Last Updated on 3rd June 2022

Asif M Basit

Little is known about the magnificent life that Hazrat Hakim Maulvi Nuruddin^ra (Hazrat Nuruddin^ra henceforth) led before becoming acquainted with the Promised Messiah^as and, subsequently, moving to Qadian. The only information available is through fragmented memoirs that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra wrote for Hakim-e-Haziq (edited and published by Hakim Muhammad Hussain, alias Marham-e-Isa) or narrated to Akbar Shah Najibabadi – the latter recorded and published as Mirqat al-Yaqin. (www.alislam.org/urdu/pdf/MirqatulYaqeen.pdf)

What was later recorded of this phase of his life in Hayat-e-Nur and Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat was derived from the above two sources with very few exceptions. I must, however, credit the great work done by the authors and editors of these works as they had little or no access to material that could take them through the annals and alleyways that have been available to the author of this article – albeit with great difficulty, still. I must, right at the outset, pay tribute to their works that provided a stepping-stone for delving deeper into the magnificent life of the great man, before he got to be known as a great man.

As the brief insight into his formative years is based on his own narrations, his humility seems to have shrouded the splendour of this phase. The years that followed – as a companion and then successor of the Promised Messiah^as – were recorded by Ahmadiyya press and literature and presented in full light.

Any difference of opinion with the above-mentioned great biographical accounts should not be seen as disrespect, for research is a valley with many paths descending and ascending in and out of it. Years to come will bring to light new sources and the opinions of researchers could continue to differ.

Early years

Born in c. 1841 in Bhera – a small town in the British Punjab – Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had around him a family with great love for knowledge. Hazrat Nuruddin^ra reminisced his father saying: “Head in pursuit of knowledge to such distant lands where news of the death of your mother and mine does not reach you!”(Mirqat al-Yaqin)

It is important to note here that the concept of education in British Indian Muslims had evolved around their identity which was undergoing a serious crisis. It was a time past the twilight of Muslim glory in the Islamic world in general, and India in particular, where a Muslim empire had recently fizzled before a mighty colonial power.

In an attempt to reconstruct Muslim identity, religious education was seen as the only way forward. (Muhammad Tayyib, Dar al-Ulum Deoband, Dar al-Isha‘a, Deoband, 1965; Ziaul Haque, Muslim Religious Education in Indo-Pakistan, Islamic Studies, Vol. 14, Issue 4, Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad)

What constituted as education was restricted to the Holy Quran, hadith (along with their exegetist commentaries) and languages that could facilitate both – mainly Arabic and Persian.

Architecture had been the flagship of most Islamic sultanates but it was not the type of knowledge that could be imparted by ulema and, thus, required specialised professionals. However, what glorified these grand structures was calligraphy, the art of which could be disseminated relatively easily; hence earning the outlook of an Islamic discipline.

Tibb-e-Yunani (Eastern Medicine) was another discipline that had been grouped with Islamic education and was pursued by many but specialised in by those looking to further their career in this field.

It was in this atmosphere that the young Hazrat Nuruddin^ra set out to acquire knowledge – a long journey that turned him into a student-traveller.

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra recalls his first journey in this pursuit to be of Lahore in 1270 AH (1853 CE), at the age of around 12. Through his statement about this journey, his brother, Sultan Ahmad, appears to have owned or co-owned a printing press namely Matba Qadria Press, in the Kabli Mal vicinity of Lahore.

(Dost Muhammad Shahid Sahib, in Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, asserts that Sultan Ahmad ran this printing press in Lahore. Records dating back to 1880 suggest that it was owned by a Munshi Qadir Bakhsh. A periodical on Eastern medicine, namely Takmil al-Hikmah, carries the name of the press and its owner in the credit line on the title page as: Matba Qadri Press Lahore ba-ehtimam Munshi Qadir Bakhsh ke chhapa. So, Sultan Ahmad’s involvement was either as a co-owner or in some other managerial position.)

Sultan Ahmad’s connection to Lahore, as well as this journey, was in connection to affairs relating to this press.

Having arrived at Lahore, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra suffered from diphtheria and was treated by Hakim Ghulam Dastgir Lahori who had a clinic in the Syed Mittha area. It was at this point that he first developed an interest in tibb-e-Yunani, although his education in this field did not start at this point. His brother thought it more appropriate that he be taught the Persian language and calligraphy. For the former, he was given in the pupillage of Munshi Muhammad Qasim Kashmiri and to Imam Verdi for the latter. Both the tutors were of very high repute, with Imam Verdi being described as such by historians of the art of Muslim calligraphy:

“In the region of what is now Pakistan, a great contribution was made by Imam Verdi who came from Iran to Kashmir and from there was brought to Lahore by the Muslim Governor of the Sikh rulers named Imamuddin. At this time between 1860 and 1870, Col. Holroyd was the Director of Education in Lahore and he wanted to widely popularise the art of calligraphy. Imam Verdi however, like the old masters, did not believe in revealing the secrets of his art to any but his pupils. However, one of Imam Verdi’s pupils, Sayyid Ahmad, took to Col. Holroyd all the exercises that were given to him as lessons by Imam Verdi. Col. Holroyd got them printed and put on sale so that everyone might benefit from them. Imam Verdi’s work can be seen in the Lahore Museum and on Sutar Masjid which he got built himself.” (S Amjad Ali, Calligraphy in Indo-Pakistan, in The Proceedings of the Hijra Celebration Symposium on Islamic Art, Calligraphy, Architecture and Archaeology)

