Abul Kalam Azad born - November 11, 1888

On this day, Abul Kalam Azad -- a scholar and activist in the Indian Independence movement -- was born.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi everyone, I'm Eves. Welcome to This Day
in History Class, a podcast for folks who can never
have enough history knowledge. Today is November eleventh, nineteen. The

(00:23):
day was November eleven. Scholar, poet and leader of the
Indian Independence movement A. Bula Kalam Azad was born. His
father was a Bengali Muslim scholar and his mother was
an Arab and the daughter of a scholar. In eighteen ninety,
Azad and his family moved to Calcutta, India. Azad was
educated at home by his father and other Islamic scholars,

(00:46):
who taught him religious sciences, Classical Arabic, Persian and order
do He was also taught philosophy and math. His family
background meant that he had to pursue traditional Islamic education,
but he also did a lot of self study beyond
his traditional education, and he learned English, world history and politics.

(01:07):
As he studied more, he became disillusioned by some religious dogma.
He married Zuleika Begum when he was thirteen years old.
By the time he was a teenager, he was already
invested in journalism. As he traveled through Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt,
Syria and Turkey. He met revolutionary activists and developed radical views.

(01:28):
He became an Indian nationalist. He opposed the partition of
Bengal in nineteen o five and began to advocate for
people uniting in the freedom movement against the British. He
was critical of the British Raj and of Muslims who
focused on communal issues that he believed were not as
important as national freedom. In nineteen twelve, Azad began publishing

(01:48):
a weekly order to language journal called All Halal. The
journal was anti Britain and criticized Indian Muslims who were
loyal to the British. Azad encouraged Muslims to fight for
independent and encouraged Hindu Muslim unity. The government banned All Hallal,
but Azad just started another publication, so British officials invoked

(02:09):
the Defense of India Act against him, a law used
to shut down the activities of nationalists and revolutionaries. By
nineteen sixteen, Azad was put on house arrest in Ranchi
and detained there until January of nineteen twenty. During this time,
he wrote an autobiographical text called tas Kira. Once he
was released, he was active in the Kila Fat movement.

(02:32):
In the movement, Indian Muslims and nationalists pressured the British
government to preserve the position of the Sultan of Ottoman
Turkey as the Caliph of Islam. Azad worked with Gandhi
in the Non co Operation movement, which organized mass acts
of non violent civil disobedience to encourage Britain to grant
India's self government. He urged people to boycott British schools,

(02:54):
government offices, and products. Azad and Gandhi became close and
Azad participated in many of his campaigns, including the Salt March.
He committed to non violence and became a key link
between Gandhi and the Muslim community. In nineteen twenty three,
he became the youngest person to be elected president of
the Indian National Congress, a political party that dominated the

(03:17):
Indian independence movement. He also served on the Congress Working
Committee and as General Secretary on more than one occasion.
Over the next couple of decades, Azad was arrested and
imprisoned several times. In nineteen forty two, he and the
Congress leadership were arrested for their support and amplification of
the Quit India movement, which called for a rebellion against

(03:40):
British rule in India and demanded independence. After World War
Two ended in India gained its independence, the partition of
India along religious lines became an issue that Azad opposed.
He supported a confederation of autonomous provinces with their own
constitutions and advocated for Hindu Muslim n d but British

(04:02):
India split into India and Pakistan in nineteen forty seven.
From nineteen forty seven until his death in nineteen fifty eight,
Azad was India's first Minister of Education. He promoted secondary education,
literacy and education of women and impoverished people. Azad was
awarded India's highest civilian award, the Rutna, in nineto. I'm

(04:26):
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(04:49):
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