly rose from @ lowly position in the legal system to become a judge in Delhi in 1846. That year he wrote his well-known book on archaeology called Athar= al - Senadeed. When the War of Independence broke out in 1857 Sir Syed was working as chief judge in Bijnaur and is said to have saved the lives of women and children during the fighting. In retum for his loyalty the British offered him an estate with a large income, but he refused the offer. His belief that armed uprising against the British was pointless made him. unpopular with some Muslims, but it did not stop him from working towards reconciliation between the British and the Muslim community after the war, He was appointed Chief Justice in Muradabad and later was transferred to Ghazipore. In 1864, he was transferred to Aligarh where he played an impor part in establishing @ new college. In 1876 he retired from his work in the | to concentrate on running the college and to devote himself to improving position of Muslims in the sub-continent through education. Aligarh became. centre of a ‘Muslim renaissance’, He died on 27 March 1898, having served his. fellow Muslims in a way which few had rivalled, 35——————— Beliefs _ pout the position of the extremely unhappy @ 9 Sr ysinent SINC ‘he days of the Mughal Empire thei Status had declined sharply: Thal had led to a further decline in Tht Dasure that their contro! would NO f the Muslims was due to the ir Syed felt that the poor status o! u a ae s second-class citizens by the British and the Hindus, fed to tak f the resi y themselves. Many Musi ne B i want 4 : ie cs oath t the Muslim nn that Se aaa many years. The Muslim po n » rulers who intended to stay for many i ae if they adopted a more positive approach to the British. {more British ideas and to take advantage of British educe n the Hindus would continue to prosper because o approach ated to see the Muslims united and prospering. He ement in their economic, social, political and rel ambition his life's work and, because so much of his uslim renaissance’ taking place in Aligarh, he is said to garh Movement aims of the Aligarh Movement were to: Pa © improve relations between the British and Muslim communities by) he want to, British doubts about Muslim loyalty and Muslim doubts about 6 the Muslim ty? improve the social and economic position of Muslims by encour to receive Western education and take up posts in the civil s increase the political awareness of the Muslim community in of them aware of the threat to their position from the Hindus policy 0 with the British Work 1. Improving Relations between the British and Muslim Commi Sir Syed believed that the position of the Muslims i ¢ lusiims in the sub be improved if relations with the British were improved and higher-quality education. There were two major obstacles to « B There was a deep-seated re: community. This was Someta ones as ‘foreign invaders’ and sometimes ifs reine to replace Islam with Christianity, Other Mus a because they were often not in line with ae ensure that the benefits and advant areas of science and technology, pena to improve the lives of th e 36Convincing the British In 1860, Sir Syed wrote, The Loyal Muhammadans of India. In this work, he torended the Muslims from the British accusation that they Wels disloyal. He gave a detailed account of the loyal service which ‘Muslims had given and named gevous Mustims who had shown particular loyalty to the British. At the same Mae he called on the British to end their hostility towards the Muslim community. In order to convince the British that they were wrong to put the full blame for the events of 1857 on the Muslims, Sir Syed wrote @ pamphlet called ‘Essay on the Causes of the Indian Revolt’. In this, he pointed out the main reasons for the uprising were: 1. The lack of representation for Indians in the government of the country. 2. The forcible conversion of Muslims to Christianity. 3. The poor management of the Indian army. He also listed many other measures taken by the British which created dissatisfaction and led to resentment among the Muslim community. This pamphlet was circulated free amongst the British officials in India and was also sent to members of parliament in England. Even members of the Royal family received copies. Some British officials were angered by what Sir Syed wrote as he seemed to be blaming them for the uprising. Others read what he wrote with sympathy and accepted that there was truth in his words. Sir Syed also tried to clear up @ misunderstanding amongst the British who resented being called ‘Nadarath’ by the Muslims. The British thought that this was an insult, but Sir Syed pointed out that the word came from Naar’, an Arabic word meaning helper. So the term was @ reflection of the sositive image Muslims had of the British, not an insult Convincing the Muslims Sir Syed was aware that the British knew very little about Islam. Indeed, on a visit to England he was so offended by an English book on the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he immediately wrote his own work correcting the many errors. it was also true, however, that the Muslims in India knot Vety little about Christianity. He tried to overcome this by writing Tabyin-ul-Kalam, in which he pointed out the similarities between Islam and Christianity. Due to lack of povources the work was not finished, but it showed Sir Syed’s commitment to improving relations. Another example of this was the British Indian Association which Sir Syed tstablished 10 try to increase cooperation between the two peoples. 2. Encouraging the growth of Western Education ‘As we have seen, after 1857 the Muslim community was subject to discrimination at the hands of the British, whilst other groups were supported. The Hindus, for e ample, had decided that they should work with the British. So they were keen to learn the English language and to acquire a British education in the subcontinent. This helped them to gain employment and to make progress in society, By 1871 there were 711 Hindus in government employment compared with only 92 Muslims. The ‘Hindu Movement’ gained strength as more and more Hindus received ‘education in the new schools, colleges and universities which were springing up. This increased confidence among Hindus also led them to view Muslims with an increasing lack of respect. 