Role of Muslims in Indian independence; First war of Independence; 1857 revolt; muslim sacrifices; Bahadur shah zafar

1. ROLE OF MUSLIMS
IN
INDIAN
INDEPENDENCE
By: AEJAZ AHMED KHAN

2. NAWAB SIRAJ UD DAULAH
• Nawab Siraj ud Daulah was Nawab of Bengal.
• Betrayed by Mir Jafar, then commander of
Nawab's army
• He died executed by Britishers in 1757 after
Battle of Plassey

3. TIPU SULTAN (TIGER OF MYSORE)
• Tipu Sultan (November 20, 1750–May 4,
1799) is remembered in India as a heroic
freedom fighter and warrior-king.
• He died fighting British forces led by Lord
Mornington Wellesley on May 4, 1799

4. Syed Ahmad Shaheed
• The Mujahid Movement was active
during 1824 and 1831 under the
leadership of Syed Ahmad Shaheed and
his two disciples.
• They were successful in liberating the
North-west province from British
authority.
• Syed Ahmad Shaheed was nominated
Khalifa, but the freedom was short lived
and he was martyred in 1831!

5. Indian Rebellion of 1857
• The Indian Rebellion of 1857 had diverse political, economic,
military, religious and social causes.
• An uprising in several sepoy companies of the Bengal army was
sparked by the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield
rifle February, 1857.
• The cartridges were rumoured to have been made from cow and
sow fat.
• Loading the Enfield required tearing open the greased cartridge
with one's teeth.
• This would have insulted both Hindu and Muslim religious
practices; cows were considered holy by Hindus, while pigs were
considered unclean by Muslims.

6. REVOLT 1857
• A startling 5,00,000 Muslims were martyred
following the events of 1857, of which 5,000
were Ulema (religious scholars).
• It is said that there was not a single tree on
the Grand Trunk Road from Delhi to Calcutta
but that an Alim’s body was not found
hanging on it for days together!

7. Begum Hazrat Mahal
• Begum Hazrat Mahal was the unsung
heroine of the first war of Independence,
who shot the British ruler, Sir Henry
Lawrence and defeated the British army in
a decisive Battle at Chinhat on 30thJune,
1857.
• She was wife of Wajid Ali Shah (Nawab of
Awadh)

8. Bahadur Shah Zafar
• The last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur
Shah Zafar was to lead the War of
Independence in 1857. A country-
wide war was to begin
simultaneously on the 31st of May
1857, but the Indians among the
British army revolted before that on
the 10th of May 1857!
• He was imprisoned and exiled to
other territory under British control,
(RANGOON) Myanmar (Burma).

9. Reshmi Rumal Thereek
• The Reshmi Rumaal Tehreeq was
launched in 1905 by Shaikhul Islam
Maulana Mehmood Hasan and
Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi to unite
all the Indian states against the
British.
• Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi aimed at
freeing India from British rule by
forming an alliance with Turkey,
Germany, and Afghanistan.

10. Mohammed Ali & Shoukat Ali
(ALI BROTHERS)
• Ali brothers started a famous Khilafat Movement in
1921, with Mahatma Gandhi as it’s cheif, Maulana
Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Syed
Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari creating a great example of
plural society and culture of India.
• Ali Brothers published the urdu weekly Hamdard and
the weekly Comrade.
• In 1919, while jailed for publishing what the British
charged as seditious materials and organizing protests.
• Shaukat Ali was re-arrested and imprisoned from 1921
to 1923 for his support to Mahatma Gandhi and the
Indian National Congress during the Non-Cooperation
Movement (1919–1922).

