1.

Introduction
Sir Syed Ahmed was neither a politician nor a political leader. He was essentially a social
reformer and his panacea for all the ills of his community were education.”- Hafiz Malik

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was born in 1817 in Delhi. After early education he joined East India
Company in 1835 as a sub clerk in the Court of law. In 1846 he promoted to Chief Judge.. Owing
to this service Sir Syed was asked to work as a Governor but he refused because he wanted to
serve the Muslims.
The War of Independence 1857 ended in a disaster for the Muslims. The British believed that
the Muslims were responsible for the war of 1857 and therefore, they were subjected to
ruthless punishment and merciless revenge. Sir Syed Ahmed khan worked hard to harmonize
British- Muslim relations. He believed modern education is vital for regeneration and
emancipation of Indian. to achieve this goal he launched Aligarh movement of which Aligarh
was the center.. He was one of those early pioneers who recognized the critical role of
education for the empowerment of the poor and backward Muslim community.

2. Conditions of Muslims after 1857

The failure of war of independence 1857 had disastrous consequences for Muslims as British
put all responsibility of war on Muslims. To stop such events in future, British choose to
implement repressive policies against Muslims. Properties and estate of those even remotely
associated to freedom fighters were seized and they closed all options of earning honest
livings for Muslims. The policy restricted Arabic, Persian and religious education in schools and
made English as the only medium of instruction as well as the official language already in 1835.
 A wrong attitude of everything about modern and Western, and disinclination toward
opportunities opening under the new regime was common among the Muslims. This tendency
continued for long time and proved disastrous for the Muslim community.

3. Sir Syed’s role in educational development

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan wanted the Muslim nation to be educated to keep pace with the modern
advancement. He was of the opinion that honor of the nation could be achieved only by
education. He advised the Muslims to get the most modern western education. He established
educational institutions for the Muslim youth and guided them both theoretically and
practically. His works for the educational development for Muslims shows that he was in no way
pro-British. He wanted only development and prosperity of the Muslims.
a. Faarsi maddarsa
He established a Farsi Maddarsa at Muradabad in 1859. It was the starting point of Sir
Syed’s Educational struggle. In this Maddarsa, English is also taught besides Persian.
b. Establishment of scientific society
Sir Syed established a unique institution Scientific Society in Ghazipur in 1863. The
Headquarters of this society were shifted to Aligarh in 1876. The purpose of its
establishment was to acquire the books in other languages, and translate them in Urdu.
Sir Syed stressed upon the need for education in English language so that the Muslim
generation could learn the Western are modern knowledge as soon as possible.
c. MAO college Aligarh
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan set up M.A.O. School in Aligarh in 1875; later on in 1877 it was
upgraded to college. This institution became Muslim University Aligarh in 1920.
 d. Aligarh institute gazzate
During his stay at Aligarh he issued a weekly Gazette called Aligarh Institute Gazette.
The Gazette imparted information on history; ancient and modern science of
agriculture, natural and physical sciences and advanced mathematics.
e. Tehzib-ul-ikhlaq
In 1970 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan published a pamphlet, Risala Tehzib-ul-lklhaq in which he
described social problem of the Muslims and he tried to eliminate the prejudice among
the Muslims towards the Non-Muslims. This magazine also promoted Urdu language
enormously. It played a major part in bringing about an intellectual revolution amongst
Muslim thinkers.
4. Political activities
In the political arena, Sir Syed achieved numerous successes; he eradicated misunderstandings
Between the Muslims and the British accrued due to the past particular incidents. Sir Syed
advised the Muslims to remain away from politics and he himself took important steps to educate
the Muslims for their socio-economic restoration so that they might acquire the status equivalent
to that of Hindus. If he was pro-British he would have advocated western democracy. But he was
against the Western democracy because its ultimate result was the supremacy of Hindu majority
over the Muslims. He was of the view that education is the only weapon to keep pace with model
advancement.
a. Two nation theory
He was no doubt in the favor of Hindu Muslim unity in the beginning but after Urdu-
Hindi Controversy he came to know the nature of the Hindu nation. Then for the first
time in the History he used the word “Nation” for the Muslim in 1867. It is to be said
 that he was the founder of two-nation theory in sub-continent. On the basis of Two
Nation Theory, Sir Syed asked for special safeguards for the Muslims in different fields.
For example;Special seats for the Muslims in the local councils
b. Advice to avoid politics
Sir syed had very early realized that british were gradually introducing democratic
institutions in india. In order to understand it, wester education is important. He
opposed muslim participation in any political activity as muslim were educationally
backward that time and would become ineffective political community. He was of the
view that education is the only weapon to keep pace with model advancement.
c. Urdu Hindi controversy
Urdu grew as common language of all the Indians regardless of origin or religion but in 1867 the
Benarsi Hindus started campaign to replace Urdu by Hindi. To gain the objectives, they declared
numerous organizations. Sir Syed understood the mentality of the Hindus and he pressurized the
British to avoid replacing Urdu with Hindi
5. Social activities
a. Risala-e-asbabe-baghawat-e-hind
Sir Syed observed that if the tension between the Muslims and the British continued,
Hindus would get advantage of it. To alleviate the tension, he wrote a pamphlet
entitled: ‘Essay on the Causes of the Indian Revolt’ or ‘Risala-e-asbabe-baghawat-e-
hind’. In it he proved that Muslims were not responsible for the revolt of 1857
b. Orphanages
He established orphanages for Muslim children so that they may not become Hindu or
Christian. It was really a great service of him. In this way he tried to construct a bridge
between the British and the Muslims.
 c. Loyal Muhammadans of india
Sir Syed wrote this book to make the British aware of the sincere services of the
Muslims to British. Through this book he got sensible behavior of the British for the
Muslims of India.
6. Literary services
Sir Syed, in his writings, touched all those topics that could not be ignored in practical life. He
introduced a new style of expressing thoughts in simple and intelligible style.
a. Khutabat-e-Ahmadia
In 1869 Sir Syad , Khan wrote a book Khutabat-e-Ahmadia to defend the Holy Prophet
(PBUH) in reply to a book named ‘A Mores book’.
b. Risala Tehzib-ul-lkhlaq
In 1970 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan published a pamphlet, Risala Tehzib-ul-lklhaq in which he
described social problem of the Muslims and he tried to eliminate the prejudice among
the Muslims towards the Non-Muslims.
c. Translation Works
Sir syed ahmed khan translated following books: Ain-akbari, Tuzok-e-Jahangri, &
Tarikh-e-Sarkashi Bajnor. In addition to all this Sir Syed also wrote Tafseer-ul-Quran.
7. Conclusion

Sir Syed was pro-development and pro-reforms .He was in no way pro British. He
worked for the welfare of Indians, especially of the Muslims. The services of Sir
Syed were highly applaud able, therefore, he is recognized as one of the founders of
Pakistan. Maulvi Abdul Haq appreciated the role played by Sir Syed and said,
“The first stone of the foundation of Pakistan was laid down by this old man.”