Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, (10 March 1869 – 7 January 1932) was a politician and statesman in British India. He supported and represented various Muslim educational, national and religious causes and was a founding member of the All-India Muslim League.

Early life and education

Mian Muhammad Shafi was born to Mian Din Muhammad on 10 March 1869 in Baghbanpura, near Lahore. He belonged to the aristocratic

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation. At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivator ...

Mian family of Baghbanpura The Mian family of Baghbanpura is a feudal family of Punjabi Arain descent from Baghbanpura, Lahore, which was politically prominent in the early-20th century. The family originally owned the land in Baghbanpura on which the Shalimar Gardens we ...

, a landowning family of the Punjab with landholdings in multiple districts including Sheikhupura, Lyallpur, Bahawalpur and Layyah. The Mian Family was appointed as hereditary custodians of the Shalimar Gardens by Mughal Emperor

Shah Jehan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked th ...

. Other notable family members include Sir Abdul Rashid, Mian Shah Din,

Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz, also known as ''Jehan Ara Shah Nawaz'' (7 April 1896 – 27 November 1979), was a prominent activist and politician in Punjab, active before and after independence of Pakistan. Family background and education Jahanara ...

Mian Iftikharuddin Mian Iftikharuddin ( Punjabi, ; 8 April 1907 – 6 June 1962) was a Pakistani politician, activist of the Indian National Congress, who later joined the All-India Muslim League and worked for the cause of Pakistan under the leadership of Muhammad ...

and Mian Bashir Ahmed. Mian Muhammad Shafi was educated at

Government College, Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university i ...

as well as

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is a private nonprofit Liberal arts college, liberal arts Universities in Pakistan, university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Church ...

, Lahore.Profile of Muhammad Shafi (politician) on tripod.com website
Retrieved 2 March 2023NPT (Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust) remembers Pakistan Movement workers
The Nation (newspaper), Published 8 January 2017, Retrieved 2 March 2023 In 1889 he went to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to study for the Bar and was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

where his cousin Mian Shah Din had been studying for the past two years. Whilst in London he took an active role in politics, becoming president for a term of the London branch of the Anjuman-I- Islamia. He returned to India in 1892 and began his legal career in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

whilst also enrolling at the

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

and Lahore High Courts.

Political career

Mian Muhammad Shafi was a supporter of the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

and an advocate against

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

. The name

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

was proposed by a number of Muslims including Sir Mian Mohammad Shafi in the founding meeting of the League that was held on 30 December 1906 on the occasion of the annual

All India Muhammadan Educational Conference The All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference was an organisation promoting modern, liberal education for the Muslim community in India. It was founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, also the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. All India Mum ...

, at the

Ahsan Manzil Ahsan Manzil () is a palace located in the Kumartoli area beside Buriganga River of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was formerly the residence and seat of the '' Nawab of Dhaka'' and has been designated an Old Dhaka Heritage Site. It now serves as a m ...

Palace, Shahbagh,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

that was hosted by Nawab Sir

Khwaja Salimullah Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur (7 June 1871 – 16 January 1915) was the fourth Nawab of Dhaka and one of the leading Muslim politicians during the British rule in India. On 30 December 1906, the All-India Muslim League was officially ...

(1871 – 1915). The meeting was attended by 3,000 delegates and presided over by Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk. The other founding members were Nawab

Mohsin-ul-Mulk Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Munir Nawaz Jang, also known as Syed Mir Mehdi Ali () (born 9 December 1837 – 16 October 1907), was an Indian Muslim politician. He was a close friend of Syed Ahmed Khan, was involved in the Aligarh Movement and wa ...

Syed Ameer Ali Syed Ameer Ali (6 April 1849 – 3 August 1928) was an Indian jurist, a prominent political leader, and the author of a number of influential books on Muslim history and the modern development of Islam.. He hailed from the state of Oudh, from ...

, and Mualana Mohammad Ali Jouhar. Mian Muhammad Shafi organized a Muslim association in early 1906, but when the All-India Muslim League was formed, he established its powerful branch in the Punjab of which he became the general secretary. This branch, organized in November 1907, was known as the Punjab Provincial Muslim League. He was also a member of the Simla Deputation in 1906. In 1909, and again in 1912, Shafi was nominated to the Provincial Legislative Council. In 1911, 1914, 1917, he was a member of the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of British Raj, British India from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Government of India Act 1858 by providing for the addition of six additional members to the Governor General ...

. He was appointed a CIE in 1916. In July 1919, Mian Muhammad Shafi, who had been elected as the president of the Chief Court Bar, became a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council during 1919–24. His tenure as Education Member was marked by many important developments, including the setting up of the Muslim University of Aligarh. He was also acting vice-president of the Governor-General's Executive Council 1922–25. He was Council's member for education, health and later also for Law; also, he was knighted in 1925 with the KCSI. After completing his term, he again became active in Muslim politics and played an important role when the

Simon Commission The Indian Statutory Commission, also known as the Simon Commission, was a group of seven members of the British Parliament under the chairmanship of John Simon. The commission arrived in the Indian subcontinent in 1928 to study constitutional ...

visited India and, again, at the first

Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences, organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in De ...

1930–31. His two daughters namely Begum Jahan Ara Shah Nawaz and Begum Geti Ara Bashir Ahmad earned fame as leading Muslim women who took active part in the

. He was married to Mehrunissa, elder sister of Sir Abdul Rashid.

Death

He died on 7 January 1932 and was buried in his ancestral graveyard in Baghbanpura, Lahore. Sir Shafi was married twice and was survived by his children: Mian Muhammad Rafi, Begum Jahanara Shah Nawaz, Begum Geti Ara Bashir Ahmad and Mian Iqbal Shafi.

Titles

*1869–1916: Mian Muhammad Shafi (he had just one title 'Mian' during this period) *1916–1925: Mian Muhammad Shafi, CIE (the title of 'Sir' by the British government was added in 1919) *1925–1932: Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, KCSI, CIE (knighted by the British government in 1925)Mian family of Lahore: Historical Events listed on tripod.com website
Retrieved 2 March 2023

Early life and education

Political career

Death

Titles

See also

References

Further reading