Analytical
Analytical
Analytical
ALIGHAR HISTORY
OCTOBER 4, 2019
[Company address]
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Aligarh movement
Introduction
The Aligarh Movement was the push to establish a modern system of education for the Muslim population
of British India, during the later decades of the 19th century. The movement′s name derives from the fact
that its core and origins lay in the city of Aligarh in Northern India and, in particular, with the foundation
of the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental Collegiate School in 1875. The founder of the oriental college, and
the other educational institutions that developed from it, was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He became the
leading light of the wider Aligarh Movement.
The educational reform established a base, and an impetus, for the wider Movement: an Indian Muslim
renaissance that had a profound implications for the religion, the politics, the culture and society of the
Indian sub-continent.
One of indirect consequences of the awakening is the notion that without this revival of a Muslim self-
consciousness and self-confidence, directly attributable to the Movement, there could or would have
been no Pakistan Movement in the run up to Indian Independence
Contents
1 History
Some time before the Muslim conquest, Kol was held by the Dor Rajputs. At the time of Mahmud
of Ghazni, the chief of the Dors was Hardatta of Baran. Statues of Buddha and other Buddhist
remains have been found in excavations where the citadel of Koil stood, indicating a Buddhist
influence. Hindu remains indicate that the citadel probably had a Hindu temple after the Buddhist
temple. In 1194, Qutb-ud-din Aibak marched from Delhi to Kol, "one of the most celebrated
fortresses of Hind". Qutb-ud-din Aibak appointed Hisam-ud-din Ulbak as the first Muslim
governor of Kol.
Kol is mentioned in Ibn Battuta's Rihla, when Ibn Battuta along with 15 ambassadors representing
Ukhaantu Khan, emperor of the Mongol Chinese Yuan dynasty, travelled to Kol city en route to
the coast at Cambay (in Gujarat) in 1341. According to Battuta, it would appear that the district
was then in a very disturbed state since the escort of the Emperor's embassy had to assist in
relieving Jalali from an attacking body of Hindus and lost an officer in the fight. Ibn Batuta calls
Kol "a fine town surrounded by mango groves". From these same groves the environs of Kol
would appear to have acquired the name Sabzabad or "the green country".
In the reign of Akbar, Kol was made a Sirkar and included the dasturs of Marahra, Kol ba Haveli,
Thana Farida and Akbarabad. Akbar and Jahangir visited Kol on hunting expeditions. Jahangir
clearly mentions the forest of Kol, where he killed wolves.
During the time of Ibrahim Lodhi, Muhammad, son of Umar, was the governor of Kol. He built a
fort at Kol and named the city Muhammadgarh, after himself, in 1524–25. Sabit Khan, who was
then the governor of this region, rebuilt the old Lodhi fort and named the town Sabitgarh, after
himself.
The ruler of Koil was Bargujar King Rao Bahadur Singh who, in 1753, rose against the destruction
of Hindu temples. The Jat ruler, Surajmal, with help from Jai Singh of Jaipur and the Muslim army,
occupied the fort of Koil. Bahadur Singh continued the battle from another fort and died fighting
in what is known as the "Battle of Ghasera". It was renamed Ramgarh and finally, when a Shia
commander, Najaf Khan, captured Kol, he gave it its present name of Aligarh. Aligarh Fort (also
called Aligarh Qila), as it stands today, was built by French engineers under the control of French
officers Benoît de Boigne and Perron.
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