INTRODUCTION

Jamia Millia Islamia, an institution originally established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in
1920 became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988. In Urdu language,
Jamia means ‘University’, and Millia means ‘National’.

The story of its growth from a small institution in the pre-independence India to a central
university located in New Delhi—offering integrated education from nursery to research in
specialized areas—is a saga of dedication, conviction and vision of a people who worked against
all odds and saw it growing step by step. They “built up the Jamia Millia stone by stone and
sacrifice by sacrifice,” said Sarojini Naidu, the nightingale of India.

CONCEPTION

Under the colonial British rule, two dominant trends joined hands and contributed towards in the
birth of Jamia. One was the anti-colonial Islamic activism and the other was the pro-
independence aspiration of the politically radical section of western educated Indian Muslim
intelligentia. In the political climate of 1920, the two trends gravitated together with Mahatma
Gandhi as a catalyst. The anti-colonial activism signified by the Khilafat and the pro-
independence aspirations symbolised by the non-cooperation movement of the Indian National
Congress helped to harness creative energies and the subsequent making of Jamia Millia Islamia.
Rabindranath Tagore called it “one of the most progressive educational institutions of India”.

Responding to Gandhiji’s call to boycott all educational institutions supported or run by the
colonial regime, a group of nationalist teachers and students quit Aligarh Muslim University,
protesting against its pro-British inclinations. The prominent members of this movement were
Maulana Mehmud Hasan, Maulana Mohamed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad
Ansari, and Abdul Majid Khwaja.

FOUNDATION

The Foundation Committee met on 29 October 1920. It comprised of the following members:

 Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari (Delhi)

  Mufti Kafayattullah (Delhi)
 Maulana Abdul Bari Farang Mahali (UP)
 Maulana Sulaiman Nadvi (Bihar)
 Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani (UP)
 Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni (UP)
 Chaudhury Khaleeq-uz-zaman (UP)
 Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan
 Tasadduq Husain Khan (UP)
 Dr. Mohammad Iqbal (Punjab)
 Maulana Sanaullah Khan Amritsari (Punjab)
 Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew (Punjab)
 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Bengal and Bihar)
 Dr. Syed Mehmood (Bengal and Bihar)
 Saith Abdullah Haroon Karachiwale (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)
 Abbas Tyabiji (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)
 Sait Miyan Mohammad Haji Jaam Chhotani (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)
 Maulavi Abdul Haq (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)

On 22 November 1920, Hakim Ajmal Khan was elected the first chancellor of Jamia. Mohamed
Ali Jauhar became Jamia’s first Vice Chancellor, as Allama Iqbal could not accept the offer
made through Gandhiji. It also elected a syndicate and created a syllabus subcommittee.

The known freedom fighter and Muslim theologian, Maulana Mehmud Hasan, laid the
foundation stone of Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh on Friday, 29 October 1920.

CRISIS

Born out of political crisis, it seemed for a while, Jamia would not survive the heat of the intense
political struggle for the independence of India. It participated in the Bardoli resolution and sent
volunteers across the country to motivate people to fight for the freedom of the country. The
colonial British government soon imprisoned many of its teachers and students. In 1922,
Gandhiji called off the non-cooperation movement. Even as its teachers and students were being
released, Mustapha Kemal Ataturk declared the end of the Khilafat in 1924.

Suddenly Jamia saw itself in a great crisis. Some thought it had achieved its mission, as others
believed that the institution had lost its raison d’etre with the end of the non-cooperation and the
Khilafat movements. Even the little financial assistance, that the Khilafat had been giving it, also
dried up. As even prominent people started deserting it, Jamia’s total collapse virtually became
an imminent possibility.

Jamia Moves to Delhi

The saying, ‘when going gets tough the tough gets going’ cannot be truer about Jamia. As the
crisis loomed large, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari and Abdul Majeed Khwaja
—the first trio—supported by Gandhiji shifted Jamia from Aligarh to Karol Bagh, in New Delhi
in 1925. Gandhiji boosted the morale of Jamia, saying, “The Jamia has to run. If you are worried
about its finances, I will go about with a begging bowl”. Jamia followed Gandhiji’s constructive
programme for self-reliance while it took to Charkha and Takli as favoured vocations.

Although Gandhi’s contacts helped to secure financial help for Jamia, the risk of helping a
Congress-backed institution under the British Raj dissuaded many willing benefactors. Orthodox
Muslims also viewed Jamia as a threat to Aligarh Muslim University, the ‘Muslim Oxford’.
During those difficult days, it was Hakim Ajmal Khan who met most of Jamia’s expenses from
his own pocket. Dr. M.A. Ansari and Abdul Majeed Khwaja toured India and abroad, explaining
the importance of Jamia and collecting funds for this noble enterprise. Their collective
intervention did avert a collapse that was almost certain.

