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CHAPTER: SIR SYED AHMED KHAN
Q What was the situation of Muslims after 1857?
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The position of the Muslims worsened by the events of 1857.
British blamed the Muslims more than the Hindus for the rebellion as they said Muslims had
proclaimed Bahadur Shah Zafar as their leader.
● Muslims lost their traditional position in the civil service department and the army.
● Many Muslims families suffered great hardship and believed that the British were trying to
undermine their religion.
● Many Muslims did not wish to cooperate with the British and their relation with them were very
strange.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF SSAK
A- To remove misunderstanding between the Muslims and the British
Why?
● To Improve socio-economic conditions of the Muslims.
● British put all blame of 1857 war on Muslims, considered other Indian communities loyal to
them, British had replaced Muslim ruler so thought it justified to penalize Muslims.
● Muslims generally resented the British, took them as invaders trying to replace Islam with
Christianity and rejected the western education considering them as unislamic, remain hostile
towards the British.
Convincing the British
● Wrote The Loyal Muhammadans of India, defended the Muslims from the British accusations
that they were disloyal.
● Gave a detailed account of loyal service which Muslim had given to the British.
● Wrote a pamphlet called Essay on the Causes of Indian Revolt in 1858. Explained the main
causes of the revolt and mentioned that in revolt Hindus and other nations were also involved so
the Muslims alone should not be punished for the war.
● He tried to clear up a misunderstanding amongst the British who resented being called Nadarath
by the Muslims.
● He explained that it came from Arabic word Nasir which means helper. So the term was a
reflection of a positive image Muslims had of the British, not an insult.
Convincing the Muslims.
● Improved his image as a sincere Muslim by correcting errors in the book of Sir William about
the Holy prophet.
● Wrote Tabyin-ul-Kalam, in which he pointed out the similarities in Islam and Christianity. It
showed Sir Syed commitment to improving relations.
● Founded the British Indian Associations to improve Anglo-Muslim relations.
Successes/ Results/ Importance.
● Efforts of Sir Syed had borne its fruits later.
● Success of Simla delegation, separate electorates for Muslims and Muslims recognition in 1909
act
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B- Educational services
● Muslims were not interested in modern British education.
● Hindus began to excel by embracing modern education, got better jobs and improved their
image to counter Muslims.
● By 1971, 711 Hindus against only 92 Muslims in the government service.
● Growth of Hindu movement with increasing number of educated Hindus, showed little
respect to Muslims.
Detail of contributions in education
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Setup Urdu journal called Tehzib-ul-Ikhlaq, 1863 founded scientific society at Ghazipur,
translation of modern scientific writings into Urdu.
● 1864, transferred to Aligarh and 1866, issuing a journal called Aligarh Institute Gazette.
● 1859, opened a school in Murad Abad and 1864, opened another school in Ghazipur.
● 1869, visited England to observe Oxford and Cambridge education hoped to set up an education
institution based on their model.
● On return, fund raising campaign and decided to begin with a school.
● 1875 MAO school was set up in Ali-Garh on the pattern of English Public School system.
● It became MAO College in 1877.This College reached to the level of university in 1920 and
offered modern and Islamic education.
● 1886 setup Mohammadan Educational Conference to improve educational standard among
Impact/ results:
● Many future leaders of Pakistan [Liaquat Ali Khan, Ayub Khan] were educated there.
● Acted as nursery for many important future leaders.
● Gradual improvement of educational, social and economic status of Muslims.
● MAO College became a breeding ground for Muslims leaders.
● MEF served as a platform for political activity of Muslim, Muslim league was founded in its 20th
session 1906.(Muhammad Educational Forum MEF)
C- POLITICAL SERVICES
● He believed that Muslims should have good relationship with Hindus.
● He soon realized that Hindus were not keen on working with Muslims and this led him to the
conclusion that the two groups could not worked together.
