CHAPTER-I

Il'iTRODUCTION

It has rightly been said that the historians of

education must be "past at.rare, present concerned and future

oriented." 1 The reasons are many. Sinee one of their most

important areas of interest revolves around the study of

educational institutions, a thorough knowledge of the back•

ground of the institutions ~ould be helpful not only for

understanding their present set up and functioning but also

for identifying their specific problems and formulating

suitable guidelines. Educational institutions, especially

the universities, have a unique place in all societies and

they play a prominent part in the development of all nations. 2

Still it is a surprising fact that very little effort has

been made so far to study them particularly from a historical

point of viet1, 3 which is sine~ ngn to understand their

1. G.R. Batho, revie~ of Edycatign and tbe Social Cgnditiona by Harold Silver, in ~ti§h ~oqk NHHa, February 1981,p.90

2. On thi .. s point seel Y.Kim et.al. eds.L ~~~~a;;=~~ University in Nat_ona§ pevftlQsment• !O ___ A __________ tudiga ( Net.r Delhi: Vikas 19 0 • F.H. Harrington, ~Role of the University in Scientific and Technological Research for National Development" in University BenftShCh ip ~~ and %ecpno6gg~ ~n Delation to NatignaJ Devfth2nm~ New Delhi: University Grants Commission, 1980), PP•39-~6.

3. Erie Ashby who made an indepth analysis of the universities in U.K., Africa and India did lament on the lack of histori­cal research about the universities. He observed: "It is a curious fact that universities which are dedicated to tba pursuit of kno~ledge are reluctant to pursue knowledge about themselves." Eric Ashby £attnrng_gf Uni~~tt~a tn'Non-Euro~ean ~ (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 19 61) t po 1.

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functioning and role in societyo Although some of the

scholars in the West have taken considerable interest in

this area and have bro~ght out quite a few scholarly

studies on the history of universities, 1 Indian historians

have comparatively neglected this area. 2 It cannot be due

to the dearth of data. 3 Possibly their lack of interest

in educational history might be due to a variety of reasons

of vhich mention may be made of inadequate facilities for specialization in this area,~ lack of expooure to the field-

1 •. e. g., See Hugh H.atrkins Pioneer A H!at.ru:;v ofthG J'ohn lisuUdA.CJ ym,vex:,U..t-:4 1874-1889. (~re"t! York: Cornell Univernity Press, 1960). . · Charles Edtrard 14allet, A H&c;J;.Qn: QL.thfLJln;ty..ruvc:titv oJ gx:ford, 3 vols. ( London: l·iathuen Co., 1924; reprint ed;.': , .L\1 ew York:· Barnes & Noble, 19 68) • Howard H. Peckham. l,be HrudJlttAf' tho Un,j_Iersil:v: of &chiltane. 181Z-190Z\Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; 1967}. · Louis R. Hilson The U.n!vew...:t~ H.QX.tll. CBr,~

0 .. : T · Malt .. . 3iOdiciiJiilfuii<ChaPel Hilla University of North Carolina· Press, 19 7). ·

2. Yet few historical studies on certain Indian universities have been brought out either by the respective university officials or scholars in other discipline. e.g., seo A. R. Sethi and J. L, l>lehta: A *stoa of the Pun3ab Uniyenity0 Cha~ tt4Z·.QL (Chandigarha PunJab University Publication, 1968) • .R.w!d~qqf t}le unruu:sj,ty of' Calcutta (Calcutta& University of Calcutta, 1957). s. R. Dongerkery, A. His.t.on of ttuLUniye~:ltx or ~OP'lb.ax, 185?-1957 (Bombaya Bombay University, 1§5i).

3. Considerable material pertaining to universities is available at the record rooms of universities, National and State archives. Besides five volumes on the S n Go e di have already been For details see bibliography).

4. As far as ~e have been able to enquire, it seems that none of the departments of hiotory in Indian universities provide specialised courses in history of education, though many of them do enrol students for Ph.D in this area. It may be due to two reasons. The subject is generally offered at the departments of education and secondly there are not many scholars in the departments of history as well as education who have special interest or specialisation in this area.

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presumably due to the limited number of publication3 and .

discouraging attitude of certain people towards this area~

Besides, because of the inevitability of understanding the

more important aspects of history, viz., political,

administrative, social and economic, the historians seem to

have undervalued the significance of making exclusive studies

on the educational dimensions of our past. 3

This lacuna has, however, been fulfilled by the

pedagogists who produced quite a few research works in

.i. It may be noted that of the 281 articles published in a leading journal of history - Indian_Sgcial ang Economic liisto~ Rey~eH,during the period 1965-1979 there were only four articles on educational history. While three exclusive journals devoted to history of education continue to be brought out from London, New York and Belgium, there is not a single journal devoted exclusively to the history of education in India. Moreover, the foreign journals on history of education have very li~ted circulation in India.

2. e. g. According to an expert.. member (identity kept confidential) of a selection'committee for the recruitmento of a lecturer in Modern Indian history at a central university, it was decided to reject an otherwise qualified candidate \Whose academic record and the performance at the interview were not in any way lower than the selected candidate) mainly due to his specialisation in educational history. According to the expert, both the Vice-Chancellor and one of the members of the Committee, stated that "history of education is no history at all." Though we cannot rule out other motives of the selection committee in rejecting the specialist in educational history, this incidence throws light on the ignorance and bias of certain senior scholars towards this area. To change this attitude, the historians of education should produce outstanding works and try to introduce courses in this area in history departments.

3. While some aspects of education have been covered invariably in most of the studies on social history there has not been a single study dealing exclusively on any aspect of oducation, out of the 221 doctorates (Modern Indian History} produced during 1857-1970 from 60 Indian universities. See!A ~~t D~!~ral Dia£extat!ona Ae~epted bY Ind_an ________ 18 __ -:_9ZQ (New Delhi: Inter University Board, 197 section VIII.

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history of education. 1 Yet, non~ of them made any attempt

to study the history of a university. 2 In general their

approach to and analysis of a given problem differs

considerably from that of a historian - possibly due to

their lack of historical perspective and inadequate training

in the utilization or variety of primary sources. 3 Hence,

most of their studies seem to be incomplete from a historian's

point of vieu. A proper comprehension of our past, demands

serious and steady effort towards studying the educational

history primarily from a historian's angle.

~nifisanc~_and Sggpe gt the Top!g

The history of education is a vast area and keeping

the scope of the present study in view, the focus here is

confined to higher education in British India, which commenced

with the establishment of the university of Calcutta in 18,?.