Resurgence: The Second Trio

In 1925, after long deliberation, a group of three friends studying in Germany—Dr. Zakir
Husain, Dr. Abid Husain and Dr. Mohammad Mujeeb—decided to serve Jamia. Dr. Zakir
Husain, who had earned his doctorate in Economics from the University of Berlin, was a natural
and charismatic leader. Dr. Abid Husain had his Ph.D. in Education. Mohammad Mujeeb, an
Oxford scholar in History and a student of printing in Germany, was a passionate and committed
reformist. Early in February 1926, the three friends left Germany for Jamia by the Norddeutscher
Lloyd steamer, SS Derfflinger.

In Jamia, Dr. Zakir Husain, was offered a salary of Rs. 100. His two other friends with European
qualifications were offered Rs 300 each. Realising that the possibility of making payments was
beyond Jamia’s limited resources, Abid Husain and Mohammad Mujeeb voluntarily reduced
their salaries to Rs. 100 each. Moved by the commitment of his friends, Dr. Zakir Husain also
reduced his own salary to Rs. 80. One of the first steps they took was the introduction of the
hugely popular evening classes for adult education. This movement was later to become, in
October 1938, an institution called Idara-i-Taleem-o-Taraqqi. It kept growing so popular that
separate rooms had to be built to accommodate the students.

In 1928 Hakim Ajmal Khan passed away. That was the beginning of the second financial crisis,
as it was Hakim Sahib himself who had been meeting most of Jamia’s financial needs. The
leadership of Jamia then moved into the hands of Dr. Zakir Husain, who became its Vice
Chancellor in 1928. To resolve Jamia of these frequent crises, a group of young Jamia teachers,
led by Dr. Zakir Husain, took a pledge to serve Jamia for the next twenty years on a salary not
more than Rs. 150. This group was called the Life Members of Jamia. (History repeated in 1942
when a second group of Jamia teachers took a similar pledge).

Jamia’s department of Printing and Publications was trifurcated in 1928 with the newly
established Jamia Press at Darya Ganj, Urdu Academy, and Maktaba Jamia under the charge of
Prof. Mohammad Mujeeb, Dr. Abid Husain and Mr. Hamid Ali respectively.

Shifting to the New Campus

On 1 March 1935, the foundation stone for a school building was laid at Okhla, then a non-
descript village in the southern outskirts of Delhi. In 1936, all institutions of Jamia, except Jamia
Press, the Maktaba and the library, were shifted to the new campus. The basic emphasis of Jamia
was on evolving innovative education methods. This led to the establishment of a teacher’s
college (Ustadon ka Madrasa) in 1938. In 1936, Dr. M.A. Ansari passed away. On 4 June 1939,
Jamia Millia Islamia was registered as a society.
The fame of Jamia as an innovative education movement spread and dignitaries from foreign
countries began visiting Jamia. Husein Raouf Bey (1933), Dr. Behadjet Wahbi of Cairo (1934),
Ms. Halide Edib of Turkey (1936) were some of them. Foreigners, impressed by Jamia, began
working in Jamia. The German lady Ms. Gerda Philipsborn (popularly known as Aapa Jaan)
served Jamia for many years is buried in Jamia.

In 1939, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi (1872-1944), a theologian and freedom fighter, came to stay
in Jamia on the invitation of Dr. Zakir Husain. He started a school of Islamic Studies in Jamia,
called Baitul Hikmal, propagating the ideology of Shah Waliullah. Zakir Husain, later the
President of India, recalled those days of indestructible optimism in the face of depravity ‘when
they had a longing to build and nothing to build with, as “days of joy”.

In 1946, during Jamia’s silver jubilee celebration, one could see the crisis that India had to face
in the following year: Mr. and Mrs. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and Liyaqat Ali Khan were on one
side of Dr. Zakir Husain, the vice chancellor, on the dias; Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Asaf Ali and
Sir C Rajagolapachari were on the other side.

Independence and After

The riots following partition that shook the northern India did affect Jamia; but not its campus.
Gandhi observed that its campus remained “an oasis of peace in the Sahara” of communal
violence. Maktaba Jamia alone lost books worth seven lakhs in arson.

After the attainment of Independence, Jamia continued to grow as an academic institution with a
difference. Many foreign dignitaries made it a point to visit Jamia Millia Islamia during their
visits to New Delhi. Among those who visited Jamia include Marshal Tito (1954), king Zahir
Shah of Afghanistan (1955), crown prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, king Reza Shah Pehlavi of
Iran (1956) and prince Mukarram Jah (1960).