Another work on the topic suggests:

“It is important to consider the work of Imam Verdi because he was the last most acknowledged master, and can be considered the book end, of Iranian Nastaliq in Lahore. At the culmination of the half century that followed his demise, Iranian Nastaliq itself came to an end in Lahore. It is fair to say that the two centuries long dominance of Iranian Nastaliq that began with Daylami was concluded with Imam Verdi.”(Seher A Shah, A History of Traditional Calligraphy in Post-Partition Lahore, MA thesis for The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University, 2016)

With such glorious beginnings, Hazrat Nuruddin’s^ra educational career was to reach great heights. Although, not having a disposition for both areas, he could not benefit much from his tutors in Persian and calligraphy; but his stay of around two years in Lahore kindled in his heart the love for the study of medicine. This interest – initially acquired from his physician Hakim Ghulam Dastagir Lahori – developed when he got acquainted with Hakim Allahdin Lahori; the latter trained by the former in the field of tibb. Both these hakims were of great repute and have been mentioned by Kanhaia Lal in Tarikh-e-Lahore with much esteem. It was through conversations with Hakim Allahdin Lahori that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra gained basic knowledge of tibb-e-Yunani. He returned to Lahore in c. 1855.

According to Kanhaia Lal, most books on Islamic knowledge were published in Delhi and Lucknow and then distributed all over India. For the love of knowledge, the family of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra must have had many booksellers as friends. This is understood when he narrates about two booksellers coming to stay at their place: A Muhammad Amin from Lucknow is credited with introducing him to the translation of the Holy Quran, and another bookseller from Bombay for providing him Taqwiat al-Imaan and Mashariq al-Anwar.

This reading seems to have set the scene for Hazrat Nuruddin’s strong bonding with the Ahl-e-Hadith version of Islam, to which he remained devotedly attached for many decades to follow. That the booksellers were staunch Ahl-e-Hadith becomes evident where Hazrat Nuruddin^ra mentions them as vehicles of funds sent off to the Mujahidin fighting on the North Western Frontier.

After a short while, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was back in Lahore and under the tutelage of Hakim Allahdin Lahori again. This episode of learning tibb was to be short-lived and he returned to Bhera, from where he was sent to study at a secular school at Rawalpindi. He notes this to be in c. 1858 and at the age of “almost eighteen”.(Mirqat; Hakim-e-Haziq)

The youth years

During his stay at Rawalpindi, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra mastered himself in the disciplines of mathematics and geography and attempted the tahsili imtihan (district level examination) – a competitive test to enter the government’s education service. Success in this examination earned him a place as headmaster of a school in Pind Dadan Khan – a town near his hometown of Bhera.

This venture of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra is not something insignificant when seen in the light of the British educational policy that was unfolding in the wake of the 1857 mutiny. The British, since the times of the East India Company, had been working to devise some educational policy for Indian natives. From 1792 – when work on education policies commenced at the hand of Charles Grant – to 1830, no uniform policy had been formulated. The British educationalists were broadly split into Anglicists and Orientalists – the former stressing English as the medium of instruction, the latter on Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. Vernacular education – which could be more productive in educating the native masses – was nowhere on the radar.

It was with Allan Macaulay’s efforts that vernacular education got to be seen as a serious issue that needed to be dealt with by the government; Charles Wood’s despatch, which came out in 1854, worked as a catalyst. Wood emphasised modern (or Western) education to be imparted, yet Oriental studies not be ignored. He placed the onus of education on the state and encouraged vernacular education. Allan Octavian Hume was to be instrumental in executing the idea of vernacular education and opening Anglo-vernacular schools – piloted in 1849 in eight districts of North Western Province and spread across India by 1856. These schools, owing to their district-scale functionality, were also known as tahsili schools. (Anu Kumar, New Lamps for Old: Colonial Experiments with Vernacular Education, Pre- and Post-1857, in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 19, 2007)

It was for employment at such a tahsili school that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra attempted and passed the examination. From what we have discussed above, and what will follow, points to the fact that his personality was a balanced blend of the oriental, vernacular and modern tendencies – three ingredients essential for socio-political awakening in native Indians.

Having served in the field of public education for four years, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra felt the need of acquiring further education. He resigned from his job at the Anglo-vernacular school of Pind Dadan Khan to travel to various academic centres of India. This brings us, according to the estimated timeline that he provides, to c. 1862.

