The essay on sir syed ahmad khan

• The essay on “ THE POLICY ADOPTED BY THE SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN FOR UPLIFTMENT OF INDIAN MUSLIM AFTER REVOLT OF 1857 DURING BRITISH RAJ………..”INTRODUCTION: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, one of the architects of modernIndia was born on October 17, 1817 in Delhi. His father Syed MohammadMuttaqi was a Mughal noble descendent who had, in the time of Akbar, migratedto India from Herat.Sir Syed’ was an Indian educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer andmodernist. Sir Syed pioneered modern education for the Muslim community inIndia by founding the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which laterdeveloped into the Aligarh Muslim University. His work gave rise to a newgeneration of Muslim entrepreneurs and politicians who composed the Aligarhmovement to secure the political future of Muslims of India.In 1842, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II revived upon Syed Ahmad Khan thetitle of Javad-ud Daulah, conferred upon Syed Ahmad’s grandfather Syed Hadiby Emperor Shah Alam II in about the middle of the 18th century. The Emperoradded to it the additional title of Arif Jang. The conferment of these titles wassymbolic of Syed Ahmad Khan’s incorporation into the nobility of Delhi.Born into Muslim nobility, Sir Syed earned a reputation as a distinguishedscholar while working as a jurist for the British East India Company.Sir Syed VisionThe 1857 revolt was one of the turning points of Syed Ahmads life.Before it, his career had been that of a civil servant and a scholar. Most of thehistorical works, which were to win him an honorary fellowship of the RoyalAsiatic 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 monumentsin Delhi from the eight hundred year long Muslim era’s 1855,He published yet another book Ain-e-Akbari. After the 1857 revolt, SyedAhmad authored the marvellous book Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (The causesof Indian Revolt).He also witnessed the terrible revenge the British wrought on Delhi and itsinhabitants after the city was recaptured in September 1857. At personal level, he
• found an uncle and a cousin dead; his aunt died of thirst before his eyes; hesucceeded in rescuing his mother only for her to die because of the privations shehad experienced. Muslims were the main target of the Government’s wrath.The War of Independence 1857 ended in disaster for the Muslims. The Britishchose to believe that the Muslims were responsible for the anti-British uprising;therefore they made them the subject of ruthless punishments and mercilessvengeance. With the rebellion of 1857, this feeling was intensified and everyattempt was made to ruin and suppress the Muslims forever. After dislodging theMuslim Nawabs from the throne, the new rulers, the British, implemented a neweducational policy with drastic changes. The policy banned Arabic, Persian and religious education in schools and madeEnglish not only the medium of instruction but also the official language in 1835.This spawned a negative attitude amongst the Muslims towards everythingmodern and western, and a disinclination to make use of the opportunitiesavailable under the new regime.Seeing this atmosphere of despair and despondency, Sir Syed Ahmad launchedhis attempts to revive the spirit of progress within the Muslim community ofIndia. He was convinced that the Muslims in their attempt to regeneratethemselves, had failed to realize the fact that mankind had entered a veryimportant phase of its existence, i.e., an era of science and learning.He knew that the realization of the very fact was the source of progress andprosperity for the British. Therefore, modern education became the pivot of hismovement for regeneration of the Indian Muslims. He tried to transform theMuslim outlook from a medieval one to a modern one.Sir Syeds Ahmad first and foremost objective was to acquaint the British withthe Indian mind; his next goal was to open the minds of his countrymen toEuropean literature, science and technology.Therefore, in order to attain these goals, Sir Syed launched the AligarhMovement of which Aligarh was the center. He had two immediate objectives inmind: to remove the state of misunderstanding and tension between the Muslimsand the new British government, and to induce them to go after the opportunitiesavailable under the new regime without deviating in any way from thefundamentals of their faith.Keeping education and social reform as the two planks of his program, helaunched the Aligarh Movement with the following objectives.
• THEN CERTAIN EFFORT & POLICY MADE BY SIR SYED AHMADKHANFortunately, Syed Ahmad Khan was made many efforts and used many policiesto develop such a great institution & He was able to attract into his orbit anumber of sincere friends who shared his views and helped him. Among themwere well-known figures like Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk,Hali, Shibli, Maulvi Nazir Ahmad, Chiragh Ali, Mohammad Hayat, andZakaullah. Above all, his gifted son Syed Mehmood, a renowned scholar, juristand educationist, was a great source of help to him.Syed Ahmad also succeeded in enlisting the services of a number ofdistinguished English professors like Bech, Morison, Raleigh and Arnold whogave their best in building up the Aligarh College into a first-rate institution.A brief chronology of Syed Ahmads efforts is given below:1859: Built Gulshan School in Muradabad.1863: Set up Victoria School in Ghazipur.1864: Set up the Scientific Society in Aligarh. This society was involved in thetranslation of English works into the native language.1866: Aligarh Institute Gazette This imparted information on history; ancient andmodern science of agriculture, natural and physical sciences and advancedmathematics. 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 thepattern of English public schools. Later raised to the level of college in 1877 anduniversity in 1920.1886: Muhammadan Educational Conference. This conference met every year totake stock of the educational problems of the Muslims and to persuade them toget modern education and abstain from politics. It later became the politicalmouthpiece 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 theprogress and development of Muslim so he set up a scientific study at Ghazipurin 1862 which established many educational institutions at different places. Due
• to this, application of modern scientific knowledge became easy. They helped thedevelopment of the Urdu language because modern subjects were translated intoit.Throughout his life Syed Ahmed Khan showed concern with how IndianMuslims could adapt to intellectual and political change accompanying Westernrule. His first mission became reinterpretation of Muslim ideology so as toreconcile tradition with Western education and science. He argued in several books on Islam that the holy Quran rested on a deepappreciation of reason and natural law and therefore did not preclude Musliminvolvement in scientific methodology. These themes, mixed with a call forMuslim education, regularly appeared in his journals, the Mohammedan SocialReformer and the Aligarh Institute Gazette.Syed Ahmeds ideas became institutionalized despite criticism from theologians.In 1862 he formed a scientific society, and 13 years later he assisted inestablishing the Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which prospered andbecame the key intellectual center for Indian Muslims - The Aligarh MuslimUniversity. The success of the college was largely due to his leadership and acurriculum embodying both Western and Oriental studies.