Following the death of Mr. Abdul Majeed Khwaja in 1962, Dr. Zakir Husain, who by then had
taken charge as the Vice President of India, became Jamia’s Chancellor (1963).
JAMIA'S MOTTO
Right on the top is a star with the inscription“Allah O Akbar.” When in dark nights poor
travellers have to traverse jungles and there is no one to show them the way, they chart their
course with the help of stars. The star of Allah O Akbar is the guiding star of Jamia. Its eyes are
fixed on this star which shows it the path in the darkling world. It reflects the truth that Allah is
the greatest and he who bows his head before Him only, discovers the truth. Having bowed
before Him, how can the head bow before anything else? Beneath this glittering star is a book
with the inscription, Allammal Insaana Maalam Yalam (Taught man that which he knew not).
This is the Holy Quran. Through the Holy Quran, Allah has revealed His Will to His differences
of caste, class, colour; of master and slave, and became true to His tenets. This book led from
darkness to light, and placed the wayward and lost on the Straight Path. The Prophet made an
example of his own life. By the light of his eyes and the warmth of his heart, He prepared a
group of good persons who cleaned the world of evil and spread the Word of God. On either side
of the Book are two date tress typical of the land where God’s last Prophet was born. They are
symbolic of the barren valley in which nothing grew; but it was there that the sapling of din took
root. These trees are emblems of hope from a land in which not a leaf or flower could sprout; but
wherein suddenly the springs of hidaya burst forth and drenched the “communities of the heart”.
They are a source of consolation for people who became disheartened with adverse
circumstances. Why do external factors make them lose hope?

At the very bottom is a tiny silver crescent which reads Jamia Millia Islamia. This crescent is
small but just as it expands to become the full moon on the fourteenth night, so also Jamia.
Meaning that this is the beginning of our work. It will expand to become the full moon and a
source of delight for the eve of its beholder.

Written By: Dr. Zakir Husain

Muhammad Ali Jauhar (10 December 1878 – 4 January 1931), also known as Maulana
Mohammad Ali Jauhar was an Indian Muslim independence leader, activist, scholar, journalist
and a poet, and was among the leading figures of the Khilafat Movement.

Mohammad Ali Jauhar was a product of the Aligarh Movement.He was elected to become the
President of Indian National Congress party in 1923 and it lasted only for a few months. He was
also one of the founders and presidents of the All-India Muslim League

EARLY LIFE AND CAREER

Mohammad Ali was born in 1878 in Najibabad (Uttar Pradesh, India).His father, Abdul Ali
Khan, died when he was five years old. His brothers were Shaukat, who became a leader of the
Khilafat Movement, and Zulfiqar. His mother Abadi Begum (1852–1924), affectionately known
as Bi Amma, inspired her sons to take up the mantle of the struggle for freedom from Colonial
rule. To this end, was adamant that her sons were properly educated. Despite the early death of
his father, Jauhar attended Aligarh Muslim University and, in 1898, Lincoln College, Oxford,
studying modern history.

Upon his return to India, he served as education director for the Rampur state, and later joined
the Baroda civil service. He became a writer and an orator of the first magnitude and a farsighted
political leader, writing articles in major British and Indian newspapers like The Times, London,
The Manchester Guardian and The Observer. He launched the English weekly The Comrade in
1911 in Calcutta. It quickly gained circulation and influence. He moved to Delhi in 1912 and
there he launched an Urdu-language daily newspaper Hamdard in 1913.

Jauhar worked hard to expand the Aligarh Muslim University, then known as the Muhammadan
Anglo-Oriental College, and was one of the co-founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920,
which was later moved to Delhi.

KHILAFAT MOVEMENT AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

Jauhar had attended the founding meeting of the All India Muslim League in Dacca in 1906, and
served as its president in 1918. He remained active in the League till 1928. He represented the
Muslim delegation that travelled to England in 1919 to convince the British government to
influence the Turkish nationalist Mustafa Kemal not to depose the Sultan of Turkey, who was the
Caliph of Islam and the presumed leader of all Islamic nations of that time.British government's
rejection of their demands resulted in the formation of the Khilafat committee which directed
Muslims all over India to protest and boycott the British government.