Further education

Upon return to Bhera, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra joined the classes of Maulvi Ahmad al-Din, more commonly known as “Bugay walay qazi” for his belonging to a nearby town called Buga. Maulvi Ahmad al-Din was the younger brother of Maulvi Ghulam Mohyiuddin Bugwi – both established scholars of Islamic studies. They had lived in Delhi in the pupillage of Shah Muhammad Ishaq – the grandson of Shah Abdul Aziz Muhadith Dehlvi and great-grandson of Shah Waliullah Muhadith Dehlvi. The educational qualification of both brothers was certified by none other than Shah Abdul Aziz himself. (Faqir Muhammad Jhelumi, Hadaiq al-Hanafiyya)

This stay with Maulvi Ahmad al-Din enabled Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to acquire knowledge of Arabic and strengthened his affiliation with the Ahl-e-Hadith school. However, after only a year, in c. 1863, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra left for Lahore. He was admitted to Hakim Muhammad Bakhsh for classes in tibb, but soon decided to travel to Rampur.

This choice of travelling to and settling in Rampur was not a random one, as Rampur was then a centre of Muslim learning where scholars of renown, from the great centres of Delhi and Lucknow, had stationed themselves.

Nawab Faizullah Khan, the founder of the princely state of Rampur, had made concerted efforts to cultivate his state into a profound centre of learning. He had invited Maulana Abdul Ali Farangi Mahali to establish an educational institute and had named it Madrasah-e-Aliya. Scholars like Maulana Nur Salam Shah and Abd al-Haq Dehlvi had been taken on board. Among others, some names that stand out are those of Mullah Ghiyas-ud-Din, Fazl Haq Khairabadi, Abdul Haq Khair Abadi, Maulana Irshad Hussain – all scholars of great stature. This brought Rampur at par with the centres at Deoband, Bareilly and Lucknow. (Barbara Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband 1860-1900, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1982)

Rampur attracted seekers of Islamic knowledge not only from all over India but also from other parts of the Islamic world like Afghanistan and Bukhara. (Muhammad Abdus Salam Khan, Madrasa-e-Aliya Rampur: Ek Tarikhi Darsgah, Rampur Raza Library, 2002)

His hectic and untiring schedule of learning – spanning on almost three years – made him suffer from insomnia and was left looking for the best possible hakim (physician in Eastern medicine) in the country to rid him of this misery. The one person renowned as such was Hakim Ali Hussain Lakhnavi, who was to be found, as the name suggests, in Lucknow. Putting the dotted timeline together, we can assume that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra left Rampur for Lucknow in c. 1866.

The primary motive behind leaving Lucknow was the search of the best known hakim in the country. Hakim Ali Hussain Lakhnavi had served as the royal physician to Nawab Yusuf Ali (d. 1865) – a ruler of the state of Rampur. Once, the Nawab was on a journey to Calcutta that Hakim Ali Hussain sent his son to Kanpur to request the Nawab to take a short break there. The Nawab honoured the invitation and this reception took place in Kanpur at the house of Maulvi Abdur Rahman Khan, proprietor of Matba-e-Nizami – one of the leading printing presses of the country. (Tazkira-e-Kamilan-i-Rampur, p. 255)

The list of Hakim Ali Hussain Khan’s pupils is as long as it is prestigious, worthy of notice being many who served the rulers of various princely states as court physicians: physician of Nizam Deccan, Hakim Muhammad Said; physician of the Rais of Tonk, Hakim Syed Altaf Hussain; and the royal physician of the Maharaja Kashmir, Hazrat Hakim Nuruddin^ra. (Ibid, p. 256)

The long list of his pupils is dotted with many who produced and/or translated works of Eastern medicine that serve as textbooks to this day.

Interesting it is to note that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra, on his way to Lucknow, also stayed at the same house of Maulvi Abdur Rahman Khan in Kanpur, who happened to be a close friend of his brother Sultan Ahmad – once a leading name in the printing trade.

En route to Lucknow, and before staying a night in Kanpur, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra stopped over at Muradabad and caught up with the sleep and rest that he had deprived himself of in Rampur. This stay lasted around a month or a month-and-a-half, according to his autobiographical account in Hakim-e-Haziq. Adding up the above events and their timings, it appears that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra arrived in Lucknow at Hakim Ali Hussain’s house, around autumn or winter of 1866.

That he recovered from insomnia by this time can be gathered from the fact that when Hakim Ali Hussain enquired about the purpose of his visit, he only stated that he had come to learn tibb.

Taken on by Hakim Ali Hussain in pupillage, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra felt that he had enough time and much more urge to learn Islamic studies alongside it. For this, he was referred to Maulvi Fazlullah Farangi Mahali, who was another scholar of renown in the Muslim circles of India.

