Twelve Men of Bengal in the Nineteenth Century/Nawab Abdul Latif Khan Bahadur
Nawab Abdul Latif Khan Bahadur
NAWAB ABDUL LATIF KHAN
BAHADUR, C.I.E.
1828-1893
The name of Nawab Abdul Latif Khan will always have an honoured place in Muhammadan annals in the nineteenth century. Although for over thirty five years he occupied no higher permanent official post than that of Deputy Magistrate, his great ability and keen advocacy of the causes he had at heart won for him an unique position, not only among the Indian community but also in European society. He was one of the first to recognise how great was the mistake that his co-religionists were making in holding themselves aloof from the wide-spread educational movement of the day, and in the great task of awakening them to a sense of their responsibilities he played a leading part. A large tolerance and a very earnest desire that Hindus and Muhammadans might draw more closely together won him well-nigh universal sympathy and esteem. Occupied as he was with the heavy routine work of a government official he yet found time to throw himself heart and soul into every movement that promised the advancement of the Muhammadan community or the amelioration of the lot of his poorer and more unfortunate fellow-countrymen. Besides his work as Deputy Magistrate in the Bengal Provincial Service, he was also at various times a fellow of the Calcutta University, a member of the Bengal Legislative Council, an Honorary Magistrate, a founder of the Presidency College, a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Special Committee appointed to conduct the first regular census in Calcutta and the Founder of the Calcutta Literary Society. Yet this list, long as it is, gives but a small conception of the energy and the wide spread sympathies of Nawab Abdul Latif.
His long life covered the greater part of the nineteenth century. Born in 1828, it was given to him to see the great advance socially, morally and economically which that century had brought to India and to Bengal in particular. In his youth, the railway and the telegraph, those two great forerunners of progress and civilisation, were unknown even in the west. He lived to see them completely change the conditions of life in one of the most conservative and slow-moving countries in the world. In 1828 the East India Company still held its Charter and India for six years more was still a land of restrictions. Lord William Bentick had but recently assumed the reins of office and the most famous act of his administration, the abolition of Sati, was yet to come.
Abdul Latif came of a family of distinction which had been settled for generations in Eastern Bengal. Tracing its descent from Khaled, one of the first great soldiers of the Crescent, known from his prowess in religious warfare as the 'Sword oi God,' it numbered men of learning, piety and enterprise among its members. The descendants of the 'Sword of God' lived in Mecca itself until one of them, inspired by that spirit of adventure which led so many of his countrymen eastwards, set out for India. Making his way to Delhi, Shah Azimuddin settled there under the special protection of the Emperor, acquiring much fame on account of his learning and piety. His son Abdur Rasul travelled yet further afield, obtaining the appointment of a Judgeship in Eastern Bengal and finally making his home at Rajapur in the Faridpur district. Those were troublous days and law and order were yet things of the future on the outskirts of the Empire. The great rivers were the main highways of Eastern Bengal and they were infested with dacoits who rendered unsafe for habitation the country far inland on either bank. Choosing a quiet and secure retreat, Abdur Rasul made for himself a home which is still in the possession of his descendants to-day. He was succeeded in his judgeship by his son, who acquired more lands and added still further to the dignity of the family. But as often happened to Muhammadan families in past days, their increase inevitably meant their decay, the property of the original founder being divided and subdivided among his descendants until the share of each became insufficient for his maintenance. This occurring among the descendants of Abdur Rasul at Rajapur, various cadets of the family were forced to look beyond the local limits of their own home for the means of livelihood. Among them Kaji Fakir Muhamed, sixth in descent from Shah Azimuddin, set out from his old home to seek his fortune in Calcutta. There he joined the bar of the old Suddar Dewani Adaulut, in those days almost the only career open to a man of ambition outside the service of the Company. The freedom and independence enjoyed by a Pleader at the Sudder Court appealed to Fakir Muhamed and his own personal interests travelled far beyond the limits of the legal profession. The study of history exercised for him an absorbing fascination and the result of his researches was a Universal History written by him in Persian and entitled Jami-ul-Tawarik. It was published in 1836 and met with considerable success. Eight years later Kaji Fakir Muhamed died at his old home at Rajapur, from which success in another and wider sphere of life had never weaned his affections.
