AHMED, FAKHRUDDIN ALI

(b. May 13, 1905, Delhi; d. Feb. 11, 1977, New Delhi), statesman and fifth president of India from 1974 to 1977.  

The son of an army doctor from Assam, Ahmed was initially educated in India and then went on to graduate in law from Cambridge University in 1927. After returning to India, he joined the Indian National Congress in 1931. He was elected to the Assam legislature in 1935. As Assam's minister of finance and revenue in 1938, he was responsible for some radical taxation measures. On the out-break of World War II in 1939, the Congress Party had a confrontation with British power, and Ahmed was jailed for a year. Soon after release he was again imprisoned for another three and a half years, being released in April 1945.

Ahmed was appointed advocate general of Assam in 1946 and held the post for six years. After a term in Parliament, he returned to Assam politics until Prime Minister Indira Gandhi included him in her first cabinet in January 1966. He held a variety of portfolios: irrigation and power, education, industrial development, and agriculture.

  Ahmed became India's fifth president in 1974. In June 1975, on the advice of the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, he exercised the powers conferred on him by Article 352 of the Constitution and declared a state of emergency on grounds of internal threats to the nation's security.

AHMAD SIRHINDI, SHAYKH

 (b. 1564, Sirhind, Patiala; d. 1624, Sirhind), Indian mystic and theologian largely responsible for the reassertion and revival in India of orthodox Sunni Islam as a reaction against the syncretistic religious tendencies prevalent during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar.

Initially educated at home, Shaykh Ahmad received instructions in the Holy Quran, Hadith, and theology in Sirhind and Sialkot. Later, he devoted himself to the study of Hadith, Tafseer, and philosophy. He joined the mystical order, Naqshbandiyah Silsilah, the most important of the Indian Sufi orders, under the discipleship of Khawaja Baqi Billah, in 1593-94. Emperor Akbar's religion, Din-i-Ilahi, an amalgamation of Hindu and Muslim beliefs, had taken a strong hold in the country. Shaykh Ahmad spent his life preaching against the inclination of Akbar and his successor, Jahangir (1605-27), towards pantheism and Shia Islam (one of that religion's two major branches). Of his several written works, the most famous is Maktubat , a compilation of his letters written in Persian to his friends in India and the region north of the Oxus river.

A measure of his importance in the development of Islamic orthodoxy in India is the title that was bestowed posthumously on him, Mujaddid-e-Alfe Sani (Renewer of the Second Millennium), a reference to the fact that he lived at the beginning of the second millennium of the Muslim calendar. His teachings were not always popular in official circles. In 1619, by the orders of emperor Jahangir who was offended by his aggressive opposition to Shiite views, Shaykh Ahmad was temporarily imprisoned in the fortress at Gwalior. His burial place at Sirhind is a site of pilgrimage.

Shaykh Ahmad's greatest contribution was opposing the unorthodox Sufism and mystic beliefs. He organized the Naqshbandiya order to reform the society and spread the Sharia among the people. Among the many books he wrote, his greatest work on Islamic philosophy was the Tauheed-i-Shuhudi .

AHAMAD KHAN, SIR SAYYID

(b. Oct. 17, 1817, Delhi; d. March 27, 1898, Aligarh), Sayyid also spelt Syad or Syed , Ahmad also spelt Ahmed , Muslim educator, jurist, author, and thinker whose influence on Islamic thought and polity would shape and define Muslim responses to modernism in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Founder of the Anglo-Mohammedan Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Sayyid was the principal motivating force behind the revival of Indian Islam in the late nineteenth century. In 1888, he was made a Knight Commander of the Star of India.  

Sayyid's forefathers claimed to be the descendants of the Prophet of Islam through his daughter Fatima and son-in-law Ali. His family was closely attached to the Mughal court. While his maternal grandfather had twice served as prime minister of the Mughal emperor of his time and had also held positions of trust under the East India Company, Sayyid's father received an allowance from the Mughal administration. The death of Sayyid's father left the family in financial difficulties, and after a limited education Sayyid had to work for his livelihood. Starting as a clerk with the East India Company in 1838, he qualified three years later as a subjudge and served in the judicial department at various places. Sayyid's brother established one of the first printing presses at Delhi and started one of the earliest newspapers in Urdu, the principal language of the Muslims of northern India.

