Aligarh Muslim University

Aligarh Muslim University
Motto (Arabic)علم الانسان ما لم يعلم 'Allama al-insān mā lam y'alam
Motto in English Taught man what he did not know (Qur'an 96:5)
Established 1875
Type Public
Chancellor Justice (Retd.) A. M. Ahmadi
Vice-Chancellor P. K. Abdul Aziz
Academic staff 2,000
Students 30,000
Location Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
Campus Aligarh
Affiliations UGC
Website www.amu.ac.in

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) (अलीगढ़ मुस्लिम विश्वविद्यालय,علی گڑھ مسلم یونیورسٹی) is a residential academic Central University, established by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920. It grew out of the hard labour of the legendary social reformer, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who had realised the acute need among Indian Muslims for moden education and, to achieve his goal, started a school in 1875, dreaming for it a bright future. Due to his efforts, the school later became the Mohammedan Anglo-oriental College and finally Aligarh Muslim University in 1920 .[1] It is one of the first institutions established during the British Raj.

The establishment of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO College) in 1875 marks one of the most important events in the educational and social history of modern India. Its establishment is considered as the first significant response of the Indian Muslims to the challenges of post Indian Mutiny of 1857 era. It became the principal Muslim Institution in India: Section 2(1) of the AMU Act says the university means "the educational institution of their choice established by the Muslims of India". It was an important catalyst in a process of social change among Muslims. "An epoch in the social progress of India" - with these words on his lips Lord Lytton laid the foundation stone of the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College on January 8, 1877. Nearly eight years later, when the noted Orientalist Sir Hamilton Gibb looked back at the history of Muslim Transition from the medieval to the modern way of life, he characterized this College as "the first modernist institution in Islam". AMU occupies an exalted position among Indian universities and its contribution to nation building is among the best of the lot. It played a pioneering role in the independence of India and Pakistan Movement. The university is one of the two in India to have earned the epithet Oxford of the East in its past.[2][3][4]

Spread over 467.6 hectares in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh Muslim University offers more than 300 courses in the traditional and modern branches of education. It draws students from all corners of the world, especially Africa, West Asia and Southeast Asia. In some courses, places are reserved for students from SAARC and Commonwealth countries. The university is open to all irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender. It ranks 8th among the top 20 research universities in India. Alumna of the university are popularly known as Aligarians. (The more generic Aligarhiya is used to refer to inhabitants of Aligarh who have not studied at AMU.)[5] With more than 30000, students, about 1400 teachers and some 6000 non-teaching staff on its rolls, it has 12 faculties comprising a wide spectrum of academic disciplines (95 departments, 5 institution and 13 centres) and 18 halls of residence with 73 hostels. The University offers 325 courses. The university has the Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Dr. Ziauddin Dental College, Institute of Ophthalmology and Food Craft Institute, Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, Centre of Advance Study in History, Centre of West Asian Studies, Centre of Wildlife, Academic Staff College, Women's College, Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College, University Polytechnic for boys and girls, separately and Computer Centre. The languages taught here include English, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, French, Turkish, German and Russian. The medium of instruction is primarily English. AMU is perhaps the only university in the country, which has high schools in its domain: It has as many as five high schools including one for the visually handicapped, and two senior secondary schools for boys and girls.

Contents

History

The university grew out of the work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who in the aftermath of the Indian War of Independence of 1857 felt that it was important for Muslims to gain education and become involved in the public life and government services in India. Raja Jai Kishan helped Sir Syed in establishing the university.

The British decision to replace the use of Persian in 1842 for government employment and as the language of Courts of Law caused deep anxiety among Muslims of the sub-continent. Sir Syed saw a need for Muslims to acquire proficiency in the English language and Western sciences if the community were to maintain its social and political clout, particularly in Northern India. He began to prepare for the formation of a Muslim university by starting schools. In 1864, the Scientific Society of Aligarh was set up to translate Western works into native languages as a prelude to prepare the community to accept Western education. Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah, The Aga Khan III has contributed greatly to Aligarh Muslim University with financial support.

In 1875, Sir Syed founded the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College in Aligarh and patterned the college after Oxford and Cambridge universities that he had visited on a trip to England. His objective was to build a college in tune with the British education system but without compromising its Islamic values. Sir Syed's son, Syed Mahmood, had studied at Cambridge and contributed a proposal for an independent university to the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Fund Committee upon his return from England in 1872. This proposal was adopted and subsequently modified. Mahmood continued to work alongside his father in founding the college.

