Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan
Encyclopedia
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan , founder of the Dar ul Islam Movement and the Dar ul Islam Trust in South Asia and the Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes in Pathankot
, India
and Jauharabad
, Pakistan
, was a civil engineer, civil servant, landowner, agriculturalist and philanthropist
. He was a member of the All-India Muslim League and an avid and active supporter of the Pakistan Movement
, which led to the establishment of the Muslim state of Pakistan in 1947.
The Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan are examples of Muslim institutional efforts in India and Pakistan in the mid-20th Century to re-establish a culture of learning and scholarship in the Islamic World leading to intellectual enlightenment and social reform.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, also being a professional civil engineer, designed the original tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
in Pakistan, the world's second largest salt mines.
Rajputs from Garhshanker
Tehsil (sub-district) in Hoshiarpur
Zila (district) of Punjab. They belonged to the Ghorewaha
sub-clan of Rajputs who had converted to Islam
from Hinduism
some 300 years earlier, under the ruler Rai Roop Chand, in 1623. His family traced their lineage directly to Raja Hawaha who became ruler of a part of the Punjab in 1070 A.D. Subsequently, the Muslim Ruler of India, Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri, awarded him and his brother, Raja Kachwaha, ownership of as much land as they could encircle on horseback from dawn to dusk in a single day on either side of the River Sutlej
. Raja Hawaha encircled an area comprising 1,860 villages north of the Sutlej, hence the word, "Ghorewaha", or "expert equestrian".
One of the beneficiary's of Raja Hawaha's equestrian feat was the family of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, which, through Raja Hawaha's chain of inheritance, inherited agricultural lands that had been awarded to him by Ghauri.
The following reference to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's family and clan has been made in the Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), which was compiled and published by the Punjab Government and printed at the Civil and Military Gazette
Press, Lahore in 1884:
According to the same Gazetteer, there were 2,716 members of the Ghorewaha clan in Hoshiarpur District in 1884 (p. 59). The Gazetteer also mentions "[i]n tahsil Garhshankar the Ghorewaha Rajputs of Garhshankar, Saroa, Balachaur and Basa Taunsa..." as being amongst the leading families of Hoshiarpur District (p. 79).
building_iit-roorkee.jpg)
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was born in Mahilpur
, Hoshiarpur District
, Punjab
in the British Indian Empire on 28 June 1880. He was the eldest of four brothers.
Not to let his son fall prey to the lethargy and hedonism that dogged the many scions of the landed aristocratic gentry, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's father ensured that the young Niaz Ali had a strict upbringing and that he grow up to become an educated professional.
From 1896 to 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan studied engineering at The Thomason College of Civil Engineering (formerly Roorkee College - established in 1847 - the second oldest engineering school in India, which became the University of Roorkee in 1949 and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
in 2001), earning a degree in civil engineering with 70% marks and coming in 15th in merit in a class of 80 graduates. The Thomason College of Civil Engineering was, at the time, the oldest institute of technical education in Asia
and the erstwhile British Empire
to award its own degrees.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was an expert equestrian and used to ride regularly, on occasions up to 40-50 kilometres a day. He was also a photography enthusiast and had accumulated a vast collection of cameras and used to develop his own photographs.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was considered a competent, hard-working and honest civil servant and civil engineer, which manifested in him being given a monthly salary of Rupees 750 by the British Indian Government, which was a significant income in the first quarter of the 20th century, considering that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's entire monthly household expenditure seldom exceeded Rs. 100. A handsome salary, with savings of up to Rs. 500-600 a month, also enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to enhance his agricultural landholdings in Jamalpur, where soil-rich and well-irrigated agricultural land was available for Rs. 100-200 per acre.
While serving in the Public Works Department in 1901, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan oversaw the designing and construction of the 80 km long Pathankot-Dalhousie
Road.
While serving in the Mines Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan designed the tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
, the world's second largest salt mines.
While serving in the Irrigation Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan worked on the 3-Canal Anhar-Salasa Irrigation project near Dipalpur
in the Punjab. Earlier, while posted near the tribal areas in the North-West Frontier Province
, a dam breached and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being the Sub-Divisional Officer, was tasked with overseeing the repair of the breach. While the repair work was being carried out, a band of tribals started firing on the engineers and labourers working on the repair of the dam from the hills surrounding the dam. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, picked up his rifle, and, along with a couple of labourers, went up to the tribals and asked them to stop the firing and explained to them that the dam project was providing employment to local tribals and would help store water and irrigate barren fields. The tribals, who, perhaps, were more appreciative of his sheer tenacity than the logic of his argument, agreed to immediately halt the attacks. In recognition of his act of courage, the British Indian Government awarded Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery), a military medal seldom awarded to civilians. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan explained to the government that he did not deserve the medal since his bravery and success was aided by the fact that some of the labourers working on the project also belonged to the same tribe as those who were attacking them and they played a part in convincing their fellow tribals to halt the attacks. This honest explanation notwithstanding, the medal was awarded.
In 1931, in recognition of his exemplary public service spanning 30 years, the 32nd Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
, on behalf of the British Indian Government, conferred upon Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the title of Khan Sahib
.
In 1935, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan retired from government service and his career in civil engineering and returned to his vast estate in Jamalpur to manage his agricultural lands, which spanned 1000 acres (4 km²). He built his residential complex known as "Qila Jamalpur" (Jamalpur Fort) at a cost of Rs. 100,000, a significant amount at the time. This structure stands to this day and Jamalpur today is also, alternatively, called "Qila Jamalpur".
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's personal friends included, among others, Syed Mohsin Shah (father of Justice Nasim Hasan Shah
, the 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan), Mian Amiruddin (Mayor of Lahore
), Mian Nizamuddin and Dr. Allah Jawaya (Official Physician to the Emir of Afghanistan
and father of Pakistan's renowned criminal lawyer, M. Anwar, Barrister-at-Law).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a philanthropist by heart and generously spread charity around him and donated money to various social causes and endowed various charitable and educational institutions with a share of his wealth, especially in the form of land. While spreading charity, he did not discriminate between Muslims and non-Muslims, however, he was particularly concerned about the plight of Muslims in India and, therefore, focused on them. He soon acquired a reputation in northern India as a notable philanthropist.
and the advent of the British Raj
, had increasingly regressed economically, socially and politically and were trailing Hindus in education. Iqbal, who was promoting the idea of a separate state for Muslims in India, also felt that such educational establishments were necessary to educate a new crop of Muslim leaders once a separate Muslim state is established and who would play a leadership role in the new Muslim state.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was greatly inspired by Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his vision for Muslims. In 1936, on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan founded and established the Dar ul Islam Trust, which was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and donated 66 acres (267,092.8 m²) of land from his vast 1000 acres (4 km²) estate known as the "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" in Jamalpur
(5 km west of Pathankot) in Gurdaspur District
, Punjab State, India for the established of the first Dar ul Islam Trust Institute.
The Dar ul Islam Trust's objectives included, inter alia, undertaking "...through all lawful means research on Islamic theology, culture and history and to publish and print works..."
Among the scholars and thinkers participating in the Dar ul Islam project were: Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi and Maulana Sadruddin Islahi, both notable Qur'anic scholars and writers of the era; Muhammad Asad
(formerly Leopold Weiss), a German Jewish convert to Islam, an Islamic scholar and journalist from Lahore; Mian Nizamuddin from Lahore; Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Barrister-at-Law from Gurdaspur
; Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Deputy Collector (Retd.) from Anhar; and Maulvi Fatah-ud-Deen, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
The Dar ul Islam venture famously brought together two thinker-activists, Muhammad Asad and Maulana Syed Abul Ala Maududi
.
, an eminent civil servant and Islamic scholar. At the time, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez had been tasked by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, then leader of the All India Muslim League, to publish a monthly journal titled Tolu-e-Islam
the primary objective of which was to build the case for a separate Muslim state in India and to educate Muslim public opinion in India that according to the Qur'an
, ideology and not geographical or ethnic divisions, was the basis for the formation of nation, and that a politically independent Islamic state was a pre-requisite for Muslims to live in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.
When Ghulam Ahmed Pervez told Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he had been asked by Allama Muhammad Iqbal to join the Dar ul Islam Trust at Pathankot and sought his permission, Muhammad Ali Jinnah told Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to nominate someone else for the purpose as he wanted Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to focus entirely on the Tolu-e-Islam project. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, therefore, recommended the name of Maulana Maududi to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez knew Maududi as a young, energetic and intelligent journalist working in Hyderabad Deccan who had considerable knowledge of Islam and felt that Maududi was the right person for the job. It was, therefore, at the recommendation of Ghulam Ahmed Pervez that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan wrote to Maududi and invited him to join the Dar ul Islam Trust in Pathankot. The prospect of heading a well-endowed Islamic research institute with a custom-built campus near the picteresque foothills of the Himalayas
was an attractive one for Maududi and he agreed.
At the time, it was unknown to both Ghulam Ahmed Pervez and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan that Maulana Maududi was against the creation of a separate state for Muslims in India and would go on to oppose the creation of Pakistan, which would eventually lead to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan parting ways with Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, however, wanted Allama Muhammad Iqbal to personally approve the appointment of Maududi at Dar ul Islam. Therefore, when Maududi first visited the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot, in 1937, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan took Maududi to meet Allama Muhammad Iqbal at Lahore. Like Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also unaware of Maududi's opposition to a separate state for Muslims in India and, having no other reason to reject him, sanctioned Maududi's appointment at the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan remained the vital link between Iqbal and Maududi.
In 1938, Maulana Maududi, then aged 35, arrived at Dar-ul-Islam in Pathankot and remained there for some time under the patronage of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan before founding the religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami
in Lahore in 1941. It was at Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's estate at Jamalpur where Maulana Maududi established his publishing house, the Maktabah Jama'at-i-Islami, which published Maulana Maududi's Musalman Aur Maujoodah Siyasi Kashmakash ("Muslims and the Current Political Dilemma"). In 1945, an all-India level conference of the Jamaat-e-Islami was held at the Dar ul Islam Institute, Pathankot. Among the attendees were Maulana Maududi, Maulana Said-ud-din, Maulana Saif-ud-din Qari and Maulana Ghulam Ahmad Ahrar. After the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the Jamaat-e-Islami was bifurcated into two separate political parties, namely the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
in India and the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
In his article, "Lessons from History", the noted Islamic scholar, Dr. Israr Ahmad, who himself was influenced by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, writes about Maulana Maududi:
Although the genesis of the Jamaat-e-Islami can be traced to the Dar ul Islam Institute established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Pathankot, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan himself, being a committed "Muslim Leaguer", never joined the Jamaat-e-Islami nor had anything to do with its founding. This was due to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's disagreement with Maulana Maududi's and the Jamaat-Islami's ideology and approach on a number of issues, particularly on the idea of Pakistan, the creation of which was being opposed by Maulana Maududi and his Jamaat-e-Islami and being supported by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.
that was fighting for a separate homeland for Muslims in India. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's belief in Iqbal's dream for a separate homeland for Muslims in India and his support for the idea of Pakistan led to increased distance between him and Maulana Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's support for the creation of Pakistan became evident immediately after Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947 when Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, leaving his home and vast Jamalpur estate behind in the new Republic of India, migrated with his family to the newly-established Muslim state of Pakistan and established there the second Dar-ul-Islam Trust Institute in Jauharabad in Khushab District
in central Punjab
.
, Lychee
and Sapodilla
(Chikoo) fruits from China
and Japan
, which, for the first time in India, were successfully planted and grown at his 1000 acres (4 km²) agricultural estate known as "Jamalpur Fruit Farms". All three of these fruits spread to other parts of India from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms. The famous lychee farms on the west bank of the River Ravi, west of Lahore
, were planted by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's close friend, Mian Amiruddin (later Mayor of Lahore), from lychee tree saplings imported from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms.
The notable agriculturist, Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
, who later became agriculture minister in President Ayub Khan's cabinet and known as the "Father of Agriculture" in Pakistan, also consulted Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan on mango farming techniques and technologies. Seeds of a variety of mango trees from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms were also shipped to South Africa
, where they were successfully planted and grown and continue to be grown to this day.
The vast Jamalpur Fruit Farms enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to experiment with innovative agricultural techniques and technologies, which were widely adopted in the agriculture of Punjab, particularly in the field of fruit agriculture.
The Jamalpur Fruit Farms acquired a reputation of being one of the technologically-advanced fruit farms in India. Students from India's then premier agriculture education establishment, the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur
(now University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
), used to make annual study trips to the Jamalpur Fruit Farms to study the advanced agricultural techniques and technologies being applied there.
, Dehradun
, and his younger son, Khan Muhammad Azam, at Government College, Lahore and Trinity College, Oxford
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's son, Khan Muhammad Azam, is married to the eldest daughter of Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
, the pre-1947 Indian freedom fighter and post-1947 Pakistani political leader, and granddaughter of Khan Bahudur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
, the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India. His grandson, K.D. Rana, was married to the daughter of Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana
, Chief Martial Law Administrator (West Pakistan) and Commander, I Corps
, Pakistan Army (1958-1966) and son of Rana Talia Muhammad Khan.
, India
and Jauharabad
, Pakistan
, was a civil engineer, civil servant, landowner, agriculturalist and philanthropist
. He was a member of the All-India Muslim League and an avid and active supporter of the Pakistan Movement
, which led to the establishment of the Muslim state of Pakistan in 1947.
The Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan are examples of Muslim institutional efforts in India and Pakistan in the mid-20th Century to re-establish a culture of learning and scholarship in the Islamic World leading to intellectual enlightenment and social reform.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, also being a professional civil engineer, designed the original tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
in Pakistan, the world's second largest salt mines.
Rajputs from Garhshanker
Tehsil (sub-district) in Hoshiarpur
Zila (district) of Punjab. They belonged to the Ghorewaha
sub-clan of Rajputs who had converted to Islam
from Hinduism
some 300 years earlier, under the ruler Rai Roop Chand, in 1623. His family traced their lineage directly to Raja Hawaha who became ruler of a part of the Punjab in 1070 A.D. Subsequently, the Muslim Ruler of India, Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri, awarded him and his brother, Raja Kachwaha, ownership of as much land as they could encircle on horseback from dawn to dusk in a single day on either side of the River Sutlej
. Raja Hawaha encircled an area comprising 1,860 villages north of the Sutlej, hence the word, "Ghorewaha", or "expert equestrian".
