Mohammad Habib (1895–1971) was an Indian
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
, who worked at the
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 ...
. He was involved in the
Indian Independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
, and was an associate of both
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
.
He was a candidate in the
1967 Indian vice-presidential election, which he lost to
V. V. Giri
Varahagiri Venkata Giri (; 10 August 1894 — 24 June 1980) was an Indian politician and activist from Berhampur in Odisha who served as the 4th president of India from 24 August 1969 to 24 August 1974. He also 3rd vice president of India from ...
. Habib, contesting as an independent candidate, received 28.55% of the votes.
Early life and education
Habib was a son of Mohammed Naseem, a barrister in Lucknow. His wife Sohaila Tyabji was the daughter of
Abbas Tyabji, a noted disciple of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
. Their sons are Kamal Habib and
Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib (born August 10, 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient and medieval India, following the methodology of Marxist historiography in his contributions to economic history. He identifies as a Marxist and is well known for his strong ...
, who is a
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of history at
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 ...
.
Habib studied at the M.A.O. School and College (now
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 ...
. He topped the B.A. examination of the
Allahabad University
, mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees"
, established =
, type = Public
, chancellor = Ashish Chauhan
, vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava
, head_label ...
in 1916. The
Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College
Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College ( ur, Madrasatul Uloom Musalmanan-e-Hind, italics=yes) was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, initially as a primary school, with the intention of taking it to a college level institution, known as Muhammed ...
was then affiliated to Allahabad University. He then proceeded to
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
for higher studies. He became president of the Oxford Majlis for one term.
["Mohammad Habib - Aligarh Movement"](_blank)
Retrieved 2015-03-09.
It was in Oxford that he received his baptism in nationalism. The ideas of his liberal-minded tutor Ernest Barker, a meeting with
Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu (''née'' Chattopadhyay; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist, feminist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important person in Indi ...
and the patronage of
Maulana Mohammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; ar, محمد علي; 1874 – 13 October 1951) was an Indian writer, scholar, and leading figure of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.
Biography
Ali was born in Murar, Kapurthala State (now in Ludhiana district, Punja ...
, who visited London during his stay in England, played a role in shaping his ideas. At the call of Mohammad Ali, he returned to
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 ...
to teach at
Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia () is a central university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British Raj in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in ...
but apparently never became a regular member of its staff. When the
non-co-operation movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.[Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...]
, and almost immediately afterwards as Professor, at the newly chartered
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 ...
.
Career
In 1926, he won the election of the U.P. Legislative Council as a member of the (
Swaraj Party
The Swaraj Party, established as the ''Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party'', was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922 of the National Congress, that sought greater self-government and ...
). He admired
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
and donated a considerable part of his income to the Congress Party.
At
Aligarh
Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...
, Habib made his mark in many ways. As an academician, his great emphasis was on writing history based on original sources, and he encouraged the study of aspects of history other than dynastic or political rule. He himself wrote on social and cultural history, and painstakingly unravelled the history of Muslim mystics for some of whom he came to cherish an almost personal affection.
In the forties, his interest in
Marxism
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
heightened and in 1952 he presented, in a remarkable piece, his introduction to a reprint of volume II of
Elliot
Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...
and
Dowson's ''
The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians
''The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians'' is a book comprising translations of medieval Persian chronicles based on the work of Henry Miers Elliot. It was originally published as a set of eight volumes between 1867-1877 in London. T ...
'', which was an interpretation of early medieval India deeply influenced by Marxist ideas. He visited Paris to represent his country at the UN General Assembly, followed by a trip to Peking (now Beijing) in 1952 on the first goodwill mission from India to the People's Republic of China. Both the visits strengthened him in his belief in the need for India to help countries resisting
imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
. He kept nursing the sapling of
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
in the portals of his university.
Post-retirement
He unsuccessfully contested for the office of the
Vice-President of India
The vice president of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional ...
in 1967 as a candidate of the combined opposition.
Death
He died in 1971.
Legacy
The Mohammad Habib Hall of
AMU was named after him in 1972. It has three hostels: Chakraverty Hostel, Umaruddin Hostel and Haider Khan Hostel.
Selected publications
* A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanate (A.D. 1206-1526) (general editor with
K. A. Nizami
Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (5 December 1925 – 4 December 1997) was an Indian historian and diplomat.
Early life and education
Nizami was born in Amroha, United Provinces of British India, United Provinces, British India. He completed his M.A. i ...
)
*''Hazrat Amir Khusrau of Delhi.'' 1st Pakistan ed. Lahore : Islamic Book Service
979
Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary ...
*''Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya: hayat aur talimat.''Dihli : Shubah-yi Urdu, Dihli Yunivarsiti,
972
Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recent ...
University of Delhi. Dept. of Urdu. Silsilah-i matbuat-i Shubah-yi Urdu
970
Year 970 (Roman numerals, CMLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 970th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' designations, the 970th year of the 1st millennium, ...
*''The political theory of the Delhi sultanate'' (including a translation of Ziauddin Barani's Fatawa-i Jahandari, ...) Allahabad, Kitab Mahal
961
Year 961 ( CMLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March 6 – Siege of Chandax: Byzantine forces under Nikephoros II Phokas cap ...
*''Politics and society during the early medieval period: collected works of Professor Mohammad Habib'' / edited by
Khaliq Ahmad Nizami
Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (5 December 1925 – 4 December 1997) was an Indian historian and diplomat.
Early life and education
Nizami was born in Amroha, United Provinces, British India. He completed his M.A. in history in 1945, from Meerut Col ...
. New Delhi : People's Pub. House
974–1981
*''Some aspects of the foundation of the Delhi Sultanat
ic Delhi, Dr. K. M. Ashraf Memorial Committee;
ole distributors: Kalamkar Cooperative, 1968Dr. K. M. Ashraf memorial lecture, 1966
*''Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznin. 2d ed.''Delhi, S. Chand
967
Year 967 ( CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) calls for a council at Rome, to present the ne ...
References
External links
Mohammad Habib Hall at Aligarh Muslim UniversityProf. Mohammad Habib page at Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University* (from the foreword to ''Historiography of Medieval India'' by Sanjay Subodh, Manak Publications, 2003)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Habib, Mohammad
1895 births
1971 deaths
19th-century Indian people
20th-century Indian historians
Aligarh Muslim University alumni
University of Allahabad alumni
Alumni of New College, Oxford
Emeritus Professors in India
English-language writers from India
Historians of South Asia
Indian male writers
Indian Muslim historians of Islam
Indian Marxist historians
Indian political writers
Tyabji family