Maulvi Fazlullah was a scholar of Islamic as well as secular studies. He was employed by Canning College soon after its inception in 1864. Farangi Mahal had a reputation of tutoring pupils with no scholarly lineage – a then scarce trend in Muslim India. Peter Hardy, through a random sampling, found that of a hundred Islamic scholars that died in the nineteenth century, 50 percent had an alim (Islamic scholar) for a father; of the remaining, 14 percent had received their learning at Farangi Mahal. (Peter Hardy, The Ulama in British India, p. 832)

Avril Powell, an esteemed historian of South Asian Islam, notes that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Shi‘ites and Sunnis were eager to be taught by Farangi Mahali scholars. (Avril Powell, Contact and Controversy Between Islam and Christianity in Northern India, 1833-1857, 1983)

That Hazrat Nuruddin^ra opted to study with a Farangi Mahali scholar goes to show, once again, that he had a strong disposition for secular knowledge as much as he had for Islamic religious studies. Maulvi Fazlullah was famously known for being a maquli (a religious scholar with both secular and religious aptitude) who taught at Canning College, Lucknow. Nawab Kalb-e-Ali Khan, the ruler of Rampur, is said to have offered him a job at the palace, which he refused and remained at Canning College, alongside disseminating religious knowledge to his pupils at Farangi Mahal privately. (M Inayatullah Ansari Farangi Mahali, Tazkira-i-Ulama-i-Farangi Mahal, Ishaatul Uloom Barqi Press, Farangi Mahal, Lucknow)

While singing praises of the great teachers that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was a beneficiary of, we must also note that the pupil too was of no less intellectual prowess. He records in his autobiographical account that while learning from Hakim Ali Hussain and Maulvi Fazlullah Farangi Mahali, he felt that his learning curve was not as steeply ascending as he aspired.

After what appears to be a period of a few months, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra sought permission of Hakim Ali Hussain to return to Rampur for further learning. Hakim Ali Hussain informed him that he had been invited by Nawab Kalb-e-Ali Khan of Rampur to join his court as a royal physician; he invited Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to join him in the service of Rampur.

Already a fan of Rampur and willing to head there, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra took no time to consider and joined Hakim Ali Hussain on this venture. He stayed with Hakim Ali Hussain for two years in Rampur before asking for leave to pursue education in hadith. Hakim Ali Hussain advised him to seek this treasure in Delhi – an established centre of excellence for hadith. This appears to have been in 1869.

The first name that anyone would consider in terms of hadith in those days was that of Maulvi Syed Nazir Hussain of Delhi. The same, naturally, was Hazrat Nuruddin’s first choice when he arrived in Delhi. However, as Hazrat Nuruddin^ra narrates, Maulvi Nazir Hussain was detained on suspicion of sponsoring the Jihadist movement based at the North-Western frontier against the British – more commonly known as Tahrik-e-Mujahidin.

Before moving on, it is essential that a correction must be made. In the third volume of Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, the author, Dost Muhammad Shahid Sahib, has estimated the year of Hazrat Nuruddin’s arrival at Delhi to be 1864/65. However, the timeline that we have closely drawn above, suggests that he arrived there in c. 1869. A closer look at the series of events around Maulvi Nazir Hussain would be appropriate at this point.

Maulvi Nazir Hussain was tried for involvement in the Ambala Conspiracy of 1863 on the basis of suspicious letters found in his possession; addressed to and from persons involved in the jihadist movement of the Mujahidin in the Frontier Region. He was arrested in 1864 and acquitted in 1865.

As more evidence came to the surface, the case was reopened in 1869 and Nazir Hussain’s house was once again searched. It is not surprising to note that most works in Urdu on this episode are heavily painted with bias and prejudice by his proponents and opponents alike. Most such works suggest that although his house was searched again, the police could not put together a sufficient amount of evidence to arrest him. Although this is not entirely false, it is not the fact of the matter either.

In the official records of the trial, a letter from “Special Deputy Inspector-General of Police to Inspector-General of Police, Lower Provinces, dated Calcutta, 26^th February, 1869”, reads:

“[…] I beg to suggest that the Punjab Government may be moved to direct the detention of Moulvie Nazeer Hoosain as a prisoner, in accordance with the spirit of Regulation III of 1818.”

Another letter, “From the Magistrate, to the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi; dated Delhi, 19^th March 1869” reads:

“[…] I have admitted Omaid Ali as Queen’s evidence in the case. It was on his information that Izdah Bux, Nazeer Hoossain, and Attaoollah were arrested […]”

The same letter refers to Nazir Hussain as “Prisoner No 4” and goes on to suggest that “the investigation which has begun at Delhi be carried on, as indicated in Omaid Ali’s confession, Rawul Pindee and Peshawar, and that Omaid Ali, alone be retained in custody […]”.

“The Diary of Moonshee Ishree Pershad, Deputy Magistrate”, dated 18 March 1869, reads:

“Mr Carr Stephen was engaged in drawing his report. From what I heard him reading the rough draft of the report, I understand that he does not propose the trial of any four men, viz., Karree Omaid Ali, Nazeer Hoossain, Izdah Bux, and Attaoolah, who are detained by the orders of the Punjab Government under Act V, of 1841.” (Selections from Bengal Government Records on Wahhabi Trials 1863-1870, Asiatic Society of Pakistan, Dacca, 1961)

Since Nazir Hussain was not imprisoned and tried, but only detained in the second episode of the Ambala Conspiracy Case in 1869, it is commonly misunderstood that he was never in custody on this occasion. From original records of the proceedings of the case, we have seen above that Maulvi Nazir Hussain was in custody during parts of February and March of 1869.

This quite clearly places the arrival of Hazrat Nurrudin^ra in Delhi in early 1869.

