Sir Shah Muhammad Sulaiman (3 February 1886 – 12 March 1941
) (popularly known as Sir Shah Sulaiman or Sir Sulaiman) was the Chief Justice of the
Allahabad High Court from 16 March 1932 to 30 September 1937 and was the first
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and one of the youngest to hold the post. Sulaiman was the Vice Chancellor of
Aligarh Muslim University from 1938 to 1941.
Early life
He was born into a distinguished family of lawyers and scientists of Waleedpur village in
Jaunpur district
Jaunpur district is a district in the Varanasi Division of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district headquarters is Jaunpur which is situated on the banks of the Gomti River. It is located 228 km southeast of the state capital Luc ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. One of his ancestors was
Mulla Mahmud Jaunpuri
Mulla Mahmud Jaunpuri ( fa, ; 1606–1651) was an important Indian natural philosopher and astronomer of the 17th century. Book II of his classic ''Shams-e-Bazeghi'' is on theoretical astronomy, where he raises doubts about the Ptolemaic system. ...
(d.1652), who was the foremost philosopher and physicist of
Shah Jahan's time, a debater of issues in Shiraz with
Mir Damad
Mir Damad ( fa, ميرداماد) (c. 1561 – 1631/1632), known also as Mir Mohammad Baqer Esterabadi, or Asterabadi, was a Twelver Shia Iranian philosopher in the Neoplatonizing Islamic Peripatetic traditions of Avicenna. He also was a Suhra ...
, and the author of a much valued commentary, ''Shams al-Bazigha''.
His father Muhammad Usman was leading member of the Jaunpur Bar. He had three brothers (Shah Mohammed Sifiyan, Shah Mohammed Salman, and Shah Mohammed Habib) and one sister (Shah Habib).
Sulaiman married Lady Fatima Sulaiman and had three sons and one daughter; Shah Mehmood Sulaiman, Shah Ahmed Sulaiman (husband of
Begum Akhtar Sulaiman
Begum Akhtar Sulaiman (née Akhtar Jahan Suhrawardy) (1922–1982) was a Pakistani-Bengali social worker, political activist and the daughter of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan. Begum Akhtar Suleiman, went out on a ...
and father of
Shahida Jamil
Shahida Nighat Jamil (born 30 January 1944 as Shahida Nighat Sulaiman) is a Pakistani lawyer and politician who served as the Law Minister of Pakistan.
Early education and family
Jamil is the only daughter of the late Shah Ahmed Sulaiman (a bu ...
, the first female Pakistan Federal Minister of Law), Shah Hamid Sulaiman and Salma Akhter.
Sulaiman graduated from
Allahabad University
, mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees"
, established =
, type = Public
, chancellor = Ashish Chauhan
, vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava
, head_label ...
in 1906 and topped the list. He was awarded the Provincial Government Scholarship to study abroad. He was educated at
Christ's College, Cambridge and obtained Mathematical
Tripos
At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...
in (1909) and Law
Tripos
At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...
in 1910.
He represented Cambridge University in the annual Varsity chess match against Oxford University in 1910 and drew his game (Cambridge won by 4½ to 2½). He was also awarded LLD by the University of Dublin (Ireland) in 1910.
Legal career
Sulaiman returned to India in 1911 and started his legal practice as a junior to his father in Jaunpur. In 1912, he shifted to Allahabad to practice in the High Court.
The Rani of Sherkort's case, the Bamrauli case, the Dharampur case and the Bhilwal case, were his early legal triumphs. He impressed the English Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court so much that he was offered a seat on the Bench at an early age of 34.
Sulaiman acted as Chief Justice of the
Allahabad High Court when he was 43. He was knighted in the
1929 King's Birthday Honours, becoming Sir Muhammad Sulaiman. At the age of 46 he was made the permanent Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court on 16 March 1932. Five years later he was elevated to the Federal Court which was a record in the British Commonwealth at the time.
As Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, he handed down the final judgement in the
Meerut Conspiracy Case
The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case that was initiated in British Raj in March 1929 and decided in 1933. Several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organizing an Indian railway strike. The Bri ...
at the appellate stage (S.H. Jhabwala And Ors. vs Emperor decided on 3 August 1933).
