Early Life

Syed Ahmed Taqvi 'Khan Bahadur' was born on 17 October 1817 to a Shia Syed family in Delhi,
which was the capital of the Mughal Empire. His family were descendant of Muhammad[15] and
then moved to the Indian subcontinent[16] in the ruling times of Mughal emperor Akbar. Many
generations of his family had since been highly connected with the administrative position in
Mughal Empire. His maternal grandfather Khwaja Fariduddin served as Wazir (lit. Minister) in
the court of Emperor Akbar Shah II.[17] His paternal grandfather Syed Hadi Jawwad bin Imaduddin
held a mansab (lit. General)– a high-ranking administrative position and honorary name of "Mir
Jawwad Ali Khan" in the court of Emperor Alamgir II. Sir Syed's father, Syed Muttaqi Muhammad
bin Hadi Khan, was personally close to Emperor Akbar Shah II and served as his personal
adviser.[18]

However, Syed Ahmad was born at a time when his father was regional insurrections aided and
led by the East India Company, and the British Empire had diminished the extent and power of the
Mughal state, reducing its monarch to figurehead. With his elder brother Syed Muhammad bin
Muttaqi Khan, Sir Syed was raised in a large house in a wealthy area of the city. They were raised
in strict accordance with Mughal noble traditions and exposed to politics. Their mother Aziz-un-
Nisa played a formative role in Sir Syed's early life, raising him with rigid discipline with a strong
emphasis on modern education.[19] Sir Syed was taught to read and understand the Qur'an by a
female tutor, which was unusual at the time. He received an education traditional to Muslim
nobility in Delhi. Under the charge of Lord Wellesley , Sir Syed was trained in Persian, Arabic,
Urdu and orthodox religious subjects.[20]He read the works of Muslim scholars and writers such as
Sahbai, Rumi and Ghalib.[citation needed] Other tutors instructed him in mathematics, astronomy and
Islamic jurisprudence.[17][21] Sir Syed was also adept at swimming, wrestling and other sports. He
took an active part in the Mughal court's cultural activities.[22]

Syed Ahmad's elder brother founded the city's first printing press in the Urdu language along with
the journal Sayyad-ul-Akbar.[citation needed] Sir Syed pursued the study of medicine for several years
but did not complete the course.[17] Until the death of his father in 1838, Sir Syed had lived a life
customary for an affluent young Muslim noble.[17] Upon his father's death, he inherited the titles
of his grandfather and father and was awarded the title of Arif Jung by the emperor Bahadur Shah
Zafar.[23] Financial difficulties put an end to Sir Syed's formal education, although he continued to
study in private, using books on a variety of subjects.[22] Sir Syed assumed editorship of his
brother's journal and rejected offers of employment from the Mughal court.[22]

Career
Having recognized the steady decline in Mughal political power, Sir Syed decided to enter the
service of the East India Company. He could not enter the English civil service because it was only
in the 1860s that natives were admitted. He did not attend the East India Company College which
did not grant degrees.[24] His first appointment was as a Serestadar (lit. Clerk) at the courts of law
in Agra, responsible for record-keeping and managing court affairs.[24] In 1840, he was promoted
to the title of munshi. In 1858, he was appointed to a high-ranking post at the court in Muradabad,
where he began working on his most famous literary work.

Acquainted with high-ranking British officials, Sir Syed obtained close knowledge about British
colonial politics during his service at the courts. At the outbreak of the Indian rebellion, on 10 May
1857, Sir Syed was serving as the chief assessment officer at the court in Bijnor.[citation needed]
Northern India became the scene of the most intense fighting.[25] The conflict had left large
numbers of civilians dead. Erstwhile centres of Muslim power such as Delhi, Agra, Lucknow and
Kanpur were severely affected. Sir Syed was personally affected by the violence and the ending
of the Mughal dynasty amongst many other long-standing kingdoms.[citation needed] Sir Syed and
many other Muslims took this as a defeat of Muslim society.[26] He lost several close relatives who
died in the violence. Although he succeeded in rescuing his mother from the turmoil, she died in
Meerut, owing to the privations she had experienced.[25]

Social reforms in the Muslim society were initiated by Abdul Latif who founded "The
Mohammedan Literary Society" in Bengal. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan established the MAO College
which eventually became the Aligarh Muslim University. He opposed ignorance, superstitions and
evil customs prevalent in Indian Muslim society. He firmly believed that Muslim society would
not progress without the acquisition of western education and science. As time passed, Sir Syed
began stressing on the idea of pragmatic modernism and started advocating for strong interfaith
relations between Islam and Christianity.

