Mohammad Amir Ahmad Khan

Mohammad Amir Ahmed Khan, Raja of Mahmudabad (5 November 1914—14 October 1973) was a prominent politician and leader of the All India Muslim League, during the Pakistan Movement.[1]

He served as Managing Trustee from 1940–1944 of Madrasatul Waizeen, a centre of Shia Islamic education founded by his father located in Lucknow.

Titles and Honours

Khan Bahadur Khan
Amirul Omara
Saeedul Mulk Muzzafar Jung Ghanzanfaru-daula

Literary and Cultural Aspects

He carried on the family tradition and was an accomplished poet in Urdu and Farsi. He composed a number of ruba'iyat, salaams, and marasi as well as some ghazals and nazms under the takhalus (nom de plume) of 'Bahr' and 'Mahbub'. One of his previously unpublished marsiya, entitled Jawn Martyr of Karbala Lamented, has been recently published in London.

Inheritence and Legacy

He inherited the Estate of Mahamudabad in 1931 upon death of his father Maharaja Sir Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan.[1] After his demise, his Estate was taken over by Government of India under Enemy Properties Act. His wife Rani Kaniz Abid and his only son and heir Raja Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan remained Indian citizens and fought a case for recovery of their ancestral Estate for reclaiming their heritage worth millions of rupees and the case is as present in high profile legal dispute in India.[2]

Freedom Movement

He was one of the youngest member of Working Committee of All India Muslim League in 1937. In 1937, he founded All India Muslim Students Federation, which later mobilized into vocal supported to Pakistan Movement.[1] However, he was against the independence of Pakistan in 1947. When the Muslim League passed the resolution at Lahore in 1940 for a separate Pakistan, he stood against it and formed All-India Jamhur Muslim League in 1940 to counter the move. The first session of this party was held at Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Raja Saheb was elected its President and Dr. Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi as General Secretary.[3] Later on he changed his mind under the influence of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was a long time family friend and eventually supported the idea of a separate Muslim state. Maharaja Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan had created a trust with Motilal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Deputy Habibullah and Chaudhary Bam Bahadur Shah amongst others to administer the estate as his son was still a minor. Motilal Nehru predeceased the Maharaja and after the latters death in 1931, Mohammad Ali Jinnah became the dominant personality on the board. .[4] He said that "...the idea of a separate Muslim state in India [sic] stirred the imagination of the Muslims as nothing else had done before."[4]

Disillusionment with Pakistan

Khan migrated to Pakistan in 1957 after Independence of India but he did not like the political turmoil in Pakistan later shifted to Iraq in 1959 and finally to England, settling down in London.[1]

Life in London

He was the first Director of the Islamic Cultural Centre in London, and devoted rest of his life in supervising the building of the Regent Park Mosque.[1] He was the moving force behind the World of Islam Festival held in 1976 in the United Kingdom. Ali Allawi reminices about the events of 1976.[5]

He died in London in 1973 but was buried in Mashhad in Iran.[1]

Further reading

Syed Ishtiaq Husain. Glimpses of Freedom Movement: The Life and the Times of Raja Saheb of Mahmudabad. Mehboob Academy, Karachi (1990)
Khwaja Razi Haider. Raja Sahib Mahmoodabad: Hayat-o-Khidmaat. Quaid-i-Azam Academy, Karachi

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Raja Sahib of Mahmudabad". Pioneers of Freedom. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Enemy Property Bill: A Raja's Lost Legacy". NDTV. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  3. ↑ South Asian History And Culture,Routledge,London,ISSN.1947-2498.Vol.2.Taylor and Francis Group.pp16-36
  4. 1 2 Pandey, Gyanendra (2001). "Remembering Partition: Violence, Nationalism, and History in India". Questia, Your Online Research Library. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  5. ↑ Ali Allawi, former Iraqi Minister, fondly remembers the instrumental role of Raja of Mahmudabad in the organisation of the Festival in The Crisis of Islamic Civilization.
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