His second son was the future Nawab, the subject of this memoir. With his two brothers he was educated at the Calcutta Madrassa and early showed signs of the distinction he was destined to gain in later years. The Madrassa owed its origin to that wisest of Indian administrators, Warren Hastings, who had planned it for the training of men for the Company's service and for the administration of the law as it then stood. It had thus become the very centre of Persian and Arabic study in the midst of the new Bengal that was gradually rising into existence, becoming as time went on, the great stronghold of conservatism and tradition as opposed to the spirit of progress and reform. But conditions were rapidly changing and with the strengthening of the British dominion in India came the necessity for widening and modernising the course of study and making the English language one of its principal features. It was thus while still at the Madrassa that Abdul Latif was first brought face to face with the problem which was to form the chief work of his life. The Muhammadan community, clinging to the old traditional forms of study, turned a deaf ear to the rising tide of modernism. Intensely conservative by nature, unaccustomed to competition and not understanding that the pre-eminence they had always held in legal and classical studies could ever be seriously threatened, they failed to realise what others were quick to grasp that conditions had changed irrevocably and that a knowledge of English had become a virtual necessity. It is extraordinary in the light of modern days to look back upon the rigid attitude adopted by the Muhammadan community in general and their long refusal to advance with the times. It was while Abdul Latif was at the Madrassa in the early forties that the study of English after much controversy was first introduced there. But so great was the opposition that the English classes were practically boycotted, the students refusing to be drawn from their Persian and Arabic studies and from the study of the Law which was fast ceasing to be the law of the land. In vain it was pointed out to them that under the new regime a knowledge of English was essential, and that the importance of Persian and Arabic and the study of Muhammadan Law was not what it had been. With a persistence that seems remarkable seventy years later they steadily refused to take the opportunities that were offered to them by a Government anxious only for their welfare. It was thus that the Hindu community, untramelled by the same prejudices and quick to move with the times, seized the advantage which it has ever since held. It was only such Muhammadans as Abdul Latif and a little company of his fellow students who had a truer insight into the future. They threw themselves heartily into the study of English and the modern side, eager to equip themselves to meet the requirements of the day. Distressed at the position into which the Muhammadan community was rapidly falling, Abdul Latif set himself from this time onwards to combat the prejudices that prevented them from moving with the times and adapting themselves to altered conditions.
Abdul Latif's early proficiency in English distinguishing him among his co-religionists, at once brought him into contact with many of the highest government officials of the day. The introduction of the study of English into the Madrassa course had been watched with great interest by Government, which had used every means in its power to bring the necessity of it plainly before the eyes of the Muhammadan community. The few students who were prompt to take advantage of the English classes were consequently marked out for encouragement and distinction, and Abdul Latif, who had won a Government scholarship, by his modesty, his charm of manner and his complete mastery of English soon won for himself an assured place in the best society of the day. In those days, however, there were far fewer posts open to Indian students than there are to-day, and some time elapsed before he gained a permanent appointment under Government. After leaving the Madrassa his first employment was as Private Secretary to the Amir of Sind who was residing on a political pension at Dum Dum. A year later he was officiating as a master at the Dacca Collegiate School. After another temporary billet with a Commission of Enquiry under Mr. Samuells, I.C.S., he was back again in Calcutta as an Anglo-Arabic Professor at the Calcutta Madrassa. His name, however, had now been sent up and approved for the Subordinate Executive Service and he had not long to wait for an appointment. In 1849 at the age of twenty-one he was appointed a Deputy Magistrate by Sir Herbert Maddock, Deputy Governor of Bengal. Beginning in the then lowest grade of Deputy Magistrates on the pay of Rs. 200 a month, he was posted to the head-quarter station of the 24-Parganas. For over twenty-five years he remained in the subordinate Executive Service and it is one of the most striking features of Abdul Latif's career that though he held so comparatively humble an official position he exercised such widespread influence and was so universally acknowledged as one of the foremost leaders of Muhammadan society not only in Bengal but throughout India. It speaks much for the individuality and force of character of the man himself.
