Sayyed Husain Ali Bilgrami

Nawab Sayyid Husain Ali Bilgrami Imud ul-Mulk Bahadur, CSI (* 1844 in Gaya ; † 1926 ) was an Arabic scholar who rose to be a minister in the service of the Princely State of Hyderabad (= Haiderabad).

Origin and education

The family is said to have come to India with the Persian-Afghan conqueror Mohammed Ghori . The father was a tax officer and magistrate in various places in Bengal and Bihar . He attended school in Calcutta , where he received his higher education at the Hare Academy . He graduated from the University of Calcutta Presidency College in 1866. He continued his MA at Patna College in Bankipur and attended the Thomason Civil Engineering College of Roorkee . He embarked on an academic career and in 1866 became professor of Arabic at Canning College in Lucknow . He was one of the two students who, at the expense of Nizam, were the first in England (1876-78) to be trained in mining at the Royal School of Mines . There he received the Marchison Medal in Geology.

At the University of Madras he was an examiner for Sanskrit in 1890 and the University of Calcutta awarded him its gold medal in 1891. In addition, he received the scholarly title Sham al Ulama, as such he was protocol-wise in the Durbar directly behind the titularrajas .

During his short stay in England he was also a lecturer for Marathi in Cambridge . He cataloged the holdings of Persian and Arabic manuscripts for the library of the India Office .

Hyderabad

The Diwan of Hyderabad, Salar Jung I. , was so impressed by him during a visit by the Lucknows that he offered him a position in the civil service. After he had accompanied the Prime Minister to England as private secretary in 1876 and returned to his training, he became State Secretary in the Ministry of Miscellaneous. He was responsible for the education system, whose expansion - from an extremely low level - he tackled. He was soon appointed tutor to the Crown Prince and later he was the private secretary of the Nizam. In the Ministry he was responsible for public works and the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway until 1889 .

In 1900 he became chairman of a commission dealing with questions relating to the education of Muslims. The Viceroy Lord Curzon appointed him to the Imperial Legislative Council.

In 1907 he was the first Muslim to be appointed to the Council of the Secretary of State for India , and the following year he was named Companion of the Order of the Star of India . However, he found the London climate detrimental to his health and returned to Hyderabad in 1909. After Asaf Jah VI. Had died, he became an advisor to the young, newly appointed Diwan Salar Jung III. added as a consultant.

Imud ul-Mulk retired on July 22, 1914. Thereupon, living in seclusion, he devoted himself to the translation of the Koran into English.

family

He and his wife, who died in 1897, had four sons and a daughter.

Works

in western languages:

Saiyid Husain Bilgrami and C. Willmott: Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the Nizam's Dominions. Bombay 1883 ( full text )
Saiyid Husain Bilgrami: A memoir of Sir Salar Jung, GCSI Bombay 1883 ( full text )
Addresses, poems and other writings of Nawwab Imadul-Mulk Bahadur. Hyderabad-Deccan, Gov. Central Press, 1925
Syed Husain Bilgrami: Iftitāḥī ispīc jo Sayyid Ḥusain Bilgrāmī [ne] ijlās cahārdam Muḥammaḍan Anglo Auriyanṭal Ejūkeshnal Kānfarans bamuqām Rāmpūr irshād farmāʼe. Mufīd-i ʻĀm Pres, Āgrah 1901.

literature

John Law: Modern Hyderabad (Deccan). Calcutta 1914

Individual evidence

↑ Alternative year of birth 1842; Who was who in India. Delhi 1985.
↑ The Dictionary of Indian Biography (Calcutta 1972) gives another different date of birth, November 10, 1851, which seems unlikely in view of the education. This could also be a misprint for 1841.
↑ Golden Book of India, 1893, p. 489
↑ Server Jung claims in his autobiography (p. 116) that he mediated this meeting between the Diwan and his former professor, one of the few Muslims with a university degree in northern India. Imud ul-Mulk was disgusted by the arrogance of the colonial rulers and wanted to leave their service.

personal data
SURNAME	Sayyed Husain Ali Bilgrami
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Imud ul-Mulk (honorary title); Syed Husain Bilgrami (alternative transcription); Sayyid Ḥusain Bilgrāmī (alternative transcription); ʿImād-al-Mulk, Sayyid Ḥusain Bilgrāmī (alternative transcription)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Arabist and Professor of Arabic at Canning College, Lucknow
DATE OF BIRTH	1844
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gaya
DATE OF DEATH	1926

[1] Alternative year of birth 1842; Who was who in India. Delhi 1985.

[2] The Dictionary of Indian Biography (Calcutta 1972) gives another different date of birth, November 10, 1851, which seems unlikely in view of the education. This could also be a misprint for 1841.

[3] Golden Book of India, 1893, p. 489

[4] Server Jung claims in his autobiography (p. 116) that he mediated this meeting between the Diwan and his former professor, one of the few Muslims with a university degree in northern India. Imud ul-Mulk was disgusted by the arrogance of the colonial rulers and wanted to leave their service.