Khan Sahib Khan Sahib is a compound of khan (leader) and sahib (master) - was a formal title of respect and honour, which was conferred mainly on Muslim, but also to Parsi, Irani, and Jewish subjects of the British Indian Empire. It was a title one degr ...

, Qazi Zafar Hussain came from a

qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...

's family which had, since the 16th century, been prominent among the

landed aristocracy Landed may refer to: * ''Landed'' (album), a 1975 album by Can * "Landed", a song by Ben Folds from ''Songs for Silverman'' * "Landed", a song by Drake from '' Dark Lane Demo Tapes'' * Landed gentry, a largely historical privileged British social ...

of the

Soon Valley Soon Valley ( Punjabi, ur, ) is in the north west of Khushab District, Punjab, Pakistan. Its largest settlement is the town of Naushera. The valley extends from the village of Padhrar to Sakesar, the highest peak in the Salt Range. The valley ...

. He belonged to

Awans Awans (; wa, Awan) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Awans had a total population of 8,696. The total area is 27.16 km² which gives a population density of 320 inhabitants per k ...

tribe of ancient repute. He was awarded the title of

by the British Crown. This was a formal title, a compound of khan (leader) and sahib (Lord), which was conferred in Mughal Empire and British India. Although his father, Qazi Mian Muhammad Amjad forbade his descendants to establish

Dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

, he was considered

Sajjada Nashin The ''Sajjāda nashīn'' ( fa, سجاده نشین; lit. "ne whosits t aprayer mat") is a term of Persian origin, used chiefly within the Sufi traditions of South Asia referring to the successor or hereditary administrator of a Sufi master who t ...

by the people of his area. "Sajjada nashins" David Gilmartin asserts, "claimed to be the descendants of the Sufi, 'saints', intermediaries between the Faithful and their God, and this cut against the grain of Islamic orthodoxy ... in kind, of their special religious status, these sajjada nashins had become men of local standing in their own right." However he never claimed to be a Sajjada Nashin. In the Punjab, the sajjada nashin or pir families were not so rich in terms of land as the great land lords of Punjab but these sajjada nashin or pir families exerted great political and religious influence over the people. The British could not administer the area without their help and no political party could win the election without their help. In the early days of

Pakistan movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

he supported the Unionist Muslim League,

Malik Umar Hayat Khan Major General Nawab Sir Umar Hayat Khan Tiwana (5 October 1874 – 24 March 1944), was soldier of the Indian Empire, one of the largest landholders in the Punjab, and an elected member of the Council of State of India. Background and early li ...

and Sir Sikander Hayat Khan, for the political interest of his

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

, and used his political and social influence to help the people of his area. After 1937, he began to support

Punjab Muslim League When the All-India Muslim League was founded at Dacca, on 30 December 1906 at the occasion of the annual All India Muhammadan Educational Conference, It was participated by the Muslim leaders from Punjab, i.e., Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, Mian Fa ...

in the greater interest of Muslims of his area. He used his family and political influence to help the people of his area.

Early life and career

He was born of famous qadi's family of Naushera,

. He was the youngest son of Qazi Mian Muhammad Amjad, and youngest brother of 'Raees-Azam Naushera' Qazi Mazhar Qayyum. He was a descendant of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the fourth

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

of Islam from

Al-Abbas ibn Ali Al-Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib ( ar, ٱلْعَبَّاس ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱبْن أَبِي طَالِب, al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAlīy ibn ʾAbī Ṭālib), also known as Abu al-Fadl ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْفَضْل, link=no) (15 May 647 - ...

. He was great great grandson of Qazi Kalim Ullah, the famous Muslim qadi and jurist of Naushera in the time of Mughal Emperors. He was the first child in the family who got western education along with the religious education. He got matriculation certificate from Government High School Naushera, and then went to Lahore to get further education and got the degree of veterinary Doctor. He started his career as veterinary Inspector in the Remount Department of British Army in India. He also served in the World War I. He was a keen collector of horses. He established a stud farm at Hazel Pur,

Renala Khurd Renala Khurd ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a growing city in the Okara District in the northeast Punjab province of Pakistan. Khurd is a Persian word meaning small. The city is the headquarters of Renala Khurd Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of ...

, where In 1913, Renala Khurd Stud State Farm leased out 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land to the Punjab government to cater to the needs of the army for horses, fodder and dairy products, and the tenancy agreements continued. Renala Khurd is famous for its horses, and horses from Renala Khurd Stud State Farm have won international derby races many times. After his death, this stud farm was look after by his son Lieutenant Colonel Qazi Altaf Hussain

Title of Khan Sahib

In 1945, he was awarded by the title of

by the British Crown in recognition of his services. This was a formal title, a compound of khan (leader) and sahib (Lord), which was conferred in Mughal Empire and British India. It was a title of honour, one degree higher than Khan, conferred on Muslims of British India, and awarded with a decoration during British rule in India.