Scholarly Works
While continuing to work as a junior clerk, Sir Syed began focusing on writing, from the age of
23 (in 1840), on various subjects (from mechanics to educational issues), mainly in Urdu, where
he wrote, at least, 6000 pages.[33][34] His career as an author began when he published a series of
treatises in Urdu on religious subjects in 1842. He published the book Asaar-us-sanadeed (Great
Monuments) documenting antiquities of Delhi dating from the medieval era. This work earned him
the reputation of a cultured scholar. In 1842, he completed the Jila-ul-Qulub bi Zikr-il Mahbub
and the Tuhfa-i-Hasan, along with the Tahsil fi jar-i-Saqil in 1844. These works focused on
religious and cultural subjects. In 1852, he published the two works Namiqa dar bayan masala
tasawwur-i-Shaikh and Silsilat ul-Mulk. He released the second edition of Ansar-as-sanadid in
1854.[35] He also started work on a commentary on the Bible – the first by a Muslim – in which he
argued that Islam was the closest religion to Christianity, with a common lineage from Abrahamic
religions.[17] He began with Genesis and Matthew, the first books of the Old and New Testament,
but quit his project before even completing those first two. His other writings such as Loyal
Muhammadans of India, Tabyin-ul-Kalam and A Series of Essays on the Life of Muhammad and
Subjects Subsidiary Therein helped to create cordial relations between the British authorities and
the Muslim community
 Religious Work

4. Ahkam Tu'am Ahl-Kitab, Kanpur, 1868.

5. Al-Du'a Wa'l Istajaba, Agra, 1892.
6. Al-Nazar Fi Ba'z Masa'il Imam Al-Ghazzali, Agra.
7. Izalat ul-Chain as Zi'al Qarnain, Agra, 1889.
8. Zila al-Qulub ba Zikr al-Mahbub, Delhi, 1843.
9. Khulq al-Insan ala ma fi al-Quran, Agra, 1892.
10. Kimiya-i-Sa'dat, 2 fasl, 1883.
11. Mazumm ba nisbat tanazzul ulum-i-diniya wa Arabiya wa falsafa-i-Yunaniya, Agra,
1857.
12. Namiqa fi Bayan Mas'ala Tasawwur al-Shaikh, Aligarh, 1883.
13. Rah-i-Sunnat dar rad-i-bid'at, Aligarh, 1883.
14. Risala Ibtal-i-Ghulami, Agra, 1893.
15. Risala ho wal Mojud, 1880.
16. Risala Tahqiq Lafzi-i-Nassara, 1860.
17. Tabyin-ul-Kalam fi Tafsir-al-turat-wa'l Injil ala Mullat-al-Islam (The Mohomedan
Commentary on the Holy Bible).
18. Tafsir-ul-Qura'n
Vol. I Aligarh, 1880,
Vol. II Aligarh, 1882, Agra, 1903.
Vol. III Aligarh, 1885
Vol. IV Aligarh, 1888
Vol. V Aligarh, 1892.
Vol. VI Aligarh, 1895
Vol. VII Agra, 1904.
19. Tafsir al-Jinn Wa'l Jan ala ma fi al-Qur'an, Rahmani Press, Lahore, 1893, Agra, 1891.
20. Tafsir-a-Samawat, Agra.
21. Tahrir fi Usul al-Tafsir, Agra, 1892.
22. Tarjama fawa'id al-afkar fi amal al-farjar, Delhi 1846.
23. Tarqim fi qisa ashab al-kahf wal-Raqim, Agra, 1889.
24. Tasfiyad al'Aquid (Being the correspondence between Syed Ahmad Khan and
Maulana Muhammad Qasim of Deobund).
25. Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (Reasons for the Indian Revolt of 1857) 1875
 Political Works
35. Asbab-i-Baghawat-e-Hind, Urdu 1858 and English edition, Banaras.
36. Lecture Indian National Congress Madras Par, Kanpur, 1887.
37. Lectures on the Act XVI of 1864, delivered on 4 December 1864 for the Scientific
Society, Allygurh, 1864.
38. Musalmanon ki qismat ka faisla (taqarir-e-Syed Ahmad Khan wa Syed Mehdi Ali
Khan etc.) Agra, 1894.
39. On Hunter's: Our Indian Mussulmans' London, 1872.
40. Present State of Indian Politics (Consisting of lectures and Speeches) Allahabad,
1888.
41. Sarkashi Zilla Binjor, Agra 1858.

Journals, reports, and proceedings

1. Tehzeeb-ul-Ikhlaq.
2. Aligarh Institute Gazette.
3. Proceedings of the Muhammadens Educational Conference.
4. An Account of the Loyal Muhammadans of India, Parts I, II, III, Moufussel Press,
Meerut, 1860.
5. Proceedings of the Scientific Society.
6. By-Laws of the Scientific Society.
7. Addresses and speeches relating to the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in
Aligarh (1875–1898) ed. Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Aligarh, 1898

Death
A death by natural causes, as recorded by coroners and on death certificates and associated documents,
is the end result of an illness or an internal malfunction of the body not directly caused by external
forces, typically due to old age. This is especially true when an elderly person has several different
conditions or diseases, but where it appears that none of them alone or together may clearly lead to the
death, and it is uncertain which condition was the final factor causing death