Saiyid Nurul Hasan (26 December 1921 – 12 July 1993) was an Indian historian and an elder statesman in the

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, ...

. A member of the Rajya Sabha, he was the Union Minister of State (with Independent Charges) of

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Social Welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

and

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

Government of India (1971–1977) and the

Governor of West Bengal The Governor of West Bengal is the nominal head of state of the Indian state of West Bengal and a representative of the President of India. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. His official residence is the Raj ...

and

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

(1986–1993).

Background and education

Hasan was born in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, India. He belonged to a '' taluqdari'' (''madad-i ma'ash'') family of the United Provinces. He was the son of Saiyid Abdul Hasan and Nur Fatima Begum, and his name was devised by combining the names of his parents. His father was a district settlement officer and later president of the

Court of Wards The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wardship and liv ...

in the United Provinces. His maternal grandfather was

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Syed Wazir Hasan, chief justice of the Court of Oudh and a well known president of the Muslim League, who had called for Hindu-Muslim unity in 1936. His maternal uncles were Syed

Sajjad Zaheer Syed Sajjad Zaheer ( ur, ) (5 November 1899 – 13 September 1973) was an Indian Urdu writer, Marxist ideologue and radical revolutionary who worked in both India and Pakistan. In the pre-independence era, he was a member of the Communist ...

, a barrister and an eminent Marxist thinker and Syed Ali Zaheer, a barrister who became the law minister of Uttar Pradesh and India's ambassador to Iran. Hasan attended the Sultan ul Madaris,

. Then he went to the La Martiniere Boys' College in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

,. He completed his graduation from

Muir Central College Muir Central College in Allahabad in northern India was a college of higher education founded by William Muir in 1872. It had a separate existence to 1921, when as a result of the Allahabad University Act it was merged into Allahabad University. ...

, Allahabad, where he was a student of Professor R.P. Tripathi. Later he went to New College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he completed an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and D.Phil. in Indian history. In Oxford, he was president of the Oxford India Majlis.Veena Majumdar, Memories of a Rolling Stone, Zubaan Books, Delhi, 2010
/ref> At a young age, Hasan was married to Nawabzadi Khurshid Laqa Begum Sahiba, eldest daughter of

Nawab Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

Raza Ali Khan of Rampur Sir Raza Ali Khan Bahadur GCIE, KCSI (17 November 1908 – 6 March 1966) was a nawab of the princely state of Rampur from 1930 to 1966. A tolerant and progressive ruler, Sir Raza expanded the number of Hindus in his government Including h ...

, in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way. At that time, Khurshid Laqa's father was the ruler of Rampur, a major, 15 Gun Salute Princely state located not far from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

, and surrounded by the United Provinces. The present Nawab, Kazim Ali Khan, is a nephew of Khurshid Laqa. Nurul Hasan and Khurshid Laqa had a harmonious marriage which lasted all their lives, and were blessed with two children, a son named Sayyid Sirajul Hasan, an eminent physicist who retired as director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, and a daughter, Sayyida Talat Fatima Hasan, who is a successful entrepreneur based in the USA.

Career

Academic

He began his academic career as a lecturer in history at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was appointed

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in the Department of History at Aligarh Muslim University, of which he was a chairperson as well. He contributed greatly to the growth of the history department in Aligarh in its initial years. Later he became the general secretary and then the president of the Indian History Congress. He was a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

and the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

in London.

Political

A secularist with an abiding faith in leftism, Hasan was 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 ...

from 1969 to 1978. From 1971 to 1977, he was the Union Minister of State (with independent charge) for Education, Social Welfare & Culture in the Government of India. As India's education minister, he founded the

Indian Council of Historical Research The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

. He was also the architect behind the setting up of 27 social science research institutes in India under the aegis of the

Indian Council of Social Science Research The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi in 1969. Council The Council is currently chaired by Bhushan Patwardhan. Current ...

(ICSSR), New Delhi, such as the

Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC) is a social science and humanities research and teaching institute in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. History Established in 1973 jointly by the Indian Council of Social Science Research and ...

(1973). When he was a minister, under an act of the parliament, the funding and management of the

Rampur Raza Library The Rampur Raza Library (''Rāmpur Razā Kitāb Khāna'') located in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India is a repository of Indo-Islamic cultural heritage and a treasure-house of knowledge established in the last decades of the 18th century. It was bu ...

was given to the Government of India. From 1977 to 1980 he was Vice President of the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

(CSIR), New Delhi.Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
/ref> He was instrumental in improving the career advancement scheme of many leftist college and university teachers in India, impacting political neutrality of education. He was also instrumental in starting the 10+2+3 system of education at the High School, Junior College and undergraduate levels. He played a major role in tabling "Towards Equality: The Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India (1974-5)" in parliament, which was submitted by a committee appointed by the Government of India.
The findings of this report formed the basis for the establishment of the

Centre for Women's Development Studies The Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) was founded in 1980 by a group of scholars and activists committed to expanding and transforming accepted notions of gender-related research and action across the social sciences. The establishme ...

, Delhi. He served as Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union from 1983 to 1986. He was the Governor of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

from 1986 to 1989 and then again from 1989 to 1993. He was the Governor of

in 1989. As the Governor of West Bengal, he founded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta (1993). He was the first President of the institute's Society.

Death

He died of

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

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 ...

in 1993, aged 71, while continuing in office as the Governor.

Legacy

The Nurul Hasan Education Foundation is named after him. The Nurul Hasan Chair Professorship of the Department of History of the University of Calcutta is named after him.

Publications

*''Religion, State, and Society in Medieval India : Collected Works of S. Nurul Hasan'' (Satish Chandra, editor). New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2005. - viii, 335 S. : Kt. / 978-019566765-3 *''Sufis, Sultans and Feudal Orders : Professor Nurul Hasan Commemoration Volume'' (Mansura Haidar, editor), 2004. * ''Studies in archaeology and history: commemoration volume of Prof. S. Nurul Hasan'', Publisher:

, 2003. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasan, Saiyid Nurul 1921 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Indian historians Aligarh Muslim University faculty University of Allahabad alumni Alumni of New College, Oxford Ambassadors of India to the Soviet Union Education Ministers of India Deaths from kidney failure Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Governors of Odisha 20th-century Indian Muslims Governors of West Bengal Historians of South Asia Indian Marxist historians Indian political writers Indian Shia Muslims La Martiniere Calcutta alumni Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Politicians from Lucknow Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Writers from Lucknow 20th-century Indian politicians