Twelve Men of Bengal in the Nineteenth Century/Nawab Amir Ali Khan Bahadur
Nawab Amir Ali Khan Bahadur
NAWAB AMIR ALI KHAN
BAHADUR, C.I.E.
1810–1879.
"Next after Sir Salar Jung he was the best Muhammadan I have ever known." Such was the high praise bestowed upon Nawab Amir Ali Khan Bahadur by no less distinguished an administrator than Sir Richard Temple, praise which few of those who had the privilege of being acquainted with the subject of it will consider to have been exaggerated. Throughout the course of a long life he was universally respected and esteemed, wielding great influence not only among his co-religionists but among Europeans and Hindus alike, as one of the leading Muhammadans of the day in Bengal.
Amir Ali Khan came of an old Persian family which had long been settled in India. He was ninth in descent from Kazi Syed Noah who after filling the office of Kazi at Baghdad left his native land to seek his fortunes in India. Settling at Delhi he met with much respect at the Imperial Court, his great learning winning for him an honoured place, with numerous grants of land and titles of distinction. It was his grandson, Mulla Shah Noor Muhammad who was the first to leave Delhi and wander further east. He finally settled in Behar, his great grandson again, Muhammad Rafi being the first to make his home at Barh in the Patna district. He married the daughter of Kazi Syed Muhammad Mea and greatly distinguished himself in the service of the Naib Nazim of Bengal. He was much in favour with Ali Verdi Khan and it was through his recommendation that he received the title of Shaikul Mashaikh from the Imperial Court at Delhi. His son Waris Ali took little part in politics, being content to remain at home and manage his zemindari. For his own son, however, he expected greater things and he gave him the best education possible, sending him as far afield as Moradabad and Bareilly where he was present at several actions during Lord Lake's campaign against the Mahrattas. He returned to Barh on his father's death and there his son the future Nawab Bahadur was born on the 1st of March, 1810.
Amir Ali Khan early showed signs of the qualities which were to win him so prominent a place in later life. Until the age of nineteen he prosecuted his studies at home, becoming proficient in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. It is typical, however, of Muhammadan conservatism and of the prejudices of the time that he was not taught English, and it is an astonishing fact that, in spite of his own broad and liberal views and of the place he eventually won for himself in the regard of all the European officials with whom he came in contact, he was never till the day of his death able to converse in the English language. His first appointment was that of pleader in the Civil Court at Patna in 1832. Two years later he went down to Calcutta where he was appointed one of the assistants to the Envoy despatched to the Court of Naziruddin Haider, King of Oudh. Here amid the intrigues and petty jealousies of an Indian court he first showed that tact and discretion which was later to enable him to occupy so responsible and difficult position with dignity and credit. He remained at the Court of Oudh until the King's death in 1838, being then appointed a Deputy Assistant Superintendent in the Presidency Special Commissioner's Court at Calcutta, where it was his duty to plead on behalf of government in all cases of claims to resumption of lands held rent free on defection of want of title. In 1854 he became government pleader in the same court, leaving it a few years later to practice in the old Sudder Dewani Adalat. So far his career, though of no special distinction had been marked by conspicuous ability, high legal attainments and genial and tactful manners. These first appointments however, were but the preliminary training for the important work that still awaited him.
Loyalty had always been the watch-word of the Barh family and it ever remained one of the most conspicuous traits in the character of Amir Ali Khan. In the dark year of 1857, when many another held back, he came boldly forward to put his loyal protestations into spirited and courageous action. Throwing the whole weight of the great influence that he possessed, not only among his co-religionists but among all creeds and classes, on the side of law and order, he was untiring in doing his utmost to ally the unfortunate suspicions that had been aroused and to bring about an understanding between all parties. Patna, where the largest body of Indian troops outside Calcutta was stationed, was regarded as the centre of disaffection, and when Mr. Samuells was appointed Commissioner to deal with the Mutiny, Amir All who was intimately acquainted with local conditions was chosen to be his special assistant and a Deputy Magistrate in all the districts of the Patna Division. His appointment like that of Mr. Samuells came in for a considerable amount of criticism, but it was ably defended by the acting Commissioner, Mr. Farquharson, in October, 1857.
"I may perhaps be allowed to state" he wrote, "that Amir Ali's appointment was, in the opinion of those best able to judge and appreciate the tone of Patna native society, a healthy, politic, popular and useful measure. The better classes of natives in the city have throughout these evil times displayed nothing but loyalty and good will to the British Government. The appointment of Amir Ali, a native of the province and known to each and all, either as personal legal adviser or successful pleader in the highest court of judicature, to assist the Commissioner in his early communications with those classes, was precisely what was required to allay fears which were daily gaining ground and strength—fears that the Government was bent on general and indiscriminate vengeance for the attrocities committed in other parts of India. There is no calculating what might have been the danger or mischief of a spread of the belief among a credulous and timid population. The fear was at once allayed by Amir Ali's advent and not only has the real justice of the Government been made apparent to the native mind but its vast power and resources, not half understood or believed by the people were made real and credible to all." The appointment was further approved by the Court of Directors in a Despatch of August 1858, wherein the opinion was expressed that "the Lieutenant Governor had shown good and sufficient reason for it and the excellent service rendered by Munshi Amir Ali is the best justification of the government in selecting him for the important office which he held in Patna."
