Nawab Syed Hussain Bilgrami, Imad-ul-Mulk Bahadur, CSI (1842-1926) was an Indian civil servant, politician, educationalist and an early leader of the

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 ...

Early life

Syed Hussain Bilgrami was born in 1844 in Gaya from ancestors of

Sadaat-e-Bilgram ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhammad' ...

, and was educated at the Presidency College,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. He was married in 1864 and had four sons and one daughter.

Career

After holding the post of Professor of Arabic at Canning College,

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

from 1866 to 1873 he entered the service of the

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

. He was the Private Secretary to Sir Salar Jung till his death. During his tenure, Sir Hussain Bilgrami accompanied Sir Salar Jung on a memorable mission to England where he had the honour of meeting and speaking with

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

and also of meeting other distinguished people such as

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

and others. Later, he was Private Secretary to the

in a number of roles. He was made the Director of Public Instruction for the Nizam's Dominions from 1887 to 1902. In 1901-1902 he was a member of

Indian Universities Commission 1902 The Indian Universities Commission was a body appointed in 1902 on the instructions of Viceroy of India Lord Curzon intended to make recommendations for reforms in university education in India. Appointed following a conference on education at Si ...

. Soon afterwards he was made 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 ...

and a member of the Secretary of State's Council from 1907 to 1909. He retired from the service of the Nizam in 1907 as a result of ill health. His most important work was that of an educationalist. He founded the institution that was to become

Nizam College The Nizam College is a constituent college of Osmania University established in 1887 during the reign of Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI, in Basheerbagh, Hyderabad, Telangana. History The Nizampur University College was originally the "Mirsar ...

. He along with Sir Agha Khan (Agha Khan III) and many others was one of the founding members of the "All-India Muslim League" which was a political party set up for the sole purpose of protection of the rights of the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent.He also founded a girls’ high school in 1885, which was the first institution of its kind in India. He was instrumental in the formation of three industrial schools (helping revive declining industries) at the three principal centres of local industries, namely

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is th ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

. The State Library was also started by him. He received, for his services, the titles of Nawab Ali Yar Khan Bahadur, Motaman Jung, Imad-ud-Dowla and Imad-ul-Mulk and also the CSI from the Government of India for his services to the British Empire.

Publications

*Life of Sir Salar Jung *Lectures and Addresses *Historical and Descriptive Sketch of His Highness the Nizam's Dominions, 2 vols. *Verses

References

19th-century Indian Muslims 20th-century Indian Muslims All India Muslim League members People from Bilgram 1844 births 1926 deaths {{India-politician-stub