It was one of the first purely residential educational institution set up either by the government or the public in India. Over the years it gave rise to a new educated class of Muslims who were active in the political system of the British Raj. When viceroy to India Lord Curzon visited the college in 1901, he praised the work which was carried on and called it of "sovereign importance".[6]

The college was originally affiliated with the University of Calcutta and was transferred to the Allahabad University in 1885. Near the turn of the century it began publishing its own magazine and established a law school.

It was also around this time that a movement began to have it develop into a university. To achieve this goal, expansions were made and more programs added to the curriculum. A school for girls was established in 1907. By 1920 the college was transformed into Muslim University.

The first chancellor of the university was Sultan Shah Jahan Begum. In 1927, a school for the blind was established and, the following year, a medical school was attached to the university. By the end of the 1930s, the university had developed an Engineering faculty. Syed Zafarul Hasan, joined the Aligarh Muslim University in early 1900s as head of Philosophy Department, dean Faculty of Arts. He was a pro-vice chancellor before his retirement.

The university held its 58th annual convocation on June 18, 2008. Its chief guest was the former president of India, APJ Abdul Kalam and business tycoon Azim Hashim Premji, the chairman of Wipro Technologies Limited. They were conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Science. Former chief justice of India AM Ahmadi was present. 55 gold and 135 silver medals were awarded and more than 4500 degrees were conferred.

Landmarks

1 January 1881: Four students appeared in the B.A. examination. Ishwari Prasad was the first student to pass.

Academics

Aligarh Muslim University is a residential academic institution offering 280 courses in traditional and modern branches of education. It has almost 30,000 students, and over 2,000 faculty members with over 80 departments of study. It draws students from a number of countries, especially those in Africa, West Asia and South East Asia. In some courses, seats are reserved for students from SAARC and Commonwealth countries.[7]

The 12 faculties are:

The university maintains interdepartmental research centres such as:

Schools

Colleges

Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology

Main article: Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology

The Zakir Hussain College of Engineering & Technology, Aligarh is one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering colleges in India. The college is affiliated to Aligarh Muslim University. It was founded on 21 November 1938.[8]

The college offers courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The language of instruction is English. There are eight academic departments associated:

  1. Department of Electronics Engineering
  2. Department of Computer Engineering
  3. Department of Electrical Engineering
  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering
  5. Department of Chemical Engineering
  6. Department of Civil Engineering
  7. Department of Architecture
  8. Centre for Petroleum Studies

The college has a Book Bank, with 1,500,000 books and journals. All the enrolled students get books issued for the academic year. Apart from that, all the departments have the facility of online subscription to desired journals.

Admission to undergraduate programmes are done through a national level Engineering Entrance Exam conducted at Aligarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kozhikode and Bhopal.

Admission to postgraduate programmes are done on the basis of score secured in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) conducted by All India Council For Technical Education.[9]

Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College

Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College has always been ranked in the Top 25 Medical Colleges in India.[10] In 2009, the government of India decided to upgrade it to the level of AIIMS like institutions under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna.[11]

Maulana Azad Library

Main article: Maulana Azad Library

Maulana Azad Library is considered one of the major libraries of the world, with glorious past and promising future. It was established with the foundation of Madarsatul-Uloom Musalmanan at Aligarh in 1877. It stands as the largest university library in India and second largest in Asia with more than 11.5 lakh books/documents. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Lytton, the viceroy of India. That is why the library was originally named Lytton Library.

The present grand seven-storied building surrounded by 4.5 acres of land was inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then prime minister of India in 1960 and was named as Maulana Azad Library, after the name of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the great educationist, statesman and the first education minister of independent India.

The library performs the functions of a national library so far as its collection of Oriental manuscripts are concerned. It is for these rich collections of immense research value that the library is reckoned among the major libraries of the world. The oldest manuscript owned by the library is more than 1,400 years old — a fragment of the Qur'an transcribed by Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam that is written on parchment in Kufi script. Another rare collection is the unique Halnama of Beyazid Ansari.

The library has a collection of early printed books. Some Sanskrit works translated into Persian have been preserved in the library. Other possessions include the Ayurved in Telugu and the Bhasa's in Malayalam script written on palm leaves. Abul Faiz Faizi, a scholar of Akbar's court translated several Sanskrit works into Persian, such as Mahapurana, Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharat and Lilavati; these are also available.

Among the large collection of Mughal paintings is the painting of Red Blossom, by Mansoor Naqqash, the court artist of Emperor Jahangir.

