https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Hakim_Ajmal_KhanHakim Ajmal Khan - Revision history2026-07-31T15:16:59ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Hakim_Ajmal_Khan&diff=280007&oldid=prev->Ngrewal1 at 23:54, 16 November 20212021-11-16T23:54:38Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian politician}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2017}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
| name = Hakim Ajmal Khan<br />
| image = Photograph Hakim Ajmal Khan.jpg<br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = <br />
| office1 = 18th [[list of presidents of the Indian National Congress|President of Indian National Congress]]<br />
| term_start1 = 1921<br />
| term_end1 = 1922<br />
| predecessor1 = [[C. Vijayaraghavachariar]]<br />
| successor1 = [[Chittaranjan Das]]<br />
|module={{Infobox person|embed=yes<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1868|02|11}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Hameed, Abdul |title=Exchanges Between India and Central Asia in the Field of Medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3BFAAAAYAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Department of History of Medicine and Science, Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research}}</ref><br />
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1927|12|20|1868|02|11}}<br />
| death_place = [[Delhi]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br />
| resting_place = Hazrat Rasool Numa compound in Panchkuian Road, [[Delhi]], [[India]]<br />
| monuments = [[Tibbia College|Delhi Tibbia College]] and [[Jamia Millia University|Jamia Millia Islamia]]<br />
| nationality = {{flag|British India|name=British Indian}}<br />
| known_for = Founder of [[Jamia Millia Islamia]] and [[Tibbia College]], [[Delhi]]<br/>Founding Member and President [[All-India Muslim League]]<br/> President, [[Indian National Congress]]<br />
| notable_works = Haziq<br />
| children = 1<br />
| family = Khandan e Sharifi<br />
| occupation = [[Physician]], [[Politician]], Spiritual Healer, Sufi Mystic, Herbalist, Poet<br />
}}}}<br />
<br />
'''Mohammad Ajmal Khan''' (11 February 1868 &ndash; 29 December 1927), better known as '''Hakim Ajmal Khan''', was a [[physician]] in [[Delhi]], India, and one of the founders of the [[Jamia Millia Islamia]] University. He also founded another institution, Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College, better known as [[Tibbia College]], situated in Karol Bagh, [[Delhi]]. He was the only muslim to chair a session of the [[Hindu Mahasabha]]. He became the university's first chancellor in 1920 and remained in office until his death in 1927.<ref name=JMI>[http://jmi.ac.in/aboutjamia/profile/history/Founders-14/Hakim_Ajmal_Khan-2150 Profile of Hakim Ajmal Khan] Jamia Millia Islamia website, Retrieved 22 August 2019</ref><ref name=Bios/><br />
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==Biography==<br />
Born on 11 February 1868 (17 [[Shawwal]] 1284), Khan descended from a line of physicians who had come to India during the reign of [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Babur|Babar]]. His family were all Unani doctors ([[Hakim (title)#Uses|hakim]]s who had practised this ancient form of medicine since their arrival in the country. They were then known as the '''Rais of Delhi'''. His grandfather, [[Hakim Muhammad Sharif Khan|Hakim Sharif Khan]], was a physician to [[Mughal Emperor]], [[Shah Alam II|Shah Alam]] and had built the ''Sharif Manzil'', a hospital-cum-college teaching Unani medicine.<ref>Sharif Manzil by [[Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman]], ''Aiwan-i Urdu'', Delhi, June 1988, pp. 29-35</ref><ref name="so">{{cite web|url=http://www.the-south-asian.com/april2002/indiasfirstunanifamily1.htm|title=Sharif Manzil & Hindustani Dawakhana|date=April 2002|website=the-south-asian.com website|access-date=22 August 2019}}</ref><ref name=san/><br />
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Hakim Ajmal Khan learnt the [[Quran]] by heart and as a child studied traditional Islamic knowledge including Arabic and Persian, before turning his energy to the study of medicine under the guidance of his senior relatives, all of whom were well-known physicians.<ref name=san/> To promote the practice of Tibb-i-Unani or Unani medicine, his grandfather had set up the ''Sharif Manzil'' hospital-cum-college known throughout the subcontinent as one of the best philanthropic Unani hospitals where treatment for poor patients was free.<ref name="Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman">{{Citation |publisher = Urdū Akādmī, Dihlī |location = Naʾī Dihlī |title = Dillī aur t̤ibb-i Yūnānī |author = Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman |edition = Dillī aur t̤ibb-i Yūnānī |date = 1995|ol = 16755751M }}</ref> He completed his Unani studies under Hakeem Abdul Jameel of ''Siddiqui Dawakhana'', Delhi.<ref name="Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman"/><ref name=Bios>{{cite web|url=https://www.biographies.net/people/en/hakim_ajmal_khan |website=Biographies.net website|title=Who was Hakim Ajmal Khan?|access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref><br />
