ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY

ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY

Subject : Current events

Context : The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will bury a time capsule recording the evolution of the varsity over the last 100 years of its existence on Republic Day as part of its centenary celebrations.

Concept :

• The capsule, which weighs around 1.5 tonnes, will contain documents showcasing the rich history of the AMU.
• The time capsule will contain documents showcasing the history of the varsity and its journey over the past 100 years.
• It will also have the biography of founder Sir Syed Ahmed and his addresses. It will also have texts of speeches of prominent people from pre-Independence era.
• The capsule has been built with high tempered steel and is around four feet deep. It will be buried 30 feet deep into the earth.

About AMU

• AMU became a University in 1920, through an Act of Indian Legislative Council by elevating the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental (MAO) College to the status of a Central University.
• MAO College was set up in 1877 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
• The University campus is located in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. It also has three off-campus centres in Malappuram (Kerala), Murshidabad-Jangipur (West Bengal) and Kishanganj (Bihar).

Contributions of Syed Ahmed Khan

• He started his career as a civil servant and served the British before the revolt of 1857.
• The 1857 revolt was one of the turning points in Syed Ahmed’s life and he penned a pamphlet titled “The Causes of the Indian Revolt” to explain the reasons of the revolt from a “native perspective”.
• He supported the British during the 1857 revolution.
• He raised voice against the existing religious intolerance, ignorance and irrationalism prevailing in the society at that time.
• He denounced the orthodox systems of purdah, polygamy and easy divorce of the Muslim community.
• TahzebulAkhlaq (Social Reformer in English), a magazine founded by him, tried to awaken people’s consciousness on social and religious issues in very expressive prose.
• He instituted the Scientific Society in 1863 to instill a scientific temperament into the Muslims and to make the Western knowledge available to Indians in their own language.
• He launched The Aligarh Institute Gazette, an organ of the Scientific Society in March 1866 and succeeded in agitating the minds in the traditional Muslim society.
• In 1875, Sir Syed founded the MadarsatulUloom in Aligarh and patterned the MAO College after Oxford and Cambridge universities that he went on a trip to London. His objective was to build a college in line with the British education system but without compromising its Islamic values.

The Aligarh Movement:

• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan is best known for the Aligarh Movement a systemic movement aimed at reforming the social, political and educational aspects of the Muslim community.
• In 1886, he set up the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Education Congress which was later renamed the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Educational Conference. It aimed to bring together education and culture.
• He also emphasised the need for an autonomous Muslim institution free of any government funding.
• It undertook to modernise Muslim’s education by adapting English as a medium of learning and western education rather than just focusing on traditional teachings.
• The movement helped the Muslims revival and gave them a common language Urdu.