One of the beneficiary's of Raja Hawaha's equestrian feat was the family of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, which, through Raja Hawaha's chain of inheritance, inherited agricultural lands that had been awarded to him by Ghauri.
The following reference to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's family and clan has been made in the Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), which was compiled and published by the Punjab Government and printed at the Civil and Military Gazette
Press, Lahore in 1884:
According to the same Gazetteer, there were 2,716 members of the Ghorewaha clan in Hoshiarpur District in 1884 (p. 59). The Gazetteer also mentions "[i]n tahsil Garhshankar the Ghorewaha Rajputs of Garhshankar, Saroa, Balachaur and Basa Taunsa..." as being amongst the leading families of Hoshiarpur District (p. 79).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was born in Mahilpur
, Hoshiarpur District
, Punjab
in the British Indian Empire on 28 June 1880. He was the eldest of four brothers.
Not to let his son fall prey to the lethargy and hedonism that dogged the many scions of the landed aristocratic gentry, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's father ensured that the young Niaz Ali had a strict upbringing and that he grow up to become an educated professional.
From 1896 to 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan studied engineering at The Thomason College of Civil Engineering (formerly Roorkee College - established in 1847 - the second oldest engineering school in India, which became the University of Roorkee in 1949 and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
in 2001), earning a degree in civil engineering with 70% marks and coming in 15th in merit in a class of 80 graduates. The Thomason College of Civil Engineering was, at the time, the oldest institute of technical education in Asia
and the erstwhile British Empire
to award its own degrees.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was an expert equestrian and used to ride regularly, on occasions up to 40-50 kilometres a day. He was also a photography enthusiast and had accumulated a vast collection of cameras and used to develop his own photographs.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was considered a competent, hard-working and honest civil servant and civil engineer, which manifested in him being given a monthly salary of Rupees 750 by the British Indian Government, which was a significant income in the first quarter of the 20th century, considering that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's entire monthly household expenditure seldom exceeded Rs. 100. A handsome salary, with savings of up to Rs. 500-600 a month, also enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to enhance his agricultural landholdings in Jamalpur, where soil-rich and well-irrigated agricultural land was available for Rs. 100-200 per acre.
While serving in the Public Works Department in 1901, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan oversaw the designing and construction of the 80 km long Pathankot-Dalhousie
Road.
While serving in the Mines Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan designed the tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
, the world's second largest salt mines.
While serving in the Irrigation Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan worked on the 3-Canal Anhar-Salasa Irrigation project near Dipalpur
in the Punjab. Earlier, while posted near the tribal areas in the North-West Frontier Province
, a dam breached and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being the Sub-Divisional Officer, was tasked with overseeing the repair of the breach. While the repair work was being carried out, a band of tribals started firing on the engineers and labourers working on the repair of the dam from the hills surrounding the dam. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, picked up his rifle, and, along with a couple of labourers, went up to the tribals and asked them to stop the firing and explained to them that the dam project was providing employment to local tribals and would help store water and irrigate barren fields. The tribals, who, perhaps, were more appreciative of his sheer tenacity than the logic of his argument, agreed to immediately halt the attacks. In recognition of his act of courage, the British Indian Government awarded Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery), a military medal seldom awarded to civilians. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan explained to the government that he did not deserve the medal since his bravery and success was aided by the fact that some of the labourers working on the project also belonged to the same tribe as those who were attacking them and they played a part in convincing their fellow tribals to halt the attacks. This honest explanation notwithstanding, the medal was awarded.
In 1931, in recognition of his exemplary public service spanning 30 years, the 32nd Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
, on behalf of the British Indian Government, conferred upon Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the title of Khan Sahib
.
In 1935, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan retired from government service and his career in civil engineering and returned to his vast estate in Jamalpur to manage his agricultural lands, which spanned 1000 acres (4 km²). He built his residential complex known as "Qila Jamalpur" (Jamalpur Fort) at a cost of Rs. 100,000, a significant amount at the time. This structure stands to this day and Jamalpur today is also, alternatively, called "Qila Jamalpur".
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's personal friends included, among others, Syed Mohsin Shah (father of Justice Nasim Hasan Shah
, the 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan), Mian Amiruddin (Mayor of Lahore
), Mian Nizamuddin and Dr. Allah Jawaya (Official Physician to the Emir of Afghanistan
and father of Pakistan's renowned criminal lawyer, M. Anwar, Barrister-at-Law).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a philanthropist by heart and generously spread charity around him and donated money to various social causes and endowed various charitable and educational institutions with a share of his wealth, especially in the form of land. While spreading charity, he did not discriminate between Muslims and non-Muslims, however, he was particularly concerned about the plight of Muslims in India and, therefore, focused on them. He soon acquired a reputation in northern India as a notable philanthropist.
and the advent of the British Raj
, had increasingly regressed economically, socially and politically and were trailing Hindus in education. Iqbal, who was promoting the idea of a separate state for Muslims in India, also felt that such educational establishments were necessary to educate a new crop of Muslim leaders once a separate Muslim state is established and who would play a leadership role in the new Muslim state.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was greatly inspired by Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his vision for Muslims. In 1936, on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan founded and established the Dar ul Islam Trust, which was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and donated 66 acres (267,092.8 m²) of land from his vast 1000 acres (4 km²) estate known as the "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" in Jamalpur
(5 km west of Pathankot) in Gurdaspur District
, Punjab State, India for the established of the first Dar ul Islam Trust Institute.
The Dar ul Islam Trust's objectives included, inter alia, undertaking "...through all lawful means research on Islamic theology, culture and history and to publish and print works..."
Among the scholars and thinkers participating in the Dar ul Islam project were: Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi and Maulana Sadruddin Islahi, both notable Qur'anic scholars and writers of the era; Muhammad Asad
(formerly Leopold Weiss), a German Jewish convert to Islam, an Islamic scholar and journalist from Lahore; Mian Nizamuddin from Lahore; Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Barrister-at-Law from Gurdaspur
; Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Deputy Collector (Retd.) from Anhar; and Maulvi Fatah-ud-Deen, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
The Dar ul Islam venture famously brought together two thinker-activists, Muhammad Asad and Maulana Syed Abul Ala Maududi
.
, an eminent civil servant and Islamic scholar. At the time, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez had been tasked by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, then leader of the All India Muslim League, to publish a monthly journal titled Tolu-e-Islam
the primary objective of which was to build the case for a separate Muslim state in India and to educate Muslim public opinion in India that according to the Qur'an
, ideology and not geographical or ethnic divisions, was the basis for the formation of nation, and that a politically independent Islamic state was a pre-requisite for Muslims to live in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.
When Ghulam Ahmed Pervez told Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he had been asked by Allama Muhammad Iqbal to join the Dar ul Islam Trust at Pathankot and sought his permission, Muhammad Ali Jinnah told Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to nominate someone else for the purpose as he wanted Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to focus entirely on the Tolu-e-Islam project. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, therefore, recommended the name of Maulana Maududi to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez knew Maududi as a young, energetic and intelligent journalist working in Hyderabad Deccan who had considerable knowledge of Islam and felt that Maududi was the right person for the job. It was, therefore, at the recommendation of Ghulam Ahmed Pervez that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan wrote to Maududi and invited him to join the Dar ul Islam Trust in Pathankot. The prospect of heading a well-endowed Islamic research institute with a custom-built campus near the picteresque foothills of the Himalayas
was an attractive one for Maududi and he agreed.
At the time, it was unknown to both Ghulam Ahmed Pervez and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan that Maulana Maududi was against the creation of a separate state for Muslims in India and would go on to oppose the creation of Pakistan, which would eventually lead to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan parting ways with Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, however, wanted Allama Muhammad Iqbal to personally approve the appointment of Maududi at Dar ul Islam. Therefore, when Maududi first visited the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot, in 1937, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan took Maududi to meet Allama Muhammad Iqbal at Lahore. Like Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also unaware of Maududi's opposition to a separate state for Muslims in India and, having no other reason to reject him, sanctioned Maududi's appointment at the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan remained the vital link between Iqbal and Maududi.
In 1938, Maulana Maududi, then aged 35, arrived at Dar-ul-Islam in Pathankot and remained there for some time under the patronage of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan before founding the religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami
in Lahore in 1941. It was at Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's estate at Jamalpur where Maulana Maududi established his publishing house, the Maktabah Jama'at-i-Islami, which published Maulana Maududi's Musalman Aur Maujoodah Siyasi Kashmakash ("Muslims and the Current Political Dilemma"). In 1945, an all-India level conference of the Jamaat-e-Islami was held at the Dar ul Islam Institute, Pathankot. Among the attendees were Maulana Maududi, Maulana Said-ud-din, Maulana Saif-ud-din Qari and Maulana Ghulam Ahmad Ahrar. After the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the Jamaat-e-Islami was bifurcated into two separate political parties, namely the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
in India and the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
In his article, "Lessons from History", the noted Islamic scholar, Dr. Israr Ahmad, who himself was influenced by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, writes about Maulana Maududi:
Although the genesis of the Jamaat-e-Islami can be traced to the Dar ul Islam Institute established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Pathankot, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan himself, being a committed "Muslim Leaguer", never joined the Jamaat-e-Islami nor had anything to do with its founding. This was due to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's disagreement with Maulana Maududi's and the Jamaat-Islami's ideology and approach on a number of issues, particularly on the idea of Pakistan, the creation of which was being opposed by Maulana Maududi and his Jamaat-e-Islami and being supported by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.
that was fighting for a separate homeland for Muslims in India. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's belief in Iqbal's dream for a separate homeland for Muslims in India and his support for the idea of Pakistan led to increased distance between him and Maulana Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's support for the creation of Pakistan became evident immediately after Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947 when Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, leaving his home and vast Jamalpur estate behind in the new Republic of India, migrated with his family to the newly-established Muslim state of Pakistan and established there the second Dar-ul-Islam Trust Institute in Jauharabad in Khushab District
in central Punjab
.
, Lychee
and Sapodilla
(Chikoo) fruits from China
and Japan
, which, for the first time in India, were successfully planted and grown at his 1000 acres (4 km²) agricultural estate known as "Jamalpur Fruit Farms". All three of these fruits spread to other parts of India from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms. The famous lychee farms on the west bank of the River Ravi, west of Lahore
, were planted by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's close friend, Mian Amiruddin (later Mayor of Lahore), from lychee tree saplings imported from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms.
The notable agriculturist, Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
, who later became agriculture minister in President Ayub Khan's cabinet and known as the "Father of Agriculture" in Pakistan, also consulted Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan on mango farming techniques and technologies. Seeds of a variety of mango trees from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms were also shipped to South Africa
, where they were successfully planted and grown and continue to be grown to this day.
The vast Jamalpur Fruit Farms enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to experiment with innovative agricultural techniques and technologies, which were widely adopted in the agriculture of Punjab, particularly in the field of fruit agriculture.
The Jamalpur Fruit Farms acquired a reputation of being one of the technologically-advanced fruit farms in India. Students from India's then premier agriculture education establishment, the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur
(now University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
), used to make annual study trips to the Jamalpur Fruit Farms to study the advanced agricultural techniques and technologies being applied there.
, Dehradun
, and his younger son, Khan Muhammad Azam, at Government College, Lahore and Trinity College, Oxford
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's son, Khan Muhammad Azam, is married to the eldest daughter of Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
, the pre-1947 Indian freedom fighter and post-1947 Pakistani political leader, and granddaughter of Khan Bahudur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
, the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India. His grandson, K.D. Rana, was married to the daughter of Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana
, Chief Martial Law Administrator (West Pakistan) and Commander, I Corps
, Pakistan Army (1958-1966) and son of Rana Talia Muhammad Khan.
, India
and Jauharabad
, Pakistan
, was a civil engineer, civil servant, landowner, agriculturalist and philanthropist
. He was a member of the All-India Muslim League and an avid and active supporter of the Pakistan Movement
, which led to the establishment of the Muslim state of Pakistan in 1947.
The Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan are examples of Muslim institutional efforts in India and Pakistan in the mid-20th Century to re-establish a culture of learning and scholarship in the Islamic World leading to intellectual enlightenment and social reform.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, also being a professional civil engineer, designed the original tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
in Pakistan, the world's second largest salt mines.
Rajputs from Garhshanker
Tehsil (sub-district) in Hoshiarpur
Zila (district) of Punjab. They belonged to the Ghorewaha
sub-clan of Rajputs who had converted to Islam
from Hinduism
some 300 years earlier, under the ruler Rai Roop Chand, in 1623. His family traced their lineage directly to Raja Hawaha who became ruler of a part of the Punjab in 1070 A.D. Subsequently, the Muslim Ruler of India, Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri, awarded him and his brother, Raja Kachwaha, ownership of as much land as they could encircle on horseback from dawn to dusk in a single day on either side of the River Sutlej
. Raja Hawaha encircled an area comprising 1,860 villages north of the Sutlej, hence the word, "Ghorewaha", or "expert equestrian".
One of the beneficiary's of Raja Hawaha's equestrian feat was the family of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, which, through Raja Hawaha's chain of inheritance, inherited agricultural lands that had been awarded to him by Ghauri.
The following reference to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's family and clan has been made in the Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), which was compiled and published by the Punjab Government and printed at the Civil and Military Gazette
Press, Lahore in 1884:
According to the same Gazetteer, there were 2,716 members of the Ghorewaha clan in Hoshiarpur District in 1884 (p. 59). The Gazetteer also mentions "[i]n tahsil Garhshankar the Ghorewaha Rajputs of Garhshankar, Saroa, Balachaur and Basa Taunsa..." as being amongst the leading families of Hoshiarpur District (p. 79).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was born in Mahilpur
, Hoshiarpur District
, Punjab
in the British Indian Empire on 28 June 1880. He was the eldest of four brothers.
Not to let his son fall prey to the lethargy and hedonism that dogged the many scions of the landed aristocratic gentry, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's father ensured that the young Niaz Ali had a strict upbringing and that he grow up to become an educated professional.
