Aligarh Movement & Syed Ahmed Khan - General Knowledge of Modern India

Aligarh Movement & Syed Ahmed Khan General Knowledge of Modern India

The foundation of Aligarh movement was laid by Syed Ahmed Khan. Its special objectives were to provide better education to the Muslims and to keep them separate from the Congress.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was born in 1816 AD in an affluent family, he was well versed in Arabic and Persian. In the revolt of 1857, Syed Ahmed Khan was loyal to the British and in his book "Asbab-e-Ghadar" he tried to prove that the revolt of 1857 was not conducted by Muslims. He had accepted the service of the Company Government in 1837 AD. He received the title of "Sir" for being loyal to the Company's government.  Sir Syed Ahmed was a nationalist. He was a supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity and considered Hindu and Muslim as two stars in the eyes of Mother India. They considered each other's opposition to be a sign of destruction.

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Saddened by the degeneration of the Muslims, Sir Syed Ahmed thought that the welfare of the Muslims could be possible only through friendship with the British. To remove the feeling of mistrust towards Muslims from the mind of the British, he published a letter called "Loyal-Muhammadans of India".

Aligarh Movement

Syed realized the need for modern education among Muslims and started a school in Aligarh in 1875. Later "Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College" was formed in 1877 AD and this college later took the form of Aligarh Muslim University in 1920 AD. English education was promoted among Muslims and British rule was praised.

In opposition to the Congress, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded an organization called Muslim Education Conference in 1886, whose sole purpose was to keep Muslims separate from the Congress. In collaboration with King Shivprasad Sitare Hind of Banaras, Syed Ahmed founded an organization called United Patriotic Association. This organization expressed loyalty to the British Empire and opposed the Congress. He considered the anti-Congress attitude to be harmful to the Muslims. Again in 1893 the "Muslim Anglo-Oriental Security Council" was established. The goal of this council was to keep the Muslims, the government, loyal, to strengthen the British rule and to get rights for the Muslims with the help of the British.

Aligarh had become a stronghold of Muslims. The role of English principals like Bank Morrisin and Archiwald was very important among those who taught the lesson of communalism to the Muslims. The Aligarh movement developed communalism in India.