Who was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan?
Q: Who was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan?
A: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was a teacher, politician, philosopher, and social reformer. He founded the school that would later become Aligarh Muslim University.
Q: What happened in 1857?
A: In 1857 there was a rebellion in India known as the First Indian War of Independence.
Q: How did Sir Syed Ahmed Khan respond to the rebellion?
A: During this time, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan kept loyal to the British and saved many European lives. After the rebellion he wrote a book where he said the British were in fact those who caused the rebellion.
Q: What did Sir Syed say in his speech at Meerut in 1888?
A: In his speech at Meerut in 1888, Sir Syed argued for an alliance between Indian Muslims and British Christians based on religious fanaticism by referencing verses from The Quran which state that Mohammedans cannot expect friendship and affection from any other people except Christians.
Q: What did Sir Syed do to improve educational standards among Muslims?
A: To improve educational standards among Muslims, Sir Syed set up a journal called Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq which contained articles of influential Muslims who agreed with his approach towards education; founded scientific society in Ghazipore; opened schools in Murdabad and Ghazipore; made a committee to raise funds for new schools; established Muhammadan Anglo Oriental school in Aligarh; and set up Muhammadan Educational Conferences in 1866.
Q: How did he increase political awareness of Muslims?
A: To increase political awareness of Muslims, Sir Syed initially believed Hindu-Muslim unity but later resolved to two-nation theory when he saw how Indian National Congress claimed to be body of every Indian regardless of religion but only functioned for Hindus while trying to eradicate Muslims. He opposed three demands made by Congress - political representation according population (which meant Hindu domination), appointment by competitive examinations (as Hindus had better education than Muslims) and Hindi replacing Urdu as official language (as Urdu had special place among Muslim hearts).