Now accorded the respectful title of Maulana, Ali formed, in 1921, a broad coalition with
Muslim nationalists like Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed
Ansari, Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari and Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi, who then
enlisted the support of the Indian National Congress and many thousands of Hindus, who joined
the Muslims in a demonstration of unity against the British government. Jauhar also
wholeheartedly supported Gandhi's call for a national civil resistance movement, and inspired
many hundreds of protests and strikes all over India. He was arrested by British authorities and
imprisoned for two years for what was termed as a seditious speech at the meeting of the
Khilafat Conference.
Abdul Majeed Khwaja

1885 - Dec 2, 1962

Abdul Majeed Khwaja, an Indian lawyer, educationist, social reformer and freedom fighter, was born at
Aligarh, a small but historically significant town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

A liberal Muslim, he was deeply committed to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's ethical approach of
nonviolent resistance. He actively opposed the partition of India in 1947 and dedicated his entire life to
the promotion of Hindu-Muslim harmony.

He made a lasting contribution to the education of Indian Muslims in the modern era.

He died on 2 December 1962 and was buried in the family graveyard adjacent to the shrine of the Sufi
saint Shah Jamal on the outskirts of Aligarh.
Vice-Chancellor A.M. Khwaja (left) with Jawaharlal Nehru at Jamia in Karol Bagh, New
Delhi; 1924 (Photo: Courtesy JMI Archives)

On Oct. 29, 1920, in response to Gandhi’s call to boycott educational institutions run by the
Regime, at a moment of confluence of the anti-colonial Islamic activism and pro-independence
aspirations of the politically radical Indian Muslim intelligentsia, a small group of nationalist
teachers and students quit the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in protest against its pro-
British leanings.

In 1925, as crisis loomed large, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. M.A.Ansari and A.M. Khwaja,
supported by Gandhi, shifted Jamia from Aligarh to Karol Bagh in New Delhi. It followed
Gandhi’s constructive programme for self-reliance while he took to Charkha and Takli as
favoured vocations. W.C. Smith noted in his book “Modern Islam,” that the move to Delhi
“marked the end of spirit of pure opposition to Aligarh and the government. In its new home, it
embarked upon a more positive programme.”

The physical shift to Delhi had allowed for infrastructure development and academic planning. It
presented more possibilities to attract better teachers and students. However, some observers
noticed that the heady fervour of the early days had disappeared; others commented on how the
fun-filled zesty evenings in the Aligarh kothis had become a thing of the past. Hence in 1927,
Jamia moved yet again, but this time it was only a short distance from its original location. A few
kothis were rented in a neighbourhood closeby to move the boys to better living quarters.

In 1928, Hakim Ajmal Khan passed away and that was the beginning of the second financial
crisis, as it was Hakim Sahib who had been meeting most of Jamia’s financial needs. The
leadership of Jamia then moved into the hands of Dr. Zakir Husain, who became its Vice
Chancellor in 1928. To resolve Jamia of these frequent crises, a group of young Jamia teachers,
led by Dr. Zakir Husain, took a pledge to serve Jamia for the next twenty years on a salary not
more than Rs. 150. This group was called the ‘Life Members of Jamia’. As a rule, the lowest
paid employee was paid first, with the vice-chancellor to be paid last.

Jamia’s department of Printing and Publications was trifurcated in 1928 with the newly
established Jamia Press at Darya Ganj, Urdu Academy, and Maktaba Jamia under the charge of
Prof. Mujeeb, Dr. A. Husain and Mr. Hamid Ali respectively. Dr. Zakir Hussain was one to
surmount his troubles and rise to greatness—great as a noble character and greater still as the
man who raised high the flag of freedom and unity. His rationalist enthusiasm left no secrets
undisclosed, it allowed for no ambivalences or hesitation. He left a mark not only as a teacher,
but also as a friend, colleague, guide and philosopher to many. His tenure saw many visitors to
Jamia, which included Husein Raouf Bey, captain of the destroyer Hamidite during World War I,
Behdjet Wahbi of Cairo and Akbar Hydari who gave a grant for construction of the Secondary
School.

The major step of shifting the campus to Okhla was taken and the foundation stone was laid on
March 1, 1936 and Jamia was registered as a society in 1939. The basic emphasis of Jamia was
on evolving innovative education methods. This led to the establishment of a teachers’ college
(Ustadon ka Madrasa) in 1938. Gandhi visited the campus and presided over a lecture by Halide
Edib, declaring, ‘When I come to Jamia, I feel I have come home’. In 1939, Maulana Ubaidullah
Sindhi, a theologian and a freedom fighter, came to stay in Jamia on the invitation of Dr. Zakir
Husain. He started a school of Islamic Studies in Jamia, called Baitul Hikmal, propagating the
ideology of Shah Waliullah. After guiding Jamia through a financial and ideological crisis, Dr.
Hussain went on to assume many posts and finally became the President of India.
Procession at the first convocation of the Jamia in 1921. It includes Dr M.A. Ansari, Hakim
Ajmal Khan, Syed Suleman Nadvi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Shaukat Ali, A.M.
Khwaja. Dr Zakir Hussain, Dr K.A. Hamied and Rauf Pasha.
Bi Amma with her sons Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar and Maulana Shaukat Ali. Image
Source: India Times
Abadi Bano Begum, popularly known as ‘Bi Amma’ set an exemplary precedent for all women
in general and Muslim women in particular as she shattered the stereotypes associated with a
traditional ‘orthodox’ Muslim woman. She is a lesser-known freedom fighter who left no stone
unturned as she took part in the nation’s freedom struggle, contributed to ensure Hindu-Muslim
unity, and participated in the Khilafat movement. She was also the mother of the great freedom
fighters Muhamamd Ali Jauhar and Shaukat Ali popularly known as Ali Brothers. Early Life