Since then, University education has been expanding and by

1. or the total 1,128 doctorates produced from the various departments of education of the Indian universities during 1943-?8, there were 82 doctorates in history of education. This is calculated from the following publications:-l•L B. Buch, ed. '· A suryoy of Refearch ).n ~duif'tion., 194-3-zg { Barodaa 1~. s. university, 1974 , PP• 8, 3- 2. M. B. Buch, ed., Sectond Sttrvey.: of RM~ in Edugat~ .l9Z2·Z8. ( Barodal 1-1. s. University, 19'79; PP• i+2-68

d t i a · an U i Ne1-1 Delh12 N.C. E. R. T., 1966 , PP• -12.

2. The necessity of undert~~ing detailed studies on th.e various aspects of universities has been pointed out by. s. c. Shukla, "History of Education - A Trend Report," in M.B. Buch, ed., A S~~XftY qf R~qeatcb in Edgcation0 1943-?2, P• 51.

3. Though these points are debatable, an examination of the theses presented to the departments of education of the various Indian universities (Many of them are available at the I.c.s.s.R. Library, 35 Farozhah Road, New Delhi) lend considerable support to our conclusion.

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1920, there were altogether ten universities (Table 1).

Of these, the universities at Banar~s. (1916) and Aligarh

{ 1920) known as Banaras Hindu University ( BHU) and A.ligarh

Muslim University ( AMU) have some special significance

because of various reasons. First of all, their founders

:l:able-1 Growth of Yni~ersittes in Britisp India, 1812-192Q

s.No. Name of the University Place Year of Type of the

1. Calcutta University Calcutta 2. Bombay University Bombay 3. Madras University Madras ~t.. Allahabad University Allahabad 5· Banaras Hindu University Varanasi

6. Mysore University My sore

1· Patna University Patna.

8. Osmania University Hyderaba.d

9· Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh

10. Lucknow University Lucknow

establish- University ment

1857 Affiliating 1857 Affiliating 1857 Affiliating 1887 Af fi 11 a ting 1916 Teaching and

Residential 1916 Teaching and

Affiliating (Federal)

1917 Teaching and

1918 Affiliating Teaching and Residential

1920 Teaching and Residential

1920 Teaching and Affiliating

(This table does not include the three other universities viz., PunJab ( 1882), Dacca ( 1920) and Rangoon ( 1920) -since they are not in India at present}.

Source:

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viz., Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya ( 1861-19lt-6) and Syed .Ahmed

Khan1 ( 1817-1898) and others who were associated with the

building up of these institutions, in one way or other were

also actively involved in important contemporary socio­

political movements and organizations such as Hindu Mahasabha,

Indian National Congress and Muslim League. Secondly these

two universities were the first to come into existence

prima_rily due to the initiatives of the politically conscious

Indi~n intellectuals2 and contributions from In~ians. By

1. Different biographers of Syed Ahm~d Khan spell his name in different manner and there is a need to differentiate him from Saiyyid .Ahmed Khan of Rae Bareilly ( 1786-1836) who was associated with the Wababbi movement. Though the nationa­list historians prefer to refer him simply as Syed Ahmed Khan, he is even today popularly A referred to as Sir Syed at A.1'4. U. (He \'Tas ktlighted in 18o9). In the present work, be is referred to as Sir Syed. · '

2. While different scholars in the past have used the term intellectuals and intelligentsia in a common way to denote ''western educated, 11 ( as Edward Shill does); "active conceptive ideologistsn (as Marx uses); "Writers, public men, journalists and thinkers, who are intellectual . representatives of new classes and of Indian nationalism" (as Bipan Chandra uses); Bhattacharya has mado an effort to distinguish between intelligentsia and intellectuals. According to him "all intellectuals are members .of the intelligentsia, but not every member of the intelligentsia is an intellec~ual." Accepting Bipan's definition of intellectual, Bhattacharya also adds those belonging to the traditional learned professions in the category of intelligentsia, because of their crucial role in the formation of Pakistan. eft Feuer defines intellectual as the one with at least some knowledge of contemporary ideas, who is under an emotion~ compYl§ion to challenge,the social world in which he lives emphasis added). See, s. Bhattacharya, "Notes on the Role of the Intelligentsia in Colonial Society: India from Mid Nineteenth Century." Paper presented at the Seminar on Comparative Education, Jawaharlal Nehru University Netr Delhi 22 l4arch 1979; subsequently published in sJu~tes in History, Vol.I, No.I (January-June 1979) 9 PP• 89-104. Leui s s. Feuer, ;tdAA~Y: and ,the IdJiRl,ogis:t ( Oxford:& Basil Blackwell, 1975), p.20 •

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providing special facilities for the study of Hindu and

Islamic learning and culture, :S. H. u. and A.M. u. have been

attracting a comparatively greater number of Hindu and Muslim

students from all over the country1 and thus functioning as

the universities of "All India Character"2 and "National

importance. n 3

Of these two universities, Aligarh has been singled

out for the present study due to a variety of reasons. Apart

from the political, social and cultural reasons mentioned above,

Aligarh has a special significance due to its controversial

role in the history of modern India. Prior to 1947, the

controversy was centred on three ~ssues viz., w,hether Sir Syed

1. There can be two more important reasons 1.-rhy ·the Uuslim as well as Hindu students from distant places opt for Aligarh and Banaras respectively when they may be in a position to pursue their studies in the local institutions. These institutions provide innumerable scholarships and freeships to the Muslim and Hindu students out of the number of· endowments instituted by the members of the erstwhile princely families of British India. Besides due to absence of stiff competition and special admission policy many students succeed in securing admission to the course of their choice comparatively easier than other better universities. However, in the case of Aligarh some Muslim students show preference to it because of the emotional satisfaction they derive due to the Islamic atmosphere and Muslim majority in the campus. But with the expansion of

·the educational facilities and the growing awareness of secularism, the dependence of the distant students on these institutions is being reduced and these universities are becoming more localised. On this point, see,

·Akhtar Hussain, "Shrinking Catchment 1lrea of .A. N. u., 19 20-75" Seminar Paper, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 1975 {Typescript).

2. Radhakrishnan Commission Repo~, Vol.I, p.461.

3. ~~art of the Cgmmittee on Ggyernfnce of Universities and olleg eft (New Delhi: u. G. c., 1971 , P• 20. . .

