Syed Alimuddin Ahmad ( bn, সৈয়দ আলীমুদ্দীন আহমদ; 1884 - 1920), popularly known as Master Saheb ( bn, মাস্টার সাহেব), was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

bodybuilder and wrestler. He participated in the anti-British independence movement as an underground activist and revolutionary, as a part of the ''Dhaka Mukti Sangha'' organisation. Ahmed rose to prominence after the organisation was absorbed into Subhas Chandra Bose's Bengal Volunteers during the mayorship of

Chittaranjan Das Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called ''Deshbandhu'' (Friend of the Nation), was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian independence movement and founder-leader of the Swara ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

Early life and family

Syed Alimuddin Ahmad was born in 1884 to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family of Syeds in Ashiq Jamadar Lane,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

. His father, Syed Amiruddin, was a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

by profession and owned a small tailoring shop. He and his siblings were educated in the local primary school and then at

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s, which was why he was often referred to by the titles of

Munshi Munshi is a Persian word, originally used for a contractor, writer, or secretary, and later used in the Mughal Empire and India for native language teachers, teachers of various subjects, especially administrative principles, religious texts, ...

or Moulvi by his comrades. Ahmad then enrolled at the

Dhaka College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...

. Following his father's death, he started working as a home tutor. Ahmad was a devout Sunni Muslim.

Activism

The start of Ahmad's activism roughly coincided with the 1905 Partition of Bengal movement. As an accomplice of Hemchandra Ghosh, he joined Ghosh's organisation, the ''Dhaka Mukti Sangha''. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, many revolutionaries and activists were arrested by the British Army though others such as Ahmad continued to keep the organisation alive underground. Ahmad provided shelter for numerous rebels and assisted them with weaponry. He prevented communal riots in Dacca during his leadership and had recruited many young people in the city. Among his notable disciples was Abdul Jabbar (revolutionary), Abdul Jabbar. Ahmad continued his anti-imperial activities in hiding to avoid police arrests. The colonial police were never able to capture him.

Death and legacy

Alimuddin Ahmad died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

in his early thirties in 1920, which was a major setback for the Mukti Sangha. Alimuddin Street in

was named after him.

References

Indian independence movement Indian independence activists from Bangladesh Bangladeshi revolutionaries 1920 deaths 1884 births 19th-century Indian Muslims 20th-century Indian Muslims 20th-century Bengalis 19th-century Bengalis People from Dhaka Sunni Muslims Tuberculosis deaths in Bangladesh 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis {{Bangladesh-activist-stub