Bi Amma was born in 1850 into a nationalist family of Rampur. She suffered the trauma of 1857
revolt which ignited a strong desire within her to see her country be free of the British rule.

HER ROLE IN THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE

She played an important part in fundraising for the Khilafat movement and the Indian
independence movement. When both her sons were put in jail, she addressed a large gathering on
their behalf and gave a moving speech. It was in fact the first time that a Muslim woman was
recorded to have addressed a political gathering wearing a burqa. This bold woman toured the
country and addressed large gatherings of people.

In 1917, she joined the agitation to help release Annie Besant and her two sons from prison. It
was at this time that Mahatma Gandhi spoke to her about gathering the support of women in the
freedom movement. Considering Gandhi’s advice, Bi Amma took active part in Khilafat
movement and the freedom movement and encouraged many women to play greater
participatory role in the freedom movement.

A PROGRESSIVE THINKER

She was a progressive thinker who gave importance to modern English education in a time
where English education was compared to infidelity. She practised strict purdah all her life but
when nationalist movement got momentum and her sons along with Mahatma Gandhi were
imprisoned, she broke the restriction placed on women and urged them to come out with her in
large numbers to support freedom movement. Although she did not have any formal education,
she was deeply convinced of the advantages of acquiring modern education for the Muslims of
the sub-continent.
 

Jamia students along with teachers in 1939

 Students and Teachers of Jamia at Aligarh, 1925
 

 
First Group

In 1928 the Staff members of Jamia Millia Islamia under the aspiring leadership of Dr. Zakir
Husain resolved to form the Anjuman-e-Talimi-Milli (later to be known as Anjuman-e-Jamia
Millia Islamia) whose members signed a pledge to serve Jamia for at least 20 years on a salary of
not more than Rs. 150 per month. The following signed the pledge in the first instance.

 
Upper Row (L to R)
Hafiz Fayyaz Ahmad1897 - 22.02.64
Janab Shafiqur Rehman Kidwai1901 - 02.04.53
Janab Barkat Ali-
Maulana Mohammad Aslam Jairajpuri 1882 - 28.12.1955
Middle Row (L to R)
Prof. M. Mujeeb30.10.1902 - 20.01.85
Dr. Zakir Husain08.02.1897 - 03.05.69
Janab Irshadul Haque 1901 - 08.04.1974
Lower Row (L to R)
Janab Saaduddin Ansari-
Janab Saeed Ansari04.07.1904 - 26.01.84
Janab Hamid Ali Khan 23.12.1905 - 05.12.63
Janab Khawaja Abdul Hai not shown in the photograph. 

An old image of okhla village the first building of the university in okhla
(where the university is currently based) was a school which was established
on 1 march 1935.

The present campus of Jamia Millia Islamia, a central university was established
here in 1925.
DURING NON COOPERATION MOVEMENT AT UNIVERSITY SITE AT
ALIGARH, MAULANA MUHAMMAD ALI JAUHAR
 HAKIM MOHAMMAD AJMAL KHAN GRAVE

Inside the Hasan Rasool slum compound on Panchkuian Road is a mausoleum of the Sufi saint
after whom the settlement, which probably came up after Partition, is named. But also buried
nearby is Hakim Ajmal Khan, the co-founder of Jamia Millia Islamia and a pioneer of Unani
medicine.

“He was a philanthropist, a famous hakim, and a freedom fighter who was a contemporary of
Gandhiji and took part in the Khilafat Movement. But today his name is hardly heard except for
a road and a park in central Delhi named after him,” said Masroor Ahmed, Khan’s great
grandnephew who lives in their heritage haveli in the Walled City’s Ballimaran area.
LETTER BY MAHATMA GANDHI TO DR. M.A. ANSARI REGARDING HINDU MUSLIM
UNITY

(28 JUNE, 1928)