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was a nationalist; 1 whether he was influenced by the English

Principal of ~~.o. College, Theodore Beck, in taking an

anti-congress stand and remaining loyal to the British; 2

whether the Muslim League was the brainchild of the English

Principal Archebold or Nawab Mohsinul Mulk and his associates. 3

Even after the independence of India, Aligarh is not free

from one or other politico-communal controversy. Controversy,

however, continues as its curse.

At present the controversy revolves round the "historic

or minority character" of the un1 versi ty. 4 To many Huslima,

the minority character of A.M.U. has become more of an

"emotional issue" rather than an academic or constitutional

one.? It means different things to different interested groups 6

1. While a group of scholars, represented by Tarachand, Nizami and Shan Muhammad consider Sir Syed as a Nationalist, another group represented by .M.s. Jain and A. c. Bannerji considerably differ in their assessment of Sir Syed. This point has been examined in Cbapters V-VI. passim

2. For details on this _point, see Chapters IV & VI passim.

3. For details on this point, see Chapter VII, passim.

4. This controversy had its origin in 1951 when the A.M.U. Act of 1920 was amended by the Government of India. Thereafter with every subsequent amendments in 1965, 72, 78, 80 the issue became more politicised. The various factors that led to the amendment of the A. 14. u. Act during the last three decades and its impact on the Indian society provide ample scope for research in contemporary history.

5. v.v. John, "Safeguards for Aligarh• Distorted View of Preservation of Minor! ty Character," Contgur \'ifeek~ (New Delhi), .30 March 1980, p.16.

6. "While a section of Muslims believed that the restoration of the minority character would restrict the admission to the various courses at A. 14. u. only to Muslims; others thought that the academic and administrative appointments would be reserved for Muslims. n ( ~) A.M. Khusro, "Minor! ty Cbarac ter of A.l4. U.," speech delivered at Y.M.C.A., New Delhi on lvtarch 1, 198o.

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and it seems that there is a great deal of ignorance about this.

Perhaps no other educational institution in modern India has

been an issue of continuous debates r~.nd discussions among the

Parliamentarians, press and publicJ·- To know how and why an

educational institution has become a significant and sensitive

issue, we have·to examine three aspects. What exactly is the

"historic or minority" character of the A. N. U.? How and why

did A.M. u. acquire it when it was established in 19 20? What

are 1 ts various dimensions?

These questions drew the attention of the present

researcher as early as 19?1 when he was a student of M.Ed. at

the A.M.U. While the walls of the campus were pasted with posters

demanding the restoration of the character, the halB of residence

and the students' union witnessed a series of meetings which

echoed the sentiments of a large number of the Aligarh students

and their concern for • protecting' the character of their

institution. It would have been impossible for a student living

in the campus to remain unconcerned to those developments and

naturally his curiosity would have aroused. A preliminary

reading of the extant literature and informal discussio~s with

the members of the Faculty of Education made it clear that to

form a full perspective of the historic character of the A.M.u.

1. For a cross-section of different views see the followinG: Parliament Debatea~ Vol.XV, XVI (1951)t col.2201-3, 3545-51. Lo~sapha Depates, No.5?~ Vol.XVI ( 19?2J, col. 19-228. ib!d, No.5?, Vol.XV ( 19r8) co1.320. ~ndian Egnress (New Delhi Edition), 16th April 1979, 30th Narch 19 0; 9th March 1981. Hindustan Times, 4th May 19?8; 6th January 1980; 12th February 1981. §undaY: Week;l:v (Calcutta ed.) 1st February 1981. H.A. Gani, Muslim Po1iticg1 issues an~ National Integration (New Delhi: Sterling, 197 ) , PP• 136-7 •

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one should understand the underlying historic facts and forces

that shaped the destiny of Indian Muslims since 1857. It also

became clear that without the grasp of modern Indian history

and Urdu - one of the important languages of the source

materials on Muslim politics - it would be difficult to trace

the evolution of the historic character of the A.M.U. While,

on the one hand, the interest in the study of the character,

introduced the researcher to the study of modern Indian history

and the Urdu language; on the other hand, the intense but

'peaceful agitational activities' of the campus students of

A. N:. U, and their speeches, statements and other publications

with which the researcher got acquainted during the course of

his M.A. programme ( 1971-7 3) at A.M. u., further deepened his

desire to study the character of the university, primarily to

understand its significance and relevance to Muslims and others.

In 1975, when it was decided to undertake the· present

study, 1 there was no piece of research work on this topic -

either published or unpublished, of which the researcher was

aware of. Neither was there any model for studying the

character of an institution. The problem was of methodology.

How should one study the character'l An answer to this question

would be easier, if we try to know what is meant by the word

'character' and then formulate a definition of it. Adopting

the literal meaning of the word 'character,' as given in the

Cong_ise Gxford Dicti.gna.a, ~re can formulate a simple de_finitioh

1. Another important incentive to work on this topic was the easy accessi bill ty to the documents on A.l-'1. U. at the Z. H.- Centre for Educational Studies where the researcher was pursuing his worl{. Since the Educational Records Project of the Ministry of Education was ·located there a typescript copy the selected documents from National Archives of India was readily available in 1975· By 1977, they were published.

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for the purpose of the present study. The character of a

university may be defined as those distinct! ve features which

distinguish it, at least in certain respects from the rest of

the universities. For studying the distinguishing features

of a university, we need to have a clear understanding of its

general organizational set up. Considering the university as

an organization, 1 we can identify it~ three important dimensions.

They are (i) the ideology which determines the aims and

objectives; (ii) the individuals, who provide leadership, viz.,

Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, etc., (iii) the

institutional bodies, viz., Court, Executive Council, Academic

Council etc., which function according to the ideology and the

leadership. In other words, to examine the character of a

university, we have to study it from an organizational point

of vie,.,.

How does the University acquire its 'features'? A

university primarily acquires its characteristics from the ideas,

initiatives and involvements of its propo~nts and promoters.

Since their ideas and initiatives are invariably influenced by

the policies of the state and the expectations and requirements

of the society, we have to examine all these aspects to know

why and how a university acquires its character. As the Aligarh

Muslim University came into existence as a result of the

1. On this point see, E. D. Duryea "Evolution of' University Organization!" in James A. Perkins, ed., Th~ Unixers~ty as_ .an Organizat~on ( Ne\·T Delhi: l"J.CGraw Hill, 1970j) pp.1 -38. Hugh L1vin6stone, The UniyerCttx: An Organisational Analysis ( Scotland: Blacki e Sons, 197 , PP• 1-16.