Sayyid was involved in a wide range of activities, from politics to education. He wrote Tarikh Sarkashi-e Dilca Bijnore (A History of Insurrection in Bijnor District) and Asbab-e Baghawat-e Hind (The Causes of Indian Mutiny). His career as an author (in Urdu) started at the age of 23 with religious tracts. In 1847, he brought out a noteworthy book, Athar as-sanadid (Monuments of the Great), on the antiquities of Delhi. Even more important was his pamphlet The Causes of the Indian Revolt . Despite fighting for the British during the Indian mutiny, in this booklet, he -fearlessly laid bare the weaknesses of the British administration that had led to countrywide dissatisfaction and rebellion. Widely read by British officials, it had considerable influence on British policy. In 1860-61, he published Risalah Khair hawahan Musalman (An Account of the Loyal Mohammedans of India), in which he claimed that Indian Muslims were the most loyal subjects of the British Raj because of their kindred disposition and because of the principles of their religion.

His interest in religion was life-long. He began a sympathetic interpretation of the Bible, wrote Essays on the Life of Muhammad (translated into English by his son), and found time to write several volumes of a modernist commentary on the Quran. In these works, he sought to harmonize the Islamic faith with the scientific and politically progressive ideas of his time. The supreme interest of Sayyid's life was, however, education in its widest sense. He began by establishing schools, at Muradabad (1858) and Ghazipur (1863). A more ambitious undertaking was the foundation of the Scientific Society, which published translations of many educational texts and issued a bilingual journal in Urdu and English.

These institutions were jointly operated by Hindus and Muslims. In the late 1860s, there occurred developments that were to alter the course of his activities. In 1867, he was transferred to Banaras, a city with great religious significance for the Hindus. At about the same time, a movement started at Banaras to replace Urdu, the language cultivated by the Muslims, with Hindi. This movement and the attempts to substitute Hindi for Urdu in the publications of the Scientific Society convinced Sayyid that the paths of the Hindus and the Muslims must diverge. Thus, when during a visit to England (1869-70) he prepared plans for a great educational institution, they were for "a Muslim Cambridge". On his return, he set up a committee for this purpose. Tahdhib al-Akhlaq (Social Reform), an influential journal started by him, advocated the "uplift and reform of the Muslim". After retirement, Sayyid worked towards turning a Muslim school, established at Aligarh in May 1875, into a college. In January 1877, the viceroy laid the foundation stone of the college. In spite of conservative opposition to Sayyid's projects, the college made rapid progress. In 1886, Sayyid organized the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference, which met annually at different places to promote education and to provide the Muslims with a common platform. Until the founding of the Muslim League in 1906, it was the principal national centre of Indian Islam.  

Sayyid believed that "work of God (nature and its laws) was in conformity with the Word of God (the Quran)", an adage that earned him the title of Naturi. He advised Muslims against joining active politics and to concentrate instead on education.

In 1878, he was nominated as a member of the Viceregal Legislative Council. In 1889, he received an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh.

AGARWAL, ANIL

(b. November 23, 1947, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh; d. January 2, 2002, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand), one of India's most prominent and respected environmental activists. He was the founder chairperson of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Trained as a mechanical engineer at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Agarwal joined The Hindustan Times as a science correspondent in 1973. His interest in India's environmental concerns was influenced by the 1974 Chipko Movement-the mass protest against the indiscriminate felling of trees led by the poor women of Reni, a Himalayan village in Uttarakhand. The movement helped Agarwal recognize the delicate relationship between environmental resources and the daily requirements of the poor, especially in developing countries.  

Agarwal was one of the first environmentalists to adopt and institute the practice of what later came to be known as "sustainable development". In 1980, his vision of an environmental movement on a national as well as a global level prompted him to set up the CSE. Campaigning for various issues, including atmospheric pollution, the CSE soon established itself as one of India's foremost non-governmental organizations working on issues of the environment and development.  

