Some of the Historical Events in the Muslim India

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On July 10, 1947 AD, Leader of the All India Muslim League, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who is considered as the Founder of Pakistan, was recommended by British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, as the first Governor-General of the new country to be born on August 14 the same year. He was a lawyer and a brilliant orator and led the struggle for a separate homeland for Muslims of the Subcontinent, after leaving the Indian National Congress on being disillusioned by the policies of M.K. Gandhi. Born in Karachi into an Ismaili Khoja Shi’ite family of Gujarati origin on 25th December 1876, he later became an Asna Ash’ari or Twelver Shi’ite, and died in Karachi on 11th September 1948 after serving as Governor-General of Pakistan for a year and almost a month. Revered as “Qa’ed-e Azam” (Great Leader) by the Pakistanis, his portrait still adorns Pakistan’s currency notes, while in Iran and Turkey, highways are named in his honour.
On July 19,1894 AD, Sir Khwaja Nazimuddin, one of the notable Bengali Founding Fathers of Pakistan was born in Dhaka in what is now Bangladesh, into the family of the Nawabs of Dhaka of Kashmiri origin. A product of the Aligarh Muslim University and Cambridge University of Britain, on his return to undivided India he joined the Muslim League. On the birth of Pakistan, he became a career statesman of what was then East Pakistan. On the death of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, he served as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 until the 1951 assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, whom he succeeded as Prime Minister and the first Bengali premier of undivided Pakistan. He lost the 1954 general elections to fellow Bengali statesman, Mohammad Ali Bogra, who now became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. After a long illness, Nazimuddin died in 1964 at the age of 70; was given a state funeral and buried in his hometown Dhaka.
On July 27, 1987 AD, Indian ornithologist, Salim Ali, popularly called the “Birdman of India” for his conservation of India's biological diversity, died. Born into an Ismaili Shi’ite family, his love of birds began at age 10, when he began writing his observations. Eventually, he undertook professional education in ornithology. In 1930 he began a bird survey of Hyderabad State. By 1976, he had published several popular regional field guides of Indian birds for which he is famous. These surveys were based on extensive travels throughout India and Pakistan. The title of his autobiography “The Fall of a Sparrow” recalls the first sparrow that drew his interest as a boy.
On July 31,1880 AD, Munshi Premchand, famous for his modern Urdu-Hindi literature, was born near Benares in northern India. He learnt Urdu and Persian in childhood, and later taught himself English. After his mother's death he sought solace in fiction, and developed a fascination for books, especially after hearing stories from the Persian-language fantasy epic "Tilism-e Hoshruba" He described the problems of the poor and the urban middle-class. He died in 1936 at the age of 56. Among his works mention could be made of Soz-e Watan, Jalwa-e Isaar, Bazaar-e Hosn, and Maidan-e-Amal.
On August 4, 1988 AD, the prominent Pakistani Islamic scholar, Allamah Seyyed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini, was martyred at Peshawar in Northern Pakistan by sectarian terrorists. Born in a virtuous and academic family, he started learning Islamic sciences as of a young age. After a while, he left for Iraq and Iran to complete his higher studies.
He became familiar with the thoughts of the Father of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, late Imam Khomeini (may his soul rest in peace). During the Islamic Revolution, he was in Iran, and actively supported the struggle of the Iranian people against the Pahlavi despotic regime. As a result, he was expelled to Pakistan by the Shah’s regime.
In Pakistan, he taught Islamic sciences and strove to improve the status of the disadvantaged people. In 1984, he was elected to lead the organization: “Tehrik-e Nefaz-e Fiqh-e Jafaria”, which means the movement to implement the Ja’fari School of Jurisprudence. Thereafter, he continued his efforts to establish unity between Shi’ites and Sunnis in Pakistan and made utmost efforts to save the rights of the followers of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt in Pakistan. These efforts of Allamah Arif Hussain al-Hussaini, enraged the enemies of Pakistani people’s solidarity, and they martyred him on this day.
On July 31, 1893 AD, Fatema Jinnah, one of the Founding Mothers of Pakistan was born in Karachi into a Ismaili Shi'ite family and later became Asna Ash'ari or Twelver Shi'ite. She was the younger sister of the Founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and a dental surgeon by profession. She was an influential political figure in the movement for independence from British colonial rule. Following the death of her brother, she continued to work for the welfare of the Pakistani people though charities and the institutions. In 1965, she ran for president and it is widely believed that elections were rigged by incumbent President Field Marshal Ayub Khan to deprive her of possible win. She died in Karachi in 1967 and is commonly known as Mader-e Millat (Mother of the Nation).