11. Turrebaz Khan: Turrebaz Khan was another Muslim Freedom Fighter of India,
he along with Maulvi Allauddin participated in the attack on British Residency
Building. Turrebaz Khan was born in Begum Bazar in Hyderabad and he joined
the rebel forces when he heard that Zamindar Cheeda Khan was arrested by
British.
He along with some 300 fighters marched towards the British Residency
Building but British were already informed and prepared. The rebel forces
with Turrebaz Khan lacked formal training as well as arms and ammunition.
The gunfire went all the night but Turrebaz Khan and other freedom fighters
were no match for the trained soldiers of Madras Horse Artillery. Later
Turrebaz Khan and Maulvi Allauddin both were captured and sentenced to life
imprisonment at Andaman Cellular Jail.
Turrebaz Khan tried to escape but he was shot by English Soldiers. When he
died his dead body was dragged back to the main city and was hanged near
the Residency building to set an example for other revolutionaries. The
government of India honored the sacrifices of Turrebaz Khan by naming a
road in his memory. The “Turrebaz Khan Road” is situated near University
College for Women in Koti, Hyderabad.

12. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: The name of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
needs no introduction and he was one of the Muslim Freedom Fighters
of India who server the country both before and after the
Independence.
In the year 1923, he became the youngest man to be elected as the
Congress president and helped to organize the Flag Satyagraha in
Nagpur and called for an independent India committed to secularism.
During Khilafat Movement, he came in contact with Mahatma Gandhi
and became a supporter of Gandhi’s ideas of non-violence and civil
disobedience.
He again served as Congress president from 1940 to 1945, during which
the Quit India Movement was launched.
As India’s First Education Minister, he started the establishment of a
national education system with free primary education and modern
institutions of higher education.
He is also credited with the establishment of the Indian Institutes of
Technology and is the founder of the University Grants Commission.
Birth Anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is celebrated as
National Education Day in India.

13. Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri: Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri
was born in the year 1901 in Nawada district of Bihar and he was Unani
Physician by profession. When Mahatma Gandhi announced the Salt March
of 1930, he joined the Indian Independence Movement. Syed Mohammad
Sharfuddin Quadri was in the same Cell of Cuttack Jail where Gandhi was
imprisoned. Syed Quadri with the help of his father treated the First
President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad when we were ill due to respiratory
issues. In the year 2007, Government of India awarded him the Padma
Bhushan. He died on 30th December 2015, at the age of 114.
Zakir Husain: Dr. Zakir Husain served as 3rd President of India and he was
also the first Muslim President of India. He was born on 8th February 1897
and founded Jamia Millia Islamia University of Delhi. He was deeply
influenced by the Gandhi’s doctrine of Non-Violence and believed that
India’s struggle for freedom would only be successful when Indian Society is
educated with value-based education. He acted as the Vice Chancellor of
Jamia Millia Islamia for 22 years (1926-48) and made it one of the finest
educational institute in India. He died on 3rd May 1969 while serving as
President of India and he was the first president to die in office. He was
awarded The Bharat Ratna, India’s highest National Honor.

14. Peer Ali Khan: Peer Ali Khan was one of the most important Muslim Freedom Fighter of India
who took part in the rebellion of 1857
Bakht Khan: Bakht Khan was another important Muslim Freedom Fighter of India who took part
in the rebellion of 1857.
Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah: Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah participated in the first War of
Independence and he was considered a great warrior by many British officers.
Ahmedullah created much terror of his fighting skills that Lord Canning had put a reward of
50,000 on his head.
Professor Abdul Bari: Abdul Bari was born in the year 1892 in the Jahanabad District of Bihar
and he was working as a Professor in Bihar National College when he first met Mahatma Gandhi.
He played an active role during the Quit India Movement and later became the President of
Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee. Abdul Bari was shot dead on 28th March 1947 while he was
traveling from Jamshedpur to Patna for some official work instructed by Mahatma Gandhi.
Maulana Mazharul Haque: Maulana Mazharul Haque was born on 22nd December 1886 in Patna
district of Bihar.
He played a major role in the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements and in the Champaran
Satyagraha. He also organized Home Rule Movement in Bihar and served as its president in
1916.
Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi: Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi was born on 3rd March 1900 in Muzaffarpur
district of Bihar. Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi opposed Jinnah’s Two-nation theory and the creation of
Pakistan and to counter this he founded the All-India Jamhur Muslim League.