For three years Abdul Latif remained at Alipore, learning the work of a Deputy Magistrate, and at the end of that period he was invested with first class powers and was also made a Justice of the Peace. In 1853, he received promotion in the ordinary course of service and was chosen as the first subdivisional officer of the newly formed subdivision of Kalaroa, then a part of the 24-Parganas District. For a year he remained there, taking a keen interest in the unfortunate differences which had arisen between planters and ryots in the indigo districts and which eventually led to the appointment of the famous Indigo Commission by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Peter Grant in 1860. Even in these first few years of service Abdul Latif gained a reputation for energy and ability and above all for that broadmindedness and tact which so distinguished him in later life. It was for this reason that after a year at Kalaroa he was chosen for a post where ability and tact were especially needful. The subdivision of Jehanabad had long been a thorn in the side of the Bengal Government. It is constantly referred to as a 'litigious and turbulent place' and a particularly bad outbreak of lawlessness called special attention to it in the year 1854. Government, anxious to select a man well qualified for the difficult post of subdivisional officer, chose Abdul Latif. It was a compliment to the young officer, and, realising this, Abdul Latif went to take up his new appointment fully determined to justify his choice. The lawlessness of which a district so near Calcutta was capable sixty years ago reads surprisingly to-day. Rioting, highway robberies and dacoities were of the commonest occurrence and life and property were nowhere safe outside the immediate circle of Jehanabad itself. This state of affairs the young subdivisional officer set himself with energy and determination to redress. Not only, however, was he burdened with this heavy task, he was subjected to annoyance and obstruction on the part of those who should have been his chief supporters. "The life of the subdivisional officer" it was written of Abdul Latif's predecessor "was made miserable by the cheeky and fearless country attorneys and landlord's agents and other habitual litigants, all in league with the ministerial staff who continually kept him in hot water with them, and imposed on him, by their complaints to higher authority, the necessity of constantly answering changes and explaining his conduct." The task that thus fell to the lot of Abdul Latif during the five years that he remained at Jehanabad was a heavy one and needed all the tact at his command. How successfully he carried out that task was acknowledged on all sides. The subdivision as he left it was a very different place from the subdivision as he found it. When the time came for him to relinquish his post on transfer elsewhere Lord Ulick Browne, the Magistrate of Hooghly, wrote officially to thank him for his services, saying that he had 'discharged very satisfactorily the duties of a most difficult subdivision such as Jehanabad, where his loss is to be deeply regretted.'
Returning to Alipore in June 1857 Abdul Latif was able to resume his public and social activities which he had been forced very largely to abandon during his absence from Calcutta at Jehanabad. He was soon again busily engaged in promoting every scheme for the advancement of the Muhammadan community, welcomed everywhere as a capable and energetic ally. In 1860 he was made a member of the Board of Examination for the civil and military services, an office he retained until his retirement. In the following year, although he had not yet completed twelve years service, Sir John Peter Grant on the creation of the Bengal Legislative Council selected him as one of its original members and as the first Muhammadan to be appointed. This was a great honour for a man so young in the service and one holding an official position of no special distinction. About the same time also he was appointed to the Board of Commissioners created to deal with the difficulties experienced over the introduction of the income tax, which had aroused such unexpected opposition. Retiring in due course from his office as member of the Bengal Legislative Council on the expiry of his two year's term, he was especially thanked for his services by Sir Cecil Beadon, then Lieutenant-Governor. For four years more he continued to work as a Deputy Magistrate at Alipore, being chosen in 1867 as the first Magistrate to preside over the new Suburban Police Court, a new court created to meet the needs of the growing city and the increasing importance of its southern suburbs. For ten years he performed the duties of this office, which entailed heavy work, and it says much for his energy and enthusiasm that after a hard day's work in the close, atmosphere of a police court he was ready and willing to throw himself heart and soul into other duties, scarcely less onerous, on behalf of the cause which he had so nearly at heart. In 1870 he was again appointed a member of the Bengal Legislative Council by Sir William Grey, and for the third time by Sir George Campbell who offered him the appointment in a letter, dated the 30th of December 1872, in which he wrote "I do not think the Muhammadan community could be better represented in the Legislative Council than by yourself." For a few months in 1879 he acted as Stipendiary Presidency Magistrate, afterwards being appointed to preside over the Suburban Police Court at Sealdah. There he remained for over seven years finally retiring in December 1887 on a special pension sanctioned by Government.