From 1896 to 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan studied engineering at The Thomason College of Civil Engineering (formerly Roorkee College - established in 1847 - the second oldest engineering school in India, which became the University of Roorkee in 1949 and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
in 2001), earning a degree in civil engineering with 70% marks and coming in 15th in merit in a class of 80 graduates. The Thomason College of Civil Engineering was, at the time, the oldest institute of technical education in Asia
and the erstwhile British Empire
to award its own degrees.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was an expert equestrian and used to ride regularly, on occasions up to 40-50 kilometres a day. He was also a photography enthusiast and had accumulated a vast collection of cameras and used to develop his own photographs.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was considered a competent, hard-working and honest civil servant and civil engineer, which manifested in him being given a monthly salary of Rupees 750 by the British Indian Government, which was a significant income in the first quarter of the 20th century, considering that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's entire monthly household expenditure seldom exceeded Rs. 100. A handsome salary, with savings of up to Rs. 500-600 a month, also enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to enhance his agricultural landholdings in Jamalpur, where soil-rich and well-irrigated agricultural land was available for Rs. 100-200 per acre.
While serving in the Public Works Department in 1901, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan oversaw the designing and construction of the 80 km long Pathankot-Dalhousie
Road.
While serving in the Mines Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan designed the tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
, the world's second largest salt mines.
While serving in the Irrigation Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan worked on the 3-Canal Anhar-Salasa Irrigation project near Dipalpur
in the Punjab. Earlier, while posted near the tribal areas in the North-West Frontier Province
, a dam breached and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being the Sub-Divisional Officer, was tasked with overseeing the repair of the breach. While the repair work was being carried out, a band of tribals started firing on the engineers and labourers working on the repair of the dam from the hills surrounding the dam. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, picked up his rifle, and, along with a couple of labourers, went up to the tribals and asked them to stop the firing and explained to them that the dam project was providing employment to local tribals and would help store water and irrigate barren fields. The tribals, who, perhaps, were more appreciative of his sheer tenacity than the logic of his argument, agreed to immediately halt the attacks. In recognition of his act of courage, the British Indian Government awarded Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery), a military medal seldom awarded to civilians. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan explained to the government that he did not deserve the medal since his bravery and success was aided by the fact that some of the labourers working on the project also belonged to the same tribe as those who were attacking them and they played a part in convincing their fellow tribals to halt the attacks. This honest explanation notwithstanding, the medal was awarded.
In 1931, in recognition of his exemplary public service spanning 30 years, the 32nd Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
, on behalf of the British Indian Government, conferred upon Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the title of Khan Sahib
.
In 1935, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan retired from government service and his career in civil engineering and returned to his vast estate in Jamalpur to manage his agricultural lands, which spanned 1000 acres (4 km²). He built his residential complex known as "Qila Jamalpur" (Jamalpur Fort) at a cost of Rs. 100,000, a significant amount at the time. This structure stands to this day and Jamalpur today is also, alternatively, called "Qila Jamalpur".
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's personal friends included, among others, Syed Mohsin Shah (father of Justice Nasim Hasan Shah
, the 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan), Mian Amiruddin (Mayor of Lahore
), Mian Nizamuddin and Dr. Allah Jawaya (Official Physician to the Emir of Afghanistan
and father of Pakistan's renowned criminal lawyer, M. Anwar, Barrister-at-Law).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a philanthropist by heart and generously spread charity around him and donated money to various social causes and endowed various charitable and educational institutions with a share of his wealth, especially in the form of land. While spreading charity, he did not discriminate between Muslims and non-Muslims, however, he was particularly concerned about the plight of Muslims in India and, therefore, focused on them. He soon acquired a reputation in northern India as a notable philanthropist.
and the advent of the British Raj
, had increasingly regressed economically, socially and politically and were trailing Hindus in education. Iqbal, who was promoting the idea of a separate state for Muslims in India, also felt that such educational establishments were necessary to educate a new crop of Muslim leaders once a separate Muslim state is established and who would play a leadership role in the new Muslim state.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was greatly inspired by Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his vision for Muslims. In 1936, on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan founded and established the Dar ul Islam Trust, which was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and donated 66 acres (267,092.8 m²) of land from his vast 1000 acres (4 km²) estate known as the "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" in Jamalpur
(5 km west of Pathankot) in Gurdaspur District
, Punjab State, India for the established of the first Dar ul Islam Trust Institute.
The Dar ul Islam Trust's objectives included, inter alia, undertaking "...through all lawful means research on Islamic theology, culture and history and to publish and print works..."
Among the scholars and thinkers participating in the Dar ul Islam project were: Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi and Maulana Sadruddin Islahi, both notable Qur'anic scholars and writers of the era; Muhammad Asad
(formerly Leopold Weiss), a German Jewish convert to Islam, an Islamic scholar and journalist from Lahore; Mian Nizamuddin from Lahore; Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Barrister-at-Law from Gurdaspur
; Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Deputy Collector (Retd.) from Anhar; and Maulvi Fatah-ud-Deen, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
The Dar ul Islam venture famously brought together two thinker-activists, Muhammad Asad and Maulana Syed Abul Ala Maududi
.
, an eminent civil servant and Islamic scholar. At the time, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez had been tasked by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
, then leader of the All India Muslim League, to publish a monthly journal titled Tolu-e-Islam
the primary objective of which was to build the case for a separate Muslim state in India and to educate Muslim public opinion in India that according to the Qur'an
, ideology and not geographical or ethnic divisions, was the basis for the formation of nation, and that a politically independent Islamic state was a pre-requisite for Muslims to live in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.
When Ghulam Ahmed Pervez told Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he had been asked by Allama Muhammad Iqbal to join the Dar ul Islam Trust at Pathankot and sought his permission, Muhammad Ali Jinnah told Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to nominate someone else for the purpose as he wanted Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to focus entirely on the Tolu-e-Islam project. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, therefore, recommended the name of Maulana Maududi to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez knew Maududi as a young, energetic and intelligent journalist working in Hyderabad Deccan who had considerable knowledge of Islam and felt that Maududi was the right person for the job. It was, therefore, at the recommendation of Ghulam Ahmed Pervez that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan wrote to Maududi and invited him to join the Dar ul Islam Trust in Pathankot. The prospect of heading a well-endowed Islamic research institute with a custom-built campus near the picteresque foothills of the Himalayas
was an attractive one for Maududi and he agreed.
At the time, it was unknown to both Ghulam Ahmed Pervez and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan that Maulana Maududi was against the creation of a separate state for Muslims in India and would go on to oppose the creation of Pakistan, which would eventually lead to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan parting ways with Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, however, wanted Allama Muhammad Iqbal to personally approve the appointment of Maududi at Dar ul Islam. Therefore, when Maududi first visited the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot, in 1937, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan took Maududi to meet Allama Muhammad Iqbal at Lahore. Like Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also unaware of Maududi's opposition to a separate state for Muslims in India and, having no other reason to reject him, sanctioned Maududi's appointment at the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan remained the vital link between Iqbal and Maududi.
In 1938, Maulana Maududi, then aged 35, arrived at Dar-ul-Islam in Pathankot and remained there for some time under the patronage of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan before founding the religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami
in Lahore in 1941. It was at Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's estate at Jamalpur where Maulana Maududi established his publishing house, the Maktabah Jama'at-i-Islami, which published Maulana Maududi's Musalman Aur Maujoodah Siyasi Kashmakash ("Muslims and the Current Political Dilemma"). In 1945, an all-India level conference of the Jamaat-e-Islami was held at the Dar ul Islam Institute, Pathankot. Among the attendees were Maulana Maududi, Maulana Said-ud-din, Maulana Saif-ud-din Qari and Maulana Ghulam Ahmad Ahrar. After the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the Jamaat-e-Islami was bifurcated into two separate political parties, namely the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
in India and the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
In his article, "Lessons from History", the noted Islamic scholar, Dr. Israr Ahmad, who himself was influenced by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, writes about Maulana Maududi:
Although the genesis of the Jamaat-e-Islami can be traced to the Dar ul Islam Institute established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Pathankot, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan himself, being a committed "Muslim Leaguer", never joined the Jamaat-e-Islami nor had anything to do with its founding. This was due to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's disagreement with Maulana Maududi's and the Jamaat-Islami's ideology and approach on a number of issues, particularly on the idea of Pakistan, the creation of which was being opposed by Maulana Maududi and his Jamaat-e-Islami and being supported by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.
that was fighting for a separate homeland for Muslims in India. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's belief in Iqbal's dream for a separate homeland for Muslims in India and his support for the idea of Pakistan led to increased distance between him and Maulana Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's support for the creation of Pakistan became evident immediately after Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947 when Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, leaving his home and vast Jamalpur estate behind in the new Republic of India, migrated with his family to the newly-established Muslim state of Pakistan and established there the second Dar-ul-Islam Trust Institute in Jauharabad in Khushab District
in central Punjab
.
, Lychee
and Sapodilla
(Chikoo) fruits from China
and Japan
, which, for the first time in India, were successfully planted and grown at his 1000 acres (4 km²) agricultural estate known as "Jamalpur Fruit Farms". All three of these fruits spread to other parts of India from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms. The famous lychee farms on the west bank of the River Ravi, west of Lahore
, were planted by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's close friend, Mian Amiruddin (later Mayor of Lahore), from lychee tree saplings imported from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms.
The notable agriculturist, Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
, who later became agriculture minister in President Ayub Khan's cabinet and known as the "Father of Agriculture" in Pakistan, also consulted Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan on mango farming techniques and technologies. Seeds of a variety of mango trees from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms were also shipped to South Africa
, where they were successfully planted and grown and continue to be grown to this day.
The vast Jamalpur Fruit Farms enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to experiment with innovative agricultural techniques and technologies, which were widely adopted in the agriculture of Punjab, particularly in the field of fruit agriculture.
The Jamalpur Fruit Farms acquired a reputation of being one of the technologically-advanced fruit farms in India. Students from India's then premier agriculture education establishment, the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur
(now University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
), used to make annual study trips to the Jamalpur Fruit Farms to study the advanced agricultural techniques and technologies being applied there.
, Dehradun
, and his younger son, Khan Muhammad Azam, at Government College, Lahore and Trinity College, Oxford
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's son, Khan Muhammad Azam, is married to the eldest daughter of Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
, the pre-1947 Indian freedom fighter and post-1947 Pakistani political leader, and granddaughter of Khan Bahudur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
, the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India. His grandson, K.D. Rana, was married to the daughter of Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana
, Chief Martial Law Administrator (West Pakistan) and Commander, I Corps
, Pakistan Army (1958-1966) and son of Rana Talia Muhammad Khan.
Pathankot
Pathankot became 22nd district on 28th July 2011 and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Punjab. It was a part of the Nurpur princely state ruled by the Rajputs prior to 1849 AD. It is a meeting point of the three northern states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Jauharabad
Jauharabad
Jauharabad is a planned town situated in Khushab District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It has a population of approximately 40,000 and it is the district headquarters of Khushab District....
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, was a civil engineer, civil servant, landowner, agriculturalist and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He was a member of the All-India Muslim League and an avid and active supporter of the Pakistan Movement
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
, which led to the establishment of the Muslim state of Pakistan in 1947.
The Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan are examples of Muslim institutional efforts in India and Pakistan in the mid-20th Century to re-establish a culture of learning and scholarship in the Islamic World leading to intellectual enlightenment and social reform.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, also being a professional civil engineer, designed the original tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines is a salt mine located in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab in Pakistan, about from Islamabad and from Lahore. It attracts up to 40,000 visitors per year and is the second largest salt mine in the world...
in Pakistan, the world's second largest salt mines.
Family background
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan belonged to a family of well-to-do landed PunjabiPunjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
Rajputs from Garhshanker
Garhshanker
Garhshankar is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the state of Punjab, India.-Etymology:The town was founded by Doad king shankar sahai. Hence the name: garh shankar .Garhshankar was founded in 1000.AD by Shankar Sahai Doad, that time king.Garhshankar was converted as a...
Tehsil (sub-district) in Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourth century. In 1809 it was occupied by the forces of Maharaja Karanvir Singh and was united into the greater state of Punjab....
Zila (district) of Punjab. They belonged to the Ghorewaha
Ghorewaha
Ghorewaha are a sub-clan of Rajputs in India and Pakistan who are descendants of Raja Hawaha , who became recognized for his equestrian prowess, hence the name "Ghorewaha" or "expert equestrian"....
sub-clan of Rajputs who had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
from Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
some 300 years earlier, under the ruler Rai Roop Chand, in 1623. His family traced their lineage directly to Raja Hawaha who became ruler of a part of the Punjab in 1070 A.D. Subsequently, the Muslim Ruler of India, Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri, awarded him and his brother, Raja Kachwaha, ownership of as much land as they could encircle on horseback from dawn to dusk in a single day on either side of the River Sutlej
Sutlej
The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
. Raja Hawaha encircled an area comprising 1,860 villages north of the Sutlej, hence the word, "Ghorewaha", or "expert equestrian".
One of the beneficiary's of Raja Hawaha's equestrian feat was the family of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, which, through Raja Hawaha's chain of inheritance, inherited agricultural lands that had been awarded to him by Ghauri.
The following reference to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's family and clan has been made in the Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), which was compiled and published by the Punjab Government and printed at the Civil and Military Gazette
Civil and Military Gazette
The Civil and Military Gazette was a daily English language newspaper founded in 1872 in British India. It was published from Lahore, Simla and Karachi, some times simultaneously, until its closure in 1963.-History:...
Press, Lahore in 1884:
- "...The country immediately north of Garhshankar is occupied by Hindu Rajputs of the Bhanot clan; and Garhshankar itself, and the villages southward as far as Balachaur, are owned by Ghorewaha Rajputs, who are Musalmans [Muslims] near Garhshankar, and Hindus near Balachaur...The Ghorewahas are found in tahsil [district] Garhshankar; near Balachaur they have adhered to Hinduism; further north, in the direction of Garhshankar, they are Musalmans...The chaudhris of Garhshankar...of the Ghorewaha clan are well known. Of the other Muhammadan [Muslim] clans, besides the Ghorewahas, noticed above, a few Manj and Bhatti Rajputs are found in different parts of the district...The Rajput Akbari families of this district are those of Garhshankar (Ghorewaha) and Hariana (Naru)..." (pp. 55-58)
According to the same Gazetteer, there were 2,716 members of the Ghorewaha clan in Hoshiarpur District in 1884 (p. 59). The Gazetteer also mentions "[i]n tahsil Garhshankar the Ghorewaha Rajputs of Garhshankar, Saroa, Balachaur and Basa Taunsa..." as being amongst the leading families of Hoshiarpur District (p. 79).