The library provides the campus-wide access to online journals through a well-equipped Computer Lab. Digital resources on many subjects are made accessible through a Digital Resource Centre. All the issuable books in the library are bar-coded for automated check in and check out. It has started data mining in a recently developed Information Centre, where free e-resources are tapped for the benefit of the university community. A list is given under the link E-Resources.[12][13]

Halls of residence

There are 16 halls of residence comprising 69 hostels:

In addition, there is a Non-Resident Students' Centre (NRSC) which caters for non-resident students academic and extracurricular activities.[14]

Vice-chancellors

  1. Sahebzada Aftab Ahmad Khan 16/02/24–15/11/1926
  2. Ross Masud 25/01/1930–11/1933
  3. Ziauddin Ahmed[15] 18/11/1935–25/01/1938
  4. Shah Muhammad Sulaiman 30/12/1938–08/12/1940
  5. Zakir Husain November 1948–September 1956
  6. Bashir Hussain Zaidi October 1956–November 1962
  7. Badaruddin Taiyabji November 1962–February 1965
  8. Ali Yawar Jung March 1965–January 1968
  9. Abdul Aleem January 1968–January 1974
  10. A. M. Khusro January 1974–December 1978
  11. Syed Hamid[16] 10 June 1980–26 March 1985
  12. Syed Hashim Ali Akhtar (IAS), April 1985–October 1989
  13. Mohd Naseem Faroqui October 1990–December 1994
  14. Mahmoodur Rahman (IAS) May 1995–May 2000
  15. Mohammad Hamid Ansari 28 May 2000–March 31, 2002
  16. Naseem Ahmad (IAS) 8 May 2002–7 April 2007
  17. P. K. Abdul Azis June 2007–present[17]

Alumni meetings

World alumni summit

AMU World Alumni Summit was organised on 18–19 October 2008. Alumni from 26 countries participated in the programme. Aligarians met their old friends, classmates and teachers. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was part of the meet. The vice chancellor, professor P. K. Abdul Aziz welcomed the alumni and proposed an AMU Alumni Endowment Fund for the activities of alumni in the university.

Ranking

Aligarh Muslim University has been ranked 8th among top 100 research institutions in India by National Institute of Science Communication And Information Resources (NISCAIR) and it was published in Current Science, vol. 96, no. 12, 25 June 2009.

Notable alumni

Heads of state and government

State Leader Office
 India Zakir Hussain President 1967-1969
 India Mohammad Hamid Ansari Vice President 2010- Till Date
 Pakistan Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan First Prime Minister 1947-1951
 Pakistan Khawaja Nazimuddin Governor General 1948-1951, Prime Minister 1951-1953
 Pakistan Ayub Khan President 1958-1969

(didn't completed his degree)
 Pakistan Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry President 1973-1978
 Bangladesh Muhammad Mansur Ali Prime minister 1975-Aug. 1975

Politicians

Other notable alumni

References

  1. ^ http://www.amu.ac.in/aboutamu.htm
  2. ^ "aligarh Muslim University Official webpage". http://www.amu.ac.in/aboutamu.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  3. ^ "Upeducation.net....". http://www.upeducation.net/universities/Aligarh_Muslim_University/. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  4. ^ Article describing AMU as the birthplace of Pakistan
  5. ^ "Test for admission to courses in AMU centre". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 29 March 2011. http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/03/29/stories/2011032950130300.htm. 
  6. ^ Curzon in India. Being a Selection from his Speeches as Viceroy amp ... By Sir Thomas Raleigh, pg474
  7. ^ about AMU
  8. ^ "zhcet webpage". http://www.zhcet.ac.in/about-zhcet.html. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  9. ^ "Pg Admissions @ZHCET". http://www.zhcet.ac.in/pg-program.html. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  10. ^ JNMC in top 25 indiaeducationdiary.in, http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=9667, retrieved 2011-07-24 
  11. ^ "Jnmc to be an AIIMS". http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2009/feb/06/amu_medical_college_be_upgraded_level_aiims_vc.html. 
  12. ^ "official webpage of MA Library". http://www.malibrary.com/amu/introduction.html. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  13. ^ "facilities in AMU". http://www.indiauniversity.me/aligarh-muslim-university/. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  14. ^ History of Non Resident Students’ Centre (1910–2000), Aligarh Muslim University. Ed. Syed Ziaur Rahman, Ibn Sina Academy, Aligarh, 2000
  15. ^ http://www.zu.edu.pk/
  16. ^ thealigs.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html
  17. ^ http://www.indianmuslims.info/history_of_muslims_in_india/aligarh_muslim_university/list_of_amu_vice_chancellors.html
  18. ^ [1], The Guardian obituary, 5 March 2001.

Baqar Naqvi, Manager, Saudi Aramco Shell

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