As the only motive for his travel to Delhi was unfulfilled, he decided to travel to Bhopal and excel in the field of his most desired discipline of tibb. His journey to Bhopal was an eventful one, where, in his short stays here and there, he was able to help people through his knowledge of tibb. From all accounts in this regard, the journey seems to span over a few months before he finally reaches Bhopal. We are inclined to assume that this must have been during the latter half of 1869.

It is important to understand what Bhopal actually stood for in those days. The ruler of the princely state of Bhopal at that time was Sikandar Jahan Begum. “She was renowned as a patron of cultural and religious pursuits throughout India and across the Muslim world.” Bhopal had earned the reputation of a “cultural centre on the model of the Mughal court in Delhi, patronizing various literary figures, including the famous Urdu poet, Ghalib”. During the reign of Sikandar Jahan Begum, “the mood within the Bhopal court was rather more sombre, as it was not poets but religious scholars that she invited to settle and find employment within the state.” (Claudia Preckel, The Roots of Anglo-Muslim Cooperation and Islamic Reformism in Bhopal, presented at Conference on Reciprocal Perceptions of Different Cultures in South Asia, Bonn, 15-18 December 1996)

Historians agree that Munshi “Jamaluddin Khan, who acted as Sikandar’s diwan (chief minister) from 1852 until her death” was the most seasoned scholar and influential figure in the court of Bhopal”. (Ibid)

Apart from Bhopal being an excellent centre of learning, another impetus of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to move to Bhopal can be identified in the religious disposition of the state. Munshi Jamaluddin’s affiliation to the Ahl-e-Hadith had greatly influenced the Begum and, consequently, her court and courtiers as well as the general mood of the state.

Jamaluddin was known in the Muslim circles of India as a “distinguished theologian on account of having studied in Delhi with the descendants of Shah Waliullah (1703-63) and taken part in the religious reform movement of Sayyid Ahmad of Rai Bareilly (1786-1831), known as the Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyya, before arriving in Bhopal.” (Ibid)

However, at the same time, Jamaluddin was wise enough not to steer the political stance of Bhopal towards that of “Sayyid Ahmad Bareilly in […] launching jihad (sacred war) against the British in India”. (Aziz Ahmad, Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000)

Always keen on bringing reputable scholars to the court of Bhopal, Jamaluddin was the one who had convinced Sikandar Jahan to provide state employment to Syed Siddiq Hasan, a leading figure in the Ahl-e-Hadith movement. It appears that Jamaluddin had supported Siddiq Hasan Khan owing to the latter’s father, Syed Awlad Hasan, being a disciple and follower of Syed Ahmad Barelvi and, later, of Shah Abdul Aziz. (Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Muslim Women, Reform and Princely Patronage, Routledge, 2007)

That Jamaluddin was always in pursuit of scholars is evident from his first rendezvous with Hazrat Nuruddin^ra. He found Hazrat Nuruddin^ra in a mosque and decided to interview the stranger. A brief exchange of dialogue seems to have proved sufficient for Jamaluddin to gauge the intellectual depth of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra, not to mention his strong Ahl-e-Hadith disposition.

The next moment, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was housed in state quarters by Jamaluddin and instructed to join him at every meal. (Mirqat al-Yaqin)

Jamaluddin had great love for not only learning but also for teaching the Holy Quran. For this, he would hold daily sessions (dars) for the general public and also in private for Sikandar Jahan Begum. Hazrat Nuruddin^ra made it a point to attend every general session and was asked by Jamaluddin to contribute to the exegesis and interpretation. This classed him among the great scholars of Bhopal to whom many would flock for Quranic knowledge.

Jamaluddin arranged for Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to excel in the knowledge of Quran and hadith and gave him in the pupillage of Maulana Abdul Qayyum (the son of Maulana Abdul Hai Budhanwi, a Khalifa of Syed Ahmad Barelvi).

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra took lessons in major works of hadith from Maulana Abdul Qayyum (of Bhudhana), who was then mufti of the state of Bhopal – an initiated disciple at the hand of Syed Ahmad Barelvi who taught Islam in light of Shah Waliullah’s ideology. (Abul Hasan Ali Nadawi, Karwan-e Iman-o-Azimat, Syed Ahmad Shahid Academy, Rai Bareilly, 1980)

He was classed among the top scholars and teachers of Islamic theology in India.

Having remained in Bhopal, in both teacher and taught roles, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra did not take it to be his final destination – although it would have been ideal if one were in pursuit of the worldly treasures of knowledge, fame, respect and wealth. As soon as he had earned enough money to become eligible for Hajj, he departed Bhopal and headed straight to Mecca.

Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat places his arrival in Mecca around 1865 or 1866. The gap of four to five years filled above, we can reasonably assume that Hazrat Nuruddin’s arrival in Mecca would have happened in 1869/70.

The Hijaz days

Having arrived in Mecca, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra immediately engaged himself in learning Islam from the eminent scholars that had gathered there from many parts of the Islamic world and had established their madrasas. Among his teachers were eminent scholars like Sheikh Muhammad Khizraji, Sheikh al-Hadith Syed Hussain and Maulvi Rahmatullah Kairanvi.