Early life
Mahilpur
Mahilpur is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state Punjab. It is situated on Hoshiarpur Chandigarh Road from Hoshiarpur. It is famous for the game of football in the region.-Demographics:...
, Hoshiarpur District
Hoshiarpur District
Hoshiarpur District , is a district of Punjab state in northern India.In 2011, Hoshiarpur had population of 1,582,793 of which male and female were 806,921 and 775,872 respectively. There was change of 6.85 percent in the population compared to population as per 2001...
, Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
in the British Indian Empire on 28 June 1880. He was the eldest of four brothers.
Not to let his son fall prey to the lethargy and hedonism that dogged the many scions of the landed aristocratic gentry, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's father ensured that the young Niaz Ali had a strict upbringing and that he grow up to become an educated professional.
From 1896 to 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan studied engineering at The Thomason College of Civil Engineering (formerly Roorkee College - established in 1847 - the second oldest engineering school in India, which became the University of Roorkee in 1949 and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee , formerly the University of Roorkee, is a public university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India...
in 2001), earning a degree in civil engineering with 70% marks and coming in 15th in merit in a class of 80 graduates. The Thomason College of Civil Engineering was, at the time, the oldest institute of technical education in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the erstwhile British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
to award its own degrees.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was an expert equestrian and used to ride regularly, on occasions up to 40-50 kilometres a day. He was also a photography enthusiast and had accumulated a vast collection of cameras and used to develop his own photographs.
Career
After graduating from Roorkee in 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan joined the British Indian Government and served in the Public Works Department, the Mines Department and the Irrigation Department as Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO).Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was considered a competent, hard-working and honest civil servant and civil engineer, which manifested in him being given a monthly salary of Rupees 750 by the British Indian Government, which was a significant income in the first quarter of the 20th century, considering that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's entire monthly household expenditure seldom exceeded Rs. 100. A handsome salary, with savings of up to Rs. 500-600 a month, also enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to enhance his agricultural landholdings in Jamalpur, where soil-rich and well-irrigated agricultural land was available for Rs. 100-200 per acre.
While serving in the Public Works Department in 1901, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan oversaw the designing and construction of the 80 km long Pathankot-Dalhousie
Dalhousie, India
Dalhousie is a hill station and popular tourist spot in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, India.- Weather :Dalhousie experiences winter-like cold climate throughout the year. Heavy rain with thunder showers are experienced during the period from June to September...
Road.
While serving in the Mines Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan designed the tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines is a salt mine located in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab in Pakistan, about from Islamabad and from Lahore. It attracts up to 40,000 visitors per year and is the second largest salt mine in the world...
, the world's second largest salt mines.
While serving in the Irrigation Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan worked on the 3-Canal Anhar-Salasa Irrigation project near Dipalpur
Dipalpur
Dipalpur is a town in Okara District of the Punjab and headquarters of Depalpur Tehsil, assumed to be largest tehsil of Pakistan. It is situated 25 kilometres from the district capital Okara on a bank of the Beas River in Bari Doab...
in the Punjab. Earlier, while posted near the tribal areas in the North-West Frontier Province
North-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
, a dam breached and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being the Sub-Divisional Officer, was tasked with overseeing the repair of the breach. While the repair work was being carried out, a band of tribals started firing on the engineers and labourers working on the repair of the dam from the hills surrounding the dam. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, picked up his rifle, and, along with a couple of labourers, went up to the tribals and asked them to stop the firing and explained to them that the dam project was providing employment to local tribals and would help store water and irrigate barren fields. The tribals, who, perhaps, were more appreciative of his sheer tenacity than the logic of his argument, agreed to immediately halt the attacks. In recognition of his act of courage, the British Indian Government awarded Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery), a military medal seldom awarded to civilians. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan explained to the government that he did not deserve the medal since his bravery and success was aided by the fact that some of the labourers working on the project also belonged to the same tribe as those who were attacking them and they played a part in convincing their fellow tribals to halt the attacks. This honest explanation notwithstanding, the medal was awarded.
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Major Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, the country's 22nd.Freeman-Thomas was born in England and...
, on behalf of the British Indian Government, conferred upon Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the title of Khan Sahib
Khan Sahib
Khan Sahib - a compound of khan and sahib - was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim, Parsi and Jewish subjects of the British Indian Empire...
.
In 1935, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan retired from government service and his career in civil engineering and returned to his vast estate in Jamalpur to manage his agricultural lands, which spanned 1000 acres (4 km²). He built his residential complex known as "Qila Jamalpur" (Jamalpur Fort) at a cost of Rs. 100,000, a significant amount at the time. This structure stands to this day and Jamalpur today is also, alternatively, called "Qila Jamalpur".
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's personal friends included, among others, Syed Mohsin Shah (father of Justice Nasim Hasan Shah
Nasim Hasan Shah
Born in Lahore on April 15, 1929 to Syed Mohsin Shah, an eminent advocate and political activist, Justice Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, gained international respect and recognition when he restored the sovereignty of the Parliament in Pakistan; the first such instance in...
, the 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan), Mian Amiruddin (Mayor of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
), Mian Nizamuddin and Dr. Allah Jawaya (Official Physician to the Emir of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and father of Pakistan's renowned criminal lawyer, M. Anwar, Barrister-at-Law).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a philanthropist by heart and generously spread charity around him and donated money to various social causes and endowed various charitable and educational institutions with a share of his wealth, especially in the form of land. While spreading charity, he did not discriminate between Muslims and non-Muslims, however, he was particularly concerned about the plight of Muslims in India and, therefore, focused on them. He soon acquired a reputation in northern India as a notable philanthropist.
Dar ul Islam Movement & Trust
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's reputation as a Muslim philanthropist soon caught the attention of South Asia's premier Muslim poet, philosopher and thinker, Allama Muhammad Iqbal who advised Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to set up a research institute for Islamic learning that would lead to the education, enlightenment and empowerment of the Muslims of India who, since the fall of the Mughal EmpireMughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
and the advent of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, had increasingly regressed economically, socially and politically and were trailing Hindus in education. Iqbal, who was promoting the idea of a separate state for Muslims in India, also felt that such educational establishments were necessary to educate a new crop of Muslim leaders once a separate Muslim state is established and who would play a leadership role in the new Muslim state.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was greatly inspired by Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his vision for Muslims. In 1936, on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan founded and established the Dar ul Islam Trust, which was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and donated 66 acres (267,092.8 m²) of land from his vast 1000 acres (4 km²) estate known as the "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" in Jamalpur
Jamalpur
Jamalpur may refer to:Bangladesh* Jamalpur District* Jamalpur Sadar UpazilaIndia* Jamalpur, Munger, Bihar* Jamalpur, Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh* Jamalpur , West Bengal...
(5 km west of Pathankot) in Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur district is a district in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of the Pakistani Punjab, Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir, the Punjab districts of Amritsar and...
, Punjab State, India for the established of the first Dar ul Islam Trust Institute.
The Dar ul Islam Trust's objectives included, inter alia, undertaking "...through all lawful means research on Islamic theology, culture and history and to publish and print works..."
Among the scholars and thinkers participating in the Dar ul Islam project were: Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi and Maulana Sadruddin Islahi, both notable Qur'anic scholars and writers of the era; Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad , was an Austrian Polish Jew who converted to Islam, and a 20th century journalist, traveler, writer, social critic, linguist, thinker, reformer, diplomat, political theorist, translator and scholar...
(formerly Leopold Weiss), a German Jewish convert to Islam, an Islamic scholar and journalist from Lahore; Mian Nizamuddin from Lahore; Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Barrister-at-Law from Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur is a city in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals...
; Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Deputy Collector (Retd.) from Anhar; and Maulvi Fatah-ud-Deen, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
The Dar ul Islam venture famously brought together two thinker-activists, Muhammad Asad and Maulana Syed Abul Ala Maududi
Abul Ala Maududi
Syed Abul A'ala Maududi , also known as Molana or Shaikh Syed Abul A'ala Mawdudi, was a Sunni Pakistani journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher, and a major 20th century Islamist thinker. He was also a prominent political figure in Pakistan and was the first...
.
Monthly Dar ul Islam journal
In 1940, the Dar ul Islam Movement began publishing an Urdu-language monthly journal called Monthly Dar ul Islam, from Pathankot, whose publisher and printer was Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. The Dar ul Islam was a scholarly and literary journal whose purpose was to create enlightenment and awareness amongst the Muslims of British India and also to present the case for an independent state for Muslims in South Asia.Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & Maulana Maududi
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan requested Allama Muhammad Iqbal to nominate an Islamic scholar with good management skills who could manage the day-to-day affairs of the Dar ul Islam Trust. Allama Muhammad Iqbal nominated Ghulam Ahmed PervezGhulam Ahmed Pervez
Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez was a prominent Islamic scholar, famous in the area around Lahore. He urged the Muslims to ponder deeply over the Message of the Quran. He considered Islam a din , a form of government, a system of government like democracy, autocracy, or socialism...
, an eminent civil servant and Islamic scholar. At the time, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez had been tasked by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, then leader of the All India Muslim League, to publish a monthly journal titled Tolu-e-Islam
Tolu-e-Islam
Tolu-e-Islam , also known as Bazm-e-Tolu-e-Islam, is a group of Muslims that interpret Qur'an as the main source of guidance and deny the authority of the hadiths....
the primary objective of which was to build the case for a separate Muslim state in India and to educate Muslim public opinion in India that according to the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, ideology and not geographical or ethnic divisions, was the basis for the formation of nation, and that a politically independent Islamic state was a pre-requisite for Muslims to live in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.
When Ghulam Ahmed Pervez told Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he had been asked by Allama Muhammad Iqbal to join the Dar ul Islam Trust at Pathankot and sought his permission, Muhammad Ali Jinnah told Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to nominate someone else for the purpose as he wanted Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to focus entirely on the Tolu-e-Islam project. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, therefore, recommended the name of Maulana Maududi to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez knew Maududi as a young, energetic and intelligent journalist working in Hyderabad Deccan who had considerable knowledge of Islam and felt that Maududi was the right person for the job. It was, therefore, at the recommendation of Ghulam Ahmed Pervez that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan wrote to Maududi and invited him to join the Dar ul Islam Trust in Pathankot. The prospect of heading a well-endowed Islamic research institute with a custom-built campus near the picteresque foothills of the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
was an attractive one for Maududi and he agreed.
At the time, it was unknown to both Ghulam Ahmed Pervez and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan that Maulana Maududi was against the creation of a separate state for Muslims in India and would go on to oppose the creation of Pakistan, which would eventually lead to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan parting ways with Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, however, wanted Allama Muhammad Iqbal to personally approve the appointment of Maududi at Dar ul Islam. Therefore, when Maududi first visited the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot, in 1937, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan took Maududi to meet Allama Muhammad Iqbal at Lahore. Like Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also unaware of Maududi's opposition to a separate state for Muslims in India and, having no other reason to reject him, sanctioned Maududi's appointment at the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan remained the vital link between Iqbal and Maududi.
In 1938, Maulana Maududi, then aged 35, arrived at Dar-ul-Islam in Pathankot and remained there for some time under the patronage of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan before founding the religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan...
in Lahore in 1941. It was at Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's estate at Jamalpur where Maulana Maududi established his publishing house, the Maktabah Jama'at-i-Islami, which published Maulana Maududi's Musalman Aur Maujoodah Siyasi Kashmakash ("Muslims and the Current Political Dilemma"). In 1945, an all-India level conference of the Jamaat-e-Islami was held at the Dar ul Islam Institute, Pathankot. Among the attendees were Maulana Maududi, Maulana Said-ud-din, Maulana Saif-ud-din Qari and Maulana Ghulam Ahmad Ahrar. After the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the Jamaat-e-Islami was bifurcated into two separate political parties, namely the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is one of the influential and hardline Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in India...
in India and the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
In his article, "Lessons from History", the noted Islamic scholar, Dr. Israr Ahmad, who himself was influenced by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, writes about Maulana Maududi:
- Like the second runner in a relay race, another unconventional and courageous young man appeared on the scene with the firm resolve to continue the mission that was forsaken by Maulana Abul Kalam. He worked alone for nearly seven years as a journalist, presenting a methodology for the establishment of “God’s Kingdom”...and the revival of Islam as a complete way of life. He then worked for sometime at Darul Islam an Islamic research academy established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, a devotee of Allama Iqbal. He finally laid the foundation of his own party in 1941, called Jama’at-e-lslami, and started an organized movement. This young man was, of course, none other than Maulana Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi (1903-1979).
Although the genesis of the Jamaat-e-Islami can be traced to the Dar ul Islam Institute established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Pathankot, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan himself, being a committed "Muslim Leaguer", never joined the Jamaat-e-Islami nor had anything to do with its founding. This was due to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's disagreement with Maulana Maududi's and the Jamaat-Islami's ideology and approach on a number of issues, particularly on the idea of Pakistan, the creation of which was being opposed by Maulana Maududi and his Jamaat-e-Islami and being supported by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & Pakistan
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a member of the All-India Muslim League, the political party led by Muhammad Ali JinnahMuhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
that was fighting for a separate homeland for Muslims in India. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's belief in Iqbal's dream for a separate homeland for Muslims in India and his support for the idea of Pakistan led to increased distance between him and Maulana Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's support for the creation of Pakistan became evident immediately after Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947 when Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, leaving his home and vast Jamalpur estate behind in the new Republic of India, migrated with his family to the newly-established Muslim state of Pakistan and established there the second Dar-ul-Islam Trust Institute in Jauharabad in Khushab District
Khushab District
Khushab District is a rural tribal district located in Punjab, Pakistan. According to the 1998 census, the population was 905,711 with 24.76% living in urban areas. The district consists of 3 tehsils: Khushab, Nurpur, and Quaidabad, as well as a sub-tehsil Naushera...
in central Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & agriculture
Other than his contributions to civil engineering, philanthropy, religious scholarship and education, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being a premier fruit-grower and agriculturalist, is credited with having introduced to South Asia a variety of fruits and agricultural technologies from around the world, including being the one to introduce into India the exotic PersimmonPersimmon
A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...
, Lychee
Lychee
The lychee is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. It is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree native to Southern China and Southeast Asia, and now cultivated in many parts of the world...
and Sapodilla
Sapodilla
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...
