Our Founder - Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

Few persons are so lavishly endowed by nature as was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. His sensitive soul was the first to react to the spirit of the modern age and explore new possibilities of reconstruction and regeneration. There is hardly any movement of the 19th century—social, cultural or literary—which can be studied without reference to him. His hand touched almost everything—literature, education, religion and social-life and whatever he touched he purified, enriched and embellished. The institution that he established developed not merely into a great seat of learning but became the nucleus of a great literacy and cultural movement; the journal that he started (Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq) established traditions in Urdu prose and journalism; the Masnavi that he asked Hali to compose changed the tone of Urdu poetry; his rational approach to religion gave birth to a new school of thought which attempted a fresh orientation of Islam: and last but not the least, his Asar-us Sanadid and his editions of Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi, A’in-i Akbari and Tuzuk-i Jahangiri laid the foundation of our study of medieval architecture and history.

What created the historian in Sir Syed ? Sir Syed’s interest in history was born of the painful realization of the fact that the old order was in process of liquidation and that it was necessary to preserve all that was of value in the past. Like Gibbon, whose interest in history was created by the ruins of ancient Rome, Sir Syed was attracted towards historical studies by the ruins of Delhi and Agra. It is often, though wrongly, believed that Sir Syed wanted to cut off India completely from her historic past and westernize her with the hot-haste of an idealist. Nothing can be farther from truth. To few persons was the cultural heritage of India more precious than to Sir Syed. He was proud of it and wanted to preserve it. But stagnation in a moving world was something that he could not understand, “Preserve your best and accept other’s best”—was his motto. Aligarh was to be the junction of East and West, a repository of medieval and modern knowledge.

To preserve India’s cultural heritage, Sir Syed wrote his Asar-us Sanadid and edited the works of Ziauddin Barani and Abul Fazl, two of the greatest Indo-Muslim historians. Sir Syed was the first to write on Archaeology in a scientific manner, to edit historical works after careful collation and to undertake a journey to England for research work. His eminent biographer, Maulana Hali, informs us that Sir Syed’s main object in visiting England was to consult some rare books in the India Office Library and the British Museum in order to prepare his Lectures on Islam.

Jam-i-Jum (published in 1840).
Asar-us Sanadid (published in 1856).
Silsilat-ul Muluk (published in 1852).
History of Bijnor (published in 1855).
Edition of A’in-i-Akbari (published in 1855).
History of the Revolt of Bijnor.
Causes of the Indian Mutiny.
Edition of Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi (1862).
Edition of Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (1864).

Jam-i-Jum and Silsilat-i-Muluk were mere compilations but much labour had gone into their cull the information contained in these books. Jam-i-Jum deals only with the Timurids, while the other book contains chronological and biographical details about all the rules of Delhi known to history. Sir Syed took great pains in collecting and verifying the material contained in Jam-i-Jum and Silsilat-ul Muluk; but these books were not destined to win for the author a niche in the temple of fame. That honour was reserved for Asar-us Sanadid. Finding the Mughal Delhi at her last gasp, he decided to write an archaeological history of that unfortunate city. He wandered in the ruins of old Delhi, copying old inscriptions on the Qutub Minar that he almost risked his life in his attempt to find out the exact legends. He placed himself in a basket which was lowered from the Minar and thus verified and copied the inscriptions. He friend Sahbai, who used to accompany him, trembled at this sight, but Sir Syed carried on his work with the zeal of a lover.

After months of patience and arduous labour, Sir Syed produced his Asar-us Sanadid. It originally comprised of four chapters, three dealings with buildings of Delhi, the last containing brief but informative notices of 120 scholars, saints, physicians, calligraphists, musicians and artists of Delhi. Today when we read Sir Syed’s graphic sketches, a world of historic vision and memories glows into consciousness.

Asar-us Sanadid was warmly received by the contemporaries. Edward Thomas, a famous authority on Numismatics, praised the “enthusiastic antiquary” for “his excellent Archaeological history of Delhi”. Raverty declared: “I dare say anything from the Sayyid’s pen is valuable”.

In 1855 when Sir Syed was appointed Sadr Amin of Bijnor, he offered to write a history of that district. The District Magistrate placed all the district records at his disposal. Sir Syed undertook his work with great devotion. He collected enormous data for his work and examined a number of Mughal Farmans. The work, however, could not see the light of the day because it was destroyed in the office of the Revenue Board at Agra in 1857.

Sir Syed’s two brochures written soon after the mutiny—“Causes of the Indian Mutiny” and “History of the revolt of Bijnor”—deal, no doubt, with the problems of the day but they show also the author’s strong historical sense and his clear analysis of facts.

Next to Asar-us Sanadid, Sir Syed’s great contribution in the field of historical studies was his editions of A’in-i-Akbari, Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi and Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri. Sir Syed profusely illustrated his edition of the A’in with the pictures of Mughal ornaments, tents flowers, etc. As one whose family had long been associated with the Mughal Court and had intimate knowledge of Mughal life an manners—though in its twilight—Sir Syed was best qualified for the work. His illustrations enhanced the value of the book and Blochmann used them in his English Translation of A’in. With the solitary exception of Mirza Ghalib, every one praised Sir Syed’s achievement.

While in Moradabad, Sir Syed edited Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi, which was published in 1862 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. During the last 90 years that have passed since its publication, hundreds of research workers on Medieval Indian History have benefited from this edition of Sir Syed. Later Sir Syed edited Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri and published it in his own press under his own supervision at Aligarh in 1864.

Sir Syed was a pioneer in the field of historical studies. A pioneer cannot be expected to achieve everything himself. He showed the way and inspired others. It can be said without fear of contradiction that the historical works of Maulana Zakaullah and Maulana Shibli were directly the result of Sir Syed’s encouragement, inspiration and persuasion. In spite of Maulana Sulaiman Nadvi’s attempt to under-rate it, the fact remains that it was in a small room of Sir Syed’s house that Maulana Shibli developed his interest in history and read enormous literature on Oriental subjects.

Professor Khaliq Ahmed Nizami
Article published in ‘The Glowing Legend of Sir Syed’
Edited by Syed Zia ur Rahmn, 1998