In 1992, Agarwal launched Down to Earth , a magazine addressing environmental and science issues and promoting the causes of sustainable development. An avid writer, Agarwal contributed numerous articles to both national and international publications including London-based journals Earthscan and New Scientist . He has over 20 books dealing with economic and environmental development to his credit.

In recognition of his work, Agarwal was elected to the Global 500 Honour Roll in 1987 by the United Nations Environment Programme. The Indian government honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1986 and the Padma Bhushan in 2000. Agarwal passed away after battling long with cancer. The Society for Conservation of Biology posthumously awarded him the Distinguished Service Award for innovative work in the field of environmental conservation.

ABDUL KALAM, A.P.J.

(b. Oct. 15, 1931, Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu), Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, , eminent defence scientist, and the man responsible for building India's missile muscle. Dr. Kalam was India's eleventh president from 2002 to 2007.

Kalam was born to a Tamil Muslim family. His father rented boats to fishermen to pay his school fees at St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli. After completing school, Kalam studied aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology. He began his career in 1958, at the Defence

Research and Development Organization (DRDO). From there, in 1962, he moved on to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where he led several landmark projects, includingone to develop India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III), with which the 35-kg Rohini I satellite was positioned in the near earth orbit in July 1980, making India one of the world's few developing countries to join the space club.

After 19 years at ISRO, Kalam returned to the DRDO to take charge of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme in 1982. Under his leadership, ISRO indigenously developed and operationalized several strategic short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, including Agni and Prithvi. Due to his success in consolidating India's missile repertoire, he is often referred to as the "Missile Man of India".

In 1998, Kalam was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. He was earlier awarded the Padma Vibhushan (1990) and Padma Bhushan (1981).

ABUL-FAZAL ALLAMI

(b. Jan. 14, 1551, Agra; d. Aug. 22, 1602), historian, military commander, and secretary to Mughal emperor Akbar. Abul-Fazl studied with his father, Sheikh Mubarak Nagawri, a distinguished scholar. Abul-Fazl and his brother, the poet Fayzi, were -closely associated with Akbar's policy of religious tolerance. Abul-Fazl criticized the traditional Muslim religious leaders and opposed their narrow-mindedness and preoccupation with outward forms instead of the transcendent God. Immensely influential in Akbar's court, Abul-Fazl was appointed a military commander in the Deccan in 1599. He distinguished himself both as a soldier and as an administrator. He was recalled to court during a rebellion by Akbar's son Salim (later known as Emperor Jahangir) but, at the instigation of Salim, he was assassinated on the way.

Abul-Fazl's major literary achievement was a history of Akbar and his ancestors, the Akbarnamah (English translation by H. Beveridge, The Akbarnama of Abul-Fazl , 1907-39). The concluding part, Ain-i-Akbari (English translation by H.F. Blochmann and H.S. Jarret, 1927-49) consists of three parts: (1) a manual of government operations ranging from the jewel office and elephant stables to the army and tax collection, (2) a description and short history of Akbar's 12 provinces, and (3) an account of Hindu culture and sciences. Abul-Fazl is said to have translated the Bible into Persian.

ABHINAVAGUPTA

 (b. 1014, Kashmir), eleventh-century Indian philosopher, ascetic, and aesthetician and an outstanding representative of the pratyabhijna (recognition) school of Kashmiri Shaivite monism. This school conceived of the god Shiva, the individual soul, and the universe as essentially one; pratyabhijna refers to the way of realizing this identity.

Abhinavagupta was a great writer on -philosophy and aesthetics. Among his well-known philosophic works are Ishvara-pratyabhijna-vimarshini and the more detailed Ishvara-pratyabhijna-vivrti-vimarshini , both commentaries on Ishvara-pratyabhijna (Recognition of God), by Utpala, an earlier philosopher of the pratyabhijna school.  