● He advised the Muslims to keep away from the Indian National Congress and proposed Two Nation
Theory
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FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO TWO NATION THEORY
1-Hindi Urdu controversy
In 1867, Hindus of Banaras demanded that Hindi should be the official language of India in place of
Urdu that demand created controversy between Hindus and Muslims. Sir Syed realized that both
could not agree even on the choice of national language.
Sir Syed was opposed to the attack on Urdu and shocked to find that Hindu members of his scientific
society wanted the society’s journal to be published in Hindi.
2-Attitude of Indian national congress(INC).
In 1885, Indian National Congress was formed with the aim to provide a forum for Indians where
they could meet with British rulers and discuss their problems.
Congress was a Hindu dominated which was working for the Hindu supremacy over the Muslims.
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Sir Syed organized an alternative body called United Patriotic Alliance to counter the congress.
3-Political representation
Congress demanded that western type of democracy should be introduced in India.
It would simply mean the rule of majority in India.
Sir Syed considered it an anti-Muslim demand and objected it because he knew that if democracy
was introduced in India the Muslims will have no place in the council as they were in minority.
4-Competitive Examinations
Congress suggested that appointments in the government service should be based on competitive
exam.
Sir Syed again opposed that and pointed out that Muslims were far behind in the field of education
from the Hindus so they cannot compete Hindus for the government jobs.
In 1893, United Patriotic Alliance became the Muhammadan Defence Alliance.
Importance
He predicted the separation of Muslims and Hindus in future.
Two Nation Theory would gradually become valid and lay basis of the struggle for a separate
homeland – Pakistan movement. For this reason Sir Syed can be called the father of the Pakistan
movement.
Muslims came to value education as a means of self-improvement and of obtaining better
environment.
PAST PAPER QUESTIONS
(c)Was the attempt to achieve better understanding with the British the most important contribution
that Sir Syed made to the Muslim cause during 19th century? Explain your answer. OR [14] June 2005
How important was the work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to the development of Pakistan Movement in
the 19th century?[10]/[14]
(b) Why did Sir Syed Ahmad Khan found the Aligarh Movement? [7]
June 2011
Q3 (c) Were Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s religious views his most important contribution to the Muslim
cause after 1857? Explain your answer.
[14]
June 2019
Mark Scheme
Level 5: Explains with evaluation (As top of Level 4 plus judgement or evaluation)
Level 4: Explains his religious views AND other contributions
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9–13
(Two explanations, one on success and one on less success, are worth nine marks. Additional
explanations awarded up to 13 marks)
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e.g.
Religious views
• He believed relations with the British could be improved by improving the understanding of
Christianity by Muslim groups. He tried to overcome this by writing Tabyin-ul-Kalam, in which he pointed
out the similarities between Islam and Christianity.
• He was also aware that the British knew little about Islam. After reading a book in Britain on the life of
the Prophet, he wrote his own work correcting the many errors he had read.
Education
• In 1863 he founded the Scientific Society at Ghazipore. He wanted to make scientific writings available
to Muslims by translating them from English into Urdu.
• He established a Muslim college, which led to the Muslim-Anglo Oriental College in 1876. This became
the University of Aligarh, which became important as it educated many future leaders.
• Improving the position of the Muslim community in society through encouraging a Western education.
Politics
• He recognised that the Muslim community could not win any election because of the Hindu majority
population, so he advocated separate seats and a separate electorate, which was the forerunner of the
future demand for a separate homeland.
• His books following the War of Independence attempted to restore British understanding about the
Muslim community. He showed that there were Muslim supporters of the British government. He gave
explanation of the word ‘Nadarath’ and suggested that the British should try to understand Muslim
groups better.
Language
• Sir Syed was concerned that the Hindu community demanded that Hindi should be made the official
language in 1867 in place of Urdu. He became opposed to the way that Congress was working for the
interests of Hindus in a way that was detrimental to the Muslim community. This led to the formation of
the United Patriotic Alliance.
