Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: An Architect of Muslim Nationalism in Colonial India

Abstract

Person dies however personalities live once and for all. Sub-continent always remained a safe haven for the invaders as it always welcomed to every new ruler. Britain East India Company came for the purpose of trade in India. However, after analyzing the political landscape of the Sub-continent then, they made their mind to grab the whole slice. They came as trader and became the master of the Sub-continent. Consequently, in 1857 British completely occupied the whole of Sub-continent and emerged as sole political power in undivided India. The Independence war proved to be very unfortunate event for the Muslims, as it opened new door of miseries. In this time of crisis, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s charisma proved to be a beacon of light for the Muslims. He outlined a clear road map for those who were suffering a lot in the hands of Britain. Furthermore, Sir Syed greatly contributed for Muslim Nationalism in United India. In order to keep pace alongside Hindus in all aspects of society, economy and political spheres, he held an opinion that Muslims should need to change their course of action. In order to this, they should mold their ways towards modernization and embrace western style of learning. There is a lot of Scholarly works has been done on the role of Sir Syed in Muslim Nationalism in India. However, the gap which has been found that how did Sir Syed educational efforts solely help Muslims to understand Britain policy of ruling them through periodic constitutional amendments. It has examined the role of Sir Syed MAO College, Aligarh in rising Muslim Nationalism and how it took legitimate position in late nineteen century.  It has also looked at that how Sir Syed influenced Muslim Nationalism in India and how he helped Muslims to become more politically conscious. The qualitative method of research has been adopted. Moreover, the Primary and Secondary method of data collection has applied to collect data.