(Chikoo) fruits from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, which, for the first time in India, were successfully planted and grown at his 1000 acres (4 km²) agricultural estate known as "Jamalpur Fruit Farms". All three of these fruits spread to other parts of India from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms. The famous lychee farms on the west bank of the River Ravi, west of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, were planted by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's close friend, Mian Amiruddin (later Mayor of Lahore), from lychee tree saplings imported from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms.
The notable agriculturist, Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha was a former agriculture minister of Pakistan. He served in the cabinet of Ayub Khan, he died in March 2002 at the age of 97.He was the leader of House west Pakistan Assembly form 1966 to 1968.....
, who later became agriculture minister in President Ayub Khan's cabinet and known as the "Father of Agriculture" in Pakistan, also consulted Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan on mango farming techniques and technologies. Seeds of a variety of mango trees from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms were also shipped to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, where they were successfully planted and grown and continue to be grown to this day.
The vast Jamalpur Fruit Farms enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to experiment with innovative agricultural techniques and technologies, which were widely adopted in the agriculture of Punjab, particularly in the field of fruit agriculture.
The Jamalpur Fruit Farms acquired a reputation of being one of the technologically-advanced fruit farms in India. Students from India's then premier agriculture education establishment, the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur
Lyallpur
Lyallpur may refer to* the former name of Faisalabad city, Pakistan* Lyallpur Town, a municipal area of Faisalabad city, Pakistan...
(now University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad جامعہ زرعيه فيصل آباد, originally the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur, is a university in the city of Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan....
), used to make annual study trips to the Jamalpur Fruit Farms to study the advanced agricultural techniques and technologies being applied there.
Family
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan had two sons, Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Khan and Khan Muhammad Azam, and three daughters, Jamila, Saadat and Salima. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a strong believer in quality education and this manifested in him providing his children with the best possible education. All three daughters completed their schooling. His eldest son, Muhammad Aslam Khan, was educated at one of India's most famous boys boarding schools, Colonel Brown Cambridge SchoolColonel Brown Cambridge School
Colonel Brown Cambridge School is an English medium residential school located in Dehradun, India. It was founded in 1926 with five students. It was the 1st all boys residential school in Dehradun....
, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
, and his younger son, Khan Muhammad Azam, at Government College, Lahore and Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's son, Khan Muhammad Azam, is married to the eldest daughter of Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
Rai Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was a Manj Rajput ruler of Talwan in Jalandhar District, Punjab, British India and a military officer who became a freedom fighter in British India and a political leader in Pakistan...
, the pre-1947 Indian freedom fighter and post-1947 Pakistani political leader, and granddaughter of Khan Bahudur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
Khan Bahadur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan, O.B.E. was the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India, serving as Inspector-General of Police of Patiala State and the Northwest Frontier Province and a former British Indian Army officer...
, the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India. His grandson, K.D. Rana, was married to the daughter of Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana
Bakhtiar Rana
Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana, M.C., was a senior officer in the Pakistan Army. He was Chief Martial Law Administrator . As a Lieutenant General, he commanded one of Pakistan Army's strike corps, I Corps, as its Corps Commander from 1958 to 1966...
, Chief Martial Law Administrator (West Pakistan) and Commander, I Corps
I Corps (Pakistan)
The I Corps, also known as I Strike Corps, of the Pakistan Army headquartered in Mangla, Azad Kashimir Province of Pakistan. Known as I Strike Corps, it is one of two strike corps within its ten manouvre Army corps...
, Pakistan Army (1958-1966) and son of Rana Talia Muhammad Khan.
Later years
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan died in Jauharabad, Pakistan on 24 February 1976 and is buried in the front courtyard of the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute, Jauharabad, which he founded and which continues to disseminate religious education to this day.Recognition
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was recognized with the following awards:- Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery) in 1931 - by the British Indian Government - for bravery in protecting an under-repair dam from an attacking tribal militia in the then North-West Frontier ProvinceNorth-West Frontier ProvinceKhyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
(now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province) (one of the few civilian recipients of a military medal)
- Khan Sahib Title & Medal in 1935 - by the British Indian Government - for 30 years of exemplary public service
- Pakistan Movement Gold Medal in 2001 - by the Pakistan Movement Workers Trust, Lahore (established by the Government of the Punjab (Pakistan)) - posthumously awarded in recognition of his contribution to the Pakistan MovementPakistan MovementThe Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
Satellite coordinates of important places
Below is a list of important places in Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's life and their satellite coordinates:| Birthplace (Mahilpur, India): | 31°21'29.91"N 76° 2'5.94"E |
| The Thomason College of Civil Engineering, Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee), India: | 29°51'53.61"N 77°53'47.89"E |
| 66 Acre Dar ul Islam Trust Complex, Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'29.28"N 75°35'7.55"E |
| Residential Complex of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'31.30"N 75°35'26.66"E |
| 1,000 Acre "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" Estate of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'18.90"N 75°35'40.61"E |
| Dar ul Islam Trust Complex, Jauharabad, District Khushab, Pakistan: | 32°17'3.25"N 72°16'10.29"E |
| 1.5 Acre Residence of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jauharabad, District Khushab, Pakistan: | 32°17'15.09"N 72°16'14.74"E |
| 125 Acre Fruit Farms of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Faisalabad, Pakistan: | 31°28'4.10"N 72°56'29.84"E |
Published sources
- Azam, K.M., Hayat-e-Sadeed: Bani-e-Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan (A Righteous Life: Founder of Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan), Lahore: Nashriyat, 2010 (583 pp., Urdu) [ISBN 978-969-8983-58-1]
- Chughtai, Muhammad Ikram, Muhammad Asad: Europe's Gift to Islam, Volume 1, Lahore: The Truth Society, 2006 (1240 pp.)
- Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), Lahore: Civil & Military Gazette Press, 1884 (Reprint: Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2001)
- Hamid, Muhammad, Iqbal: The Poet Philosopher of Fifteenth Century Hijrah, Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1980 (Reprint: 1999)
- Yusuf, M., 'Maudoodi: A Formative Phase', Islamic Order, Volume 1, Issue 3, 1979 (pp. 33-43) (This paper throws light on the relationship of Maududi with Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan and has been cited in Islamic movements in Egypt, Pakistan, and Iran: an annotated bibliography by Asaf Hussain (London: Mansell Publishing Limited; Bronx, N.Y.: Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by H.W. Wilson Co., 1983 ISBN 0720116481)
External links
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan (born 1880 – died 1976) , founder of the Dar ul Islam Movement and the Dar ul Islam Trust in South Asia and the Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes in PathankotPathankot
Pathankot became 22nd district on 28th July 2011 and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Punjab. It was a part of the Nurpur princely state ruled by the Rajputs prior to 1849 AD. It is a meeting point of the three northern states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Jauharabad
Jauharabad
Jauharabad is a planned town situated in Khushab District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It has a population of approximately 40,000 and it is the district headquarters of Khushab District....
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, was a civil engineer, civil servant, landowner, agriculturalist and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He was a member of the All-India Muslim League and an avid and active supporter of the Pakistan Movement
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
, which led to the establishment of the Muslim state of Pakistan in 1947.
The Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan are examples of Muslim institutional efforts in India and Pakistan in the mid-20th Century to re-establish a culture of learning and scholarship in the Islamic World leading to intellectual enlightenment and social reform.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, also being a professional civil engineer, designed the original tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines is a salt mine located in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab in Pakistan, about from Islamabad and from Lahore. It attracts up to 40,000 visitors per year and is the second largest salt mine in the world...
in Pakistan, the world's second largest salt mines.
Family background
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan belonged to a family of well-to-do landed PunjabiPunjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
Rajputs from Garhshanker
Garhshanker
Garhshankar is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the state of Punjab, India.-Etymology:The town was founded by Doad king shankar sahai. Hence the name: garh shankar .Garhshankar was founded in 1000.AD by Shankar Sahai Doad, that time king.Garhshankar was converted as a...
Tehsil (sub-district) in Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourth century. In 1809 it was occupied by the forces of Maharaja Karanvir Singh and was united into the greater state of Punjab....
Zila (district) of Punjab. They belonged to the Ghorewaha
Ghorewaha
Ghorewaha are a sub-clan of Rajputs in India and Pakistan who are descendants of Raja Hawaha , who became recognized for his equestrian prowess, hence the name "Ghorewaha" or "expert equestrian"....
sub-clan of Rajputs who had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
from Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
some 300 years earlier, under the ruler Rai Roop Chand, in 1623. His family traced their lineage directly to Raja Hawaha who became ruler of a part of the Punjab in 1070 A.D. Subsequently, the Muslim Ruler of India, Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri, awarded him and his brother, Raja Kachwaha, ownership of as much land as they could encircle on horseback from dawn to dusk in a single day on either side of the River Sutlej
Sutlej
The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
. Raja Hawaha encircled an area comprising 1,860 villages north of the Sutlej, hence the word, "Ghorewaha", or "expert equestrian".
One of the beneficiary's of Raja Hawaha's equestrian feat was the family of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, which, through Raja Hawaha's chain of inheritance, inherited agricultural lands that had been awarded to him by Ghauri.
The following reference to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's family and clan has been made in the Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), which was compiled and published by the Punjab Government and printed at the Civil and Military Gazette
Civil and Military Gazette
The Civil and Military Gazette was a daily English language newspaper founded in 1872 in British India. It was published from Lahore, Simla and Karachi, some times simultaneously, until its closure in 1963.-History:...
Press, Lahore in 1884:
- "...The country immediately north of Garhshankar is occupied by Hindu Rajputs of the Bhanot clan; and Garhshankar itself, and the villages southward as far as Balachaur, are owned by Ghorewaha Rajputs, who are Musalmans [Muslims] near Garhshankar, and Hindus near Balachaur...The Ghorewahas are found in tahsil [district] Garhshankar; near Balachaur they have adhered to Hinduism; further north, in the direction of Garhshankar, they are Musalmans...The chaudhris of Garhshankar...of the Ghorewaha clan are well known. Of the other Muhammadan [Muslim] clans, besides the Ghorewahas, noticed above, a few Manj and Bhatti Rajputs are found in different parts of the district...The Rajput Akbari families of this district are those of Garhshankar (Ghorewaha) and Hariana (Naru)..." (pp. 55-58)
According to the same Gazetteer, there were 2,716 members of the Ghorewaha clan in Hoshiarpur District in 1884 (p. 59). The Gazetteer also mentions "[i]n tahsil Garhshankar the Ghorewaha Rajputs of Garhshankar, Saroa, Balachaur and Basa Taunsa..." as being amongst the leading families of Hoshiarpur District (p. 79).
Early life
Mahilpur
Mahilpur is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state Punjab. It is situated on Hoshiarpur Chandigarh Road from Hoshiarpur. It is famous for the game of football in the region.-Demographics:...
, Hoshiarpur District
Hoshiarpur District
Hoshiarpur District , is a district of Punjab state in northern India.In 2011, Hoshiarpur had population of 1,582,793 of which male and female were 806,921 and 775,872 respectively. There was change of 6.85 percent in the population compared to population as per 2001...
, Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
in the British Indian Empire on 28 June 1880. He was the eldest of four brothers.
Not to let his son fall prey to the lethargy and hedonism that dogged the many scions of the landed aristocratic gentry, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's father ensured that the young Niaz Ali had a strict upbringing and that he grow up to become an educated professional.
From 1896 to 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan studied engineering at The Thomason College of Civil Engineering (formerly Roorkee College - established in 1847 - the second oldest engineering school in India, which became the University of Roorkee in 1949 and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee , formerly the University of Roorkee, is a public university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India...
in 2001), earning a degree in civil engineering with 70% marks and coming in 15th in merit in a class of 80 graduates. The Thomason College of Civil Engineering was, at the time, the oldest institute of technical education in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the erstwhile British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
to award its own degrees.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was an expert equestrian and used to ride regularly, on occasions up to 40-50 kilometres a day. He was also a photography enthusiast and had accumulated a vast collection of cameras and used to develop his own photographs.
Career
After graduating from Roorkee in 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan joined the British Indian Government and served in the Public Works Department, the Mines Department and the Irrigation Department as Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO).Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was considered a competent, hard-working and honest civil servant and civil engineer, which manifested in him being given a monthly salary of Rupees 750 by the British Indian Government, which was a significant income in the first quarter of the 20th century, considering that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's entire monthly household expenditure seldom exceeded Rs. 100. A handsome salary, with savings of up to Rs. 500-600 a month, also enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to enhance his agricultural landholdings in Jamalpur, where soil-rich and well-irrigated agricultural land was available for Rs. 100-200 per acre.
While serving in the Public Works Department in 1901, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan oversaw the designing and construction of the 80 km long Pathankot-Dalhousie
Dalhousie, India
Dalhousie is a hill station and popular tourist spot in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, India.- Weather :Dalhousie experiences winter-like cold climate throughout the year. Heavy rain with thunder showers are experienced during the period from June to September...
Road.
While serving in the Mines Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan designed the tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines is a salt mine located in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab in Pakistan, about from Islamabad and from Lahore. It attracts up to 40,000 visitors per year and is the second largest salt mine in the world...
, the world's second largest salt mines.
While serving in the Irrigation Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan worked on the 3-Canal Anhar-Salasa Irrigation project near Dipalpur
Dipalpur
Dipalpur is a town in Okara District of the Punjab and headquarters of Depalpur Tehsil, assumed to be largest tehsil of Pakistan. It is situated 25 kilometres from the district capital Okara on a bank of the Beas River in Bari Doab...
in the Punjab. Earlier, while posted near the tribal areas in the North-West Frontier Province
North-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
, a dam breached and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being the Sub-Divisional Officer, was tasked with overseeing the repair of the breach. While the repair work was being carried out, a band of tribals started firing on the engineers and labourers working on the repair of the dam from the hills surrounding the dam. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, picked up his rifle, and, along with a couple of labourers, went up to the tribals and asked them to stop the firing and explained to them that the dam project was providing employment to local tribals and would help store water and irrigate barren fields. The tribals, who, perhaps, were more appreciative of his sheer tenacity than the logic of his argument, agreed to immediately halt the attacks. In recognition of his act of courage, the British Indian Government awarded Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery), a military medal seldom awarded to civilians. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan explained to the government that he did not deserve the medal since his bravery and success was aided by the fact that some of the labourers working on the project also belonged to the same tribe as those who were attacking them and they played a part in convincing their fellow tribals to halt the attacks. This honest explanation notwithstanding, the medal was awarded.
