Mohammad Habib
Encyclopedia
Mohammad Habib (born 1895 - died 1971 ) was an India
n historian
. He was a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University
.
. His brother Mohammad Mujeeb was Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia
from 1948 to 1973. His wife Sohaila was the daughter of Abbas Tyabji
, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi
. His son Irfan Habib
, is a noted historian
and Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University
.
in 1916. The M.A.O. College was then affiliated to Allahabad University. He then proceeded to Oxford for higher studies.
It was there that he received his baptism in nationalism. He was among the organizers of the Oxford Majlis, which he served as president for one term. The ideas of his liberal-minded tutor Ernest Barker, a meeting with Ms. Sarojini Naidu
, the patronage which he received from Maulana Mohammad Ali
, who visited London those days, played a role in shaping young Habib’s ideas. At the call of Maulana Mohammad Ali, Habib returned to India to teach at Jamia Millia Islamia
but apparently never became a regular member of its staff. When the non-cooperation movement
was called off in 1922, he accepted an appointment as a Reader
, and almost immediately afterwards as Professor
, at the newly chartered Aligarh Muslim University
.
In 1926, he won the election of the U.P. Legislative Council as a Swarajist (Swaraj Party
). The next year, he married Sohaila, daughter of Abbas Tyabji
a noted disciple of Mahatma Gandhi
.With her he had two sons named Kamal Mohammad Habib and Irfan Habib. Soon after Habib became a great admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru
and gave a considerable part of his income to the Congress Party.
At Aligarh, Habib made his mark in many ways. As an academician, his great emphasis was on writing history based on original sources, and he encouraged the study of aspects of history other than dynastic or political. He himself wrote on social and cultural history, and painstakingly unraveled the history of Muslim mystics for some of whom he came to cherish an almost personal affection.
In the forties, his interest in Marxism
heightened; and in 1952 he presented in a remarkable piece, his introduction to a reprint of Elliot and Dawson’s History, Vol. II, an interpretation of early medieval India deeply influenced by Marxist ideas. He visited Paris to represent his country at the UN General Assembly, followed by a trip to Peking (now Beijing) in 1952 on the first goodwill mission from India to People’s Republic of China.Both the visits strengthened him in his belief in the need for India to help countries resisting imperialism. He kept nursing the sapling of liberalism in the portals of the University.
He retired in 1958 but was appointed Professor Emeritus. He lost neither his interest in politics nor in research work. He contested for the office of the Vice President of India in 1969 as a candidate of the combined opposition, partly because he was critical of the government policies, and partly because, as he cheerfully told Press Correspondents, he was going to lose. He died on 22 June 1971 following a brief illness.
. It consists three hostels: Chakraverty Hostel, Umaruddin Hostel and Haider Khan Hostel.
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...
n historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. He was a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
.
Biography
He belonged to the illustrious family of Mohammed Nasim, a leading advocate in LucknowLucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
. His brother Mohammad Mujeeb was Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia is an Indian Central University located in Delhi. It was established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920. It became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988...
from 1948 to 1973. His wife Sohaila was the daughter of Abbas Tyabji
Abbas Tyabji
Abbas Tyabji was an Indian freedom fighter from Gujarat, who once served as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court. Mahatma Gandhi appointed Tyabji, at age seventy-six, to replace him as leader of the Salt Satyagraha in May, 1930 after Gandhi’s arrest. Tyabji was arrested soon afterward and...
, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
. His son Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib is an Indian Marxist historian, a former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Padma Bhushan awardee. He is a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University. He has served in the Indian History Congress for many years. Irfan Habib and R.S...
, is a noted historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
.
Career
Mohammad Habib studied at the M.A.O. School and College. He topped the B.A. examination of the Allahabad UniversityAllahabad University
Allahabad University , is a premier Central University located in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Its origins lie in the Muir Central College, named after Lt...
in 1916. The M.A.O. College was then affiliated to Allahabad University. He then proceeded to Oxford for higher studies.
It was there that he received his baptism in nationalism. He was among the organizers of the Oxford Majlis, which he served as president for one term. The ideas of his liberal-minded tutor Ernest Barker, a meeting with Ms. Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu , also known by the sobriquet The Nightingale of India, was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist and poet...
, the patronage which he received from Maulana Mohammad Ali
Maulana Mohammad Ali
Maulana Mohammad Ali Jouhar was an Indian Muslim leader, activist, scholar, journalist and poet, and was among the leading figures of the Khilafat Movement....
