Major General Syed Shahid Hamid at

Colvin Taluqdars School. 1923-1928.

By Major General Syed Ali Hamid

Syed Shahid Hamid was born in 1912 in Lucknow. His father Syed
Hamid Hussain was a civil engineer who traced his ancestry to Amir Kullal
a sufi saint who was the mentor of Amir Taimur of Samarkand. His mother
came from the landed aristocracy of Taluqdars known as the ‘Barons of
Oudh’. Her father had taught at Colvin Taluqdars School before becoming
a famous lawyer in Lucknow and her maternal grandfather was Khan
Bahadur Meer Jaffir, IOM, a distinguished officer who served in the Afghan
war of 1842, the Sikh campaign, and the Rebellion of 1857, rising to be
commanded of the 2nd Regiment of Oudh Police.
Shahid Hamid was initially a borderer along with his elder brother at
the College School in Aligarh but in 1923, at the age of 11 he and his
brother Mehmood Hamid were admitted into the Colvin. When he joined the
school it only had 38 students and a staff of 15 of whom the Principal,
Convey Rees and Vice-Principal were British. Convey had earlier taught
Shahid Hamid’s father at MAO College, Aligarh. The staff included an ex-
Cavalry Daffadar to teach riding. Since all the students came from a
common background and knew each other’s families well, they were like a
well-knit happy family. The Nawabs and Rajas joined the school not to
study and pass exams but to receive an education befitting of their status
and for sports. Only a few of this aristocracy cared to appear in the
Matriculation Exam because they knew they would fail and those who
passed with a Third Division were considered heroes.
The school grounds were extensive with several playing fields, a
riding track, tennis courts, and a swimming pool. The school even had an
agricultural experimental farm where each student was allotted a plot to till
with his own hands. The idea was that since all students were connected
with the farming community, they had to know something about modern
methods of farming. The boarding houses were supplemented with a
common room and library and each border lived in a suite consisting of a
sitting room, bedroom with bath, and a kitchen. They were allowed to keep
servants who lived in two spate servant quarters.
Shahid Hamid proved to be a good all-rounder. He worked hard at
school and was awarded a Sir Harcot Butler Scholarship but his X Class
Term Exam Report for 1927 states that he was weak in Mathematics and
English. However, his spoken English was far better than most of the
Nawabs and Rajas (whose English was atrocious) and he proved to be a
very energetic and helpful Secretary of the School Debating Society.
Shahid Hamid’s forte was in sports and according to a report by the Vice
Principal, he was a “…….. zealous all-round sportsman, doing well at
Tennis, Hockey, Swimming and Football”. He was the Captain of Tennis
and won the Hardy Medal for being the best all-round athlete.
After his Matriculation, Shahid Hamid was enrolled in the MAO
College, Aligarh and in his final year of Bachelor of Arts, he decided to
attempt the tough entrance exam for the Royal Military Academy,
Sandhurst. Though he received fairly low marks in the final interview, he
topped in the written paper and was one of the ten out of 300 applicants
who were selected for Sandhurst. In 1934 he joined 3rd Cavalry and after
serving with it for 6 years, he was attached to the Royal Indian Army
Service Corps. During the disastrous defeat of the British Indian Army in
Burma, he served as Staff Captain served in the Headquarters Burma
Army where he was injured. As a lieutenant colonel, he had the distinction
of being amongst the first few Indians to be a member of the faculty of the
prestigious Staff College at Quetta and also held the coveted appointment
of Private Secretary to Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, C-in-C India. At
Independence, he opted for Pakistan and on being promoted to brigadier
he was the founding director of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI)
Directorate. He was promoted major general in 1951 and served as the
Master General Ordnance and the Adjutant General. Shahid Hamid retired
in 1959 and established a private industry. He was a keen military historian
and wrote on the Indian Cavalry as well as his autobiography. His younger
son Syed Ali Hamid, who has written this account, followed in his father’s
footsteps. He also retired as a major general and is a military historian.
Authors Note: Details about Colvin Taluqdars School have been obtained
from the original documents contained in the archives of Maj Gen Syed
Shahid Hamid and from his book ‘Autobiography of a General’.