Such in brief outline is the official record of Abdul Latif's career. It is a record of quiet and consistent good service, marked by no great opportunities but fulfilling to the utmost its possibilities. It is not, however, in his official work that his chief claim to a place among the most distinguished men of Bengal in the nineteenth century lies. It is for his social and philanthropic work that his memory will ever be revered by the Muhammadan community for whose advancement he so earnestly strove. It is difficult in the present day when so many Muhammadans are to the fore in every walk of life to realise how unique was the position occupied by Abdul Latif and how large was the part he played in raising the community to the place it holds to-day. The pioneer of the great forward movement, which the latter half of the nineteenth century saw among his co-religionists, he often stood well nigh alone. On many occasions he was the only Muhammadan at public ceremonies and social gatherings. Realising that the old days of race exclusiveness were over, he was eager to go everywhere and to know everyone. There was no branch of social life in which he did not take part, and there was no scheme for the benefit not only of his co-religionists but of the community generally that had not his hearty support. His correspondence was enormous, all classses of people appealing to him for advice and help, and many societies claiming his interest or his presence at their meetings.
The services of Abdul Latif to the cause of Muhammadan education it is difficult to exaggerate. In his earlier days, regarded from the modern stand point, it was practically non-existent. The Muhammadans were literally following the dictum of the Kaliph Omar that 'whatever books differ from the Koran are pernicious and those which agree with it are superfluous.' To Abdul Latif belongs the credit of being among the first to see that however well this non-progressive policy may have sufficed in the days when the sword was mightier than the pen, it meant ruin to the community that persisted in it under modern conditions of universal progress and advance. Early in his career he began in a small way to do what he could to combat that spirit of apathy and indifference which seemed to have fallen like a pall upon his co-religionists. Holding a series of conversazionés at his private house, he endeavoured to awaken in them an interest in modern topics. Papers were read on such subjects as the use of history, the rise and progress of navigation and commerce, the discovery of America, the history of civilisation and the principles of Muhammadan law. To encourage thought and enquiry on the part of the students of the Calcutta Madrassa he offered a prize for the best essay in Persian on the question—'How far would the inculcation of European sciences through the medium of the English language benefit Muhammadan students in the present circumstances of India and what are the most practicable means of imparting such instruction?' The object of the prize which was advertised throughout India under the sanction of the Council of Education and published in the Calcutta Gazette was to draw the attention of the Muhammadan community to the question which was of such importance to its future welfare. Upon the frank acceptance of modern conditions and its adaptability to modern requirements depended its position in the new India that was rapidly coming into existence. The time allowed for sending in essays was five months and at the end of that time a very large number, coming from all parts of India, was found to have been sent in. Most of the essays, one reads with astonishment, strongly deprecated the adoption of English education, quoting the Koran in support of their arguments and some even denouncing the giver of the prize himself as a traitor to his faith. A committee of four was appointed with the approval of the Council of Education to examine the essays, Sir Frederick Halliday, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, consenting to be its President. The best essay was finally adjudged to be that of Syed Abdul Futteh, Arabic and Persian teacher at the Parsi Benevolent Institution in Bombay.
The founding of the Muhammadan Literary Society in April 1863 was another result of Abdul Latif's energy and enthusiasm, and one calculated to be of immense benefit to the Muhammadan community. Its object like that of the informal gatherings, which he had held for many years at his private residence, was to break down prejudice and exclusiveness, and to interest its members in present day politics and modern thought and learning. For the first time under its auspices representative Muhammadans were brought together on common ground and given an opportunity of openly expressing their opinions and aspirations in sympathetic hearing. In spite of its size and political importance the Muhammadan community had hitherto been without a voice and had been in no position to be consulted by or to give advice to Government. The regular meeting together of the most educated members of the community was at once productive of good results, giving them greater unity and interest in public affairs and adding a new direction to Muhammadan thought and feeling. The annual conversazioné, instituted by the Founder of the Society, was the first social gathering of its kind at that time and its effect in bringing all classes of Muhammadans together as widespread. On the occasion of the second annual conversazioné at the Town Hall the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Cecil Beadon, spoke in warm terms of Abdul Latif's work in connection with the Society. "By founding the Muhammadan Literary Society" he said turning to Abdul Latif at the conclusion of his speech "you have successfully led the Muhammadans, not only of Bengal, but of India generally, to look beyond the narrow bounds of their own system, and to explore those accumulated treasures of thought and feeling which are to be found embodied in the English language; while by your active and reasonable representations on many occasions you have led them to form a just conception of the policy and intentions of the government, and to express their opinion freely. In this way you have naturally promoted a good understanding between this class of the community and their rulers and fellow-subjects; and so far as the present altered state of feeling is owing to your active and liberal exertions, to the judicious exercise of your influence, and to the force of your example, I consider you entitled to the gratitude of your countrymen and the cordial acknowledgment of this Government."