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continuous efforts of Sir Syed and his followers over a long

period of 50 years (1870-1920) 9 we have to examine the

intellectual9 social, political, economic and educational

history of these years, to delineate the 'historical character'

of the university.

Revi etr of .4.ligarh ~tugiAA

There has been no dearth of scholarly studies on the

history of this period under review, pertaining to British

policy, 1 Indian nationalism, 2 Muslim politics3 and· U.P. politics. 4

There are also specialised works on Alit;;arh leaders and their

activities - which for the sake of brevity \·Te may cat·egorise as

Aligarh studies. It may be helpful to review the latter mainly

to get ac·quainted with their aims, approaches, aspects and· the

sources and thus avoid duplication and enhance the ratson-~

etre of this study.

1. e.g., s. Gopal, ~itish Policy 1n In41a, 1858-1902 (Cambridgea Cambridge University Press, 1965; reprint ed., New Delhi, Orient Longmans, 1975).

2. e.g., Anil Seal, The Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Qomrurti:ti.on ::tnd CgJ.J.a.boration .• in the L~.ter H1nete~ntb c entuu ( Cambridgea Cambridge University Press, 196 , Paper back ed., 1971). John R. McLane, Indian Nationalism and EarJ,y: Cgng.res.s ( Ne,., Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1977).

3. e.g. , Peter Hardy? Ihg +:tus lims .. or Bri t:t s.b ln<'".i a ( C arnbridges Cambridge Univers~ty Press, 1974; paper back ed., 1975). Mushirul Hassan, Nationalism and Communal Pglitics in tndia (New Delhis Manohar, 1977).

4. e. g., C. A. Bayly, Local Roots of Ifdism Na.tion01ismr AJ.laha]:lad, 1880-1920 (Oxford: ClA-rendon, 1975 • Francis Robinson, ~ep~;ati~m A~gn~ I~dran Muslims: Tbe Politics of United PrgyinceB Mes1ims 1B6o-1923Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 197 ; reprint ea., New Delhi: Vikas, 1975).

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Aligarh studies began in 1885, when G.F.I. Graham,

brought out a volume on the life and activities of Sir Syed. 1

Since then quite a few works have been published on and about

Aligarh2 and 1 t continues as a fertile and facin'iting area of

study even today. 3 It would, no doubt, be a stupendous task

to review all of them. From the point of present work it would

be enough if we restrict the review only to the major and minor

research studies, 4 both published and unpublished. Uptill now,

we have about 8 major and 10 minor studies on Aligarh. All

these studies have been carried out during the last two decades

and the fact that 80 per cent of the studies have been produced

by foreign scholars should motivate the scholars at Aligarh and

other Indian universities to understand the significance of

Aligarh studies and encoura~e them to undertake more studies in

1. G.F.I. Graham, Th K.C.s.I. (Edinburg: w. B~l~a~c~k~w~o~o~d~,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~I~d~a~r·-~

i-Adabiyat, 1975).

2. This term has been used in a general way to denote the leaders of Aligarb movement, their various orJanizations and the M.A. o. College.

3. e.g., It has been understood that at present Arfa Zohra is writing a thesis on "An Intellectual Biography of Sir Syed" for her Ph.D at the East-West Centre of Hawai university. Recently Dr. Hafeez Malik of Toronto University has brought out a volume on Aligarh. (Inspite of the best efforts, a copy of this work could not be procured and hence it is not included in this review). Hafeez Malik, Sir Sayytd .lb.mad KhM and Muslim Modernization in I¥nia and PakLqtan Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1980 •

4. The major studies here, include only doctoral dissertations, while the minor studies include ~A. Theses, as well as the research p:'1.pers and chapters on .AliJarh (in other studies) which have made use of primary source materials. The two studies by Nizami and Bhatnagar though based on primary sources have, however, been left out due to the limitations of the present work. They are K. A. Nizami, sriyyj.d Abmad Khan (New Delhi: Publications Division 19 66 • S•K· Bhatnagar, Jlistgf. of tbe 1•1. A.. o. College, AJ,igarh (Bombay: Asia Publishing, 1969 •

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this area in future. 1

Of the eight ma.j or research studies, four have been

submitted to the universities of u.s.A. and tvo each to those

in the U.K. and India. Only 50 per cent of the studies have

been published so far. Of the four published works, two studies

by 1-1. s. Jain2 and Sh~n Huhammad 3 have been completed from the

uni versi ties of Agra and Allahabad respectively in 19 62 and 19 68,

while the remainin5 two by Christian W. Tro114 and David Lelyveld5

have been completed from the universities of London and Clucago

in 1975 though published in 1973. Of the remaining four

unpublished studies, ~~M.R. Hassan's study was completed as

early as 1959, from the University of London. 6 The other three

1. One reason why the members of the faculty of history of .1.. ¥u U. did ne6lect the studies on Aligarh, might be due to their pre­occup-tion with medieval Indian History since, U.G.C. has recognised it ~s an adv~nced centre in me~ieval history. However, it would be worthwhile to set up atlea.st a unit at .'l. N. t.J. or any other Indian university to undertake special studies on .Aligarh and l•1uslim politics, society and ecucation in modern India, which remains comparatively neglec terl..

2. M.s. Jain, .IJliLAliga.;t:h .l·loyement ( 1828-1906): Its Qrig,in apd Deyeloument ( Ag ra, s. R. !•lehra, 19 65}.

3. Shan HuhammaC!, qir Say:yid Abma.d Khfn: A. Political 3iog;caphy ( }1eerut: Neenakshi PrA.kashan, 19 ($ • ·

4. Christi an, \1. Troll, S"\yyid A1unad }\han: A Re;i.nter12retation o! 1-ip.slim Theology: (New Delhi: Vikas, 19'78).

5. David Lelyvelcl, Aluarh' s Fir::;.t Generation: i1y,sl~m Solidarity in Brit;i.sh India (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978).

6. Despite the repeated efforts, the researcher could not procure a microfilm copy of this work. However, we can form an idea of the scope of the theme and the period covered froo the title of the thesis. Since the researcher had no chanGe to go through the full study except for- some cross r€ferences and quotations in other studies, this wi'll not be taken up for the present review. R. B. 1•1. R. Hassan "The E-ducational 1·1ovement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, 1858-1898 Tt (Ph.D dissertation, Uni verst ty of London, 1959).

