Mohammad Amin (22 January 1928 – 15 December 2012) was an Indian historian. He was the vice chancellor of

Jamia Hamdard Jamia Hamdard ( ur, ) is an institute of higher education deemed to be university located in New Delhi, India. It is a government-funded university. Established in 1989, it was formally inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of India Shri R ...

; taught History at St. Stephen's College, Delhi University for four decades; and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2010.

Early life and career

Amin was born at Qasba Mau-Aima, on the banks of River Ganges, in

Prayagraj 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 ...

district of the former United Provinces. Amin was married to Khurshid and the couple had a son,

Shahid Amin ''Shaheed'' ( , , ; pa, ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); ...

, the historian and Rhodes Scholar, and a daughter, Ghazala, who is herself a media personality and a teacher. His school education started in Prayagraj, from where he moved to

Mughal Sarai Mughalsarai (; English: '' Mughal Tavern''), officially known as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, is a city and a municipal board in the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. Located around from Varanasi, it is an important railway junction ...

and finally to Queens Collegiate School in Banares. Subsequently, he took a graduate degree in history from

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

, in 1945, under the renowned historian, Sir Shafaat Ahmed Khan. He earned his master's degree from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

in 1949, in both history and law.

Academics

Mohammad Amin started his career, as a lawyer, in 1947, practising under a lawyer, Bachchan. However, his career as a lawyer was short-lived and he joined

St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for arts and sciences in India. It was established in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. The college ...

, as a lecturer in 1949, although in between he studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

where he secured a master's degree in 1952 and later at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

(1962). He taught at St. Stephen's for 39 years till he retired in 1989 as the Head of the Department of History. He worked as an expert historian at Al Beruni Institute, on the invitation of the Government of Uzbekistan, from 1994–96.

Administrative

He was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University in 1990 and worked there till 1993. He was the chairman of the Governing Body of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Sciences He held memberships of numerous governing bodies of educational institutions, such as the National Council of Population, the central advisory board of the Ministry of Culture, the advisory board of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

and the board of trustees of the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata

Awards and recognitions

* Honorary Causa DLitt – Jamia Millia Islamia University – 2009 * Padma Bhushan – 2010

Death

Amin died on 15 December 2012, succumbing to age-related illnesses, at the age of 84.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amin, Mohammad 1928 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian historians Historians of South Asia People from Prayagraj district Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Scholars from Uttar Pradesh