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Major Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, the country's 22nd.Freeman-Thomas was born in England and...
, on behalf of the British Indian Government, conferred upon Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the title of Khan Sahib
Khan Sahib
Khan Sahib - a compound of khan and sahib - was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim, Parsi and Jewish subjects of the British Indian Empire...
.
In 1935, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan retired from government service and his career in civil engineering and returned to his vast estate in Jamalpur to manage his agricultural lands, which spanned 1000 acres (4 km²). He built his residential complex known as "Qila Jamalpur" (Jamalpur Fort) at a cost of Rs. 100,000, a significant amount at the time. This structure stands to this day and Jamalpur today is also, alternatively, called "Qila Jamalpur".
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's personal friends included, among others, Syed Mohsin Shah (father of Justice Nasim Hasan Shah
Nasim Hasan Shah
Born in Lahore on April 15, 1929 to Syed Mohsin Shah, an eminent advocate and political activist, Justice Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, gained international respect and recognition when he restored the sovereignty of the Parliament in Pakistan; the first such instance in...
, the 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan), Mian Amiruddin (Mayor of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
), Mian Nizamuddin and Dr. Allah Jawaya (Official Physician to the Emir of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and father of Pakistan's renowned criminal lawyer, M. Anwar, Barrister-at-Law).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a philanthropist by heart and generously spread charity around him and donated money to various social causes and endowed various charitable and educational institutions with a share of his wealth, especially in the form of land. While spreading charity, he did not discriminate between Muslims and non-Muslims, however, he was particularly concerned about the plight of Muslims in India and, therefore, focused on them. He soon acquired a reputation in northern India as a notable philanthropist.
Dar ul Islam Movement & Trust
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's reputation as a Muslim philanthropist soon caught the attention of South Asia's premier Muslim poet, philosopher and thinker, Allama Muhammad Iqbal who advised Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to set up a research institute for Islamic learning that would lead to the education, enlightenment and empowerment of the Muslims of India who, since the fall of the Mughal EmpireMughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
and the advent of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, had increasingly regressed economically, socially and politically and were trailing Hindus in education. Iqbal, who was promoting the idea of a separate state for Muslims in India, also felt that such educational establishments were necessary to educate a new crop of Muslim leaders once a separate Muslim state is established and who would play a leadership role in the new Muslim state.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was greatly inspired by Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his vision for Muslims. In 1936, on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan founded and established the Dar ul Islam Trust, which was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and donated 66 acres (267,092.8 m²) of land from his vast 1000 acres (4 km²) estate known as the "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" in Jamalpur
Jamalpur
Jamalpur may refer to:Bangladesh* Jamalpur District* Jamalpur Sadar UpazilaIndia* Jamalpur, Munger, Bihar* Jamalpur, Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh* Jamalpur , West Bengal...
(5 km west of Pathankot) in Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur district is a district in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of the Pakistani Punjab, Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir, the Punjab districts of Amritsar and...
, Punjab State, India for the established of the first Dar ul Islam Trust Institute.
The Dar ul Islam Trust's objectives included, inter alia, undertaking "...through all lawful means research on Islamic theology, culture and history and to publish and print works..."
Among the scholars and thinkers participating in the Dar ul Islam project were: Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi and Maulana Sadruddin Islahi, both notable Qur'anic scholars and writers of the era; Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad , was an Austrian Polish Jew who converted to Islam, and a 20th century journalist, traveler, writer, social critic, linguist, thinker, reformer, diplomat, political theorist, translator and scholar...
(formerly Leopold Weiss), a German Jewish convert to Islam, an Islamic scholar and journalist from Lahore; Mian Nizamuddin from Lahore; Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Barrister-at-Law from Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur is a city in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals...
; Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Deputy Collector (Retd.) from Anhar; and Maulvi Fatah-ud-Deen, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
The Dar ul Islam venture famously brought together two thinker-activists, Muhammad Asad and Maulana Syed Abul Ala Maududi
Abul Ala Maududi
Syed Abul A'ala Maududi , also known as Molana or Shaikh Syed Abul A'ala Mawdudi, was a Sunni Pakistani journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher, and a major 20th century Islamist thinker. He was also a prominent political figure in Pakistan and was the first...
.
Monthly Dar ul Islam journal
In 1940, the Dar ul Islam Movement began publishing an Urdu-language monthly journal called Monthly Dar ul Islam, from Pathankot, whose publisher and printer was Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. The Dar ul Islam was a scholarly and literary journal whose purpose was to create enlightenment and awareness amongst the Muslims of British India and also to present the case for an independent state for Muslims in South Asia.Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & Maulana Maududi
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan requested Allama Muhammad Iqbal to nominate an Islamic scholar with good management skills who could manage the day-to-day affairs of the Dar ul Islam Trust. Allama Muhammad Iqbal nominated Ghulam Ahmed PervezGhulam Ahmed Pervez
Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez was a prominent Islamic scholar, famous in the area around Lahore. He urged the Muslims to ponder deeply over the Message of the Quran. He considered Islam a din , a form of government, a system of government like democracy, autocracy, or socialism...
, an eminent civil servant and Islamic scholar. At the time, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez had been tasked by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, then leader of the All India Muslim League, to publish a monthly journal titled Tolu-e-Islam
Tolu-e-Islam
Tolu-e-Islam , also known as Bazm-e-Tolu-e-Islam, is a group of Muslims that interpret Qur'an as the main source of guidance and deny the authority of the hadiths....
the primary objective of which was to build the case for a separate Muslim state in India and to educate Muslim public opinion in India that according to the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, ideology and not geographical or ethnic divisions, was the basis for the formation of nation, and that a politically independent Islamic state was a pre-requisite for Muslims to live in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.
When Ghulam Ahmed Pervez told Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he had been asked by Allama Muhammad Iqbal to join the Dar ul Islam Trust at Pathankot and sought his permission, Muhammad Ali Jinnah told Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to nominate someone else for the purpose as he wanted Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to focus entirely on the Tolu-e-Islam project. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, therefore, recommended the name of Maulana Maududi to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez knew Maududi as a young, energetic and intelligent journalist working in Hyderabad Deccan who had considerable knowledge of Islam and felt that Maududi was the right person for the job. It was, therefore, at the recommendation of Ghulam Ahmed Pervez that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan wrote to Maududi and invited him to join the Dar ul Islam Trust in Pathankot. The prospect of heading a well-endowed Islamic research institute with a custom-built campus near the picteresque foothills of the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
was an attractive one for Maududi and he agreed.
At the time, it was unknown to both Ghulam Ahmed Pervez and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan that Maulana Maududi was against the creation of a separate state for Muslims in India and would go on to oppose the creation of Pakistan, which would eventually lead to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan parting ways with Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, however, wanted Allama Muhammad Iqbal to personally approve the appointment of Maududi at Dar ul Islam. Therefore, when Maududi first visited the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot, in 1937, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan took Maududi to meet Allama Muhammad Iqbal at Lahore. Like Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also unaware of Maududi's opposition to a separate state for Muslims in India and, having no other reason to reject him, sanctioned Maududi's appointment at the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan remained the vital link between Iqbal and Maududi.
In 1938, Maulana Maududi, then aged 35, arrived at Dar-ul-Islam in Pathankot and remained there for some time under the patronage of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan before founding the religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan...
in Lahore in 1941. It was at Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's estate at Jamalpur where Maulana Maududi established his publishing house, the Maktabah Jama'at-i-Islami, which published Maulana Maududi's Musalman Aur Maujoodah Siyasi Kashmakash ("Muslims and the Current Political Dilemma"). In 1945, an all-India level conference of the Jamaat-e-Islami was held at the Dar ul Islam Institute, Pathankot. Among the attendees were Maulana Maududi, Maulana Said-ud-din, Maulana Saif-ud-din Qari and Maulana Ghulam Ahmad Ahrar. After the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the Jamaat-e-Islami was bifurcated into two separate political parties, namely the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is one of the influential and hardline Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in India...
in India and the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
In his article, "Lessons from History", the noted Islamic scholar, Dr. Israr Ahmad, who himself was influenced by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, writes about Maulana Maududi:
- Like the second runner in a relay race, another unconventional and courageous young man appeared on the scene with the firm resolve to continue the mission that was forsaken by Maulana Abul Kalam. He worked alone for nearly seven years as a journalist, presenting a methodology for the establishment of “God’s Kingdom”...and the revival of Islam as a complete way of life. He then worked for sometime at Darul Islam an Islamic research academy established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, a devotee of Allama Iqbal. He finally laid the foundation of his own party in 1941, called Jama’at-e-lslami, and started an organized movement. This young man was, of course, none other than Maulana Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi (1903-1979).
Although the genesis of the Jamaat-e-Islami can be traced to the Dar ul Islam Institute established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Pathankot, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan himself, being a committed "Muslim Leaguer", never joined the Jamaat-e-Islami nor had anything to do with its founding. This was due to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's disagreement with Maulana Maududi's and the Jamaat-Islami's ideology and approach on a number of issues, particularly on the idea of Pakistan, the creation of which was being opposed by Maulana Maududi and his Jamaat-e-Islami and being supported by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & Pakistan
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a member of the All-India Muslim League, the political party led by Muhammad Ali JinnahMuhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
that was fighting for a separate homeland for Muslims in India. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's belief in Iqbal's dream for a separate homeland for Muslims in India and his support for the idea of Pakistan led to increased distance between him and Maulana Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's support for the creation of Pakistan became evident immediately after Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947 when Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, leaving his home and vast Jamalpur estate behind in the new Republic of India, migrated with his family to the newly-established Muslim state of Pakistan and established there the second Dar-ul-Islam Trust Institute in Jauharabad in Khushab District
Khushab District
Khushab District is a rural tribal district located in Punjab, Pakistan. According to the 1998 census, the population was 905,711 with 24.76% living in urban areas. The district consists of 3 tehsils: Khushab, Nurpur, and Quaidabad, as well as a sub-tehsil Naushera...
in central Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & agriculture
Other than his contributions to civil engineering, philanthropy, religious scholarship and education, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being a premier fruit-grower and agriculturalist, is credited with having introduced to South Asia a variety of fruits and agricultural technologies from around the world, including being the one to introduce into India the exotic PersimmonPersimmon
A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...
, Lychee
Lychee
The lychee is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. It is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree native to Southern China and Southeast Asia, and now cultivated in many parts of the world...
and Sapodilla
Sapodilla
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...
(Chikoo) fruits from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, which, for the first time in India, were successfully planted and grown at his 1000 acres (4 km²) agricultural estate known as "Jamalpur Fruit Farms". All three of these fruits spread to other parts of India from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms. The famous lychee farms on the west bank of the River Ravi, west of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, were planted by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's close friend, Mian Amiruddin (later Mayor of Lahore), from lychee tree saplings imported from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms.
The notable agriculturist, Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha was a former agriculture minister of Pakistan. He served in the cabinet of Ayub Khan, he died in March 2002 at the age of 97.He was the leader of House west Pakistan Assembly form 1966 to 1968.....
, who later became agriculture minister in President Ayub Khan's cabinet and known as the "Father of Agriculture" in Pakistan, also consulted Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan on mango farming techniques and technologies. Seeds of a variety of mango trees from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms were also shipped to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, where they were successfully planted and grown and continue to be grown to this day.
The vast Jamalpur Fruit Farms enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to experiment with innovative agricultural techniques and technologies, which were widely adopted in the agriculture of Punjab, particularly in the field of fruit agriculture.
The Jamalpur Fruit Farms acquired a reputation of being one of the technologically-advanced fruit farms in India. Students from India's then premier agriculture education establishment, the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur
Lyallpur
Lyallpur may refer to* the former name of Faisalabad city, Pakistan* Lyallpur Town, a municipal area of Faisalabad city, Pakistan...
(now University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad جامعہ زرعيه فيصل آباد, originally the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur, is a university in the city of Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan....
), used to make annual study trips to the Jamalpur Fruit Farms to study the advanced agricultural techniques and technologies being applied there.
Family
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan had two sons, Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Khan and Khan Muhammad Azam, and three daughters, Jamila, Saadat and Salima. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a strong believer in quality education and this manifested in him providing his children with the best possible education. All three daughters completed their schooling. His eldest son, Muhammad Aslam Khan, was educated at one of India's most famous boys boarding schools, Colonel Brown Cambridge SchoolColonel Brown Cambridge School
Colonel Brown Cambridge School is an English medium residential school located in Dehradun, India. It was founded in 1926 with five students. It was the 1st all boys residential school in Dehradun....
, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
, and his younger son, Khan Muhammad Azam, at Government College, Lahore and Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's son, Khan Muhammad Azam, is married to the eldest daughter of Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
Rai Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was a Manj Rajput ruler of Talwan in Jalandhar District, Punjab, British India and a military officer who became a freedom fighter in British India and a political leader in Pakistan...
, the pre-1947 Indian freedom fighter and post-1947 Pakistani political leader, and granddaughter of Khan Bahudur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
Khan Bahadur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan, O.B.E. was the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India, serving as Inspector-General of Police of Patiala State and the Northwest Frontier Province and a former British Indian Army officer...
, the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India. His grandson, K.D. Rana, was married to the daughter of Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana
Bakhtiar Rana
Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana, M.C., was a senior officer in the Pakistan Army. He was Chief Martial Law Administrator . As a Lieutenant General, he commanded one of Pakistan Army's strike corps, I Corps, as its Corps Commander from 1958 to 1966...
, Chief Martial Law Administrator (West Pakistan) and Commander, I Corps
I Corps (Pakistan)
The I Corps, also known as I Strike Corps, of the Pakistan Army headquartered in Mangla, Azad Kashimir Province of Pakistan. Known as I Strike Corps, it is one of two strike corps within its ten manouvre Army corps...
, Pakistan Army (1958-1966) and son of Rana Talia Muhammad Khan.