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studies by Margaret Harison Case, 1 Riazuddin Zobairi~ and Alfred

Elizabeth Mayers 3 were completed in 1970, 1971 and 1973

respectively from the universities of Chicago9 Southern Illinois

and American University at Washington. In short, the majority

of the major studies on Aligarh came out in 1970s.

These studies were undertaken at different'places and

times and varied considerably from each other. However, one of

the most important concern of these studies was to th~w light

on the various facets of the person~.11 ty of Sir Syed. In a.ll

these studies, invariably an effort has been made to study the

educ~tional ideas of Sir Syed only briefly and not in comparison

with other contemporary intellectuals - which seems to be

inevitable for a proper comprehension of the educational thought

of the time as well as for makin6 a comparative but realistic

assessment of Sir Syed as an educationist. Making use of more

or less the same sources, .Tain and Shan l4uhan:.mad proj eeted the

persona.li ty of Sir Syed entirely from two opposite standpoints.

\':/bile the former became too critical of Sir Syed and' primarily

projected him as a 'communalist' from the very beginning without

trying to examine objectively '-Thy and how and at what stage

Sir Syed got transformed from an ardent advocata of the Hindu-

1. Nargaret Hartson Case, 'The Aligarh Erat Musl.i.m Politics in Northern India, 1860-1910.' (Ph.D dissertation, University of ChiCaJo, 19?0; New Delhi: Nehru i·1useum Libr'!lry Lhenceforth N. J.'i. IJ, Mic rof'i ll.a copy, !~ o. 10 6) •

2. Riazuddin H. lobairi 'The Eductttional and Social Ideas of' Sir S;y ed Ahmad Khan, t ( Ph.D dissert~.tion, Southern Illinois University, 1971; New Delhi: N.N .• L., lftcrofilm copy No.1'73).

3. Alfred blizabeth .~.-!eyers, 'Theodore Beck !!!.nd Saiyyid Abntad Khan; '?he Nyth of Provocateur ant'!. Puppet in MusLi.m Separatism 187)-1906' ( l'h.D dissertation, American University, ~:r-shington, 19'13; New Delhi 1~.1'-1. L., lftcrofilm copy No.998).

- 16 -

Muslim unity for the social and political upliftment of the

country as a whole, to a champion of the cause of exclusively

Muslim interests; the latter got overwhelmed with the personality

and programmes of Sir Syed. Yet, Shan Muhammad • a political

scientist and not a historian like Jain - has excelled in

examining how the various historical forces and factors led to

the change of Sir Syed's attitude towards Hindus and Indian

National Congress after a particular stage.

Sir Syed•s attitude towards Congress and his advise to the

Muslims to keep away from it have been an enigma to many scholars,.

How could a leader of Sir Syed' s stature who compared, Hindus and

Muslims to the 'two beautiful eyes of a bride,' later think of

taking care of only one 'eye'? Was he p~essurised or influenced

by the British personalities especially Theodore Beck, the

principal of M.A. o. College with whom Sir Syed was very close?

While some scholars do subscribe to the belief that Beck was

responsible for the change of Sir Syed's attitude towards Congress,

Alfred Elizabeth Meyers, after making an indepth study of Sir

Syed' s relation with the members of European faculty of M.A. o. Colleg~ particularly with Beck, observe that they were "puppets

and provoc aters who used each other. "

The political aspects of Aligarh already examined briefly

by the earlier scholars were studied extensively by Margaret H.

Case. Besides this study, the educational and social ideas of

Sir Syed were also examined by Zobairi. But neither of them

throws any new light.

Many other aspects of Aligarh have also been investigated

in detail by various scholars. Religious philosophy was one of

the important areas of Sir Syed's interest and involvement. His

- 17 -

religious beliefs and attitudes had considerably antagonised a

section of the orthodox Muslims. What was the origin of Sir . Syed 1 s views on Islam and to what extent were it influenced by

the contemporary challenges of Christianity and of the champions

of the natural sciences• have been ably examined by Troll who

brought to our notice that the development of the religious

thoughts of Sir Syed had very little to do with the outward

challenges and it proceeded on rational lines and owed its

origins to his inner urge for the widening of his knowledge and

experience. A study of his religious thoughts, shows that Sir

Syed was not only too bold for his age but also an erudite

scholar endowed with a capa41ty for original thinking.

One of the most important achievements of Sir Syed was the

establishment of 14. A. o. College at Aligarh. Why and for whom did

he establish it and what type of students and teachers did it

attract during its first twenty five years of existence; and what

were the mutual relationships between the students, teachers and

the management; and what sort of educational, social and political

activities they were engaged in both inside and outside the

college have been examined in an interesting but intellectually

stimulating manner by David Lelyveld in his study. This work

which has been well received by the scholars~ may serve, as a

model for the future social historians to undertake similar

studies on important educational institutions.

1. e.g., See the reviews by Francis Robinson and Gail Minault, Robinson praised the study saying that 'it contains Jewels.' Francis Robinson, "Nineteenth Century Indian Islam", Bevimr of Aligarh's First Generation by David Lelyveld and S r d A a an: A R e n on 1-1 by c.w. Troll in Mgdern As1an StudLea, 1 October 19 0 : 83-704. Gail Minault, RJ;vieJ·t ot: A&t,~~~· s Firat Q;enera.t:t.on by David Lelyveld, Joqrnal of AslaP:stUdies, 38 (August 1979): 804-6.

- 18 -

This brief review of the major studies on Aligarh shows

that while the educational ideas of Sir Syed and his role in

establishing the l•l.A. o. College, as the nucleus of the future

university have been well examined, why he failed to raise the

college to the status of a fullfledged university, nothwith­

standing his deep desire for it bas yet to be studied. Did Sir

Syed or any of his colleagues or contemporaries make any effort

to expand the college into a university during 1875-1898? If

so, how? And if nor't why not? An examination of these issues

not covered in the earlier studies cannot be ignored for tracing

the evolution of the historic character of A. H. u.

