When I was at AMU

When I was at AMU, I never bothered to figure this out but once I was away from AMU after completing my education, I always looked out for Aligs. So, what are the traits that hint at the other person being be an aligarian, too. The question is: How do we search for an Aligarian when we are travelling, staying in a Hotel, visiting public places, and so on. In other words, what rings a bell...

Let me pen down the traits that I use to spot Aligarians in this crowded world.

I look for:

* Someone who carries an AMU tarana ringtone on the cellphone.
* Someone who speaks good Urdu.
* Someone who looks graceful in appearance.
* Someone who greets people with a loud "Salam Alaikum" without feeling shy about revealing his identity.
* Someone who eagerly responds to a "Salam alaikum" with a "Salam alaikum" and not an obvious "Walekum As-Salaam".
* Someone who respects seniors, older people irrespective of their economic status like waiters, rickshaw pullers, or porters.
* Someone who is young but wears Sherwani, maybe, without a cap :-) (Like our Aligarian student union leaders).
* Some who can crack the humorous one liners while watching a movie in a theatre.
* Someone who can talk about any topic under the sun with the same interest and intensity as for his hobby horse.
* Someone who uses words like jugaad, bhasad, intro, backing, lobby, dhaba, chay, +2, PUC, and mass bunk in his/her conversations.
* Someone who adresses other unknown people of his age with "partner" as in: Partner, ye bus kahan jaaegi..

Maulana Azad Library, Amu

The Library complex of the University consists of a Central Library and over 80 college/departmental libraries. Libraries of the colleges, institutes and departments, cater to the needs of postgraduates and students of professional courses.

The University has established Book Banks for the benefit of students of certain professional courses. The Central Library was set up in 1875, when this institution was established as Madarsatul Uloom. In 1877, the Madarsa became Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College. Lord Lytton, the viceroy of India, laid the foundation stone, and the library was named after him as Lytton Library. Eminent scholars like Gardner Brown, Arnold, Releigh, Horowitz, Storey and Auchtelpone functioned as honorary librarians in addition to their teaching responsibilities.
In 1960, it was named as Maulana Azad Library when the first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, inaugurated its present building. The Seven storied building is surrounded by 4.75 acres of land in the form of beautiful lawns and gardens. It is the most beautiful building of the University and one of the few very attractive libraries in the country. The Library has about 9,00,000 books

The collection consists of books, periodicals, pamphlets, manuscripts, paintings and photographs. M.A. Library performs the functions of a National Library so far as its collection of Oriental manuscripts are concerned. It is because of these rich collections of immense research value that this Library is reckoned among major libraries of the world. The oldest manuscript owned by the library is more than fourteen hundred years old. It is a fragment of the Holy Quran transcribed by Hazrat Ali, the fourth caliph of Islam and is written on parchment in Kufi script. Another rare collection is the Halnama of Beyazid Ansari, no copy of which is available anywhere else in the world



The Library has a sizeable collection of early printed books in various languages. The most outstanding among them is the Latin translation of the celebrated Arabic work on optics, opticam prafatis, by Ibn-al-Haitham (965-1039) published in 1572



There are several farmans (decrees) of the Mughal kings like Babur, Akbar, Shahjahan, Shah Alam, Shah Alamgir, Aurangzeb etc. Another prized possession of the library is a “Shirt” on which the whole Quran is inscribed in khafi script. This shirt is believed to have been worn by a warrior of Mughal army

Among the large collection of Mughal paintings is the painting of Red Blossom, which is magnum opus of Mansoor Naqqash, the celebrated court artist of Emperor Jahangir. Some valuable Sanskrit works translated into Persian have also been preserved in the library. Other possessions worth mentioning is the Ayurved in Telugu and the Bhasa’s in Malyalam script written on palm leaves. Abul Faiz Faizi, an eminent scholar of Akbar’s court translated several Sanskrit works into Persian, such as Maha Puran, Bhagvat Gita, Mahabharat and Lila Wati, these are also available.

More than 5,000 students, teachers and other members of the university daily visit the library and utilize its services. For further details visit Maulana Azad Library Website

Now M.A libaray gots new developments like centrally air-conditioned reading rooms, the new news paper & magazine reading area on the G.floor, online catalogue search for books from any place with in the library premises (we expect they come on the internet soon) & after all new parking space for cycles & bikes

The Famous Marris Road

Marris Road is indeed one of the most important streets in Aligarh. The distnguished status of this street comes from the beautiful, large and palatial bungalows and Kothis situated on the both sides of this road. According to a very senior Aligarian in Hyderabad, there used to be days when Marris Road was called Paris Road because of the rich and elite who inhabited those bungalows. All of them were highly educated, cultured and sophisticated and had an exquisite taste of art and literature.

