Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...

Bashir Hussain Zaidi, CIE, MP (30 July 1898 – 29 March 1992) was a member of the first

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

and the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from 1956 to 1962. He also served as a member of the

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

from United Provinces (later

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

). He was awarded

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

, the second highest civilian honour, by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in 1976.

Biography

Zaidi was born on 30 July 1898.in kakrouli sadat a town of dist. Muzaffarnagar After his schooling in

Sonepat Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It is also around 214 km (128 miles) southwest o ...

and Delhi, he was educated at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and at

Fitzwilliam College Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. After Cambridge, he was in chambers at Lincoln's Inn where he was called to the Bar in 1923. Zaidi returned to India in 1923. He taught at Aligarh Muslim University from 1923 to 1930, when he entered the service of the

Nawab of Rampur Rampur State was a 15 gun-salute princely state of British India. It came into existence on 7 October 1774 as a result of a treaty with Oudh. Following independence in 1947, Rampur State and other princely states of the area, such as Bena ...

, subsequently becoming the state's

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

or chief minister in 1936 and held this position until Rampur merged with the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...

in 1949. A member of the Indian Constituent Assembly from 1947 to 1949, he became a member of the new Parliament in 1950 and a member of the

in 1952. He left Parliament in 1956 to become Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, returning as a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

in 1964. From 1967 to 1969, he served on the Indian Committee of Inquiry on Communal Disturbances; also leading a goodwill mission to nine African and Asian nations in 1964 and heading the Indian cultural delegation to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in 1965 for its Independence Week celebrations. Zaidi retired from politics in 1970, continuing to serve as director of several industrial concerns and a publishing house until 1977.

Awards and honours

Zaidi was appointed a CIE (Companion of the

Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

in 1941. He served as a member of the governing committees of

Zakir Husain College Zakir Husain Delhi College (formerly known as Zakir Husain College, Anglo Arabic College, and Delhi College), founded in 1696, is the oldest existing educational institution in India, and is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, ac ...

from 1974 and Aligarh from 1983. He was awarded an honorary D.Litt. from Aligarh Muslim University in 1964 and from

Kanpur University Aerial view of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University Campus Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University (CSJMU), formerly Kanpur University, is a public state university located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is administered under the state ...

in 1974. In 1976, he received the

, India's second highest civilian honour.

Personal life

In 1937, Zaidi married Qudsia Abdullah (d. 1960). They had two sons and a daughter, the screenwriter and costume designer

Shama Zaidi Shama Zaidi (born 25 September 1938) is an Indian screenplay writer, costume designer, art director, theatre person, art critic, and documentary film maker. She is married to director M. S. Sathyu. Shama Zaidi Was Honored with Lifetime Achieve ...

. Bashir Hussain Zaidi was born in Kakrouli Sadat town in dist. Muzaffarnagar and died at his secondary home, Zaidi Villa, at Jamianagar, New Delhi on 29 March 1992, aged 93.Who's Who, 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaidi, Bashir Hussain People from Uttar Pradesh Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire 1898 births 1992 deaths Indian Muslims Military personnel from Uttar Pradesh India MPs 1952–1957 Aligarh Muslim University faculty Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Vice-Chancellors of the Aligarh Muslim University Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Twelvers Indian Shia Muslims