, who visited London those days, played a role in shaping young Habib’s ideas. At the call of Maulana Mohammad Ali, Habib returned to India to teach at Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia is an Indian Central University located in Delhi. It was established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920. It became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988...
but apparently never became a regular member of its staff. When the non-cooperation movement
Non-cooperation movement
The non-cooperation movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule which lasted for years. This movement, which lasted from September 1920 to February 1922 and was led by Mohandas Gandhi, and supported by the Indian National Congress. It aimed to resist...
was called off in 1922, he accepted an appointment as a Reader
Reader (academic rank)
The title of Reader in the United Kingdom and some universities in the Commonwealth nations like Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in research or scholarship...
, and almost immediately afterwards as Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, at the newly chartered Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
.
In 1926, he won the election of the U.P. Legislative Council as a Swarajist (Swaraj Party
Swaraj Party
The Swaraj Party, Swarajaya Party or Swarajya Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party, was a political party formed in India in 1922 that sought greater self-government and political freedoms for the Indian people from the British Raj. It was inspired by the concept of Swaraj...
). The next year, he married Sohaila, daughter of Abbas Tyabji
Abbas Tyabji
Abbas Tyabji was an Indian freedom fighter from Gujarat, who once served as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court. Mahatma Gandhi appointed Tyabji, at age seventy-six, to replace him as leader of the Salt Satyagraha in May, 1930 after Gandhi’s arrest. Tyabji was arrested soon afterward and...
a noted disciple of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
.With her he had two sons named Kamal Mohammad Habib and Irfan Habib. Soon after Habib became a great admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
and gave a considerable part of his income to the Congress Party.
At Aligarh, Habib made his mark in many ways. As an academician, his great emphasis was on writing history based on original sources, and he encouraged the study of aspects of history other than dynastic or political. He himself wrote on social and cultural history, and painstakingly unraveled the history of Muslim mystics for some of whom he came to cherish an almost personal affection.
In the forties, his interest in Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
heightened; and in 1952 he presented in a remarkable piece, his introduction to a reprint of Elliot and Dawson’s History, Vol. II, an interpretation of early medieval India deeply influenced by Marxist ideas. He visited Paris to represent his country at the UN General Assembly, followed by a trip to Peking (now Beijing) in 1952 on the first goodwill mission from India to People’s Republic of China.Both the visits strengthened him in his belief in the need for India to help countries resisting imperialism. He kept nursing the sapling of liberalism in the portals of the University.
He retired in 1958 but was appointed Professor Emeritus. He lost neither his interest in politics nor in research work. He contested for the office of the Vice President of India in 1969 as a candidate of the combined opposition, partly because he was critical of the government policies, and partly because, as he cheerfully told Press Correspondents, he was going to lose. He died on 22 June 1971 following a brief illness.
Selected publications
- Hazrat Amir Khusrau of Delhi. 1st Pakistan ed. Lahore : Islamic Book Service [1979].
- Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya: hayat aur talimat.Dihli : Shubah-yi Urdu, Dihli Yunivarsiti, [1972] University of Delhi. Dept. of Urdu. Silsilah-i matbuat-i Shubah-yi Urdu [1970].
- The political theory of the Delhi sultanate (including a translation of Ziauddin Barani's Fatawa-i Jahandari, ...) Allahabad, Kitab Mahal [1961].
- Politics and society during the early medieval period: collected works of Professor Mohammad Habib / edited by K. A. Nizami. New Delhi : People's Pub. House [1974-1981].
- Some aspects of the foundation of the Delhi Sultanat [sic]. Delhi, Dr. K. M. Ashraf Memorial Committee; [sole distributers: Kalamkar Cooperative, 1968] Dr. K. M. Ashraf memorial lecture, 1966
- Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznin. 2d ed.Delhi, S. Chand [1967].
Legacy
In 1972 the newly constructed Hall of residence was named after him. Mohammed Habib Hall is one of the several halls of residence in Aligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
. It consists three hostels: Chakraverty Hostel, Umaruddin Hostel and Haider Khan Hostel.
External links
- Mohammad Habib Hall at Aligarh Muslim University
- Prof. Mohammad Habib page at Centre of Advanced Study, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University
- A biographical account by Irfan Habib (from the foreword to Historiography of Medieval India by Sanjay Subodh, Manak Publications, 2003)