' The story of the expansion of the college into a univer-

sity after the death of Sir Syed in 1898 forms the theme of only

two minor studies. While in a brief but brilliant article,

lfinault and Lelyveld made an attempt to focus o~ the campaign of

the colleagues and the contemporaries of Sir Syed for the collec-'

tion of funds and drafting of the constitution for tne proposed

university~ Aparna Basu in a scholarly but short section of her

worlt on I)le G~nth of pgu.c_at:Mtn and Pqlltical Develonment ip

Indip. 1898-1920 tried to highlight how the various political

factors a.ffecteo the scheme. 2 Though to a great extent Minault

and Lelyveld and to a limited extent Basu, did throw light on

the ideas of the intellectuals and the officials regarding the

Muslim university, they have refrained from examining whether

1. Gail Minault and David Lelyveld 9 "The Campaign for a 1-tuslim University 1898-1920," 1:Jodern Asi.an Studiea 8 ( 1974): 145-89.

2.

- 19 -

the contemporaries and successors of Sir Syed differed from

his basic educational ideas and if so, in what respects and

why and how far the ideas of the latter influenced the

character of the contemplated university? These questions which

are essential for a clear understanding of the character of the

university will be taken up in the present study.

Few other studies worth mentioning have also not taken

care of the above questions. t'ihile in a brief artie le Lelyveld

has shown how the early socio-economic background and the "life

styles" of the three important Aligarh students affected their

future relationships and activities at the ~A.~ College and

its functioning; 1 Irene A. Gilbert, in another article studied

holt the autonomy of the British professors at the M.A. o. College

was gradually challenged by the growth of political consciousness

among the Indians and affected the functioning of the institution. 2

The aims and the activities of the Mohammadan Educational

Conference ( 1885) - an important deliberative body of the .Aligarh

leaders have been studi ec! by A. \oi~.sey.9 and Edward Churchi 11

junior~ The remaining minor studies on Aligarh primarily deal

1. David Lelyveld, "Three Alig arh Students: Aftab Ahmad Khan, Ziauddin Ahmad and Muhammad All," Mgdern Asian Stqdi§.g, 9 (1975): 103-16.

2.

3.

4. Edward Churchill, Jr., "Nuhammadan l!.ducational Conf'erence and the Aligarh Novementt. 1886-1900," ?unJab fast and Present, 8 ( October 1974) s 366-_j81.

- 20 -

with the reforms and the religious and political views of

Sir Syed and his role in the development of Muslim Nationalism

in India. 1

In short, none of the above major or minor studies have

attempted to examine/the evolution of the historical character

of the A.M.u., its various dimensions, significance and

relevance to the Muslims and the non-Muslims. Hence there is

ample scope for studying these aspects.

Discussion ot Squreen

One important consideration for the selection of this

topic has been tne availability of some new source materials.

The papers of Syed Hoss ein Bilgrami l'Tho was associated with

the affairs of Aligarh in various capacities, contain important

files of correspondence with Theodore Beck and Theodore

Morrison ... both principals of lv1. A. o. College and James Hewett,

the Lieutenant Governor of U.P. (1907-12). Apart from the

personal letters, speeches and writings of Bilgrami, his

papers also include the writings of Ameer Ali, Nawab Mohsinul

Mulk and the proceedings of the meetings of H. A. o. Colleae Fund

1. See the followinga Hafeez 1-ialik, "Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Role in the Develoi>ment of Muslim Nationalism in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent, Islamic Studies, 5 ( 1966): 385-410. ,_._ Idem., "Sir Saiyyid Ahmad Khan's Doct.....,rines of Muslim Nationalism in India, n l:lg_d.,ru:p A.s;lan S.t.ug:le§., 4 ( 1970)s 129-47. Idem., "Sir Saiyyid Ahmad Khan• s Doct:rines of Muslic Nationalism and National Progress," MQdetn Asigq Stgnies, 11 ( 4968) s 221-44. Prem Naraint "Political Views of Sayyid Ahmad Khan: Evolution and Impact, ' Bengal Past and Pre.sent, 95 ( .Tuly-Decamber 1976): 238-61. J.¥~s. Baljon, The Reforms ~nd Religious Ideas of Sir Sazx1d :Ahmad Khan ( Lahore: M. Ashraf, 19 64).

- 21 -

Committee. The letters of Beck, Morrison, Hewett and Thomas

Raleigh which throw light on the inner motives of the British

and their acti viti es behind the scene have, so far, ~~been not

used by any other researcher. 1

• I.

The papers of Abdul i..faj id Khwaj a, Dr. Syed Mahmud, Dr. M·. J .•

Ansari and Raj a of Hahmudabad, though these have been used by a

few scholars in the past still contain certain letters pertaining

to the affairs of Aligarh, which remained unused and thef were

found to be very useful for the present work. Abdul Maji~ Khwaja

papers, wr~cb include the correspondence with the Honorary

Secretaries of the .M.A. o. College, viz., 14ohammad IshA.q Khan,

Muzzamilullah Khan and other important Aligarians 2 like Dr.

Ziauddin Ahmad, Syed Mahmud, Nawab of Bhopal, S.H. Bilgrami,

Shafi Mohammad Mian, Dr. i•I.ll. Ansari, Mohammad Ali and H1\keem

Ajmal Khan, enable us to understand more clearly the conflicts

among the ~ligarians and their attitude towards and association

with the nationalist movement, and how and why, the establishment

of A.M.U. was delayed. Dr. Syed Mahmud's papers also contain

important correspondence with Ziauddin Ahmad Ahmad, Ameer Ali

and Morison, which throw more light on the affairs at Aligarh.

The private papers of several Indians and the British

statesmen which were used by the earlier scholars mainly in

connection with their works on the various aspects of the history

of modern India, contain plenty of materials pertaining to the

1. These papers vTere gifted to Nehru Memorial 14useum Library in 1979 and were classified and open to scholars only in October 1980. On enquirlt it has been understood tha.t they have not been used by· earLier scholars.

2. This is a popular term used at Aligarh to designate not only the students but also the staff of A.M.u. In this study, this term also include all those well wishers of Sir Syed ~ho worked for the establishment of A. H .. u. "fl...<.. 1 ~ 1 rz IZ

1)4• 4-467-7, ·; / 1 .f'(N1.-- fvJ I ttf ... \ O~

- 22 -

establishment of the A.M.u., which remained either untapped or

used to a limited extent. For example, there are papers of

Badruddin Tyabj i, Gopal Krishna Goll:hale, Lord l·1ayo9 Northbrook)

Elgin, Minto, Morley, Hardinge, Curzon, Hewett, Meston and

Butler. In addition to these unpublished priivate papers, this 1 study has also made us·e of the published papers of 14. A. Ansari,

Ameer Ali, 2 Nawab .Abdul Lateer3 and Ali brothers. 4

A major part of the writings, speeches and letters of

Sir Syed used in this study, have been published5 and the ~ir Syed Archives at Aligarh contains little unpublished material

useful for the present work. 6 Of the several important works

1. l-iushirul Haas an, ed., Hus]J..ms and (he Con&X:EV3S2 Select Correapond§nce of Dr. M.A. Ansari New Delhil Manohar Publication, 1979).

