Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy
Encyclopedia
Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy (1832–1885) was an educationist and writer, was born in the famous Suhrawardy family of Chitwa in Midnapore
, West Bengal.
He was also a descendant of Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi
.
Ubaidullah's father was Shah Aminuddin Suhrawardy (the last Pir (Sufism)
in the Suhrawardy family). He had two brothers both of whom were lawyers and subordinate judges (the highest rank available to Indians under British rule at the time). One of his brothers' was named Maulvi Mubarak Ali Suhrawardy alias Mohammad Ali.
One of Ubaidullah's son Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy
earned fame in academia while another son, Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy
, OBE became famous in politics. His daughter, Khujastha Akhtar Banu (c. 1874–1919) was a noted name in Urdu literature and scholar of Persian and mother of Hassan Shahid Suhrawardy and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
.
Ubaidullah's other children included: Mr Mamun Suhrawardy, Mr Mahmud Suhrawardy (a politician who was a Member of the Council of State), Humayun Akhtar Banu Begum and another daughter. He had 8 children in total.
to the translation department of the Legislative Council of the Viceroy of India.
In 1865 he joined Hooghly Mohsin College
(then affiliated with the University of Calcutta
) as a teacher of Anglo-Arabic. He was appointed the first superintendent of Dhaka Madrasah in 1874 and remained there till his death. A social reformer, he was a man of secular, rational and liberal bent. He was a friend of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
.
Ubaidullah was also one of the founders of the Dacca Maddrassah, which was one of the very first trilingual schools with an international curriculum in the sub-continent.
Ubaidullah was a follower of Nawab Abdul Latif
and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
. He was affiliated with the Mohammedan Literary Society (1863), Central National Mohammedan Association (1877), Bengal Social Science Association and other organisations in Caluctta. He was also a member of the managing committee of the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh (1875). He founded an organisation called Samaj Sammilani Sabha (1879) that survived for a short period. He encouraged students of Dhaka College to found the Dhaka Mussalman Suhrid Sammilani (1883) (a reformist and community development organisation).
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) in recognition of his contribution to knowledge, education and society. The Bahrul Ulm Ubaidi Suhrawardy medal, named after him, is still awarded by the University of Dhaka
. Acharya Harinath De made an oil painting of him as a token of respect.
Ubaidullah died in Dhaka on 4 February 1885.
Midnapore
Midnapore is the district headquarters of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River . This area had taken a pioneering role in India's freedom struggle...
, West Bengal.
Marriage and family
Ubaidullah was directly descended from the Sufi mystic and saint Shaikh Shahabuddin Suhrawardy, who lived in Baghdad in the 12th Century. Shaikh Shahabuddin was the author of what came to be regarded as the standard work on mysticism Awriful-Maariffi. He was a disciple and successor of Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani, and the mosques and shrines over their tombs still survive in Baghdad and are places of pilgrimage to this day.He was also a descendant of Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi
Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi
Other important Muslim mystics carry the name Suhrawardi, particularly Abu 'l-Najib al-Suhrawardi and his paternal nephew Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardi."Shahāb ad-Dīn" Yahya ibn Habash as-Suhrawardī was a Persian...
.
Ubaidullah's father was Shah Aminuddin Suhrawardy (the last Pir (Sufism)
Pir (Sufism)
Pir or Peer is a title for a Sufi master equally used in the nath tradition. They are also referred to as a Hazrat or Shaikh, which is Arabic for Old Man. The title is often translated into English as "saint" and could be interpreted as "Elder". In Sufism a Pir's role is to guide and instruct his...
in the Suhrawardy family). He had two brothers both of whom were lawyers and subordinate judges (the highest rank available to Indians under British rule at the time). One of his brothers' was named Maulvi Mubarak Ali Suhrawardy alias Mohammad Ali.
One of Ubaidullah's son Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy
Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy
Allama Sir Abdullah al-Mamun al-Suhrawardy, Barrister-at-Law , M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt. , LL.D., Iftakar-ul-Milla, Kt., Commander of the Order of Medjidie, was an Islamic scholar and academic.-Family:...
earned fame in academia while another son, Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy
Hassan Suhrawardy
Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy, D.Sc., M.D., D.P.H., F.R.C.S. was a noted surgeon, politician and public servant in India.-Life and family:...
, OBE became famous in politics. His daughter, Khujastha Akhtar Banu (c. 1874–1919) was a noted name in Urdu literature and scholar of Persian and mother of Hassan Shahid Suhrawardy and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani-Bengali politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime minister of Pakistan...
.
Ubaidullah's other children included: Mr Mamun Suhrawardy, Mr Mahmud Suhrawardy (a politician who was a Member of the Council of State), Humayun Akhtar Banu Begum and another daughter. He had 8 children in total.
Life and career
He learnt Arabic and Persian at home and then passed the Final Central Examinations (1857) from the Madrasa ʿAliya of Calcutta. He also learnt English on his own. He was first employed as an aide to Prince Jalaluddin, a grandson of Tipu Sultan of Mysore in Calcutta, and then was appointed as a scrivenerScrivener
A scrivener was traditionally a person who could read and write. This usually indicated secretarial and administrative duties such as dictation and keeping business, judicial, and history records for kings, nobles, temples, and cities...
to the translation department of the Legislative Council of the Viceroy of India.
In 1865 he joined Hooghly Mohsin College
Hooghly Mohsin College
Hooghly Mohsin College is affiliated to The University of Burdwan where undergraduate and postgraduate courses are taught. From 1857 to 1960 it was affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is situated on the banks of Hooghly River in Chinsurah, District Hooghly, West Bengal, India.-History:The...
(then affiliated with the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
) as a teacher of Anglo-Arabic. He was appointed the first superintendent of Dhaka Madrasah in 1874 and remained there till his death. A social reformer, he was a man of secular, rational and liberal bent. He was a friend of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Syed Ahmed Khan
Javad-ud Daula, Arif Jang, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, KCSI , commonly known as Sir Syed, was an Indian educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer and modernist...
.
Ubaidullah was also one of the founders of the Dacca Maddrassah, which was one of the very first trilingual schools with an international curriculum in the sub-continent.
Ubaidullah was a follower of Nawab Abdul Latif
Nawab Abdul Latif
Abdul Latif or Nawab Abdul Latif was a nineteenth century educator and social worker in Bengal, later Bangladesh. His title, Nawab was awarded by the British in 1880. Abdul Lateef was one of the first Muslims in nineteenth century India to embrace the idea of modernization. He was a professor at...
and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Syed Ahmed Khan
Javad-ud Daula, Arif Jang, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, KCSI , commonly known as Sir Syed, was an Indian educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer and modernist...
. He was affiliated with the Mohammedan Literary Society (1863), Central National Mohammedan Association (1877), Bengal Social Science Association and other organisations in Caluctta. He was also a member of the managing committee of the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh (1875). He founded an organisation called Samaj Sammilani Sabha (1879) that survived for a short period. He encouraged students of Dhaka College to found the Dhaka Mussalman Suhrid Sammilani (1883) (a reformist and community development organisation).
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) in recognition of his contribution to knowledge, education and society. The Bahrul Ulm Ubaidi Suhrawardy medal, named after him, is still awarded by the University of Dhaka
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka is the oldest university in Bangladesh. It is a multi-disciplinary research university and is among the top universities in the region. Established on July 21, 1921, as per the Government of India Act, 1920, it was modelled on the Universities in England and soon gained...
. Acharya Harinath De made an oil painting of him as a token of respect.
Ubaidullah died in Dhaka on 4 February 1885.