While hadith remained his area of specialisation, it appears that Rahmatullah Kairanvi’s knowledge of Christianity and his skills of polemics with Christians rubbed off on him. Rahmatullah Kairanvi was well known for his debate with Rev CG Pfander in 1854, known more commonly as “The Great Debate of Agra” owing to its venue.

The debate had been a great success and had helped restore Muslim zeal against the surge of Christian missionaries in India. (Muslim-Christian Confrontation: Dr Wazir Khan in Nineteenth-century Agra, in Religious Controversy in British India: Dialogues in South Asian Languages, Ed. Kenneth Jones, State University of New York Press, 1992)

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as has also acknowledged and praised the efforts of Rahmatullah Kairanvi in this debate. (Arbain III, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 17, Nazrat Nashr-o-Ishaat, Qadian, 2008)

Rahmatullah Kairanvi had another associate, namely Dr Wazir Khan, assisting him throughout the course of the debate. Both had fled India in the wake of the 1857 mutiny and migrated to Mecca – remaining there for the rest of their lives. (Muslim-Christian Confrontation: Dr Wazir Khan in Nineteenth-century Agra, in Religious Controversy in British India: Dialogues in South Asian Languages, Ed. Kenneth Jones, State University of New York Press, 1992)

While Hazrat Nuruddin^ra not only benefitted from the religious knowledge of Rahmatullah Kairanvi, he was also inspired by Dr Wazir Khan’s medical and surgical practices. He mentions how Dr Wazir Khan had treated the Sharif of Mecca’s bladder-stones by importing a surgical device from France. Hazrat Nuruddin^ra remembers the incident as a point where he seriously considered enhancing his knowledge of Western medicine; a skill that he would readily apply during his career in Eastern medicine. (Hakim-e-Haziq)

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra reminisced how he would always consult further reading material on whatever he learned, for, in his own words, “even then, I was of a liberal and independent nature, and one that sought logical reasoning.” (Mirqat al-Yaqin)

Having stayed in Mecca for about a year-and-a-half (Hakim-e-Haziq) Hazrat Nuruddin^ra moved to Medina and became a pupil of Shah Abdul Ghani Mujaddidi. Again a disciple of Shah Abdul Aziz’s (hence of Shah Walilullah’s), Shah Abdul Ghani was an unparalleled scholar of hadith who produced a whole array of great scholars. (Hakim Abdul Hayy, Nuzhatul Khawatir)

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra pledged allegiance at the hand of Shah Abdul Ghani and, as he states himself, “spent a long period of time” with him in Medina. (Mirqat al-Yaqin; Hakim-e-Haziq)

At the time of pledging allegiance, Shah Abdul Ghani had said to Hazrat Nuruddin^ra that he would have to stay with him for at least a year. (Mirqat al-Yaqin)

After his stay in Medina, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra returned to Mecca for another Hajj. Although none of his biographical accounts mentions his first Hajj, there are reasons to assume that he did perform a Hajj during his first stay at Mecca.

Mirqat al-Yaqin has it that:

“When I was about to leave for Medina, I left my belongings and a lot of money with him [an acquaintance mentioned earlier] and told him, since I would be in Medina for quite a long time, to invest the amount in a business and benefit from the profit that he would earn. I would then take it back when I came for the next Hajj; ‘Have it ready before the Hajj days.’ Upon return and having performed Hajj, I asked for the money […]”.

This incident not only shows that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had performed Hajj twice but also that he returned from Medina in a year’s time – the period between one Hajj and another. This is also confirmed by Shah Abdul Ghani’s assertion that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra would have to remain with him for a year.

Since a hard-and-fast timeline cannot be ascertained from Hazrat Nuruddin’s own accounts, or even those written afterwards in Hayat-e-Nur and Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, we are left with fragmented pieces of information to be put together for an approximate one.

Mentioning his first stay in Mecca, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra says that “it was around 1285 or 1286 Hijri […]”. This equates to 1868/69, hence ironing out the rest of the timeline that follows. (Hayat-e-Nur, p. 130; Mirqat al-Yaqin)

If his first arrival in Mecca is to be assumed in 1868/69, his stay there for a year-and-a-half takes us to around 1871. A year-long stay at Medina takes us to 1872. Hajj that year happened at the end of September. Taking him to have departed sometime in October, it is safe to assume his return to India by the end of the same or early part of the New Year.

The weekly Badr, Qadian, of 27 July 1905, published the news of the death of his wife who, as the obituary states, “got married to [him] upon his return to Bhera from his educational tours of India and Arabia, when he was around 30 years of age”.

Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat sees his age to be around 30 when he arrived back from Hijaz on similar grounds. Therefore, our timeline is now aligned here with that suggested in Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat. It will, however, still swerve a bit in some coming parts of this article.

That he was “around 30” when he returned can also be testified from one of his own accounts about the days he spent in Mecca:

“Since I was in my youth and around 24 or 25 years old, and owing to my physical strength, I would only eat a date with water or milk”. (Hayat-e-Nur, p. 60)

Back home – Bhera

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra returned to his hometown with the reputation of a scholar who had travelled far and wide – Hijaz being the jewel in his crown– and had now returned home. He was received with great honour and respect by the locals as a son of Bhera who had once left the town and was now returning as a scholar.

