Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, (10 March 1869 – 7 January 1932) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

.Profile of Muhammad Shafi (politician) on tripod.com website
Retrieved 28 July 2017 As a practising barrister, he quickly gained renown and during the 1920s and 1930s he came to be regarded as one of India's leading lawyers.
Retrieved 28 July 2017

Early life and education

Mian Muhammad Shafi was born on 10 March 1869 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

.Profile of Mian Muhammad Shafi on storyofpakistan.com website
Updated 1 January 2007, Retrieved 26 July 2017 His father's name was Mian Din Muhammad and he belonged to the aristocratic Arain

Mian family of Baghbanpura Belonging to the Arain tribe of Punjab region, they are an aristocratic noble family originally from Areha Jericho Modern Palestine who entered in Indian Subcontinent with Umayyad Arab General Muhammad bin Qasim. The family has made great contrib ...

, Lahore. He was educated at

Government College, Lahore The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Gov ...

as well as

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by American ...

, Lahore.Tributes paid to Mian Muhammad Shafi on his 85th death anniversary
The Nation (newspaper), Published 8 January 2017, Retrieved 28 July 2017 In 1889 he went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to study for the Bar and was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

where his cousin

Mian Shah Din Mian Shah Din (2 April 1868 - 2 July 1918) was a Punjabi lawyer and politician in British India. In October, 1908 he was the first Muslim appointed a judge of the Chief Court of the Punjab, now known as the Lahore High Court.

had been studying for the past two years. Whilst in London he took an active role in politics becoming president for a term of the London branch of the Anjuman-I- Islamia. He returned to India in 1892 and began his legal career in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

whilst also enrolling at the

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

and Lahore High Courts.

Foundation of All India Muslim League

The name

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcontin ...

was proposed by a number of Muslims including Sir Mian Mohammad Shafi in the founding meeting of the League that was held on 30 December 1906 on the occasion of the annual

All India Muhammadan Educational Conference The All India Muhammadan Educational Conference was an organisation promoting modern, liberal education for the Muslim community in India. It was founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, also the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. All India Mum ...

, at the

Ahsan Manzil Ahsan Manzil is the erstwhile official residential palace and seat of the Nawab of Dhaka. The building is situated at Kumartoli along the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Construction was started in 1859 and was completed in ...

Palace, Shahbagh,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

that was hosted by Nawab Sir

Khwaja Salimullah Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur (7 June 1871 – 16 January 1915) was the fourth Nawab of Dhaka and one of the leading Muslim politicians during the British rule in India. In 1906, the Muslim League was officially founded at the educationa ...

(1871 – 1915). The meeting was attended by three thousand delegates and presided over by Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk. The other founding members were Nawab

Mohsin-ul-Mulk Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Munir Nawaz Jang, also known as Syed Mehdi Ali ( ur, ﻧﻭﺍﺏ ﻣﺤﺴن ‌الملک, منير نواز جنگ, ﺳﻴﺩ ﻣﻫﺩﻯ ﻋﻠﻰ) (born 9 December 1837 — 16 October 1907), was an Indian Musli ...

Syed Ameer Ali Syed Ameer Ali Order of the Star of India (1849–1928) was an Indian/ British Indian jurist hailing from the state of Oudh from where his father moved and settled down at Bengal Presidency. He was a prominent political leader, and author of a n ...

, and Mualana

Mohammad Ali Jouhar Muhammad Ali Jauhar (10 December 1878 – 4 January 1931), was an Indian Muslim activist, prominent member of the All-India Muslim League, journalist and a poet, a leading figure of the Khilafat Movement and one of the founders of Jamia Milli ...

.Establishment and founding session of All-India Muslim League in Dhaka in 1906
storyofpakistan.com website, Updated 1 June 2003, Retrieved 28 July 2017

Punjab Muslim League

Mian Muhammad Shafi organized a Muslim Association in early 1906, but when the All-India Muslim League was formed, he established its powerful branch in the Punjab of which he became the General Secretary. This branch, organized in November 1907, was known as the Punjab Provincial Muslim League. He was also a member of the Simla Deputation in 1906. In 1909, and again in 1912, Shafi was nominated to the Provincial Legislative Council. In 1911, 1914, 1917, he was a member of the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

. He was appointed a CIE in 1916. In July 1919, Mian Muhammad Shafi, who had been elected as the President of the Chief Court Bar, became a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council during 1919–24. His tenure as Education Member was marked by many important developments, including the setting up of the Muslim University of Aligarh. He was also acting Vice-President of the Governor-General's Executive Council 1922–25. He was Council's member for education, health and later also for Law; also, he was knighted in 1925 with the KCSI. Mohammad Shafi supported the government in Simon commission in 1927 Muslim league session in Lahore. After completing his term, he again became active in Muslim politics and played an important role when the

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission also known as Simon Commission, was a group of seven Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon. The commission arrived in India in 1928 to study constitutional reform in Britain's largest a ...

visited India and, again, at the first

Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...

1930–31. His two daughters namely Begum Jahan Ara Shah Nawaz and Begum Geti Ara Bashir Ahmad earned fame as leading Muslim women who took active part in the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

. He was married to Mehrunissa, elder sister of Sir Abdul Rashid.

Death

He died on 7 January 1932 and was buried in his ancestral graveyard in Baghbanpura, Lahore. Sir Shafi was married twice and was survived by his children: Mian Muhammad Rafi, Begum Jahanara Shah Nawaz, Begum Geti Ara Bashir Ahmad and Mian Iqbal Shafi.

Titles

*1869–1916: Mian Muhammad Shafi (he had just one title 'Mian' during this period) *1916–1925: Mian Muhammad Shafi, CIE (the title of 'Sir' by the British government was added in 1919) *1925–1932: Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, KCSI, CIE (knighted by the British government in 1925)Mian family of Lahore: Historical Events listed on tripod.com website
Retrieved 28 July 2017

Early life and education

Foundation of All India Muslim League

Punjab Muslim League

Death

Titles

See also

References

Further reading