On August 1,1960 AD, the newly built city of Islamabad was declared the federal capital of the Republic of Pakistan, replacing nearby Rawalpindi. Following partition of the Subcontinent, the port city of Karachi had initially served as capital.
On July 25,1783 AD, the British were forced to lift the siege of the port city of Cuddalore on the Arabian Sea coast of southern India during the Second Anglo- Mysore War (1779-1784) against Haider Ali Khan of the Muslim Sultanate of Mysore, when confronted with a combined army of French and Indians.
On July 10, 1301 AD, the impregnable and strategically located Rantambhore Fortress in what is now the Rajasthan State of India, was captured by Sultan Ala ud-Din Khilji. Built on a mountain peak by the Jats, it was occupied by the Rajputs, from whom the Muslims captured it for the first time in 1226 during the reign of the Turkic slave-king, Sultan Shams od-Din Altamash. Ten years later the Rajputs seized it, and managed to retain it for the next 65 years, in the face of repeated sieges by the Sultans of Delhi. With the decline of Muslim power in northern India, following the invasion of Amir Timur, the Rajputs again took over Ranthambore, which in 1532 was conquered by Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. In 1559, it passed into the hands of the Mughal Emperor, Jalal ud-Din Akbar, whose matrimonial relations with the Rajputs meant the control of the Kachwaha Maharajas of Jaipur over it since the 17th century. Today this massive fortress is part of the World Heritage Site and is in the midst of a national reserve for protection of tigers.
On 7th of the Islamic month of Ramadhan in 944 AH, one of the renowned historians and poets, Seyyed Nizam od-Din Mohammad M’asoum Safai Tirmizi, who wrote under the penname “Naami”, was born in India. His ancestors were from Qandahar in Afghanistan. He and his father served the Sultans of Gujarat in western India. He has left behind valuable books, such as “Tibb-e Naami” on medicine. He passed away in 1019 AH.
On July 23, 1372 AD, Krishnaraja of Yijaynagar, whose seizure of the fortress of Mudkul brought about war with the Bahmani Kingdom (of Iranian origin) of the Deccan in southern India, was decisively defeated by Mohammad Shah I after being driven all the way to his capital, where he begs for peace to persuade the Bahmani king to lift the siege and return to Gulbarga.
On July 31, 1658 AD, Mohi ud-Din Mohammad Aurangzeb proclaimed himself the 6th Grand Moghul Emperor of the Subcontinent after defeating and executing his brothers in the war of succession, and imprisoning his father, Shah Jahan – the builder of the famous monument Taj Mahal. He took the title of Alamgir or Word-Grasper and during his 50-year reign the empire reached the zenith of expansion, stretching from northern boundaries of Afghanistan to the southernmost tip of India, and from border with Iran in the west to the borders of Burma in the east. Born of an Iranian mother – Arjmand Banu Begum Mumtaz Mahal, the granddaughter of E'temad od-Dowla Mirza Ghiyas Beg Tehrani – he was prolific both in Arabic and Persian, and carried on correspondence with the Safavid Shahs of Iran and the Turkish Ottoman Sultans. His death led to the rapid decline of Moghul power in India founded by the famous Central Asian adventurer Zahir od-Din Babur – a great grandson of the fearsome Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur, and protégé of Shah Ismael I, the Founder of the Safavid Dynasty.
On August 6, 1510 AD, Da’ud Khan of the Faruqi Dynasty of Khandesh in Central India, died after a reign of 7 years during which he was totally dependent on his two brothers, Hussain Ali and Yar Ali, with the former serving as vizier of the state. Because of ill advice, Da’ud attacked the Nizamshahi Dynasty of Ahmadnagar, but the latter’s army marched into Khandesh, almost making him lose his kingdom which was only saved by his pleas of help to the Sultan of Malwa, who forced him to become his subordinate. His son and successor, Ghazni Khan, was killed by poisoning within ten days of his death, prompting the kingdoms of Berar and Ahmadnagar to install his cousin, Alam Khan, as ruler, a move that was opposed by Mahmoud Shah, the powerful sultan of Gujarat, who instead sent an army to crown another member of the Faruqi Dynasty as Adil Khan III. Founded in 1382 by Malik Ahmad Raja Faruqi, the son of a Rajput convert to Islam who served Sultan Feroze Shah Tughlaq of Delhi, Khandesh and its capital Burhanpur, were annexed by the Mughal Emperor Jalal od-Din Akbar in 1601. The Sultanate was a Persianate society, and made rich contribution to Persian literature, art and architecture. Islam was also promoted through peaceful means, as is evident today by the large number of Tadvi Bhils, and Raj Gonds, who are Muslims.