Sir
Tej Bahadur Sapru
Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru (8 December 1875 20 January 1949) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, and politician. He was a key figure in India's struggle for independence, helping draft the Indian Constitution. He was the leader of the Liberal pa ...
said of him:
Nature had endowed him with gifts of an extraordinary character. Possessed of a penetrative
intellect, a mind which could dissect and analyse things as very few other minds could, a power of
expression and exposition, he did not take much time on the Bench before he made everyone
feel that we had got a Judge of unusual ability and unusual gifts. . . He earned the respect of
everyone for his depth of learning, for his sweep of mind and for the promptness of his decisions.
Contribution to education
Sulaiman distinguished himself in diverse fields of human activity and different aspects of learning and was an outstanding educationist who took keen interest in the administration and advancement of several educational institutions, in which, he left distinctive marks.
He was founder president of several educational institutions and members of the Courts and Executive Councils of Allahabad and Aligarh Muslim University for a number of years, as President of the United Councils of Allahabad and Aligarh Muslim University for a number of years. He became President of the United Provinces Educational Conference at Badaon in 1924.
In 1928 he presided over the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Ajmer and in his address he advocated a revolutionary and progressive change in the educational system by stressing the practical, technical and vocational sides of education.
He delivered convocation addresses at the Universities of Dacca, Aligarh, Hyderabad and Agra. Sulaiman was elected Vice-Chancellor of the
Aligarh Muslim University where he introduced several beneficial reforms and laid down policies of far reaching importance, which extricated the university out of its financial and administrative crisis. He gave an impetus to education of women in the university and introduced Urdu as an independent subject in B.A. classes. He improved the finances of the university, helped execution of schemes concerning water works and the Technological Institutes. His dynamic leadership infused a healthy spirit of competition among the students in beneficial spheres of educational activity, which enabled the Aligarh Muslim University to compete successfully in the All-India Competitive Examinations in larger numbers. He made the university a centre of higher scientific research.
Sulaiman was also the president of the Anglo-Arabic College of Delhi for a number of years.
Literary contributions
Sulaiman had a keen sense for poetry and presided over a number of All-India poetical symposiums. He edited and wrote an enlightened introduction to the ''Alame-e-Khiyal'', the immortal Masnavi of Shauq Qidwai.
After his death, the Nobel Laureate CV Raman wrote "As chief justice of the High Court at Allahabad for several years and as vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University over a considerable period, Sir Shah Sulaiman was a well-known public figure in India. During the last few years of his life he held the distinguished position of one of the three judges of the newly established Federal Court at Delhi. The news of his death early this year at the age of fifty-five came as an unpleasant surprise to his many friends and admirers, and elicited numerous well-merited tributes to his personality and career."
Legacy
The Sir Shah Sulaiman Hall of Aligarh Muslim University is named after him.
He was buried at
Nizamuddin Dargah
Nizamuddin Dargah is the dargah (mausoleum) of the Sufi saint Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325 CE). Situated in the Nizamuddin West area of Delhi, the dargah is visited by thousands of pilgrims every week. The site is also known for its e ...
by the side of
Amir Khusrow
Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian ...
. Sir Shah Sulaiman Road, named after him, is a large road in Karachi that runs from the East wall of
National Stadium, Karachi
The National Stadium (Urdu: نیشنل سٹیڈیم), also referred to as National Bank Cricket Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is the home ground of Karachi Ki ...
up to
Government College for Men Nazimabad
Government College for Men, Nazimabad is an all-male degree college located in Karachi, Pakistan, adjacent to the flyover located in Nazimabad town.
Departments
The college has the following departments:
* Botany
* Chemistry
* Computer Scie ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulaiman, Shah Muhammad
1886 births
1941 deaths
Scholars from Uttar Pradesh
19th-century Indian Muslims
19th-century Indian physicists
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
Chief Justices of the Allahabad High Court
20th-century Indian judges
People from Jaunpur district
Knights Bachelor
Indian Knights Bachelor
Lawyers awarded knighthoods
Vice-Chancellors of the Aligarh Muslim University
Founders of Indian schools and colleges