Coming to my time of Aligarh, most of these kothis and bungalows had lost their charm and grandeur but some of them simply couldn't resist telling the stories from their glorious past. With vicinity to city's railway station and the most happening commerical area - Centerpoint, most of these kothis are now being shrouded by shops and shopping complexes coming up on the roadsides and in some way, helping the majestic bungalows in hiding their pitiful state.

While, there is one reason which accounts for the loss of value of Marris Road, there is another gaining importance and momentum. The Women's college and Abdullah Hall (AMU Girls' Hostels) have their main gates on Marris Road. Most of new and happening Eating points and dating spots are like adding more taste to the relishing gravy.

So, the reasons may change but M for Marris Road remains the same - the place to be, that is.

Source: Aligarh Nama Blog

About: Kennedy Hall

Kennedy Hall is the Central Auditorium of AMU. Apart from screening the award winning movies during the Film Festival, it hosts a plethora of events. The events include Musical Nights, Plays, and interactive sessions with University guests, high-profile alumni and dignitaries visiting the campus.
Performing at Kennedy auditorium is a feat in itself for AMU students. Anyone who could repeatedly perform successfully on this stage would be good enough to face any kind of audience. It's a platform which brings out the best of talents in the country. For that matter, it is not only about Kennedy Auditorium. It could very well be Strachey Hall or any other Literary and Cultural event stage at AMU. AMU audience is ever ready with bouquets in one hand and brickbats in the other. I can go on to the extent of claiming that AMU also nurtures the best critics on acting, singing and oratorical skills. One who is carried on the shoulders for his outstanding talent at AMU has the potential to make it to one of the India's best talents.

My memories of Kennedy Hall include the Film Festivals where the students shouted their favourite movie dialogues in chorus even before the actor would deliver them in the movie scene. I also remember the occasion when the students coerced the Vice chancellor into wearing a cap while addressing the gathering as it was an age old AMU tradition.

Sweets n Namkeens of aligarh

The another famous thing after the locks of aligarh is sweets and namkeens, there are several & delightful sweets as well as namkeens offers in wide categories from tasteful snacks and hot dishes such as ladoo, rasgulla, rasmalai, kesar barfi, son papdi, badam halwa, fruit cream, milk cake and kaju katli to moong ki dal, mathri gol and kaju masala, samosa etc. I think if you on trip of aligarh and dont taste the sweets as well as namkeens, the trip is not completed. Anyone who visits aligarh buys & taste thier untamed sweets n namkeens, At there you can find lots of shops of sweets and namkeens but who are specialize in it are Vikas Sweets at centre point market they offers a delightful array of tasteful snacks and hot dishes such as ladoo, rasgulla, rasmalai, kesar barfi, son papdi, badam halwa, fruit cream, milk cake and kaju katli. All the products are prepared by expert chefs in most hygienic conditions., The other one is Kunjilalal at centre point market where you can find stocks a large variety of crispy, tasty and tempting namkeens, sweets and other eatables. All the sweets are prepared using the traditional method with 100% pure desi ghee which gives the very best and exotic Indian taste. Some of the hot favorites offered are kaju, badam, dry fruits, samosa, moong ki dal, mathri gol and kaju masala, The other sweets amd namkeens shops are Taj Sweets at dodhpur, bobby shop at Amir nisha, Avon Namkeens at Railway Roads. You can find these shop very easily because they are very pouplar among the local peoples.

Aligarh fort

The Aligarh Fort, one of the strongest forts in India, is located in the city of Aligarh (The city was earlier named as Kol or Koil). It is also called "Aligarh qila". It is situated on the Grand Trunk road and consists of a regular polygon, surrounded by a very broad and deep ditch .

