Mushirul Hasan (15 August 1949 – 10 December 2018) was a historian of modern India. He wrote on the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...

, and on the history of Islam in South Asia.

Education

Hasan was the second son of historian Mohibbul Hasan and brother of journalist

Najmul Hasan Najm al-Ḥasan ( ur, نجم الحسن), also known as Najmul Millat or Najmul Ulama, (25 May 1863 – 18 April 1938) was an Islamic jurist and the founder of Jamia Nazmia, the oldest Shia religious institution of India. Life Najmul Mil ...

. Mushirul Hasan obtained his M. A. from the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

in 1969. He then earned a Doctorate (PhD) from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1977.

Career

He was a professor in the Department of History and Culture,

Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia () is a central university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British Raj in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in ...

, New Delhi. He also served as the Director of Academy of Third World Studies in Jamia Millia Islamia from July 2000 to January 2010. He was the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia from 1992 to 1996. Later, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of

(2004-2009) for which he has been described as an "institution builder". In May 2010, he was appointed the Director-General of the

National Archives of India The National Archives of India (NAI) is a repository of the non-current records of the Government of India and holds them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars. Originally established as the Imperial Record Department in 1891, in Cal ...

. He was elected as the President of the Indian History Congress in 2002. He also held in the past academic positions at the Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute of Advanced Study), Berlin, ''Centre d'Études de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud'' (Centre for Indian and South Asian Studies), Paris, Centre of South Asian Studies,

, UK,

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

, and the

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library The Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) is a museum and library in New Delhi, India, which aims to preserve and reconstruct the history of the Indian independence movement. Housed within the Teen Murti House complex, it is an autonomous inst ...

, New Delhi.

Memorial lectures

* Moin Shakir Memorial Lecture * Bhagat Singh Memorial Lecture * Ved Pal Memorial Lecture * Dr. Zakir Husain Memorial Lecture * SC Misra Memorial Lecture * D. D. Kosambi Lecturer * Durgabai Deshmukh Lecture * Ibn Sina Memorial Lecture (

Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences (IAMMS) ( ur, ) is a trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. Mohammad Hamid Ansari, former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, formally inaugurated it on 21 April ...

) * Asghar Husain Bilgrami Memorial Lecture

Awards

* The D. P. Singhal Scholarship,

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, Brisbane, 2003. * The Ford Foundation (SARC) Fellowship by the Institute of Islamic Studies,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, 2002–03. * D.Lit (Honoris Causa) by

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 ...

Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU), Allahabad, 2006. * Professor Sukumar Sen Memorial Gold Medal by The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, 2006. *

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, 2007. * D.Lit (Honoris Causa) by Calcutta University, Kolkata, 2008. * Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, 2009–2011. *

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

, 2010. * Conferred the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund on the occasion of the 124th birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister on 14 November 2014.

Books

His books include: * A Nationalist Conscience: M. A. Ansari, the Congress and the Raj, (Delhi: Manohar, 1987) * Nationalism and Communal Politics in India, 1885–1930 (Delhi: Manohar, 1991). Paperback edition published in 1994. Reprinted in 2000. * The Legacy of a Divided Nation: India's Muslims Since Independence (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1997) * John Company to the Republic: A Story of Modern India (2001) * Islam in the Subcontinent: Muslims in a Plural Society (2002) * From Pluralism to Separatism: Qasbas in Colonial India (

, 2003) * Making Sense of History: Society, Culture and Politics (Manohar, 2003) * A Moral Reckoning: Muslim Intellectuals in Nineteenth-Century Delhi (

, 2005) * The Nehrus: Personal Histories (2006) * Partners in Freedom: Jamia Millia Islamia, (Niyogi Books: Delhi, 2006), (with Rakhshanda Jalil) * Wit and Humour in Colonial North India (Niyogi Books: Delhi, 2007) * Moderate or Militant? Images Of India's Muslims (

, 2008) * Between Modernity and Nationalism: Halide Edip's Encounter with Gandhi's India (

, 2010) * Faith and Freedom: Gandhi in History (Niyogi Books: Delhi, 2013) *

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, Pluralism, Nationhood: Legacy of

Maulana Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following Ind ...

(Niyogi Books: Delhi, 2014)

Death and legacy

Hasan passed away on 10 December 2018 and was buried at Jamia Millia Islamia graveyard. An endowment named after him was established by Jamia Millia Islamia with the donation from his wife Zoya Hasan. The endowment was slated to offer a post-doctoral fellowship and two post-graduate merit-cum-means scholarships annually. An annual ''Mushirul Hasan Memorial Seminar'' on contemporary history, society and politics in India is also organized at the university.

References

External links

Profile – Vice Chancellor Jamia Millia Islamia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasan, Mushirul 20th-century Indian historians 1949 births 2018 deaths Aligarh Muslim University alumni Historians of South Asia Indian Shia Muslims Indian institute directors Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques People from Barabanki district Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Scholars from Uttar Pradesh Alumni of the University of Cambridge Jamia Millia Islamia faculty