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Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Sayyid also spelled Syad, orSyed, Ahmad also spelled Ahmed (born Oct. 17, 1817, Delhi—died March 27, 1898, Aligarh, India), Muslim educator, jurist, and author, founder of the Anglo-Mohammedan Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, and the principal motivating force behind the revival of Indian Islam in the late 19th century. His works, in Urdu, include Essays on the Life of Mohammed (1870) and commentaries on the Bible and on the Qur?an. In 1888 he was made a Knight Commander of the Star of India.
Sayyid’s family, though progressive, was highly regarded by the dying Mughal dynasty. His father, who received an allowance from the Mughal administration, became something of a religious recluse; his maternal grandfather had twice served as prime minister of the Mughal emperor of his time and had also held positions of trust under the East India Company. Sayyid’s brother established one of the first printing presses at Delhi and started one of the earliest newspapers in Urdu, the principal language of the Muslims of northern India.
The death of Sayyid’s father left the family in financial difficulties, and after a limited education Sayyid had to work for his livelihood. Starting as a clerk with the East India Company in 1838, he qualified three years later as a subjudge and served in the judicial department at various places.
Sayyid Ahmad had a versatile personality, and his position in the judicial department left him time to be active in many fields. His career as an author (in Urdu) started at the age of 23 with religious tracts. In 1847 he brought out a noteworthy book, Athar a??anadid (“Monuments of the Great”), on the antiquities of Delhi. Even more important was his pamphlet, “The Causes of the Indian Revolt.” During the Indian Mutiny of 1857 he had taken the side of the British, but in this booklet he ably and fearlessly laid bare the weaknesses and errors of the British administration that had led to dissatisfaction and a countrywide explosion. Widely read by British officials, it had considerable influence on British policy.
His interest in religion was also active and lifelong. He began a sympathetic interpretation of the Bible, wrote Essays on the Life of Mohammed (translated into English by his son), and found time to write several volumes of a modernist commentary on the Qur?an. In these works he sought to harmonize the Islamic faith with the scientific and politically progressive ideas of his time.

Sayyid advised the Muslims against joining active politics and to concentrate instead on education. Later, when some Muslims joined the Indian National Congress, he came out strongly against that organization and its objectives, which included the establishment of parliamentary democracy in India. He argued that, in a country where communal divisions were all-important and education and political organization were confined to a few classes, parliamentary democracy would work only inequitably. Muslims, generally, followed his advice and abstained from politics until several years later when they had established their own political organization.