It was built during the time of Ibrahim Lodhi by Muhammad, son of Umar the governor of Kol, in 1524-25. Sabit khan who was the governor of this region during the time of Farrukh Siyar and Muhammad Shah, further rebuilt the fort.. It became a fortress of great importance under Madhavrao I Scindia in 1759, and was the depot where he drilled and organized his battalions in the European fashion with the aid of French soldier Benoît de Boigne. During the Battle of Ally Ghur, it was captured from the Marathas under the leadership of a French officer Perron by Lord Gerard Lake's British army, in September 1803, since which time it has been much strengthened and improved. In the rebellion of 1857 the troops stationed at Aligarh mutinied, but abstained from murdering their officers, who, with the other residents and ladies and children, succeeded in reaching Hathras .

Now aligarh fort is in the control of Aligarh Muslim University (amu) under the department of botany. Botany deptt uses the fort internal area for maintaining the botany gardens and other plantations. No one can enter in the fort without the permission of the administration of botany of deptt. If anyone want to take closer look of Aligarh fort taker prior permission with the botany deptt which is easily granted.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan - A Legendry Personality

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Bahadur,(also Sayyid Ahmad Khan)(Urdu: سید احمد خان بہا در; October 17, 1817 – March 27, 1898), commonly known as Sir Syed, was an Indian educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer and modernist^[1][2]. Sir Syed pioneered modern education for the Muslim community in India by founding the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the Aligarh Muslim University. His work gave rise to a new generation of Muslim intellectuals and politicians who composed the Aligarh movement to secure the political future of Muslims in India.

Born into Mughal nobility, Sir Syed earned a reputation as a distinguished scholar while working as a jurist for the British East India Company. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 he remained loyal to the British and was noted for his actions in saving European lives.^[3] After the rebellion he penned the booklet Asbab-e-Bhaghawath-e-Hind (The Causes of the Indian Mutiny) — a daring critique, at the time, of British policies that he blamed for causing the revolt. Believing that the future of Muslims was threatened by the rigidity of their orthodox outlook, Sir Syed began promoting Western-style scientific education by founding modern schools and journals and organising Muslim intellectuals. Towards this goal, Sir Syed founded the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875 with the aim of promoting social and economic development of Indian Muslims.

One of the most influential Muslim politicians of his time, Sir Syed was suspicious of the Indian independence movement and called upon Muslims to loyally serve the British Raj. He denounced nationalist organisations such as the Indian National Congress, instead forming organisations to promote Muslim unity and pro-British attitudes and activities. Sir Syed promoted the adoption of Urdu as the lingua franca of all Indian Muslims, and mentored a rising generation of Muslim politicians and intellectuals. Although hailed as a great Muslim leader and social reformer, Sir Syed remains the subject of controversy for his views on Hindu-Muslim issues.

Aligarh: A True Place

Aligarh (Hindi: अलीगढ़, Urdu: علی گڑھ) is a city in Aligarh District in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city is located about 90 miles south-east of New Delhi. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh District, and has a population of half a million. It is mostly known as a university town where the famous Aligarh Muslim University is located.

History

It is known till the 18th century by the earlier name of Kol. After the British occupation of Aligarh in September 1803, the present Aligarh district was formed in 1804 .

Both Akbar and Jahangir visited Kol on hunting expeditions. Jahangir clearly mentions the forest of Kol, where he killed wolves. From the study of the place-names of the district, it appears that the district was once fairly well covered by forest, thickets and grooves. The early history of the district, indeed down the 12th century AD is obscure.

Kol or Koil, was the earliest name of the city and Aligarh was the name of the fort nearby officers . Kol covered not only the city but the entire district, though its geographical limits kept changing from time to time. The origin of the name of Kol is obscure. In some ancient texts, Kol has been referred to in the sense of a tribe or Caste, name of a place or mountain and name of a sage or demon. During the time of Ibrahim Lodhi, when Muhammad, son of Umar was the governor of Kol, he built a fort at Kol and named the city after his own name as Muhammadgarh in 1524-25; and Sabit khan who was the governor of this region during the time of Farrukh Siyar and Muhammad Shah, rebuilt the fort and named the town after his own name Sabitgarh. After the occupation of Kol by the Jats in 1775, it was re-named Ramgarh and finally, when a Shia commander, Najaf khan, captures Kol, he gave it its present name of Aligarh. Aligarh Fort (also called Aligarh Qila), as it stands today, was built by French engineers under the control of FrenchBenoît de Boigne and Perron.

Establishment of Aligarh Muslim University (1875)

In 1875, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College in Aligarh and patterned the college after Oxford and Cambridge universities that he had visited on a trip to England. This later became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920.