Sir John Lawrence, the Viceroy, in addressing him on the same occasion said that it afforded him much pleasure to bestow upon him a suitable token of his approbation of his good services in this most excellent cause. The token took the form of a complete set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica inscribed in the Viceroy's own hand—
'Presented to Moulvi Abdul Latif in recognition of his services in promoting native education, especially the education of those who, like himself, belong to the Muhammadan religion.'
Calcutta, John Lawrence,
25th March, 1867. Governor-General."
In 1856 he had taken a leading part in promoting the Anglo-Persian establishment of the Calcutta Madrassa and later, finding this inadequate, he eagely assisted in founding the Presidency College. Speaking on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the college by Lord Northbrook on the 23rd of February 1873, Abdul Latif laid stress upon the fact that "before the Presidency College was created, the Hindu community had its own college for High English education: the Christian community of Calcutta had also its colleges for high English education: but the Muhammadan community had none." With the object of supplying that want Government had founded the Presidency College, which should give the advantages of an English education to all creeds and classes alike. Another service that he rendered to the community was to call public attention to the administration of the Mohsin Fund. He pointed out that, from a Fund founded by a Muhammadan primarily for Muhammadons, his co-religionists were not deriving the advantages which were their due in comparison with the Hindus who were benefiting from it to a far greater extent. Government, recognizing the justice of the claim, introduced changes into the administration of the Fund for the benefit of Muhammadans, setting aside a large sum to assist poor Muhammadan students throughout Bengal by paying two-thirds of their school fees, thus conferring an immense boon upon a poor community.
The first Agricultural Show organised in India was held at Alipore in the cold weather of 1863. In these days when such shows are of frequent and common occurrence all over India and their utility is generally recognised, it is astonishing to read of the excitement which the first one aroused. No sooner had the intention of Government to hold such a show been announced than vague and absurd rumours became generally current among the ignorant masses of the population. To allay these unfounded apprehensions Nawab Abdul Latif, who was a member of the Exhibition Committee, took immediate steps. He wrote and published a paper in Hindustani and Bengali, which was approved by the authorities, pointing out that so far from endeavouring to spy out the resources of the land in order to impose fresh taxation, Government was only anxious to improve the condition of the people and to make known to them better and more modern methods. Widely circulated, Abdul Latif's sensible and convincing paper did much to inspire confidence in the people and to make the exhibition a success.
Two years later the first census of 1865-6 aroused the same unreasoning suspicion and excitement among the lower classes. No fewer than one hundred and ninety eight families left home rather than be enumerated, regarding the census as an intrusion into the privacy of their family life and as a raid upon their houses with the object of imposing fresh taxes upon them. Abdul Latif was a member of the Special Committee of Justices charged with carrying out the census, and again a paper of his, read before the Muhammadan Literary Society, which was translated into the vernacular and widely circulated at his own expense, helped largely towards inducing a saner and more practical view of government's object in enforcing it. About the same time a Bill was introduced into the Legislative Council of the Government of India "to legalise under certain circumstances the remarriage of native converts to Christianity." Much dissatisfaction was expressed among the Muhammadan community owing to the fact that certain provisions of the Bill were regarded as being in direct opposition to the principles of Muhammadan Law. The importance of the changes proposed was much exaggerated among the ignorant classes who came to regard the Bill as a serious attack upon their religion and as an attack upon the sanctity of their women. To counteract this unwarrantable belief Moulvi Abdul Latif convened a meeting of the leaders of Muhammadan society at his own house and as a result a memorial was drawn up and submitted to the Legislative Council, pointing out in respectful terms the opposition that had been aroused, and the objection to the Bill from the Muhammadan point of view. The result was that the Muhammadan community was exempted from the operation of the act, which shortly afterwards became law.
In 1870 the lower classes of the Muhammadan community were again thrown into a state of excitement by the conduct and preaching of the Wahabis who were rapidly becoming a serious thorn in the side of Government. Moulvi Abdul Latif, quick to see the harm that they might do and the retrograde nature of their teaching which was opposed to all his theories of progress and modern advancement, at once took steps to counteract this influence. He obtained from Moulvi Karamat Ali of Jaunpur, one of the most celebrated religious teachers of the day, an exposition of the law on the duty of Muhammadans in British India towards the ruling power. This he embodied in a paper which he read to the Muhammadan Literary Society on November 23rd 1870, showing clearly from the classical works of Muhammadan Jurisprudence that British India was Dar-ul-Islam and that as such it would be unlawful and irreligious for Muhammadans to preach a Jahad against it as the ruling power. Not only was this address fully approved by all the leading Muhammadans of India, it received also the approbation of the Muftis of Mecca who were consulted on the subject.
