HIS 103 (Lecture 6):

Muslim Renaissance and the Foundation of

All India Muslim League, 1906

June 29, 2021

 Foundation of All India Muslim League
‘Perception Change’ of the British towards the Muslims:
 The publication of Sir William Hunter’s Book “Indian Mussalmans” in 1871 was
indeed a turning point for British policy towards the Muslims in India.
 It marked a dramatic switch from a pro-Hindu and anti-Muslim policy on to a
policy of appeasement of the Muslims and, thus, somehow ignoring the Hindus.
This also coincided with a dramatic change in the Bengalee Muslim attitude
towards the British all well.
 Traditionally, the Bengalee Muslims remained steeped in ignorance and illiteracy.
So great was their apathy to modern education that in the Hooghly College, an
institution started in 1836 with a large endowment fund by Haji Mohammad
Mohsin, a great patron, there were only five (5) Muslim students out of a total of
409 as late as in 1850.
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Perception Change (Contd.):
 Both the Indian Education Commission (1882) chaired by Hunter, and a committee
appointed by the government of Bengal in 1885 dwelt extensively on the
educational backwardness of the Muslims in Bengal and recommended generous
and special measures.
 While the Bengal government had its reservations about the Education
Commission’s recommendation for exclusive schools or scholarships for Muslim
students, the Government of India was more generous in its attitude and accepted
most of the recommendations.
 The Bengalee Muslim, who had been aloof to the British Raj, now started breaking
away from this isolation and learning the value of collaborating with the Raj.
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Literary Competition between the Hindus and the Muslims- an asymmetric race :
 The pioneers of Bengali literature like Rammohan Roy and Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, some of
the leading writers of the next generation like Bankim Chandra came to be widely perceived
by Muslims as anti-Muslim in nature.
 Concentration of Muslims writers on producing literature in Bengali to counter both the
Urdu-based Islamic literature and the predominant Hindu influence in Bengali literature.
 Muslim writers like Mir Mosharraf Hussain, author of Zamidar Darpan (1873), Bishad Sindhu
(1891), played a significant role in filling this vacuum.
Other dominant Muslim scholars/ poets include Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji (1880-1931),
Kaykobad (1857-1951), Sheikh Fazlul Karim (1882-1936), Begum Rokeya (1880-1932), Golam
Mostafa, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jasimuddin etc.
 Also, the educational backwardness of the Muslims was reflected in their poor representation
in government services.
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Muslim Awakening: The Aligarh Movement, 1874
 The Aligarh Movement -led by Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan who established the
Aligarh College in 1874- encouraged Muslims to take to Western education
and make friends with the British rule.
 Ahmed was of firm opinion that there had been uneven development
between the two communities vis-à-vis the Hindus and the Muslims, and
that this had led to Hindu domination, and that political emancipation
without adequate safeguards for the weaker community could only mean
further subjugation of the latter.
 This line of thinking inevitably found echo among Bengalee Muslims where
leaders like Nawab Abdul Latif, Syed Amir Ali encouraged Muslim separatism.
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Muslim Awakening (continued):
Nawab Abdul Latif (1828-93):
 Founder of Muhammadan Literary Society (1863)- a gathering of all the upper-and middle-
class urban Muslims.
 He passionately felt that the withdrawal syndrome was doing great damage to the Muslim
community.
 He helped in the founding of the Presidency College, the reorganization of the Hooghly
College and his own alma mater, the Calcutta Madrasa.
 He continued his educational activities till his death in 1893 after which the society
gradually petered out.
Syed Ameer Ali (1849-1928) and the National Mohammedan Association (1878).
Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah (1873-1965): Ahsania Mission (1935)
 Foundation of All India Muslim League
Foundation of All India Muhammadan Educational Conference-AIMEC (1886):
Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan organized the All-India Muhammadan Educational
Conference in 1886 to promote modern and liberal education for the Muslim
community in India.
The AIMEC met annually at different places (the first Conference was held in
Aligarh in 1886) to promote education and to provide the Muslims with a
common platform. 
Until the founding of the All India Muslim League in 1906, it was the principal
national Centre of Indian Muslims.
 Impact of the Partition of Bengal, 1905 and its Annulment, 1911:
Detailed in previous lecture.
Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan
Dhaka Conference of AIMEC, 1906
 Foundation of All India Muslim League
 The Dhaka (Dacca) Session of the AIMEC, 1906:
 The 20th Session of the ‘All India Muhammadan Education Conference’ (AIMEC)
was convened at Dhaka in December 1906 by Nawab Sir Salimullah.
 The conference was inaugurated on 27 December 1906 and continued till 29
December 1906 as Conference on Education. The inaugural session was chaired
by Nawab Justice Sharfuddin, the newly appointed justice of Calcutta High Court.
 On 30 December 1906 Political Session of the conference took place which was
chaired by Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk. In this session a motion to form an All India
Muslim League (AIML) was proceeded. Nawab Khawaja Sir Salimullah Bahadur
proposed the name AIML. All delegates were registered as members of the
proposed party. Finally the party, AIML, came into being on December 31, 1906.
Nawab Sir Salimullah
 Foundation of All India Muslim League
 This is how Sir Salimullah successfully converted the Education Conference
into a Political Conference leading to the birth of the All-India Muslim League.
 Following were the earlier objectives of the AIML:
i. To promote among Musalmans of India feelings of loyalty to the British
Government and to remove any misconception that may arise as to the
intentions of the Government with regard to any of its measures.
ii. To protect the political rights and interests of Musalmans of India and
respectfully to present their needs and aspirations to the government.
iii.To prevent the rise among Musalmans of India of any feeling of hostility
towards other communities without prejudice to the objects of the League.
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 The headquarter of the League was located at Aligarh and Aga Khan (Sir Sultan
Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III) became the first president of the AIML.
 A London branch of the AIML was inaugurated in May 1908 and Ameer Ali was
elected the President.
 The League’s headquarters were shifted to Lucknow in 1910. ‘Thus what was born
in the soil of East Bengal came to be nurtured in the United Provinces of Agra and
Lucknow under the Urdu group.’
• Muslim League → Lahore Resolution (1940) → Pakistan Movement (1947).
• All India Muslim League → Awami Muslim League (1949) → Awami League (1955).
• Today the Muslim League is almost irrelevant in the politics of Bangladesh and has
proved to be a ‘rubber stamp’ political party.