7zi 1 Muslim attitudes towards rece Sir Syed took steps i crane ee ene befeved gar Too ee cienlife and technological ideas might undermine Ia a oo ballececna the Holy Quran emphasized the need to a oee etonding of modern scientific beliefs actualy helped reveal wa 9? of God. yoda une . rt for his views, Sir Syed set up an Urdu journal Ur Aanlag, This joumal contained articles from influential Muslime with Sir Syed that there was a need for a new approach to: Although some ulama attacked the journal, it played a major about an intellectual revolution amongst Muslim thinkers. * In 1863, Sir Syed founded the Scientific Society at Ghazipore, its m purpose was to make scientific writings available to a wider mark, translating them from English, Persian or Arabic into Urdu, When) ferred to Aligarh in 1864, he continued his work and in 1866 be g a journal called the Aligarh Institute Gazette. ie had already shown his commitment to expanding educational when, in 1859, he opened a school in Muradabad. In 1864 he op ol in Ghazipore, ; In 1869, Sir Syed travelled to England to study the university He dreamed of setting up a university for Muslims in the sub He was very impressed by the universities of Oxford and C: hoped to set up an educational institution based on their modell on returning home, he found that his plans were offen met with’ He could not start with a university straight away. So instead he d begin with a school A committee was set up, which toured the country raising funds fol Muslim school. On 24 May 1875, the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriente was set up in Aligarh on the pattern of the English public school British would not allow it to be affiliated with a Muslim university 0 territory so, for the moment it could not become the Muslim Uni Sir Syed wanted. The college offered both Western and Indian education, thoue education was also provided. It became much more than anled institution. In the days before the Muslim League, it became Muslim unity. Many of the future leaders of Pakistan, such as Li and Ayub Khan, were educated there and some historians have co that the college was the institution which contributed more thal the formation of Pakistan. However, Sir Syed’s work in end with the formation of the ¢ wanted to publicise the new methods being used at A set up the Mohammed Conference. Its aim was to Standards among Muslims. It at a number of cities across the | and sub-committees were Places. The Conference attri orators and writers and al ‘ole in establishing a political Muslims, in the days before the Muslim League. ‘ug In 1920, the3. Increasing Political Awareness Sir Syed was determined to improve the status of the Muslim community. By writing his Essay on the Causes of the Indian Revolt and The Loyal Mohammadens of India he had shown a desire to re-establish good relationships with the British, as he hoped this would lead to greater opportunities for Muslims. This eared him a reputation of being too moderate and too British. But, in fact, Sir Syed realised that the British were too powerful to overthrow and that Muslims would gain more by cooperating with them. 7 ., He also believed that Muslims should have good relations with Hindus, as they. common | had a common long-term aim — to restore the authority of the local people in their long-term airs own country. In a speech to the Indian Association he said: ut the future ‘We, Hindus and Muslims, live together on the same soil under the same government. Our interests and problems are common and, therefore | consider the two factions as one nation. However, Sir Syed soon realised that the Hindus were not so keen on working with Muslims and this led him to the conclusion that the two groups could not work together. In time he came to believe that Hindus and Muslims were different enough to be considered as two separate groups within the subcontinent. Indian National Congress In 1885, the Indian National Congress was formed. The British saw this body as a means by which they could hear the views of the educated elite in Indian society. The Congress said that it would represent the views of all the communities within India, regardless of their religion. However, it soon became apparent that the Congress was a Hindu-dominated body which was working to establish Hindu supremacy over the Muslims. Political Representation * A.good example of this was the call by Congress for the introduction of a: democratic system of political representation similar to that practised in Britain. This sounded fair, but since there were four times as many Hindus as: Muslims, they would win every election. Democracy would leave the Mustims with no representation at all. Sir Syed spoke out angrily against any such plans saying: 44 am convinced that the introduction of the principle of election would be attended with evils of greater significance. The ¢ would totally override the interests of the smaller community’ Competitive Examinations «Congress also suggested that appointments in the government service should be by competitive examination. Since Muslims were not receiving education of a’standard similar to that received by Hindus, this would greatly: Sisadvantage them, Sir Syed commented that only when equal educational Opportunities were provided could such an idea work. ion A Exam-style Questions the creatures of God have equal rights. Noe obtain the good things of this world , and to duty of the government to observe this divine law in all Its pm the writings of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.A What was the Aligarh Movement? [4] ~ Why did Sir Syed Ahmod Khan write The Causes of the Indian Revolt”? [7] De yeu agree that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's most im community was his su c ‘portant contribution to the Muslim Se & “ & iPPort for education? Give