Midterm Assignment (Sir Syed Ahmed Khan)

Submitted To : Mam Sadia Aslam

Submitted By : Shahzaib Baloch (2019-ag-9243)

BEd 1st Semester (Sec B)

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, one of the architects of modern India was born on October 17, 1817 in Delhi. His
father Syed MohammadMuttaqi was a Mughal noble descendent who had, in the time of Akbar,
migrated to India from Herat.

Sir Syed' was an educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer and modernist. Sir Syed pioneered
modern education for the Muslim community in India by founding the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental
College, which later developed into the Aligarh Muslim University. His work gave rise to a new
generation of Muslim entrepreneurs and politicians who composed the Aligarh movement to secure the
political future of Muslims of India.

In 1842, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II revived upon Syed Ahmad Khan the title of Javad-ud Daulah,
conferred upon Syed Ahmad's grandfather Syed Hadi by Emperor Shah Alam II in about the middle of
the 18th century. The Emperor added to it the additional title of Arif Jang. The conferment of these
titles was symbolic of Syed Ahmad Khan's incorporation into the nobility of Delhi.

Born into Muslim nobility, Sir Syed earned a reputation as a distinguished scholar while working as a
jurist for the British East India Company.

Sir Syed Vision

The 1857 revolt was one of the turning points of Syed Ahmad's life. Before it, his career had been that of
a civil servant and a scholar. Most of the historical works, which were to win him an honorary fellowship
of the Royal.

Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, were completed before 1857.In 1847, he published the
famous archaeological masterpiece, 'Asarus Sanadeed' - a book that provided a wealth of information
on countless historical monuments in Delhi from the eight hundred year long Muslim era's 1855,

He published yet another book 'Ain-e-Akbari'. After the 1857 revolt, Syed Ahmad authored the
marvellous book 'Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind' (The causes of Indian Revolt).

He also witnessed the terrible revenge the British wrought on Delhi and its inhabitans after the city was
recaptured in September 1857.

He thought that Muslim and Hindu should live with an unity in India.

" India is a beautiful bride and Hindus and Muslims are her two eyes. ... If one of them is lost, this beautiful
bride will become ugly "

~ Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

At Personal Level, He found an uncle and a cousin dead; his aunt died of thirst before his eyes; he
succeeded in rescuing his mother only for her to die because of the privations she had experienced.
Muslims were the main target of the Govemment's wrath.

The War of Independence 1857 ended in disaster for the Muslims. The British chose to believe that the
Muslims were responsible for the anti-British uprising therefore they made them the subject of ruthless
punishments and merciless vengeance. With the rebellion of 1857, this feeling was intensified and every
attempt was made to ruin and suppress the Muslims forever. After dislodging theMuslim Nawabs from
the throne, the new rulers, the British, implemented a new educational policy with drastic changes.

The policy banned Arabic, Persian and religious education in schools and made

English not only the medium of instruction but also the official language in 1835.

This spawned a negative attitude amongst the Muslims towards everything modern and western, and a
disinclination to make use of the opportunities available under the new regime. Seeing this atmosphere
of despair and despondency, Sir Syed Ahmad launched his attempts to revive the spirit of progress
within the Muslim community of India. He was convinced that the Muslims in their attempt to
regenerate themselves, had failed to realize the fact that mankind had entered a very important phase
of its existence, i.e., an era of science and learning.

Sir Syed's Ahmad first and foremost objective was to acquaint the British with the Indian mind; his next
goal was to open the minds of his countrymen to

European literature, science and technology.

Therefore, in order to attain these goals, Sir Syed launched the Aligarh

Movement of which Aligarh was the center. He had two immediate objectives in mind: to remove the
state of misunderstanding and tension between the Muslims and the new British government, and to
induce them to go after the opportunities available under the new regime without deviating in any way
from the fundamentals of their faith.

Then, CERTAIN EFFORT & POLICY MADE BY SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN

Fortunately, Syed Ahmad Khan was made many efforts and used many policies to develop such a great
institution & He was able to attract into his orbit a number of sincere friends who shared his views and
helped him. Among them were well-known figures like Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk,
Hali, Shibli, Maulvi Nazir Ahmad, Chiragh Ali, Mohammad Hayat, and Zakaullah. Above all, his gifted son
Syed Mehmood, a renowned scholar, jurist and educationist, was a great source of help to him.

Syed Ahmad also succeeded in enlisting the services of a number of distinguished English professors like
Bech, Morison, Raleigh and Arnold who gave their best in building up the Aligarh College into a first-rate
institution.

A brief chronology of Syed Ahmad's efforts is given below:

1864: Set up the Scientific Society in Aligarh. This society was involved in the translation of English works
into the native language.

1866: Aligarh Institute Gazette This imparted information on history; ancient and modern science of
agriculture, natural and physical sciences and advanced mathematics. This journal was published until
1926.
1870: Committee Striving for the Educational Progress of Muslims.

1875: Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental School (M. A. O.), Aligarh, setup on the pattern of English public
schools. Later raised to the level of college in 1877 and university in 1920.

1886: Muhammadan Educational Conference. This conference met every year to take stock of the
educational problems of the Muslims and to persuade them to get modern education and abstain from
politics. It later became the political mouthpiece of the Indian Muslims and was the forerunner of the
Muslim League.

Sir Syed held the view that acquisition of modern education would help in the progress and
development of Muslim so he set up a scientific study at Ghazipur in 1862 which established many
educational institutions at different places. Due to this, application of modern scientific knowledge
became easy. They helped the development of the Urdu language because modern subjects were
translated into

Throughout his life Syed Ahmed Khan showed concern with how Indian Muslims could adapt to
intellectual and political change accompanying Western rule. His first mission became reinterpretation
of Muslim ideology so as to econcile tradition with Western education and science.

He argued in several books on Islam that the holy Quran rested on a deep appreciation of reason and
natural law and therefore did not preclude Muslim involvement in scientific methodology. These
themes, mixed with a call for

Muslim education, regularly appeared in his journals, the Mohammedan Social Reformer and the Aligarh
Institute Gazette.

Syed Ahmed's ideas became institutionalized despite criticism from theologians.

In 1862 he formed a scientific society, and 13 years later he assisted in establishing the Mohammadan
Anglo-Oriental College, which prospered and became the key intellectual center for Indian Muslims -
The Aligarh Muslim University.

The success of the college was largely due to his leadership and a curriculum embodying both Western
and Oriental studies.

"Do not show the face of Islam to others; instead show your face as the follower of true Islam
representing character, knowledge, tolerance and piety"

~ Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

References
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Wikipedia
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