Aligarh Movement

Like his father, Qazi Mian Muhammad Amjad, he was an admirer of Sir

Syed Ahmed Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he ...

educational policies. Although he himself could not go to

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...

, he sent his two elder sons, Qazi Altaf Hussain and Qazi Fiaz Hussain, to Aligarh Muslim University, and preferred Aligarh Muslim University to

Government College Lahore The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Gov ...

, for his sons. His second son Qazi Fiaz Hussain, however left his studies incomplete at Aligarh University, and went to

Sial Sharif Sial Sharif is a village in the Sargodha District of Punjab, Pakistan. Care of the shrine After the death of Muhammad Shams Din, care of the shrine passed to Muhammad Din and, after his demise in 1909, to his son Muhammad Zia-ud-Din. It s ...

and became a Sufi.

Unionist Muslim League

After 1923, when Unionist party was formed by Sir Fazl-e-Hussain, he supported the Unionist Muslim League,

, Sir Sikander Hayat Khan, for the interest of his tribe and the people of his area. He believed like other leaders of the party that economic liberation should precede political liberation or else it would fail. The party won all the elections between 1923 and 1937. During this time, when the Unionist Party formed governments in the Punjab Province, lot of constructive work was done towards debt relief and irrigation system, and a province like Punjab was much dependent on the irrigation system for its agricultural land. Sufi Sarwar in his book ''The Soon Valley'' criticised Qazi Zafar Hussain for supporting the Unionist party, but we must not forget that during that period (1923–1937) the Muslim League was not active in the Punjab. Sir

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philos ...

himself was also a supporter of Unionist Party at that time. According to Ian Talbot, Iqbal and other urbanite Muslim members of PLC (1927–30) shared Fazl-i-Hussain views that Muslim interests could be better served through the Unionist Party, than by adopting a purely Muslim political platform. Samina Yasmeen writes in ''Communal Politics in Punjab (1925–1947)'' that "the birth of Unionist Party though was a tool to implement British policy, yet it would be not fair to ignore the contribution of those people who had joined the party with the belief that it will stand for the development of rural masses and would play its role for equitable distribution of monetary resources. They were also optimistic that not only the party would deal with the debt problem but would also take steps to achieve rightful share in services and educational institutions for rural youth. It was propagation of these issues that enabled Unionist rural elites to win over the support of common peasantry who joined the party with the hope that their problems would be resolved."

Muslim League

When, in May 1936, Sir

appealed to the Muslims of Punjab to support Muslim League, he started thinking about the support of Muslim League, and when in 1937 Sikander-Jinnah pact was signed he started supporting Muslim League. In 1943, when Quaid-i-Azam

Mohammed Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

came to

Lyallpur Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

and addressed a gathering of over 2 million in the Dhobi Ghat Ground, he arranged a cavalry for the political rally and provided horses for the cavalry of Muslim students, led by his elder son Qazi Altaf Hussain. His second son Qazi Fiaz Hussain sat next to Quaid-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He was one of those Muslim rural elites who during the 1946 Punjab Provincial Assembly Election, supported

, and, without its victory in Punjab in that election", in the words of Ian Talbot, "the Muslim League would not have gotten Pakistan". He supported

Khwaja Qamar ul Din Sialvi Khawaja Muhammad Qamar Ud Din Sialvi (1906–1981) known as Shaykh-ul-Islam was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, religious leader and politician. He was a Waliullah (Sufi saint) of the Chishti Sufi order; his Sufi convent (zawyah) is located in t ...

, who was president of District Shahpur Muslim League. He was also very influential in his region. They appealed to their people to vote against Tiwanas who were trying to defeat the Punjab Muslim League candidates in their constituencies. It was their efforts that Muslim League candidates won 100% seats in the constituencies of their area. Ian Talbot, writes "Another leading Chisti, sajjada nashin, Pir Qamaruddin of Sial Sharif held a meeting on the outskirts of the Kalra estate in which he publicly challenged Khizr and Allah Baksh to come to terms with the Muslim League. 'I have never begged for anything in my life before', he declared, 'but today I have come out of my home to beg for votes, believing God is present here (the meeting was being held in a mosque) it is Islamic to ask for vote and "religious" to give them. The Muslim League is purely a religious movement in which all the rich, poor, Sufis and scholars are participating. Not as a pir but even as a Muslim, I have repeatedly advised Nawab Allah Baksh who is my Murid not to desert the Muslims at this critical time."''Khizr Tiwana, the Punjab Unionist Party and the partition of India''
, by Ian Talbot He died in 1968 at Hazel Pur, Renala Khurd, and was buried in Naushera,

References