Later years
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan died in Jauharabad, Pakistan on 24 February 1976 and is buried in the front courtyard of the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute, Jauharabad, which he founded and which continues to disseminate religious education to this day.Recognition
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was recognized with the following awards:- Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery) in 1931 - by the British Indian Government - for bravery in protecting an under-repair dam from an attacking tribal militia in the then North-West Frontier ProvinceNorth-West Frontier ProvinceKhyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
(now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province) (one of the few civilian recipients of a military medal)
- Khan Sahib Title & Medal in 1935 - by the British Indian Government - for 30 years of exemplary public service
- Pakistan Movement Gold Medal in 2001 - by the Pakistan Movement Workers Trust, Lahore (established by the Government of the Punjab (Pakistan)) - posthumously awarded in recognition of his contribution to the Pakistan MovementPakistan MovementThe Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
Satellite coordinates of important places
Below is a list of important places in Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's life and their satellite coordinates:| Birthplace (Mahilpur, India): | 31°21'29.91"N 76° 2'5.94"E |
| The Thomason College of Civil Engineering, Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee), India: | 29°51'53.61"N 77°53'47.89"E |
| 66 Acre Dar ul Islam Trust Complex, Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'29.28"N 75°35'7.55"E |
| Residential Complex of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'31.30"N 75°35'26.66"E |
| 1,000 Acre "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" Estate of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'18.90"N 75°35'40.61"E |
| Dar ul Islam Trust Complex, Jauharabad, District Khushab, Pakistan: | 32°17'3.25"N 72°16'10.29"E |
| 1.5 Acre Residence of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jauharabad, District Khushab, Pakistan: | 32°17'15.09"N 72°16'14.74"E |
| 125 Acre Fruit Farms of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Faisalabad, Pakistan: | 31°28'4.10"N 72°56'29.84"E |
Published sources
- Azam, K.M., Hayat-e-Sadeed: Bani-e-Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan (A Righteous Life: Founder of Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan), Lahore: Nashriyat, 2010 (583 pp., Urdu) [ISBN 978-969-8983-58-1]
- Chughtai, Muhammad Ikram, Muhammad Asad: Europe's Gift to Islam, Volume 1, Lahore: The Truth Society, 2006 (1240 pp.)
- Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), Lahore: Civil & Military Gazette Press, 1884 (Reprint: Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2001)
- Hamid, Muhammad, Iqbal: The Poet Philosopher of Fifteenth Century Hijrah, Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1980 (Reprint: 1999)
- Yusuf, M., 'Maudoodi: A Formative Phase', Islamic Order, Volume 1, Issue 3, 1979 (pp. 33-43) (This paper throws light on the relationship of Maududi with Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan and has been cited in Islamic movements in Egypt, Pakistan, and Iran: an annotated bibliography by Asaf Hussain (London: Mansell Publishing Limited; Bronx, N.Y.: Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by H.W. Wilson Co., 1983 ISBN 0720116481)
External links
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan (born 1880 – died 1976) , founder of the Dar ul Islam Movement and the Dar ul Islam Trust in South Asia and the Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes in PathankotPathankot
Pathankot became 22nd district on 28th July 2011 and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Punjab. It was a part of the Nurpur princely state ruled by the Rajputs prior to 1849 AD. It is a meeting point of the three northern states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Jauharabad
Jauharabad
Jauharabad is a planned town situated in Khushab District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It has a population of approximately 40,000 and it is the district headquarters of Khushab District....
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, was a civil engineer, civil servant, landowner, agriculturalist and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He was a member of the All-India Muslim League and an avid and active supporter of the Pakistan Movement
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
, which led to the establishment of the Muslim state of Pakistan in 1947.
The Dar ul Islam Trust Institutes established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan are examples of Muslim institutional efforts in India and Pakistan in the mid-20th Century to re-establish a culture of learning and scholarship in the Islamic World leading to intellectual enlightenment and social reform.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, also being a professional civil engineer, designed the original tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines is a salt mine located in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab in Pakistan, about from Islamabad and from Lahore. It attracts up to 40,000 visitors per year and is the second largest salt mine in the world...
in Pakistan, the world's second largest salt mines.
Family background
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan belonged to a family of well-to-do landed PunjabiPunjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
Rajputs from Garhshanker
Garhshanker
Garhshankar is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the state of Punjab, India.-Etymology:The town was founded by Doad king shankar sahai. Hence the name: garh shankar .Garhshankar was founded in 1000.AD by Shankar Sahai Doad, that time king.Garhshankar was converted as a...
Tehsil (sub-district) in Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur is a city and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourth century. In 1809 it was occupied by the forces of Maharaja Karanvir Singh and was united into the greater state of Punjab....
Zila (district) of Punjab. They belonged to the Ghorewaha
Ghorewaha
Ghorewaha are a sub-clan of Rajputs in India and Pakistan who are descendants of Raja Hawaha , who became recognized for his equestrian prowess, hence the name "Ghorewaha" or "expert equestrian"....
sub-clan of Rajputs who had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
from Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
some 300 years earlier, under the ruler Rai Roop Chand, in 1623. His family traced their lineage directly to Raja Hawaha who became ruler of a part of the Punjab in 1070 A.D. Subsequently, the Muslim Ruler of India, Sultan Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri, awarded him and his brother, Raja Kachwaha, ownership of as much land as they could encircle on horseback from dawn to dusk in a single day on either side of the River Sutlej
Sutlej
The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej...
. Raja Hawaha encircled an area comprising 1,860 villages north of the Sutlej, hence the word, "Ghorewaha", or "expert equestrian".
One of the beneficiary's of Raja Hawaha's equestrian feat was the family of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, which, through Raja Hawaha's chain of inheritance, inherited agricultural lands that had been awarded to him by Ghauri.
The following reference to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's family and clan has been made in the Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), which was compiled and published by the Punjab Government and printed at the Civil and Military Gazette
Civil and Military Gazette
The Civil and Military Gazette was a daily English language newspaper founded in 1872 in British India. It was published from Lahore, Simla and Karachi, some times simultaneously, until its closure in 1963.-History:...
Press, Lahore in 1884:
- "...The country immediately north of Garhshankar is occupied by Hindu Rajputs of the Bhanot clan; and Garhshankar itself, and the villages southward as far as Balachaur, are owned by Ghorewaha Rajputs, who are Musalmans [Muslims] near Garhshankar, and Hindus near Balachaur...The Ghorewahas are found in tahsil [district] Garhshankar; near Balachaur they have adhered to Hinduism; further north, in the direction of Garhshankar, they are Musalmans...The chaudhris of Garhshankar...of the Ghorewaha clan are well known. Of the other Muhammadan [Muslim] clans, besides the Ghorewahas, noticed above, a few Manj and Bhatti Rajputs are found in different parts of the district...The Rajput Akbari families of this district are those of Garhshankar (Ghorewaha) and Hariana (Naru)..." (pp. 55-58)
According to the same Gazetteer, there were 2,716 members of the Ghorewaha clan in Hoshiarpur District in 1884 (p. 59). The Gazetteer also mentions "[i]n tahsil Garhshankar the Ghorewaha Rajputs of Garhshankar, Saroa, Balachaur and Basa Taunsa..." as being amongst the leading families of Hoshiarpur District (p. 79).
Early life
Mahilpur
Mahilpur is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state Punjab. It is situated on Hoshiarpur Chandigarh Road from Hoshiarpur. It is famous for the game of football in the region.-Demographics:...
, Hoshiarpur District
Hoshiarpur District
Hoshiarpur District , is a district of Punjab state in northern India.In 2011, Hoshiarpur had population of 1,582,793 of which male and female were 806,921 and 775,872 respectively. There was change of 6.85 percent in the population compared to population as per 2001...
, Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
in the British Indian Empire on 28 June 1880. He was the eldest of four brothers.
Not to let his son fall prey to the lethargy and hedonism that dogged the many scions of the landed aristocratic gentry, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's father ensured that the young Niaz Ali had a strict upbringing and that he grow up to become an educated professional.
From 1896 to 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan studied engineering at The Thomason College of Civil Engineering (formerly Roorkee College - established in 1847 - the second oldest engineering school in India, which became the University of Roorkee in 1949 and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee , formerly the University of Roorkee, is a public university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India...
in 2001), earning a degree in civil engineering with 70% marks and coming in 15th in merit in a class of 80 graduates. The Thomason College of Civil Engineering was, at the time, the oldest institute of technical education in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the erstwhile British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
to award its own degrees.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was an expert equestrian and used to ride regularly, on occasions up to 40-50 kilometres a day. He was also a photography enthusiast and had accumulated a vast collection of cameras and used to develop his own photographs.
Career
After graduating from Roorkee in 1900, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan joined the British Indian Government and served in the Public Works Department, the Mines Department and the Irrigation Department as Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO).Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was considered a competent, hard-working and honest civil servant and civil engineer, which manifested in him being given a monthly salary of Rupees 750 by the British Indian Government, which was a significant income in the first quarter of the 20th century, considering that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's entire monthly household expenditure seldom exceeded Rs. 100. A handsome salary, with savings of up to Rs. 500-600 a month, also enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to enhance his agricultural landholdings in Jamalpur, where soil-rich and well-irrigated agricultural land was available for Rs. 100-200 per acre.
While serving in the Public Works Department in 1901, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan oversaw the designing and construction of the 80 km long Pathankot-Dalhousie
Dalhousie, India
Dalhousie is a hill station and popular tourist spot in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, India.- Weather :Dalhousie experiences winter-like cold climate throughout the year. Heavy rain with thunder showers are experienced during the period from June to September...
Road.
While serving in the Mines Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan designed the tunnel layout inside the Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines
Khewra Salt Mines is a salt mine located in Khewra, Jhelum District, Punjab in Pakistan, about from Islamabad and from Lahore. It attracts up to 40,000 visitors per year and is the second largest salt mine in the world...
, the world's second largest salt mines.
While serving in the Irrigation Department, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan worked on the 3-Canal Anhar-Salasa Irrigation project near Dipalpur
Dipalpur
Dipalpur is a town in Okara District of the Punjab and headquarters of Depalpur Tehsil, assumed to be largest tehsil of Pakistan. It is situated 25 kilometres from the district capital Okara on a bank of the Beas River in Bari Doab...
in the Punjab. Earlier, while posted near the tribal areas in the North-West Frontier Province
North-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
, a dam breached and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being the Sub-Divisional Officer, was tasked with overseeing the repair of the breach. While the repair work was being carried out, a band of tribals started firing on the engineers and labourers working on the repair of the dam from the hills surrounding the dam. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, picked up his rifle, and, along with a couple of labourers, went up to the tribals and asked them to stop the firing and explained to them that the dam project was providing employment to local tribals and would help store water and irrigate barren fields. The tribals, who, perhaps, were more appreciative of his sheer tenacity than the logic of his argument, agreed to immediately halt the attacks. In recognition of his act of courage, the British Indian Government awarded Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery), a military medal seldom awarded to civilians. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan explained to the government that he did not deserve the medal since his bravery and success was aided by the fact that some of the labourers working on the project also belonged to the same tribe as those who were attacking them and they played a part in convincing their fellow tribals to halt the attacks. This honest explanation notwithstanding, the medal was awarded.
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Major Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, the country's 22nd.Freeman-Thomas was born in England and...
, on behalf of the British Indian Government, conferred upon Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan the title of Khan Sahib
Khan Sahib
Khan Sahib - a compound of khan and sahib - was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim, Parsi and Jewish subjects of the British Indian Empire...
.
In 1935, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan retired from government service and his career in civil engineering and returned to his vast estate in Jamalpur to manage his agricultural lands, which spanned 1000 acres (4 km²). He built his residential complex known as "Qila Jamalpur" (Jamalpur Fort) at a cost of Rs. 100,000, a significant amount at the time. This structure stands to this day and Jamalpur today is also, alternatively, called "Qila Jamalpur".
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's personal friends included, among others, Syed Mohsin Shah (father of Justice Nasim Hasan Shah
Nasim Hasan Shah
Born in Lahore on April 15, 1929 to Syed Mohsin Shah, an eminent advocate and political activist, Justice Dr. Nasim Hasan Shah, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, gained international respect and recognition when he restored the sovereignty of the Parliament in Pakistan; the first such instance in...
, the 12th Chief Justice of Pakistan), Mian Amiruddin (Mayor of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
), Mian Nizamuddin and Dr. Allah Jawaya (Official Physician to the Emir of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and father of Pakistan's renowned criminal lawyer, M. Anwar, Barrister-at-Law).
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a philanthropist by heart and generously spread charity around him and donated money to various social causes and endowed various charitable and educational institutions with a share of his wealth, especially in the form of land. While spreading charity, he did not discriminate between Muslims and non-Muslims, however, he was particularly concerned about the plight of Muslims in India and, therefore, focused on them. He soon acquired a reputation in northern India as a notable philanthropist.
Dar ul Islam Movement & Trust
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's reputation as a Muslim philanthropist soon caught the attention of South Asia's premier Muslim poet, philosopher and thinker, Allama Muhammad Iqbal who advised Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to set up a research institute for Islamic learning that would lead to the education, enlightenment and empowerment of the Muslims of India who, since the fall of the Mughal EmpireMughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
and the advent of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, had increasingly regressed economically, socially and politically and were trailing Hindus in education. Iqbal, who was promoting the idea of a separate state for Muslims in India, also felt that such educational establishments were necessary to educate a new crop of Muslim leaders once a separate Muslim state is established and who would play a leadership role in the new Muslim state.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was greatly inspired by Allama Muhammad Iqbal and his vision for Muslims. In 1936, on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan founded and established the Dar ul Islam Trust, which was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and donated 66 acres (267,092.8 m²) of land from his vast 1000 acres (4 km²) estate known as the "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" in Jamalpur
Jamalpur
Jamalpur may refer to:Bangladesh* Jamalpur District* Jamalpur Sadar UpazilaIndia* Jamalpur, Munger, Bihar* Jamalpur, Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh* Jamalpur , West Bengal...
(5 km west of Pathankot) in Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur District
Gurdaspur district is a district in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of the Pakistani Punjab, Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir, the Punjab districts of Amritsar and...
, Punjab State, India for the established of the first Dar ul Islam Trust Institute.
The Dar ul Islam Trust's objectives included, inter alia, undertaking "...through all lawful means research on Islamic theology, culture and history and to publish and print works..."
Among the scholars and thinkers participating in the Dar ul Islam project were: Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi and Maulana Sadruddin Islahi, both notable Qur'anic scholars and writers of the era; Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad , was an Austrian Polish Jew who converted to Islam, and a 20th century journalist, traveler, writer, social critic, linguist, thinker, reformer, diplomat, political theorist, translator and scholar...