ABDULLAH, SEIKH MUHAMMAD

(b. Dec. 5, 1905, Soura, Kashmir; d. Sept. 8, 1982, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir), also known as the "Lion of Kashmir", prominent figure in India's struggle for independence. He was the first chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah was educated at the Prince of Wales College (Jammu) and the Islamia College (Lahore) and received an M.S. degree in physics from Aligarh Muslim University in 1930. He championed the cause of the Muslim majority in the state during the British rule in India and fought against the discrimination exercised by the Hindu rulers of Kashmir. Abdullah served his first prison term in 1931 for urging self-rule for Kashmir. He later founded the Kashmir Muslim (later National) Conference. Supporter of the concept of a secular state, when India was granted independence he strongly opposed the idea of joining a Muslim Pakistan.

In 1948, Abdullah became the prime minister of Kashmir following a coup against the maharaja of Kashmir. Despite his early support for Jawaharlal Nehru, the belief that Abdullah's ultimate aim was the independence of Kashmir led to his dismissal and imprisonment in 1953. During the next 11 years he refused to pledge his loyalty to India and was kept under preventive detention by the Indian government most of the time. When Nehru released him in 1964, he received an enthusiastic reception from his people. In subsequent talks with the Indian government, he worked out the basis of a possible joint solution to the Kashmir problem.

 Gradually, his support in Kashmir was eroded by the apparent lack of progress in talks with India. Abdullah was again arrested and detained until 1968. From then until his appointment as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 1975, his Plebiscite Front gained some successes, but it lost to the Congress Party in the 1972 elections. His relations with the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, were sometimes strained, but he persuaded her to allow a form of autonomy in Kashmir.

ABD ALLAH IBN AL-ABBAS

          (b. c. 619; d. 687/688, Ta'if, Arabia), also called Ibn Abbas, , a companion of Prophet Muhammad, and among the greatest scholars of early Islam. Ibn Abbas is renowned for his knowledge of both sacred and profane tradition and for his critical interpretations of the Quran. From his youth he gathered information concerning the words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad from other companions and delivered classes and commentaries on interpretation of the Quran.

ABD-US-SAMAD, KHWAJA

(b. Shiraz, Iran; sixteenth century), Persian painter who was one of the first members of the imperial atelier in the court of Mughal emperor Akbar in India, and is credited with having played an important role in founding the Mughal school of painting.

Abd-us-Samad had already gained a reputation as a calligrapher as well as a painter when he met the Mughal emperor Humayun, who was in exile in Iran. At Humayun's invitation, Abd-us-Samad followed him to India in 1548, first to Kabul and later to Delhi. He instructed both Humayun and his young son, Akbar, in the art of drawing. Dasvant and Basawan, two of his students, became renowned Mughal painters. Abd-us-Samad received many honours from Akbar. In 1576, he was appointed master of the mint, and in 1584, at the end of his career, he was made diwan (revenue commissioner) of Multan.

Among Abd-us-Samad's greatest achievements was the supervision, of a large part of the illustrations of the Dastan-e Amir Hamzeh (Stories of Amir Hamzeh), a series of about 1,400 paintings, all of unusually large size. As none of the paintings are signed, it is uncertain whether he painted any of them himself. Among the book illustrations bearing his signature is one in the Royal Library in the Golestan Palace, Tehran, depicting Akbar presenting a book illustration to his father, Humayun. Although the work follows the Persian school of painting in many details, its realistic presentation of court life has traces of the Indian style that was to develop later. A more Indianized version of Abd-us-Samad's painting style is found in an illustrated manuscript of the Khamseh of Nezami dated 1595, now part of the collection of the British Museum.

ABD A-QADIR AL-JILANI

 (b. 1077/78, Nif, Persia; d. 1166, Baghdad), founder of the Qadiriyah order of the mystical Sufi branch of Islam. Al-Jilani studied Islamic law in Baghdad and was introduced to Sufism late in life, first appearing as a preacher in 1127. His great reputation as a preacher and teacher attracted disciples from across the Islamic world. He is said to have even converted numerous Jews and Christians to Islam. His achievement as a thinker was reconciling Sufism'smystique with the sober demands of Islamic law. His concept of Sufism was that of a holy war (jihad) waged against one's own will to conquer egotism and worldliness and to submit to God's will. Numerous legends of his saintliness arose after his death, and he retains a popular following among those who consider him a divine mediator.