Grade 8 – History INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LAHORE Topic: Reformers

Name Raahim gabaSec: ______ Date: _________________________

Syed Ahmad Barelvi Marks: 20

You are requested to open up the PDF file (Chapter-1 from the book) that has been

uploaded on Google Classroom. There are eight points given under the heading

“Work” of Syed Ahmad Barelvi.

Kindly read those points and write a summary of it in your own words in the

question below. Summary should be in paragraph form.

Q1: Syed Ahmad Barelvi worked hard to improve the conditions of the Muslims in

the Subcontinent. Describe the work of Syed Ahmad Barelvi.

Ans: in 1821, he went to hajj, he held meetings to spread beliefs about jihad.
When he came back from Arabia, he was ready to take action. At this time, punjab
was under control of sikh leader Ranjit Singh, Syed Ahmed thought that the punjab
was the place to launch his jihad against non muslim rulers. He travelled many
hundred of miles to raise a mujahideen force. He prepared Afghan to join him in
his jihad. In 1826, he sent a message to ranjit singh telling that he must allow
muslims freedom of worship or face mujahideen. When he rejected, Syed Ahmed
went to attack akora and then shortly after, sikhs suffered defeat. Syed Ahmad's
victories established him as a successful military leader and encouraged other
tribes to join the Mujahideen. The army numbered over 80,000. A major problem
for him is that the people were of different tribes so they disagreed over how the
campaign was fought. Sikhs caled his army un islamic but Syed Ahmad's army were
not true muslims. This was jot accepted by muslim leaders. In 1827, they agreed
unanimously that Syed Ahmed should assume the authority of an Imam. Syed
Ahmad was preparing to attack on the fort of attock when he encountered an
army of 35000 sikhs near akora. He did not know that Yar Muhammad Khan was
betraying him because he was bribed by the sikhs. First one of his servants tried to
poison Syed Ahmad. Then yar muhammad khan deserted the battlefield along
with his men thus creating cknfusion and chaos keading to the defeat of Syed
Ahmad's forces. He had no other options but to move his army to the safety of
Panjtrar near kashmir. Yar muhammad khan was later killed in the battle against
the mujahideen. His brother, sultan muhammad khan also waged war against Syed
Ahmad. He moved his forces to balakot, hoping to liberate kashmir and hazara.
Balakot was thought to be safe. But once again, Syed Ahmad was betrayed when
local leaders told the sikhs of a way through mountains. They made a surprise
Grade 8 – History INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LAHORE Topic: Reformers
attack on the forces of Syed Ahmad. The battle of Balakot(1831)was a fiercely
contested one. Though the mujahideen had been taken by surprise by a much
larger Sikh army they fought bravely but was unable to resist the Sikhs. Six
hundred soldiers were killed, including Syed Ahmas and his commander, Shah
Ismail