2. Aziz, K. K., ed., A.meer Ali& His Life Md \1gr1f,R ( Lahore: Publishers United, 1968). s.R. Wasti~ ed.1 Hemglrs and Other Writings of S~ed Ameer Ali ( Lahore: P.I:'H, 1';' 6). · .

3. Enamul Haq ed. 9 Nawab Abdql Lateef: His Wgftings·ang Related Documents (Dacca: Samundra Prakashini, 196 • ,Lhenceforth Lateef Document§./

4. Shan Muhamad, ed., Yl.ul.ubJ.isbed Letters of the Ali Brgthera (Delhi: Idarh-i-Adabiyat, 1979). ·

5. Of the published vTOrks, the following have been extensively made use of in this study. ·They "ire: Yusuf Hussain ed., Selected Docyments from the Aligarh .&rc;hivu (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1967). Shan Mohamad, ed., Ihe A}igarh Mgvement: Basic Documents~ 3 vola. ( 1-ieert: Meenakshi Publication, 1978). Lhenceforth Aligarh Documental Idem. , ~Jrlting s ~,nd Speeghes of S_i r S;x: ed Ahmad Kban ( Bombay: Nachiketa Publications, 1972).

6. Except for a volume of letters connected with the educational aspect of ~ligarh movement (File book No.29), the rest of the materials pertaining to the establishtuent of .~. M. u., remains unclassified. In the present work the unclassified materials of' Sir Syed Archives are referred to as Alig arb papers.

- 23 -

of Sir Syed only a few have been found very useful from the

point of this study. 1 Of the innumerable works on Sir Syed

produced during his life time by his friends, the two biographies

of Sir Syed by G.F.I. Graham2 and~.H. Ha11 3 have been found very

useful and they have been used as primary sources in this study.

Though the present work has extensively made use of a recently

published volume of documents pertaining to the establishment of

.:. 14. u., 4 and the earlier published volumes of the educational

documents? and the other published official records of Government

2. G.F.I. Graham, gn.cit.

3. -~·H. Hali.t '~at-e-Ja.xeti,' trans. K. H. Qadir1 and David H. Mathews (uelhi: Idarh-i-adabiyat, 1979}.

4. s. c. Ghosh, ed., DeveJ.o:gment of Univ§I"sitY Educa:!fiqn9 1916-20: Sel,eation from the Educational Recgrds of Ggyemment of India New Series, Vol.I,(New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University, 1977>, PP• 96-223. Lhenceforth Kducational RecgAfis I-1

5. The following four volumes have been found to be of immense importance. Henry Sharp, ed. 9 Selections f'r~ Educational Reco~~ t~~;-1832, reprint ed. (New Delhi: NAI, ~96:1. Lhenceforth Eaueafi9nil Records I I J. A. Richey, ed. 9 §elections from Educ;rtional Records. 1340-59 9 reprint ed. ( Ne\'f Delhi: NAI, 1965>. Lhencefortb Educa:t.:lanal

f:l~io~-from the Educ~tiongl R§Sft~s gf the Government g! ~' Vol.I, ~ducational ReRorts 1 5~-z~, reprinted., (New- Delhiz NAI, 1960). Lhenceforth EducationaJ. .Records tii.t J.P. Naik, ed.L Selegtions !rom the EdugattQAal Records of Gaxernment of ~ndia, Vol.II, Development of Uniyeraitf Education 1§60-87, reprint ed., (New Delhi: NAI, 19640 • Lhenceforth Edugatiqnal Regqrds IV I

- 24 -

of India 1 and the Iiorth \-/estern Provinces; 2 and the documents

of the Muslim League, 3 still a number of useful documents

connected with the leaders of A]garh and the scheme of the

establishment of the A. 14. u. , have been located at the National

Archives of India ( NAI) and the u. P. State Archives ( UPSA) and

th~y were also found to be of im.1.ense import-=mce to this "t-Tork.

Of the other sources, the Aligarh Institute qaz~~te,

C gmraM, Iius lim Chronicle, ~ and the Sel~c.ti on§ from the

YernP.CUlar i'lewspapers of u. p. during the period 1870-1920 provided

variety of inform~.tion· regarQ.ing the attitude of the public and . .

the press towards the proposed university at Aligarh.

The oral transcripts of two eminent Aligaria.ns viz., Dr.

Syed Mahmud 4 and Abid Al15 - unused in earlier studies on

Allgarh - provided some information about. the political and social

activities of the students of Aligarh during 1905-1907 .and. their

attitude towards British and Indian National Congress and the

relationship between the British professors and the .A.ligarians.

1. Specially the following volumes have been found very useful.

2.

3.

Correnpondence gn the sub1ect of the Educatign of Mgslim CgmmunitY in British India and their Emploxment in tle Public .Service Gene:r:alJ.x.. Selections from the RP&g,rds of Ggv:ernment of Indba, No.CCV (Calcutta: Suverintendent of Govt. Printing, 1886). Lhenceforth Ggxergment Reqor~s No. ccy I Philips, C.H., R. i\. Pande, eds., A,he E.yoJ.ution of Indi,a and Pakistan 1858-19~7: Select D en o r o I d and Pakistan~ Vol. IV ( London: Oxford University Press, 19 62 • Lhenceforth India Select Documenta I

4. Syed

?• Abid

- 25 -

Ob;}ectiyes and the Aspects of Stud~

Mainly by making use of the above mentioned prinary

sources, this study, attempts to examine the process of the

establishment of the A.l"l. u., with particular reference to the

evolution of its historic character and its different cimensions

and significance and relevance to the ivluslims as \<Tell as to non­

Muslims. Moreover, this study has four more subsidiary aims,

i.e. to analyse the Huslim educational thought of the intellectuals

and British statesmen; to throw light on the British policy

to\'la.rds l•iuslim higher education with particular reference to

Aligarh during 187?-1920; to examine the extent to which the

emergence of other educational institutions, especially the

Islamiya colle~es, Shia college and Banaras Hindu University did

affect the process of the establishment of A.. H. u.; and the

attitude of the press and public toH·ards the proposed univ~rsi ty

of Aligarh. A study of these aspects of A.lvl. u. will enable us

to uriravel and understand the process of politicization1 of

higher education in British India because unlike other educational

institutions of Indian sub-continent .1. d. u. was invariably and

at times intensely involved with all the political developments of

the period 1870-1920 and often it has been observed that the

establishtlent of "-• r-l. u. was politically motivated. ~he hypothesis

that the political factors were responsible for the establishment

1. This study adopts Rudolph and Rudolph's definition of politicization; i.e. 'the appropriation of educational structures and resources and the displacement of educational goals by organized political and community {religion, caste, locality) interests.• Bee s. H. Rudolph and L. I. Rudolph, PP• cit,.., P• 8