• Sir Syed emphasised this threat to the Muslim community and developed his Two Nation Theory, as a
result many Muslim groups called him the ‘Father of the Pakistan Movement’.
Sample Question and Answer for 14 marks
Q: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s most important contribution to Muslim community was his support for
education? Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer? [14]
Ans: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan took steps to change Muslims attitude towards receiving British education.
(SS) Sir Syed stressed on that the backwardness of the Muslims was because of lack of modern
education. He opened schools at several places and started the scientific society at Ghazipore in 1863. Its
main purpose was to make scientific writings available to a wider market by translating them from
English, Persian or Arabic to Urdu. He also started publishing a magazine called the Aligarh institute
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Gazette in 1866. This was to introduce modern sciences among the Muslim public. Sir Syed observed the
system of the British universities and opened the school at Aligarh which became M.A.O
(Mohammaden-Anglo Oriental) school in 1875 where English, Modern sciences and as well as Islamic
teachings were taught. It was later raised to the status of university in 1920. Following the lead for Sir
Syed Ahmad many Muslim high schools and Islamia colleges were opened in many big cities of India for
Muslim students. Sir Syed established ‘Mohammaden Educational Conference’ which was an
organization to discuss the problems of the Muslims education in India. This greatly helped the Muslims
who started getting good jobs, improved their economic condition and improve their status in the
society.(Impact) Although encouraging the growth of western education was his important
contribution(link ) but he made other contributions too.(L4)
Sir Syed believed that the position of the Muslims in the Sub-Continent could only be improved if the
relations with the British were improved(SS). Sir Syed made a two pronged effort to bring the British
and Muslims closer. On one side he advised the Muslims not to think of armed struggle because the
British were too strong. He was aware that the British knew very little about Islam. Indeed, on a visit to
England he was so offended by an English Book on the life of Holy Prophet (PBUH) that he immediately
wrote his own work correcting many errors. It was also true, however, that Muslims in India knew very
little about Christianity. He tried to overcome this by writing Tabyin-ul-Kalam, in which he pointed out
the similarities between Islam and Christianity.
On the other side, Sir Syed explained to the British that the Muslims were not responsible for the war of
Independence 1857. In the book he wrote for this purpose (called the causes of Indian revolt), Sir Syed
explained that the wrong British policies were the cause of uprising. He also explained that the British
Indian army was mismanaged and soldiers rose up against their officers. In another book Sir Syed
described at length the loyalty of the Muslims to the British. Sir Syed also founded the “British Indian
association” to bring the British and Muslims closer. He also tried to clear up the misunderstanding
among the British who resented being called “Nadarath” by Muslims. The Britain thought it was an
insult, but Sir Syed pointed out that the word came from “Nasir” an Arabic word, meaning Helper. So the
term was the reflection of the positive image Muslims had of the British, not an insult.Sir Syed was
successful in his effort and the misunderstanding was greatly removed. Muslims started coming
towards English and modern education(Impact). This is how Sir Syed's social services was also
considered his important contributions(link)
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan guided the Muslims in political sphere as well.(SS) He advised the Muslims to
keep away from congress. He opposed Western type of democracy because it meant that the Muslims
will always be in minority and will be at the mercy of Hindus. He believed that Muslims would never win
any election because of the Hindu Majority. He, therefore, advocated the separate seats and separate
electorates which was the forerunner of the future demand for a separate homeland.(impact) Sir Syed
also strongly opposed the replacement of Urdu by Hindu in 1867 and gave his Two Nation Theory. He
always kept the interests of Muslim supreme in his mind as a result many Muslim groups called him the
‘Father of the Pakistan Movement’.(impact)
Although, Sir Syed’s contribution towards improving relations between the Muslims and British and
increasing political awareness was important but his contribution towards western education was very
important contribution for the Islamic society. Because it helped Muslims in getting jobs and elevated
their kudos and their status in the society. (Evaluation)
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