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On qualifying in 1892, Hakim Ajmal Khan became chief physician to the [[Nawab of Rampur]]. Hailed as "Massiha-e-Hind" (Healer of India) and "a king without a crown". Hakim Ajmal Khan, like his father, was reputed to effect miraculous cures and to have possessed a "magical" medicine chest, the secrets of which were known to him alone.<ref name="Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman"/><br />
Such was his medical acumen that it is said that he could diagnose any illness by just looking at a person's face. Hakim Ajmal Khan charged Rs. 1000 per day for an out-of-town visit but if the patient came to Delhi, he was treated free, regardless of his position in society.<br />
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Khan proved to be the most outstanding and multifaceted personality of his era with matchless contributions to the causes of Indian independence, national integration and communal harmony.<ref name="Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman"/><br />
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He took great interest in the expansion and development of the native system of Unani medicine and to that end built three important institutions, the Central College in Delhi, the Hindustani Dawakhana and the [[Tibbia College|Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College]] better known as [[Tibbia College]], Delhi, which expanded research and practice in the field and saved the Unani System of Medicine from extinction in India. His untiring efforts in this field infused a new force and life into an otherwise decaying Unani medical system under [[British Raj|British rule]].<ref>Masih-al Mulk Hakim Ajmal Khan by [[Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman]], ''Shaida-89'', (Souvenir), [[Tibbia College|Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College]] Delhi, 1989</ref> Khan proposed the absorption of Western concepts within the Unani system, a view diametrically opposite to that adopted by [[Hakim Abdul Aziz|physicians of the Lucknow school]] who wanted to maintain the system's purity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Alavi|first=Seema|title=Islam and Healing: Loss and Recovery of an Indo-Muslim Medical Tradition, 1600–1900|year=2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}</ref><br />
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Hakim Ajmal Khan also recognised the talents of chemist Dr. [[Salimuzzaman Siddiqui]], whose subsequent research into important medicinal plants used in the field gave [[Unani]] medicine a new direction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/Hindi-Roman/Au-Wise/HRB28.HTM|title=Hakim Ajmal Khan (Biography in Hindi language)|website=Publications Division, Government of India|access-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924083034/http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/Hindi-Roman/Au-Wise/HRB28.HTM|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Bios/><br />
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As one of its founders, Khan was elected first chancellor of the [[Jamia Milia Islamia]] University on 22 November 1920, holding the position until his death in 1927. During this period he oversaw the University's move to Delhi from [[Aligarh]] and helped it to overcome various crises, including financial ones, when he carried out extensive fund raising and often bailed it out using his own money.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jmi.ac.in/HistoryofJamia.htm|title=History of Jamia|website=[[Jamia Milia Islamia]] website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416203919/http://www.jmi.ac.in/HistoryofJamia.htm|archive-date=16 April 2010|df=dmy-all|access-date=16 January 2018}}</ref><ref name=fa>{{cite book|last=Faruqi|first=Ziaulhasan|title=Dr. Zakir Hussain, quest for truth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uzNnwUasQ3wC&pg=PA108|page=108|year=1999|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=81-7648-056-8}}<br />
</ref><br />
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== Politics ==<br />
Hakim Ajmal Khan changed from medicine to politics after he started writing for the [[Urdu]] weekly ''Akmal-ul-Akhbar'' launched by his family. Khan also headed the Muslim team who met the [[Viceroy of India]] in [[Shimla]] in 1906 and presented him with a memorandum written by the delegation. At the end of December 1906, he actively participated at the [[Dhaka]] founding of the [[All India Muslim League]] on 30 December 1906.<ref name=Dawn>{{cite web|url=https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=20_06_2017_009_010 |author=Suhail Zaheer Lari|newspaper=Dawn (newspaper)|date=20 June 2017|title=Dawn of freedom (founding meeting of All India Muslim League in 1906)|access-date=22 August 2019}}</ref> At a time when many Muslim leaders faced arrest, Khan approached Mahatma Gandhi for help in 1917, thereafter uniting with him and other Muslim leaders such as [[Maulana Azad]], Maulana [[Mohammad Ali Jouhar]] and Maulana [[Shaukat Ali (politician)|Shaukat Ali]] in the well-known [[Khilafat movement]]. Khan was also the sole person elected to the [[President of the Indian National Congress|Presidency of the Indian National Congress]], the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] and the [[All India Khilafat Committee]].<ref name=san/><ref name=Bios/><br />