However, this title of a “scholar” came at a heavy cost as it also carried with it a prefix of “Wahhabi”. Anti-Wahhabi sentiment was not only rife in Muslim circles, but in the circles of the British-Indian government as well. (The jihadist bent of the Ahl-e-Hadith has been touched upon above in relation to the Mujahidin Movement and its Wahhabi sponsors.)

This left Wahhabis in an extremely vulnerable state, so much so that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had to face bitter opposition in his own hometown. Amongst decrees that declared him (along with other Wahhabis) a heretic, and attempts on his life, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was to spend around four years in his hometown – until the end of 1876.

Upon arrival, he got married for the first time and settled down as a teacher of Islamic studies, while also running a mat‘ab (clinic) as a part-time occupation.

He had established his practice in the terrace of his family home, but with all the decrees and persecution that surrounded his person, it seems that the practice struggled; making ends just about meet. (Mirqat al-Yaqin)

He states in his personal account that he was penniless in those days.

After some time, which again is not specified, his father passed away and his brother, Maulvi Sultan Ahmad, asked him to testify in writing about an issue related to inheritance.

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra took this as a signal and decided to move out of the family home to a room in a nearby mosque along with his practice.

With no resources but a huge deal of hope, he started building his own house. He borrowed 1,200 rupees from a Hindu for this venture, not knowing how the loan would be returned. The building, even before it had started, went through a turbulent phase where land ownership, planning permission and the paraphernalia of real estate kept popping up from time to time.

In search of employment

Now that he owed 1,200 rupees to the Hindu lender, he had no clue as to how it would be paid back. This, given the information from his biographical accounts, must have been December 1876.

His once benefactor, Munshi Jamaluddin of Bhopal had invited him to take up employment in the court of Bhopal. He wanted to avail the opportunity as this seemed to be the only way to pay off his loan.

As he decided to head to Bhopal, he came across a long-time friend, Malik Fateh Khan, who visited him in Bhera and informed him that all rulers of princely states and their courtiers had assembled at Delhi where Lord Lytton, then viceroy of India, was holding the Delhi Durbar.

This Delhi Durbar was held on 1 January 1877 to celebrate the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India. For this purpose, Lord Lytton had invited all rulers of princely states to grant them titles and medals as an acknowledgement of their solidarity with the British Crown. Munshi Jamaluddin was accompanying the Begum of Bhopal as her diwan (chief minister). All dignitaries were staying in tents in a vast tent-city erected specially for their accommodation.

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra travelled from Bhera to Lahore and then from Lahore to Delhi by train. This was in the last days of December 1876 as the Durbar was to assemble on New Year’s Day.

It was in these days, leading up to the Durbar, that Munshi Jamaluddin’s grandson fell ill. With Hazrat Nuruddin^ra around, Munshi Jamaluddin turned to him and remunerated him 700 rupees as a reward for the timely treatment and another 500 rupees later. Thus, the loan of 1,200 rupees was ready to be paid back.

Jamaluddin insisted to take Hazrat Nuruddin^ra along to Bhopal, to which Hazrat Nuruddin^ra wholeheartedly agreed. This marked the start of a second Bhopal episode in Hazrat Nuruddin’s life.

His own accounts suggest that he was employed in Bhopal at a monthly salary of 200 rupees and was allowed private practice in his own time. However, this only lasted a few months.

It was upon his return to Bhera from Bhopal that he finally headed to Jammu to work as the physician for the Maharaja of Kashmir. Before proceeding to the Kashmir episode of his life, we must pause and untangle a few facts.

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Last Updated on 3rd June 2022

Click here for Part I

Asif M Basit

Introduction to the Maharaja of Kashmir

It seems best to first look at the autobiographical accounts of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra before delving into the timeframe of his move to Jammu and Kashmir.

In Hakim-e-Haziq, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra, mentioning how successful his practice in Bhera had become, says:

“A person from Jammu, suffering from Tuberculosis, came to see me in Bhera and stayed in my neighbourhood. His name was Lala Mithra Das. When I had treated him and he had recovered, the prime minister of Jammu, Diwan Kirpa Ram happened to visit Pind Dadan Khan. He, along with Bakhshi Jawala Singh (an uncle of the patient) mentioned me to the Maharaja.”

After this, he carries on mentioning some other success stories of his practice in Bhera and then states:

“I now close the Bhera part here […] and move on to Jammu”.

Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat rightly identifies the time of Mithra Das’s treatment and the mention of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to the Maharaja in 1876, but that he moved to Jammu to work as the Maharaja’s physician at that very time seems unlikely.

Since Diwan Kirpa Ram deceased on 22 September 1876 (Times of India, 30 Sept 1876), it is probable that he mentioned Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to the Maharaja sometime during the same year.

But the fact that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra is still seen in need of employment at the end of 1876 and plans to visit the Delhi Durbar in January 1877 and then travels to Bhopal to be employed by the state indicates that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was not in Kashmir before mid-1877.