(formerly Leopold Weiss), a German Jewish convert to Islam, an Islamic scholar and journalist from Lahore; Mian Nizamuddin from Lahore; Shaikh Muhammad Yusuf, Barrister-at-Law from Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur is a city in the state of Punjab, situated in the northwest part of the Republic of India. It is located in the center of and is the administrative head of Gurdaspur District. It was the location of a fort which was famous for the siege it sustained in 1712 from the Mughals...
; Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Deputy Collector (Retd.) from Anhar; and Maulvi Fatah-ud-Deen, Deputy Director, Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
The Dar ul Islam venture famously brought together two thinker-activists, Muhammad Asad and Maulana Syed Abul Ala Maududi
Abul Ala Maududi
Syed Abul A'ala Maududi , also known as Molana or Shaikh Syed Abul A'ala Mawdudi, was a Sunni Pakistani journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher, and a major 20th century Islamist thinker. He was also a prominent political figure in Pakistan and was the first...
.
Monthly Dar ul Islam journal
In 1940, the Dar ul Islam Movement began publishing an Urdu-language monthly journal called Monthly Dar ul Islam, from Pathankot, whose publisher and printer was Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. The Dar ul Islam was a scholarly and literary journal whose purpose was to create enlightenment and awareness amongst the Muslims of British India and also to present the case for an independent state for Muslims in South Asia.Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & Maulana Maududi
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan requested Allama Muhammad Iqbal to nominate an Islamic scholar with good management skills who could manage the day-to-day affairs of the Dar ul Islam Trust. Allama Muhammad Iqbal nominated Ghulam Ahmed PervezGhulam Ahmed Pervez
Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez was a prominent Islamic scholar, famous in the area around Lahore. He urged the Muslims to ponder deeply over the Message of the Quran. He considered Islam a din , a form of government, a system of government like democracy, autocracy, or socialism...
, an eminent civil servant and Islamic scholar. At the time, Ghulam Ahmed Pervez had been tasked by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
, then leader of the All India Muslim League, to publish a monthly journal titled Tolu-e-Islam
Tolu-e-Islam
Tolu-e-Islam , also known as Bazm-e-Tolu-e-Islam, is a group of Muslims that interpret Qur'an as the main source of guidance and deny the authority of the hadiths....
the primary objective of which was to build the case for a separate Muslim state in India and to educate Muslim public opinion in India that according to the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, ideology and not geographical or ethnic divisions, was the basis for the formation of nation, and that a politically independent Islamic state was a pre-requisite for Muslims to live in accordance with the injunctions of Islam.
When Ghulam Ahmed Pervez told Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he had been asked by Allama Muhammad Iqbal to join the Dar ul Islam Trust at Pathankot and sought his permission, Muhammad Ali Jinnah told Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to nominate someone else for the purpose as he wanted Ghulam Ahmed Pervez to focus entirely on the Tolu-e-Islam project. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez, therefore, recommended the name of Maulana Maududi to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan. Ghulam Ahmed Pervez knew Maududi as a young, energetic and intelligent journalist working in Hyderabad Deccan who had considerable knowledge of Islam and felt that Maududi was the right person for the job. It was, therefore, at the recommendation of Ghulam Ahmed Pervez that Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan wrote to Maududi and invited him to join the Dar ul Islam Trust in Pathankot. The prospect of heading a well-endowed Islamic research institute with a custom-built campus near the picteresque foothills of the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
was an attractive one for Maududi and he agreed.
At the time, it was unknown to both Ghulam Ahmed Pervez and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan that Maulana Maududi was against the creation of a separate state for Muslims in India and would go on to oppose the creation of Pakistan, which would eventually lead to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan parting ways with Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, however, wanted Allama Muhammad Iqbal to personally approve the appointment of Maududi at Dar ul Islam. Therefore, when Maududi first visited the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot, in 1937, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan took Maududi to meet Allama Muhammad Iqbal at Lahore. Like Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also unaware of Maududi's opposition to a separate state for Muslims in India and, having no other reason to reject him, sanctioned Maududi's appointment at the Dar ul Islam Trust, Pathankot. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan remained the vital link between Iqbal and Maududi.
In 1938, Maulana Maududi, then aged 35, arrived at Dar-ul-Islam in Pathankot and remained there for some time under the patronage of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan before founding the religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
This article is about Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. For other organizations of similar name see Jamaat-e-Islami The Jamaat-e-Islami , is a Pro-Muslim political party in Pakistan...
in Lahore in 1941. It was at Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's estate at Jamalpur where Maulana Maududi established his publishing house, the Maktabah Jama'at-i-Islami, which published Maulana Maududi's Musalman Aur Maujoodah Siyasi Kashmakash ("Muslims and the Current Political Dilemma"). In 1945, an all-India level conference of the Jamaat-e-Islami was held at the Dar ul Islam Institute, Pathankot. Among the attendees were Maulana Maududi, Maulana Said-ud-din, Maulana Saif-ud-din Qari and Maulana Ghulam Ahmad Ahrar. After the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the Jamaat-e-Islami was bifurcated into two separate political parties, namely the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is one of the influential and hardline Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in India...
in India and the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.
In his article, "Lessons from History", the noted Islamic scholar, Dr. Israr Ahmad, who himself was influenced by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, writes about Maulana Maududi:
- Like the second runner in a relay race, another unconventional and courageous young man appeared on the scene with the firm resolve to continue the mission that was forsaken by Maulana Abul Kalam. He worked alone for nearly seven years as a journalist, presenting a methodology for the establishment of “God’s Kingdom”...and the revival of Islam as a complete way of life. He then worked for sometime at Darul Islam an Islamic research academy established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, a devotee of Allama Iqbal. He finally laid the foundation of his own party in 1941, called Jama’at-e-lslami, and started an organized movement. This young man was, of course, none other than Maulana Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi (1903-1979).
Although the genesis of the Jamaat-e-Islami can be traced to the Dar ul Islam Institute established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Pathankot, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan himself, being a committed "Muslim Leaguer", never joined the Jamaat-e-Islami nor had anything to do with its founding. This was due to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's disagreement with Maulana Maududi's and the Jamaat-Islami's ideology and approach on a number of issues, particularly on the idea of Pakistan, the creation of which was being opposed by Maulana Maududi and his Jamaat-e-Islami and being supported by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & Pakistan
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a member of the All-India Muslim League, the political party led by Muhammad Ali JinnahMuhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....
that was fighting for a separate homeland for Muslims in India. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's belief in Iqbal's dream for a separate homeland for Muslims in India and his support for the idea of Pakistan led to increased distance between him and Maulana Maududi.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's support for the creation of Pakistan became evident immediately after Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947 when Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, leaving his home and vast Jamalpur estate behind in the new Republic of India, migrated with his family to the newly-established Muslim state of Pakistan and established there the second Dar-ul-Islam Trust Institute in Jauharabad in Khushab District
Khushab District
Khushab District is a rural tribal district located in Punjab, Pakistan. According to the 1998 census, the population was 905,711 with 24.76% living in urban areas. The district consists of 3 tehsils: Khushab, Nurpur, and Quaidabad, as well as a sub-tehsil Naushera...
in central Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan & agriculture
Other than his contributions to civil engineering, philanthropy, religious scholarship and education, Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, being a premier fruit-grower and agriculturalist, is credited with having introduced to South Asia a variety of fruits and agricultural technologies from around the world, including being the one to introduce into India the exotic PersimmonPersimmon
A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...
, Lychee
Lychee
The lychee is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. It is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree native to Southern China and Southeast Asia, and now cultivated in many parts of the world...
and Sapodilla
Sapodilla
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...
(Chikoo) fruits from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, which, for the first time in India, were successfully planted and grown at his 1000 acres (4 km²) agricultural estate known as "Jamalpur Fruit Farms". All three of these fruits spread to other parts of India from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms. The famous lychee farms on the west bank of the River Ravi, west of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, were planted by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's close friend, Mian Amiruddin (later Mayor of Lahore), from lychee tree saplings imported from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms.
The notable agriculturist, Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha
Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha was a former agriculture minister of Pakistan. He served in the cabinet of Ayub Khan, he died in March 2002 at the age of 97.He was the leader of House west Pakistan Assembly form 1966 to 1968.....
, who later became agriculture minister in President Ayub Khan's cabinet and known as the "Father of Agriculture" in Pakistan, also consulted Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan on mango farming techniques and technologies. Seeds of a variety of mango trees from the Jamalpur Fruit Farms were also shipped to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, where they were successfully planted and grown and continue to be grown to this day.
The vast Jamalpur Fruit Farms enabled Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan to experiment with innovative agricultural techniques and technologies, which were widely adopted in the agriculture of Punjab, particularly in the field of fruit agriculture.
The Jamalpur Fruit Farms acquired a reputation of being one of the technologically-advanced fruit farms in India. Students from India's then premier agriculture education establishment, the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur
Lyallpur
Lyallpur may refer to* the former name of Faisalabad city, Pakistan* Lyallpur Town, a municipal area of Faisalabad city, Pakistan...
(now University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad جامعہ زرعيه فيصل آباد, originally the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute, Lyallpur, is a university in the city of Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan....
), used to make annual study trips to the Jamalpur Fruit Farms to study the advanced agricultural techniques and technologies being applied there.
Family
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan had two sons, Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Khan and Khan Muhammad Azam, and three daughters, Jamila, Saadat and Salima. Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was a strong believer in quality education and this manifested in him providing his children with the best possible education. All three daughters completed their schooling. His eldest son, Muhammad Aslam Khan, was educated at one of India's most famous boys boarding schools, Colonel Brown Cambridge SchoolColonel Brown Cambridge School
Colonel Brown Cambridge School is an English medium residential school located in Dehradun, India. It was founded in 1926 with five students. It was the 1st all boys residential school in Dehradun....
, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
, and his younger son, Khan Muhammad Azam, at Government College, Lahore and Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
.
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's son, Khan Muhammad Azam, is married to the eldest daughter of Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi
Rai Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was a Manj Rajput ruler of Talwan in Jalandhar District, Punjab, British India and a military officer who became a freedom fighter in British India and a political leader in Pakistan...
, the pre-1947 Indian freedom fighter and post-1947 Pakistani political leader, and granddaughter of Khan Bahudur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
Rana Talia Muhammad Khan
Khan Bahadur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan, O.B.E. was the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India, serving as Inspector-General of Police of Patiala State and the Northwest Frontier Province and a former British Indian Army officer...
, the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India. His grandson, K.D. Rana, was married to the daughter of Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana
Bakhtiar Rana
Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana, M.C., was a senior officer in the Pakistan Army. He was Chief Martial Law Administrator . As a Lieutenant General, he commanded one of Pakistan Army's strike corps, I Corps, as its Corps Commander from 1958 to 1966...
, Chief Martial Law Administrator (West Pakistan) and Commander, I Corps
I Corps (Pakistan)
The I Corps, also known as I Strike Corps, of the Pakistan Army headquartered in Mangla, Azad Kashimir Province of Pakistan. Known as I Strike Corps, it is one of two strike corps within its ten manouvre Army corps...
, Pakistan Army (1958-1966) and son of Rana Talia Muhammad Khan.
Later years
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan died in Jauharabad, Pakistan on 24 February 1976 and is buried in the front courtyard of the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute, Jauharabad, which he founded and which continues to disseminate religious education to this day.Recognition
Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan was recognized with the following awards:- Tamgha-e-Shujaat (Medal of Bravery) in 1931 - by the British Indian Government - for bravery in protecting an under-repair dam from an attacking tribal militia in the then North-West Frontier ProvinceNorth-West Frontier ProvinceKhyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
(now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province) (one of the few civilian recipients of a military medal)
- Khan Sahib Title & Medal in 1935 - by the British Indian Government - for 30 years of exemplary public service
- Pakistan Movement Gold Medal in 2001 - by the Pakistan Movement Workers Trust, Lahore (established by the Government of the Punjab (Pakistan)) - posthumously awarded in recognition of his contribution to the Pakistan MovementPakistan MovementThe Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
Satellite coordinates of important places
Below is a list of important places in Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan's life and their satellite coordinates:| Birthplace (Mahilpur, India): | 31°21'29.91"N 76° 2'5.94"E |
| The Thomason College of Civil Engineering, Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee), India: | 29°51'53.61"N 77°53'47.89"E |
| 66 Acre Dar ul Islam Trust Complex, Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'29.28"N 75°35'7.55"E |
| Residential Complex of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'31.30"N 75°35'26.66"E |
| 1,000 Acre "Jamalpur Fruit Farms" Estate of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jamalpur, Pathankot, India: | 32°15'18.90"N 75°35'40.61"E |
| Dar ul Islam Trust Complex, Jauharabad, District Khushab, Pakistan: | 32°17'3.25"N 72°16'10.29"E |
| 1.5 Acre Residence of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Jauharabad, District Khushab, Pakistan: | 32°17'15.09"N 72°16'14.74"E |
| 125 Acre Fruit Farms of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan in Faisalabad, Pakistan: | 31°28'4.10"N 72°56'29.84"E |
Published sources
- Azam, K.M., Hayat-e-Sadeed: Bani-e-Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan (A Righteous Life: Founder of Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan), Lahore: Nashriyat, 2010 (583 pp., Urdu) [ISBN 978-969-8983-58-1]
- Chughtai, Muhammad Ikram, Muhammad Asad: Europe's Gift to Islam, Volume 1, Lahore: The Truth Society, 2006 (1240 pp.)
- Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-4), Lahore: Civil & Military Gazette Press, 1884 (Reprint: Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 2001)
- Hamid, Muhammad, Iqbal: The Poet Philosopher of Fifteenth Century Hijrah, Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1980 (Reprint: 1999)
- Yusuf, M., 'Maudoodi: A Formative Phase', Islamic Order, Volume 1, Issue 3, 1979 (pp. 33-43) (This paper throws light on the relationship of Maududi with Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan and has been cited in Islamic movements in Egypt, Pakistan, and Iran: an annotated bibliography by Asaf Hussain (London: Mansell Publishing Limited; Bronx, N.Y.: Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by H.W. Wilson Co., 1983 ISBN 0720116481)
External links
- http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Lahore/12-Oct-2010/Booklaunch-ceremony
- http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Lahore/14-Oct-2010/Nizami-sees-Jamaat-impartiality-in-1946-polls/1