On the occasion of the Imperial Assembly at Delhi and the proclamation of the Queen-Empress came the first titular honour bestowed upon Abdul Latif by government, the sanad of the title of Khan Bahadur being personally presented to him at Belvedere by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Ashley Eden, in the following August. In making the presentation Sir Ashley acknowledged how much the recipient had done 'to promote the interests of his co-religionists' adding that to him it 'was mainly due that they were then adopting the study of western literature and fitting themselves to compete with the young men of other classes.'
In the following year a committee of the English House of Commons was appointed to enquire into the economic and financial condition of India, the Viceroy being asked to nominate representative Indians to proceed to England to give evidence. Abdul Latif had the distinction of being chosen by Lord Northbrook to represent the Muhammadan community and, welcoming the opportunity of making the needs of his fellow-countrymen better known to the English people, he accepted the office and was prepared to start for England. The dissolution of Parliament, however, caused the abandonment of the plan. Seven years later, another opportunity for usefulness outside the narrow limits of his ordinary official studies was afforded him. Almost at a moment's notice in December 1886 he was asked officially to proceed to Bhopal to undertake the important duties of Prime Minister of that state. It was a special and temporary appointment deemed desirable under special circumstances by the Government of India and the following letter of June 5th 1886, written to him by Sir Lepel Griffin, Agent to the Governor-General for Central India, on his relinquishing the office, is the best evidence of the manner in which he performed his difficult duties.
"It gives me the sincerest pleasure" wrote Sir Lepel "to communicate to you by direction of the Government of India, the following remarks contained in a letter from the Foreign Secretary of the 28th of May—
'I am to request you to inform Nawab Abdul Latif that the services which he has rendered to the Bhopal State, under trying and difficult circumstances, are fully appreciated by the Government of India. His Excellency the Viceroy has consented to appoint an English Minister in his place; but this appointment involves no disapproval of the Nawab's action which appears to His Excellency to have been marked by ability and uprightness. Nawab Abdul Latif will leave the Bhopal State with a reputation not only unimpaired but increased by the occurrences of the last few months.'
"To these expressions of approval of His Excellency and the Government of India," continues Sir Lepel "I desire to add my personal testimony to the value of your services.
"It was in December 1885 that, at my request and at a day's notice, you left Calcutta for Bhopal to take up the temporary charge of an exceedingly difficult appointment, until the return from England of an English Officer, whom Her Highness the Begum at the time desired to appoint as Minister. Your provisional appointment was fully approved by Her Highness. From that time to this you have conducted your duties at Bhopal to my entire satisfaction, and with singular ability, discretion, and integrity. I should have been well content to see you remain in office. I have always held that, in a Muhammadan State like Bhopal, a Muhammadan Minister is the most suitable; and his Excellency the Viceroy and the Government of India have also strongly held this opinion.
"The appointment of an English Minister of high character and great administrative experience will doubtless be, in many particulars, for the advantage of the Bhopal State; but it is no more than justice to you to place on official record the fact that the Government are altogether satisfied with your services in Bhopal, and that an English Minister has been selected and nominated by His Excellency the Viceroy in accordance with the urgent and reiterated requests of Her Highness the Begum. It was in accordance with the principle which renders the English Government always disinclined to interfere, except in the last necessity, with the internal affairs of Native States; and fully recognising his obligation to show the utmost deference and consideration for Her Highness' wishes, that His Excellency the Viceroy intimated his willingness to accede to her request and select a suitable English Officer for the post of Minister.
"The Government of India have assured you that your reputation will be not only unimpaired but increased by your conduct during the last few months.
"To this assurance I can add nothing further than my sincere wish for your future prosperity, and the expression of the feeling of warm friendship and esteem which you have inspired in myself, and in those Political Officers who have had the pleasure and advantage of your acquaintance in Central India."
