Chapter 4 — How Important was the Work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to the Development of the

Pakistan Movement in the 19th century?

1. Early Biographical Details.

- born in 1817, Delhi

- came from a well-known wealthy family; his father took care of him so that he could get good education
- by the age of 18 = skilled in Arabic, Persian, Mathematics and Medicine
- met multiple able writers and found a liking for literature
- 1838 = his father died; had to find a job
- 1846 = went from a low position in the legal system to being a judge in Delhi = book on archeology
- 1857 = WOI broke out, he was working as chief judge in Bijnaur; saved thousands of lives and got offered
an estate with a large income from the British, but kindly declined the offer
- believed that armed uprising against the British was pointless = made him unpopular amongst Muslims
- still worked for the reconciliation between the British and Muslims after the WOI
- appointed as Chief Justice in Moradabad, then transferred to Ghazipore
- 1864 = transferred to Aligarh, where he established a new college
- 1876 = retired from his work in law to focus on running the new college & improve the Muslims’ position
- Aligarh = center of Muslim Renaissance
- died on 27th March 1898.

2. Beliefs.

- extremely unhappy about the Muslims’ position in the subcontinent, especially since the Decline of the
Mughal Empire
- felt like the poor status of the Muslims was due to the way they were treated as second-class citizens by
the British and the Hindus, which meant that they had to take some of the responsibility themselves
- Muslims had to accept that the British weren’t mere invaders, they were rulers that would stay for years
- Muslims’ position could only improve if they took a positive approach to the British (i.e. Brit. education)
- otherwise, Hindus would continue to prosper thanks to their more cooperative approach
- SAK wanted the Muslims united, and their social, economic, political and religious fortunes improved
• founded the Aligarh movement [Muslim Renaissance Center], that aimed to:
- (a) improve relations between British and Muslims [clearing out doubts about the opposite group]
- (b) improve the social & economic position of Muslims [Western Education and civil service/army posts]
- (c) increase political awareness of the Muslims [Hindus cooperation policy with British = threat]

3. Work.

I. Improving Relations between the British and the Muslim community.

(a) British put the blame for the WOI on the Muslims by carrying out policies of representation
(b) deep-seated resentment for the British among the Muslim community; British seen as “foreign invaders”
that wanted to replace Islam with Christianity; Muslims rejected most Western ideas, as they went
against Islamic beliefs; SAK wanted Muslims to take advantage of the British rule [science, technology]
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• Convincing the British.
- 1860 = Loyal Mohammedans of India = defending Muslims, who were accused of disloyalty by the Brit.
- highlighted Muslims that showed particular loyalty to the Brit; called on them to end their hostility
towards Muslims
- 1873 = “Essay on the causes of Indian Revolt” pamphlet; to convince the British that it was wrong to fully
blame the WOI on the Muslims; pointed out the main reasons:
1) lack of representation for Indians in the government
2) forcible conversion of Muslims to Christianity
3) poor management of the Indian Army
4) other problematic measures taken by the British
- pamphlet circulated free amongst British officers, sent to the Parliament and the Royal family
- some felt angered and offended, others saw truth in what he said and welcomed it with sympathy
- Nadarath = came from Nasir = helper = reflected the positive image Muslims had of the British
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• Convincing the Muslims.
- similarities between Christianity and Islam in Tabyin-ul-Kalam [unfinished] + British Indian Association

 II. Encouraging the growth of Western Education.

- Muslims were subject to discrimination after the WOI, while other groups were fully supported
- Hindus worked with the British; wanted to learn English and get British Education; gained employment
- 1871 = 711 Hindus, 92 Muslims = Hindus made progress in the society, though unjustly
- Hindu Movement = Hindus more educated, boosted confidence, made them see Muslims without respect
- SAK encouraged Western Education, but people believed that it might undermine Islamic beliefs
- SAK believed that the Holy Quran emphasized on the need to study
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• Steps taken by SAK:
(a) Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq = urdu journal, influential Muslims favoring education, intellectual revolution
(b) 1859 = school in Mudarabad
(c) 1863 = Scientific Society at Ghazipore = scientific writings in English, Persian, Arabic into Urdu
(d) 1864 = transferred to Aligarh & continued his work; 1866 = Aligarh Institute Gazette = journal
(e) 1869 = went to England; impressed by Oxford and Cambridge; wanted to open his own college
(f) 1875 [24th May] = Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (Aligarh) = pattern of English public
schools = offered both Western and Indian education, as well as Islamic education = symbol of
Muslim unity = many future leaders studied there, like Liaquat Ali Khan and Ayub Khan
(g) 1886 = Mohammedan Educational a conference = aimed to raise the educational among Muslims
and publicizing the education methods used in Aligarh = held meetings across the subcontinent,
sub-committees formed = attracted many famous orators and writers = established a political
platform for the formation of the Muslim League
(h) 1920 = MAO became the University of Aligarh, still active to this day

III. Increasing Political Awareness.

- determined to improve the status of the Muslims
- his essay on Indian revolt and his work showing similarities between Islam and Christianity showed how
much he wanted to reestablish good relationships with the British
- reputation of being too moderate and too British, but he simply figured out that the British were too
powerful to be overthrown
- believed that Hindus and Muslims had common long-term aims, i.e. restoring the authority of locals
- quickly realized that Hindus weren’t so keen as to work with the Muslims, and that the Hindus and
Muslims were different enough to be seen as two completely separate groups

4. Indian National Congress.

- 1885 = Congress = claimed to represent the views of all the communities in India
- was Hindu-dominated
- therefore aiming to establish Hindu supremacy over the Muslims
5. Political Representation.

- call by Congress for introduction of a democratic system of political representation like in Britain
- ratio of Hindus to Muslims was 4:1
- Hindus would win at every election, leaving the Muslims with little to no representation
- SAK gave a speech about how wrong it was, and that the larger community would walk all over the
smaller one

6. Competitive Examinations.

- Congress suggested that posts in the civil service should be given after competitive exams were held
- exams in English and in Britain
- Muslims weren’t really educated at the time, and SAK said that it would be unfair to them

 7. Language.

- 1867 = Hindu-Urdu Controversy = Hindus wanted Hindu as the official language of India instead of
Urdu
- after SAK’s demise = became India’s second official language
- Urdu had a special place in the Muslims’ hearts, with many of their finest writings in that language
- SAK = surprised that Hindu members of the Scientific Society of Ghazipore wanted the journal in Hindi
- controversy led to the “Two Nation Theory”.
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- Sir Syed refused to attend the meetings of the Congress as he believed that it worked in the Hindus’ favor
- instead made the United Patriotic Alliance
- 1893 = became the Mohammedan Defense Alliance
- by then = Hindus and Muslims relationships deteriorated; Hindus would play music outside of mosques…
- very difficult for the two groups to coexist together.
8. Importance.

- worked tirelessly to improve the relations between the British and the Muslims after the WOI
- his writings and tireless works shone a new light on the darkness that Muslims were experiencing
- he revived Islam, especially with the Aligarh Movement, as it highlighted the importance of education
- him encouraging education brought about better employment opportunities and better self-worth for
Muslims
- political awareness; SAK quickly figured out the real aim of the Hindus, and how much of a threat they
were to Muslims
- this led to his Two Nation Theory, which was a small step for the partition
- he can rightly be called The Father of the Pakistan Movement.