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==Death and legacy ==<br />
[[File:Hakim Ajmal Khan 1987 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|Hakim Ajmal Khan on a 1987 stamp of India]]<br />
Before he died of heart problems on 29 December 1927, Hakim Ajmal Khan had renounced his government title, and many of his Indian followers awarded him the title of ''Masih-ul-Mulk'' (Healer of the Nation). He was succeeded to the position of [[Jamia Millia Islamia]] Chancellor by [[Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari]].<ref name=san/><ref name=Bios/><br />
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[[Ajmaline]], a class Ia [[antiarrhythmic agent]] and [[Ajmalan]] a parent hydride, are named after him.<ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/118541 KARACHI: Experts for alternative medicine system] Dawn (newspaper), Published 5 October 2003, Retrieved 22 August 2019</ref><br />
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=== After partition ===<br />
After the [[partition of India]], Khan's grandson Hakim Muhammad Nabi Khan moved to Pakistan. Hakim Nabi had learnt Tibb (how to practice medicine) from his grandfather and opened 'Dawakhana Hakim Ajmal Khan' in [[Lahore]] which has branches throughout [[Pakistan]]. The motto of the Ajmal Khan family is ''Azal-ul-Allah-Khudatulmal'', which means that the best way to keep oneself busy is by serving humanity.<br />
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==Quotes==<br />
* "The spirit of non-cooperation pervades throughout the country and there is no true Indian heart even in the remotest corner of this great country which is not filled with the spirit of cheerful suffering and sacrifice to attain Swaraj and see the Punjab and the Khilafat wrongs redressed." – From the Presidential Address, [[Indian National Congress]], 1921 Session, [[Ahmedabad]].<ref name=san>{{cite web|url=http://www.congresssandesh.com/AICC/history/presidents/hakim_ajmal_khan.htm|title=Hakim Ajmal Khan (1863–1927) President – Ahmedabad, 1921|website=Congress Sandesh, [[Indian National Congress]] publication|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503034229/http://www.congresssandesh.com/AICC/history/presidents/hakim_ajmal_khan.htm|archive-date=3 May 2009|df=dmy-all|access-date=22 August 2019}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Ajmal Khan Park]], New Delhi, adjacent to [[Tibbia College]] was named after him<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
*{{ cite book|author=Andrews, C.F. |year=1922| title= Hakim Ajmal Khan A sketch of his life and career|place= Madras|publisher= G. A. Natesan|url=https://archive.org/details/HakimAjmalKhan}}<br />
* ''Hakim Ajmal Khan, the versatile genius'', by Mohammed Abdur Razzack. Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, 1987.<br />
* ''Hakim Ajmal Khan'' by Zafar Ahmed Nizami, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1988.<ref>[http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/Hindi-Roman/Au-Wise/HRB28.HTM Hakim Ajmal Khan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924083034/http://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/Hindi-Roman/Au-Wise/HRB28.HTM |date=24 September 2015 }}. Publicationsdivision.nic.in. Retrieved on 2018-12-11.</ref><br />
* ''Hakim Ajmal Khan''(Indian freedom fighters series), by Shri Ram Bakshi. Anmol Publications, 1996. {{ISBN|81-7488-264-2}}.<br />
* ''Hakim Ajmal Khan'' (Hindi, Urdu and English Version) by [[Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman]], [[National Book Trust]], [[Government of India]], New Delhi, [[India]], 2004.<br />
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==External links==<br />
{{Commons category|Hakim Ajmal Khan}}<br />
*[http://www.ajmal.pk '''Dawakhana Hakim Ajmal Khan'', Lahore website]<br />
* [http://ajmalherbal.com/ '''Dawakhana Hakim Ajmal Khan Online Store'', International website & Buy Medicines Online]<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101008034126/http://indianmuslims.info/people/hakim_ajmal_khan_1863_1927_medicine_freedom_fighter.html Hakim Ajmal Khan (1863–1927): Medicine, Freedom Fighter]<br />
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{{Indian National Congress Presidents}}<br />
{{Pakistan Movement}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Hakim Ajmal}}<br />
[[Category:1863 births]]<br />
[[Category:1927 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Medical doctors from Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]<br />
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:Jamia Millia Islamia]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian educational theorists]]<br />
[[Category:Presidents of the Indian National Congress]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian medical doctors]]<br />
[[Category:All India Muslim League members]]<br />
[[Category:Leaders of the Pakistan Movement]]<br />
[[Category:Unani practitioners]]<br />
[[Category:South Asian traditional medicine]]<br />
[[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]<br />
[[Category:Scholars from Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Delhi]]</div>->Ngrewal1