Remembering Sir Syed for his contribution to education and sports on his 225th birth anniversary

Sir Syed, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, is known for his social reforms. Here we look at his interest not only in education and science but sports as well on his 225th birth anniversary, which was on October 17

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If Muhammadan Anglo -Oriental (MAO) College, founded in 1877, which became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920, was the result of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s vision of education, Tahzibul Akhlaq (Mohammaden Social Reformer) and Aligarh Institute Gazette, the two important publications that he started, were devoted to the idea of social reform and a questioning spirit among Muslims of his time. He wrote prolifically, boldly and often with a lot of pain in his voice, on different social and theological issues.

But not many associate him with sports    and outdoor games. Endowed with radiant health since his childhood, his grandfather remarked on his birth that a jat has taken birth in the family. It was a compliment to his robust physique.

Sir Syed’s love for sports was facilitated by a fairly liberal atmosphere at his home. The only condition imposed on him was that he and other children would participate in sports under the watchful eye of the elders.

His biographer Altaf Husain Hali, an important voice in Urdu literature, notes that bat and ball, chase, skittles and hide and seek were popular sports during Sir Syed’s childhood. He also loved swimming and archery and participated in multiple competitions with Delhi residents. Both the games were team events in his time and sometimes as many as hundred swimmers would plunge into the Jamuna river together.

What was the   relationship between Sir Syed’s love of sports in his childhood and his future vision of education?  During his visit to England in 1869-70, he was not only mesmerized by the progress of England in all spheres of life but also saw the Britishers’ obsession with sports and physical fitness.

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