In recognition of the services he had rendered, Amir Ali was created a Khan Bahadur in 1864 and in the following year he was appointed a member of the Bengal Legislative Council. He was also an Honorary Magistrate at Alipore and a Justice of the Peace of Calcutta, while the many societies to which he belonged kept him fully occupied. Among his many activities that which was destined to assume perhaps the greatest importance of all was the inauguration of the National Muhammadan Association of Calcutta for which he was responsible. His object in founding it was to unite all classes of Muhammadans so that they might work together for the common good. He recognised that cohesion meant strength and that one of the main reasons for the backwardness into which the Muhammadan community had fallen was its lack of organisation and of any representative body to take action in its behalf. As President of the Association that he had founded Amir Ali did invaluable work on behalf of his co-religionists. He spared no effort to improve their condition and to bring home to them a sense of their responsibilities and of the necessity of bestirring themselves to keep abreast of modern conditions. Like Nawab Abdul Latif and a select little company of Muhammadan leaders, he was quick to see that the old conservative feeling of exclusiveness in social relations and education could only be persisted in at the expense of the general prosperity and well being of the Muhammadan community. He was never tired of expounding the advantages of British rule in India, and with the object of bringing them home to the people he wrote in Persian a work known as the Amir Nawab on the history of the British administration in India, which met with considerable success.
Government was not slow in recognising the good work done by Amir Ali, and when an opportunity occurred showed itself anxious to make use of his services. In 1867 it became necessary to appoint a manager for the affairs of Wajid Ali Shah, the ex-king of Oudh, who was then residing in Calcutta. It was a most difficult post, one that few would envy and few were adequately fitted to occupy. The choice of government fell finally upon Amir Ali Khan. He had proved his capability and above all his unfailing tact as assistant to the Commissioner of Patna in the difficult days of 1857, while his genial manners and sympathetic disposition had already won him a host of friends in Calcutta. As manager of the affairs of the ex-king of Oudh, however, he had the most difficult task of his lifetime. Wajid Ali Shah, surrounded by a crowd of favourites and satellites who bitterly resented the intervention of a stranger, was himself by no means inclined to welcome with open arms the official appointed by the British government to regulate his private affairs. Resenting the position in which he had been placed, the ex-king endeavoured to withdraw himself altogether from social intercourse, particularly with Europeans, adopting towards the government a tone of marked hostility and distrust. By his constant tact and unwearied patience Amir Ali succeeded in improving the relations between him and the British Government as well as in bringing a certain amount of order and honesty into the management of the ex-king's affairs. For eight years he remained in charge and it says much for his successful administration that at the end of that period he retired with the good will and regret of both the Government and the ex-king. So ably had he fulfilled his difficult task that Government afterwards entrusted him with another of a somewhat similar nature, to settle the debts of the last Naib Nazim of Bengal.
In the last few years of his fresh honours came to him. In 1875 he was given the title of Nawab as a personal distinction, it being conferred upon him by Lord Northbrook at a Durbar held on the 17th of September that year. Two years later he was invited to attend the Imperial Assembly at Delhi, receiving there a silver medal from the Viceroy, Lord Lytton. Shortly before his death he received yet another distinction from the British government, being created a Companion of the newly created order of the Indian Empire. About the same time the Sultan of Turkey bestowed upon him the Companionship of the Turkish Order of the Osmanieh in recognition of his services to the Muhammadan community.
Nawab Amir Ali died on the 16th of November, 1879 and the following letters, one from the Private Secretary to His Excellency the Viceroy and the other from the Lieutenant-Governor himself sufficiently testify to the esteem in which he was held.
Viceroy's Camp, delhi
24th Nov. 1879.
Dear Sir,
H. E. the Viceroy has received with deep regret the news contained in the letter of the 20th of the death of your father the late Nawab Amir Ali. H. E. desires me to express to you his deep sympathy in the loss which not only you but the Muhammadan community of Calcutta and His Excellency himself have suffered by the death of so highly and deservedly esteemed a gentleman and so loyal a servant of the British government.
I remain, Dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
G. T. Colley, Col.
P. S. to the Viceroy.
Simla
28th Nov. 1879.
My Dear Sir,
I received with very deep regret your letter announcing the death of my good old friend Nawab Amir Ali. I heard from him not long ago and was not at all aware of his illness or I should have written to enquire after him. He will be a great loss to Muhammadan society and Government loses in him an old and valuable servant. Personally I shall miss very much his loyal and hearty co-operation in all matters effecting the welfare of the Muhammadan population.
I am,
Yours faithfully,
A. Eden.
At a time when Muhammadans of distinction were unfortunately only too few, the figure of Nawab Amir Ali Khan stood out as a shining example to his co-religionists. He was one of that little band of men to whom it was given by strenuous effort and unwearying vigilance to raise the Muhammadan community from the slough of despond into which it had fallen. All who came in contact with him felt the charm of his personality. A learned Persian scholar and fluent Urdu speaker, he was equally at home among all classes, officials and non-officials, Europeans and Indians alike. The services he rendered to government in the dark days of mutiny, as manager of the ex-king of Oude's affairs, and as a loyal and reliable adviser were gratefully acknowledged, while the immense services he was able to render to the Muhammadan community were inestimable. To quote again the words of Sir Richard Temple he was 'one of the old school, and afforded a complete example of its virtues and merits.'