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

AMU Tarana

Aligarh Tarana is to Aligarh Muslim University(AMU) what any college song is to a college. When Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru visited Aligarh Muslim University, he enquired the students and authorities about their college song or something like it. Having got no concrete answer, he expressed his surprise by saying, "It is very strange that a prestigious university as AMU doesn't have its own college song. " These remarks put a student to unrest and he spent a restless night on this idea. The very next morning, he was ready with a masterpiece which went on to be reckoned as AMU Tarana after being sung at the Strachey Hall for the first time. What a tribute from a disciple to his Alma Mater !!! What a face saving act !!! That great student was Majaz Lakhnawi - the poet.

The lyrics of Tarana are here for you to relish. The urdu is impeccable but when sung in chorus with all the vigour, it can move mountains and create waves in the most placid lakes.

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.

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.

About: Aligarh Muslim University

Aligarh Muslim University leaders, and was established by the Indian Muslims and the Act of Indian Parliament made it University. It is located in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. Modelled on the University of Cambridge, it was among the first institutions of higher learning set up during British Occupation. Originally it was Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which was founded by a great Muslim social reformer Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Many prominent MuslimUrdu writers and scholars of the subcontinent have graduated from the University. Aligarh Muslim University is a residential academic institution of International repute offering more than 250 Courses in traditional and modern branch of Education. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, a great social reformer of his age felt the need for modern education and started a school in 1875 which later became the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College and finally Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. This is a premier Central University with several faculties and maintained institutions and draws students from all corners of the world, specially Africa, West Asia and South East Asia. In some courses, seats are reserved for students from SAARC and Commonwealth countries. The University is open to all irrespective of caste, creed, religion or sex. Aligarh is situated at a distance of 130 km, South-East of Delhi on Delhi-Calcutta Railway and Grand Trunk route

History

The University grew out of the work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 felt that it was important for Muslims to gain modern education and become involved in the public life and Government Services in India at that time. Raja Jai Kishan helped Sir Syed a lot in establishing this university. The British decision to replace the use of the knowledge of Persian in the 1830s for Government employment and as the language of Courts of Law caused deep anxiety among Muslims of the sub-continent. Sir Syed then clearly foresaw the imperative need for the Muslims to acquire proficiency in the English language and "Western Sciences" if the community were to maintain its social and political clout, particularly in Northern India. He began to prepare the road map for the formation of a Muslim University by starting various schools. In 1864, the Scientific Society of Aligarh was set up to disseminate Western works into native languages as a prelude to prepare the community to accept "Western Education". Sir Sultan Mahommed Shah, The Aga Khan III has contributed greatly to Aligarh Muslim University in terms collecting funds and providing financial support.

In 1875, Sir Syed 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. His objective was to build a college in tune with the British education system but without compromising its Islamic values.

It was one of the first purely residential educational institution set up either by the Government or the public in India. Over the years it gave rise to a new educated class of Muslims who were active in the political system of the British Raj, and who would serve as a catalyst for change among not only the Muslim population of India, but of the entire subcontinent. When Viceroy to India, Lord Curzon visited the College in 1901, he praised the work which was carried on by the College and called it of "sovereign importance" ^[1].

The college was originally affiliated with the University of Calcutta, and was transferred to the Allahabad University in 1885. Near the turn of the century it began publishing its own magazine, and established a law school. It was also around this time that a movement began to have it develop into a university to stand on its own. To achieve this goal, many expansions were made with more and more programs added to the curriculum. A school for girls was established in 1907. By 1921(exact year 1920), the College was transformed into a university, and it was named Muslim University. Its growth continued. The first chancellor of the university was a female, Sultan Shah Jahan Begum. In 1927, a school for the blind was established, and the following year, a Medical School was attached to the university. By the end of the 1930s, the University had also developed its Engineering faculty.