On July 13, 1321 AD, the most prominent Sufi preacher of the Deccan (Southern India), Seyyed Mohammad Zaidi Hussaini, known popularly as “Khwaja Band-e Nawaz Gesudaraz”, was born in Delhi into a family of migrants from Herat, Khorasan, that traced its lineage to Martyr Zaid, the son of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS) – the great-grandson and 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
He was a disciple of Seyyed Naseer od-Din, titled “Chiragh Dehli” (Lamp of Delhi), and spent several years in Qandahar (Afghanistan) and Baluchestan as a preacher, before returning to Northern India. In 1398, at the age of 77, he moved to Daulatabad, owing to the attack of Amir Timur on Delhi, and finally settled down in Gulbarga, at the invitation of Taj od-Din Firouz Shah of the Bahmani Dynasty of Iranian origin. He died forty years later at the age of 101, and his shrine in Gulbarga is a site of pilgrimage. He wrote about 195 books in Arabic, Persian and the Deccani form of early Urdu. His book on Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) titled “Me’raj al-Asheqin” for the instruction of the masses is regarded as the first one of its kind in vernacular language, rather than in Persian or Arabic.
He was a devout follower of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt. Although the original inscriptions of his mausoleum no longer exist or have been tampered with, his wife’s mausoleum has remained in its original form, and on its entrance is inscribed in stone, the testimony of the Oneness of God, the Mission of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and the vicegerency of Imam Ali (AS).
On August 10, 1980 AD, Pakistan’s former president, General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, died at the age of 63. In 1969, he was handed power by his predecessor President Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan and was the chief executive until the defeat in the war against India and separation of East Pakistan as Bangladesh on December 16, 1971. On December 20, he formally handed over power to the civilian politician Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Born in a family of Iranian origin, he had served with distinction in the North African, West Asian, and Mediterranean theatres of World War 2 as an officer of the British Indian army.
On August 11, 1943 AD, former Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf was born in New Delhi. Four years later with the partition of the Indian Subcontinent, his family migrated to Pakistan, where on growing up he joined the army and was gradually promoted to the rank of general. In 1999 he seized power through a bloodless military coup by ousting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. On 18 August he had to resign amidst threats of impeachment for the many corruption cases against him and his government.
On August 12, 1442 AD, Sultan Ahmad Shah I of Gujarat, the founder of the city of Ahmadabad, died after a reign of 31 years – during which he consolidated his kingdom in the face of rebellions and invasions – and was succeeded by his son Moiz od-Din Mohammad Karim Shah. He was the second king of the Muzaffarid Dynasty founded by his father, Zafar Khan (son of a Rajput chief who embraced the truth of Islam), who took the title Muzaffar Shah on declaring independence from the Delhi Sultanate. Ahmad Shah embellished Ahmadabad with mosques, libraries, bridges and other public places, built in a unique Indo-Persian style.
The Ahmad Shah Mosque and the sprawling Jama Masjid are two of the architectural masterpieces built by him, along with his mausoleum. The court language was Persian and the Muzaffarid Dynasty ruled for almost 200 years until the conquest of Gujarat by the Mughal Empire. Soon after his accession, Ahmad Shah was faced with a rebellion of his uncles, led by his eldest uncle Firuz Khan, who declared himself king. Ultimately his uncles surrendered to him. During this rebellion Sultan Hoshang Shah of Malwa invaded Gujarat, but was repelled. He invaded again in 1417 along with Nasir Khan, the Faruqi dynasty ruler of Khandesh and occupied Sultanpur and Nandurbar, but was again defeated. Ahmad Shah in retaliation led four expeditions into Malwa in 1419, 1420, 1422 and 1438. In 1429, Kanha Raja of Jhalawar with the help of the Bahmani Sultan Ahmad Shah ravaged Nandurbar, but was defeated by Ahmad Shah's army. Ahmad Shah annexed Thana and Mahim from the Bahmani kingdom of Iranian origin of the Deccan (southern India).
On August 14, 1947 AD, Pakistan was born as an independent Muslim country of South Asia with the partitioning of the Subcontinent by the British on the eve of their departure from India. It was the result of the long struggle for independence from colonial rule by the Muslim League under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The new country was made up of West Pakistan – on the borders of Afghanistan and Iran – and East Pakistan on the borders of Myanmar. In 1971, the eastern part of Pakistan became an independent country under the name Bangladesh.