Sahibzada Aftab Ahmad Khan (March 1867 – January 1930) was an attorney and educator. He was a former vice chancellor of
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 ...
.
Early life
He was born in 1867
Kunjpura
Kunjpura is a village in Karnal district, Haryana (prior to 1966 Punjab state), India, about 10 km northeast of Karnal city and about 130 km north of the national capital, Delhi. It is on the right bank (west bank) of the Yamuna Rive ...
,
Karnal district
Karnal district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in North India which constitutes the National Capital Region (NCR) of the country. The city of Karnal is a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) and is the administrative headqu ...
,
Punjab Province,
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 ...
(now Karnal, Haryana), the son of Nawab Ghulam Ahmad Khan who was a member of Gwalior Council of Regency in the Gwalior State.
Sahibzada studied at
Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College from 1878 until 1890. He attended
Christ's College at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, and was appointed Bar-at-Law from the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
in London before his return to India in 1894. Khan made Aligarh his home and became a practicing attorney.
Career
![Raja_Mahmudabad_(center)_with_leaders_of_Aligarh_Movement*](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Raja_Mahmudabad_%28center%29_with_leaders_of_Aligarh_Movement%2A.jpg)
Sir Syed recognized Khan's attachment to the college and in 1897 appointed him trustee. Later that year he was appointed professor of law in the college. After Sir Syed's death in 1898, Khan's involvement with the college deepened. He organized the Sir Syed memorial fund to raise the college to a university.
From 1905 to 1917 Sahibzada actively served the Mohammadan Education Conference as its joint secretary. In 1923 he became its president.
Khan was instrumental in establishing students’ voluntary organization, the Anjuman Al-farz or Duty Society. The duty was a student initiative. Its purpose was to collect funds to enable poor students to come to Aligarh and to promote the interest of the college within the Indian Muslim community and the country as a whole.
Khan was vice-chancellor of the university from 1924 to December 1926. Although he was persuaded to continue for a further term of three years, he declined the offer due to ill health. Most buildings and hostels after Sir Syed's death were constructed under his supervision, which gives the campus its charm.
He died on 18 January 1930 and was buried in the ground of the Ahmadi School for the Blind that he had established in Memory of his father. After his death, the A.M.U. old Boys’ Association decided to construct a Hall of residence in his memory in 1932 and in recognition of his valuable contribution named a Hall as
Aftab Hall.
AFTAB HALL: AN INTRODUCTION
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References
{{Authority control
1867 births
1930 deaths
Vice-Chancellors of the Aligarh Muslim University