Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy (, ; 1832 – 9 February 1885) was a Bengali

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

, educationist and writer from

Midnapore Medinipur or Midnapore is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as ''Kasai'' and ''Cossye''). ...

. He is regarded as the Father of modern Islamic education in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and was awarded with the title of ''Bahr ul Ulum'', meaning: sea of knowledge by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Early life

Suhrawardy was born in 1832, in the village of Chitwa in

Midnapore district Midnapore (Pron: mad̪aːniːpur), or sometimes Medinipur, is a former district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Midnapore. On 1 January 2002, the district was bifurcated into two separate districts namely Purba Medinipur ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

. He belonged to the noble

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

Suhrawardy family who had arrived to Hussain Shahi

Sultanate of Bengal The Bengal Sultanate ( Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, ...

in the 15th century, and were bestowed with the Jaagirdaari of Ghoramara. Suhrawardy was a direct descendant of the

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

author Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi, who was in turn a descendant of

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

, the first

Rashidun caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...

. Suhrawardy's father, Shah Aminuddin Suhrawardy, was the final Pir of the Suhrawardy family and is buried in a

mazar Mazar of Al-Mazar may refer to: *Mazar (mausoleum), Muslim mausoleum or shrine Places * Mazar (toponymy), a component of Arabic toponyms literally meaning shrine, grave, tomb, etc. ; Afghanistan * Mazar, Afghanistan, village in Balkh Province * ...

in Hooghly. Two of his brothers were lawyers and subordinate judges (the highest rank available under British rule at the time). His siblings were Ruhul Amin Suhrawardy, Maulvi Mubarak Ali Suhrawardy (alias Mohammad Ali), Abdul Ali Suhrawardy and Umme Kulsum Suhrawardy.

Education

Suhrawardy was homeschooled, and educated in

Islamic studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. He also learnt English. Suhrawardy graduated from Calcutta Alia Madrasa in 1857 during the

Sepoy mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

Career

Ubaidullah first job was working as an aide to Prince Jalaluddin, the grandson of

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

of Mysore, in Kolkata. After which he worked as the

Scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who, before the advent of compulsory education, could literacy, read and write or who wrote letters as well as court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying w ...

at the Legislative Council, part of the office of the Viceroy of India. In 1865, he joined the Hooghly Mohsin College and taught Anglo-Arabic. One of his student was Syed Ameer Ali. In 1874, he was appointed the first superintendent of Dhaka Madrassah. Ubaidullah was a follower of Nawab Abdul Latif and Sir

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

. He was affiliated with the Mohammedan Literary Society (1863), Central National Mohammedan Association (1877), Bengal Social Science Association and other organisations in Calcutta. He was also a member of the managing committee of the

Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (, lit. "Science School for the Muslims of India") was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, initially as a primary school, with the intention of turning it to a college level institution. It was inspired by t ...

at Aligarh (1875). He founded, in Dacca, two reformist and community development associations: Samaj Sammilani Sabha in 1879, and Mussalman Suhrid Sammilani (Mohhamedan Friends Association) in 1883. Ubaidullah wrote books in Urdu, Arabic, Persian and English and translated many works. Noted among his works are ''Grammar of Arabic Language'', ''Urdu Diwan'' (Urdu poems, 1880), ''Farsi Dewan'' (Persian poems, 1886), ''Dastar-e-Parsi Amuz'' (Persian grammar), ''Lubbul Arab'' (Arabic grammar), ''Miftahul Adab'' (Urdu grammar), ''Dabistan-i-Danish Amuz'' (Urdu, physics), ''Dastar-e-Farsi Amuz'' (Persian, rhythm and rhetorics), ''Dastan-i-Ibratbar'' (Persian, autobiography). With the assistance of Syed Amir Ali, he rendered ''Makhaz-ul-Ulm'' by Syed Keramat Ali into English as a Treatise on the Sciences (1867) and Rammohun Roy's ''Tuhfatul Muwahedin'' into English in 1884. His ''Mohammedan Education in Bengal'' (1867) is an original work on education. He edited ''Guide'' (Urdu) and ''Durbeen'' (Persian). A number of his manuscripts on philology, psychology, women's education, in Urdu, still remain unpublished. He also understood basic Latin and Greek. The Indian government awarded him the title ''Bahrul Ulm'' (Sea of knowledge)for his contribution to education in India. The University of Dhaka awards the Bahrul Ulm Ubaidi Suhrawardy medal, which was named after him. Acharya Harinath De, as a tribute to him, created an oil painting of him.

Death and legacy

Ubaidullah died in Dhaka,

, British India, on 9 February 1885. His son, Hassan Suhrawardy, was a noted politician in British India and his granddaughter, Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, was a notable academic and diplomat of Pakistan. His daughter, Khujista Akhtar Banu, was a well-known writer and poet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suhrawardy, Ubaidullah 1832 births 1885 deaths Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Bengali writers Bengali educators 19th-century Bengalis People from Midnapore Aliah University alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Suhrawardy family