- 26 -

of A.M. U. needs to be examined from three angles, viz., that

of the founder, his associates and the Government. Whether

the motives and the ideas of the founder, his associates and

the Government with regard to the establishment of A. i-1. u. were

political and if so, how did they try to achieve it and to

'\vhat extent did they succeed? In short, by making a case study

of the establishment of .1. h. u., we can form a clear picture of

the the pol.iticization of higher education in British Inria.

While none of the earlier studies, of which the researcher

is aware, has made any attempt to examine the above mentioned

dimensions in a detailed and consistent manner; some aspects of

Aligarh have invariably been touched or dealt with to a limited

extent by certain scholars because of the significant role

played by Aligarh in the history of modern India. Though we

cannot avoid some amount of repetition, a.n effort has been m~de

in various chapters to approach the theme as far as possible

from a different but critical angle.

The establishment of the Aligarh university has been

examined extensively in nine chapters (including introduction,

chapter I). Ideas and institutions are not born in a vaccum;

but they emerge out of various factors. What were the social,

political and economic factors which motivated intellectuals

like Sir Syed to think about and work for the mo~ernisation of

the Muslim community, have been analysed in the second chapter,

with particular reference to U.P. - the province in which Sir

Syed concucted his activities. Chapter III examines the extent

to ,.,hich the nineteenth century educational policy, pattern

and progress (with special reference to U. P. region and the

- 27 -

Muslims), prompted Sir Syed to lay the foundation of a

university in the form of M.A.o. College at Aligarh in 1875·

No doubt, the condition of the society, polity, economy

and education during the nineteenth century India might have

moved Sir Syed. Though there Here many intellectuals of Sir

Syed' s calibre and status at that time, 'llhy be alone thouJht

of the nece ·sity of modernisin..; the Huslims !'lnd succeeded in

founding the ~4. A. 0. College have been left more or less

unanswered by the earlier schola.rs. Hi th the help of psycho­

history, an effort has been made in chapter IV to study the

development of the ~ersonality of Sir Syed with a view to

~nalyse the various psychological factors which made him a

staunch loyalist and motivated him to initiate the various

programmes for the upliftment of the Muslim community.

\>/hen did the idea of a university occur to him? t.Jhat

sort of an education did he envisage for the Indians? Wtat

were his ideas on the medium of instruction and technical,

primary and women's education? How far his educ~tional ideas

were compatible with the educational policy of the colonial

regime and the requirements of the r.1uslims and non-r4uslims?

All these aspects have been analysed in. chapter V though at

times, differing from the interpretations of some of the earlier

scholars.

Chapter VI traces the trials and tribulations which

Sir Syed had to overcowe in establishing the 1·1. l. Q. College

and the various reasons due to which he could not raise it to

the status of a university during his life time. While the

role of Sir Syed in the establishment of the ~A.o. College has

- 28 -

been studied by the earlier scholars, the extent to which he

succeeded or failed in implementing his ideas on education and

the reasons thereof, have not been clearly brought out in the

earlier works. This aspect has also been studied in chapter

VIwith a view to know whether Sir Syed practised what he

preached. Despite his deep desire and the best relations

'dth the.Bri~ish, Sir Syed could not raise the college to a

university. An examination of the extent to which the British

policy affected the process of raising the college into a

university during 1875-1898 would constitute a new dimension . .

to this study.

Chapter VII and VIII, apart from identifying the

intellectuals who took up the task of the establishment df the

university, after the death of Sir Syed, attempt to study their

motives and analyse their views on the proposed university.

Unlike the earlier works, this has been attempted in an

elaborate manner with a view to throw light on the development

of Muslim educational thought during 1898-1920. Unlike the

earlier works this study tries to exa~une whether the ideas of

the contemporaries and successors of Sir Syed differ froru hi~,

and if so how and why? This would enable us to understand the

extent to which they succeeded in moulding the character of the

university. Moreover, these two chapters also examine the ideas,

motives and the role of British professors of M.A.o. College

and British statesmen in the establishment of the university.

How the British policy, political developments and the internal '

tussles among the Aligarians and their relationship with the

British; economic and social factors, especially Hindu-Muslim

tension~, attitude of press and public affected the process of

- 29 -

the establishment of the ~~u., have been studied in detail

in these chapters. To what extent the educational factor,

especially the emergence of Islamiya and Shia colleges and

B. H. u. affected the progress of the scheme of A.M. u. - has

been dealt in chapter VIII. This chapter also deals with the

various aspects of the character of the university - particularly

its special aims, constitution of the Court, the powers of

Government and the functions of different constit~ent bodies.

The final chapter by way of conclusion not only summarises the

key points in various chapters but also discusses the

significance of the character of the university.

In short, the present study attempts a new departure. By

making use of a good deal of untapped primary sources it makes a

maiden effort at trqcing the evolution of the historic character

of A.M.U. In this process, it simultaneously seeks to

demonstrate the interdependence and interplay of higher

education, Muslim politics and British policy thereby striving

to bring out the complexities of the process of politicization

of higher education in British India. This study also attempts

to provide an overall background to undertake further studies

on .Allgarh. 1

1. e.g. Various studies can be undertaken to investigate ( i) how far did A • .i.i. U. succeed in achieving its various aims since 1920. (ii) What was the impact of partition of India on A.M.U.? (iii) When, why and how did the Government of India try to amend the Act of 11.1-1. u. after 1947 and what was its impact on Muslims? ( iv) Why did the Government of India declare it as a central university in 1970 and what were its special contributions to the higher education in Ind.ia? However, some efforts have been made to study ::. • .H. U. as a central university. See, s. Y. Shah, "The Central Universities in India: An Introduc-tion," PaedaR:ogica Historic as In;t~rnational J:gu;rna.l of Hi storx of Education, forthcoming.