Abdul Latif, freed at last after so many years' service from all official duties, was able from this time onward to devote his whole time to the causes he had so much at heart. During thirty-six years' service he had only been absent from duty for four months on sick leave—a splendid record that few servants of the Crown could equal. On his retirement from government service he was granted a special pension on the generous scale of 600 Rs. a month. He had been decorated two years previously with the companionship of the Order of the Indian Empire and in 1887 the year of the Jubilee of the Queen-Empress the title of Nawab Bahadur was conferred upon him. This is the highest Indian title to which a Muhammadan can attain and its bestowal upon Abdul Latif was universally recognised as a fitting and crowning honour to the services he had rendered, not only to Government but to his own fellow countrymen of all castes and creeds. For six years longer he was enabled to continue his ceaseless activities, never flagging in his zeal for the welfare of his co-religionists and enjoying to the full the unmistakable signs of success of his life's labours. Beloved and respected by all, his last years were full of happiness, his wonderful strength and vitality remaining with him almost till the end. He died on the 18th of July 1893 in Calcutta at the age of sixty five.
Many were the tributes paid to his memory immediately after his death. Every newspaper in India bore testimony to the great work that he had done, while many of the English papers were scarcely less appreciative. The Times of September the 4th 1893 published a short memoir that shows how strongly the splendid achievements of Abdul Latif had impressed the British public. The tribute herein paid him may well be quoted as typical of the many that appeared.
"The skill, the firmness of resolve, and the unwearied tact and moderation with which he carried out his self-appointed task during 40 chequered years," it ran, "would form a noble theme for a biographer. Here we can only lament the loss which many who are trying to do good work for India have sustained by his death. It was, however, characteristic of the man to effect his purposes by means of gradual corporate effort, rather than by his individual will; and he leaves behind him a body of followers both able and determined to carry on his labours. The association which he formed exactly 30 years ago, under the modest name of the Muhammadan Literary Society, has grown into a power in the land, and the mother of many affiliated societies throughout Northern India. Indeed, it is scarcely too much to say that almost the whole Muhammadan community in Bengal now accepts as a matter of course the views which its leaders refused even to discuss with the young reformer 40 years ago. This is his best public epitaph. In private life his gentleness of manner and his sincere, if rather oriental, courtesy, with the store of experience and anecdotes gathered during 65 eventful years, endeared him to many friends. The British Government gave him what it had to give in the shape of titles and honours, but it is as a Muhammadan who led forth his countrymen into new fields of achievement and new realms of knowledge, without losing his own orthodoxy, that Abdul Latif has won his place in Indian history."
Well did Sir Richard Temple write of him as 'the most progressive and enlightened among the Muhammadans of Bengal.' A self-made man, with few advantages of birth or position to help him at the start, he rose to be one of the most trusted advisers of Government and the friend of the greatest in the land. His charming manners and innate courtesy of disposition fitted him to adorn any society, while his knowledge of men and affairs and his gift of conversation made him a delightful and interesting companion. Above all he possessed in full measure an overflowing sympathy with his fellowmen and an intense desire to help forward by every means in his power their happiness and prosperity. Quick to judge in which direction the true interests of his Muhammadan countrymen lay, he lost no opportunity, in spite of strong opposition, of pointing it out to them by every means in his power. He served to combine in his character all the best traits of the East and the West. He had the energy of the Anglo-Saxon, tempered by the cautiousness and tact of the Oriental, and the directness and indomitability of the West combined with the patience and industry of the East. When once he had decided what course to follow he pursued it through good report and ill with quiet determination till success crowned his efforts. It was truly said of him that he was the life and centre of Indian society in Calcutta for he alone was the friend equally of European, Muhammadan and Hindu, who all perforce sank their differences and jealousies under the influence of his good nature and quick sympathy. 'This man ne'er lost a friend nor made a foe' might well be taken as his epitaph. The Muhammadan community owes a debt of gratitude to Nawab Abdul Latif Bahadur which it behoves it never to forget. He found it backward and apathetic, sunk in ignorance and prejudice and content to see itself surpassed in every walk of life by the Hindu community, helplessly clinging to its old ideals and shibboleths and obstinately refusing to recognise the march of events and the necessity of change. He left it awake and eager to regain the ground that had been lost, struggling manfully against great odds and assiduously equipping itself with the weapons which it had so long despised. To Nawab Abdul Latif will always remain the honour of having been among the first to point out the road of progress along which the Muhammadan community has since made such great strides.