15. Asaf Ali: Asaf Ali was born on 11th May 1888 and was very famous Lawyer. He was famous for
fighting cases related to Indian Independence Activists and in most of the cases he was
successful in acquitting the freedom fighters of India.
Saifuddin Kitchlew: Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew was born on 15th January 1888 and he is most notably
known for the “Jallianwala Bagh Massacre”. Saifuddin Kitchlew completed his studies in Europe
and then returned to India to practice Law.
Abbas Ali: Abbas Ali was born on 3 January 1920 in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. From
his school days, he was inspired by the freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar
Azad. To contribute to the freedom struggle of India he joined Naujawan Bharat Sabha, an
organization founded by Bhagat Singh.
Moulvi Muhammad Baqir: Moulvi Muhammad Baqir was one of the heroes of 1857 war of
freedom. He was executed by the British troops on the charges of being a ‘rebel’. He was the
first journalist to be executed for his role in the rebellion of 1857.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar: Khan Abdul Ghaffar is one of the most important Muslim freedom fighters
of India and he was also known as “Frontier Gandhi“. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan was also known
as Bacha Khaan meaning “king of chiefs”. He started the famous Khudai Khidmatgar (“Servants
of God”) movement in 1929 and it was very successful freedom movement.
Vakkom Majeed: Vakkom Majeed was born on 20 December 1909 in a prominent aristocratic
Muslim family of Travancore. He participated in the Quit India movement in 1942 and was
arrested and remained in jail for several months.

16. Muzaffar Ahmed: Muzaffar Ahmed was born on 5 August 1889 in Musapur village in Chittagong
District of Bengal Province (present-day Bangladesh He was one of the founders of Communist
Party of India. In the year 1924, he was sentenced to four years in prison for his involvement in
the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case.
Mohammed Abdur Rahman: Mohammad Abdur Rahman was born in the year 1898 in Thrissur
District of Kerala. He participated in the Salt Satyagraha and was sentenced to nine months
rigorous imprisonment in Kannur Central Jail. He published a newspaper by the name Al-Ameen
in Calicut from 1929–1939 and the newspaper aimed to strengthen the freedom movement and
nurture nationalism among the Muslims of Malabar.
Ashfaq ullah Khan was born on October 22, 1900, in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He grew up
at a time when Mahatma Gandhi had launched the non-cooperation movement and urged
Indians not to pay taxes to the government or co-operate with the British.
On 9 August 1925, Ashfaqulla Khan and other revolutionaries, namely Ram Prasad
Bismil, Rajendra Lahiri, Thakur Roshan Singh, Sachindra Bakshi, Chandrashekar Azad, Keshab
Chakravarty, Banwari Lal, Mukundi Lal, Manmathnath Gupta looted the train carrying British
government money in Kakori near Lucknow.
Ashfaqulla Khan was put to death by hanging on 19 December 1927 at Faizabad jail. This
revolutionary man became a martyr and a legend among his people due to his love for the
motherland, his clear thinking, unshakeable courage, firmness and loyalty
Aruna Asif Ali: Aruna Asaf Ali (16 July 1909 - 29 July 1996), was an Indian independence activist.
She is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank
Maidan in Bombay during the Quit India Movement, 1942.

18. There were many Muslim leaders forgotten by writers.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
Maulana Muhammad Ali,
Maulana Shuakat Ali,
Allama Muhammad Iqbal,
Muhammad Barkathulla,
Bi Amma (mother of Ali brothers),
Badarudeen Tyabji,
Hakim Ajmal Khan,
Dr. M.A. Ansari,
Dr. Siafudeen Kichlu,
Dr. Basheer Ahmad,
Syed Ameer Ali,
were very few names in the history of freedom movement. But, there are
many Muslim leaders who were forgotten by our writers.
Dr. Syed Muhammad,
Hazrat Mohani,
Nawab Abdul Latheef,
Althaf Hussain Hali,
Syed Ahmad Sirhindi,
Syed Ahmad Barielly,
Maulana Shibli Numani,
Munshi Karamat Ali,
Poet Hali,
Munshi Zakaullah (Delhi),
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai,
Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi,
Allah Bux Soomro