From the above, we find it clear enough to believe that Kirpa Ram’s journey through Pind Dadan Khan and introducing Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to the Maharaja must have happened before September 1876 (the time of Kirpa Ram’s death) but the Delhi Durbar and the Bhopal episodes of early 1877 do not allow placing Hazrat Nuruddin’s move to Jammu in 1876.

Therefore, we can confidently say that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra joined the court of the Maharaja as a physician in mid or late 1877.

Kashmir in the times of Ranbir Singh

In his biographical accounts, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra is sometimes found mentioning the Maharaja as a very wise person, and, at others, as a man of very low intellectual calibre. This is because he remained in service of two Maharajas, one after the other. He joined the court during the time of Ranbir Singh and, after his death in 1885, continued serving his son Pratap Singh, who ascended as the Maharaja.

Maharaja Ranbir Singh had inherited the throne of Kashmir from his father, Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. What he had also inherited from his father were British intrigues in the affairs of Kashmir, which both the father and the son had successfully kept at bay.

The British, having sold Kashmir to Gulab Singh, had immediately started to regret the decision as this move meant being disconnected from the Russian borders and, hence, becoming unaware of Russian intrigues – an obsession that gave sleepless nights to the British government.

Immediately after the sale and the lodging of Gulab Singh as the sovereign of Kashmir, the British had tried to have some sort of presence in the Maharaja’s court. Gulab Singh, shrewd as he was, had managed to not let this happen, and so did his successor-son, Ranbir Singh. Records show that the British Government had tried tooth and nail to install a Political Resident in Kashmir during the time of Ranbir Singh but the latter’s resistance led them to drop the idea. (Madhavi Yasin, British Paramountcy in Kashmir 1876-1894, Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, 1984)

Since the British government remained the “Paramount Power” for Kashmir (Treaty of Amritsar, 1846) their intrigues took the better part of Ranbir Singh and they had finally managed to install an “officer on special duty” in Kashmir. This was seen as a win-win situation for both: The Maharaja thought he had avoided a British Resident; the British had got their foot in the door. (Madhavi Yasin, British Paramountcy in Kashmir 1876-1894, Atlantic Publishers, New Delhi, 1984)

This move, and the subsequent intervention of the British in state matters, led to a situation where Ranbir Singh realised that the British would not leave Kashmir in peace. He knew that the British will regain suzerainty by hook or by crook.

Edward E Meakin, a journalist who had had interviews with Ranbir Singh, once told a meeting of the East India Association in August 1889:

“I will relate an incident which occurred in the year 1876. I was one day sitting by the side of the late Maharaja of Kashmir talking over various matters […] The Maharaja suddenly turned to me and said: ‘I learned a great many things by my recent visit to Calcutta […] It was an open secret that the British Government wanted to annex Kashmir, and that it was only a question of time and skilful manoeuvring”.

Ranbir Singh further opened his heart by telling the journalist:

“I am a buffer; on one side of me there is the big train of the British possessions, and whenever they push northward, they will tilt up against me; then on the other side is the shaky concern Afghanistan, and the other side of it is the ponderous train and engine called Roos [Russia]. Every now and then, there is a tilting of Roos towards Afghanistan, and simultaneously there is a tilting upwards of the great engine in Calcutta; and I am the poor little button between them.

“Someday, perhaps not far distant, there will be a tilting from the North, and Afghanistan will smash up. Then there will be a tremendous tilt from the South, and I shall be buried in the wreck and lost!” (William Digby, Condemned, Unheard, Indian Political Agency, London, 1890)

These prophetic words by Maharaja Ranbir Singh were uttered in 1876 – the time that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was about to join his service. Maharaja Ranbir Singh’s analogy and his references to the three players therein – Britain, Afghanistan and Russia – ought to be kept in mind as they set the stage for Hazrat Nuruddin’s time in Kashmir – his time of prosperity; of test and turbulence; of eventually parting with an unstable worldly kingdom to a mighty and heavenly one.

The court of Ranbir Singh

Ranbir Singh was given the gaddi (throne) of Kashmir by his father, Maharaja Gulab Singh to be trained for his future duties. During this period of regency, Ranbir Singh let the state machinery run on the settings of his father and made no major changes. However, when he was officially installed as Maharaja is when he made major changes in the revenue, civil and administrative spheres of the state machinery. Affairs of the judiciary were also seriously revised. (K L Kalla, The Literary Heritage of Kashmir, p. 76)

What makes the reign of Ranbir Singh distinct from those of other Dogra rulers is his contribution towards education. Although without any formal education himself, Ranbir Singh strove to establish a culture of education and literary learning in the State of Kashmir.

He established Pathshalas where “poetry, poetics, grammar, philosophy, mathematics, algebra and Euclid” (Dr Buhler’s report on Sanskrit Manuscripts) were taught, alongside “Vedas and nyaya”. (Pandit Gwasha Lal Kaul, Kashmir Through the Ages, Chronicle Publishing House, Srinigar, 1963)

KL Kalla, in The Literary Heritage of Kashmir, states:

“Whatever his own standard of formal education, it is a fact that Maharaja Ranbir Singh did his utmost to spread modern education in the State. His interest in the promotion of knowledge was not confined to the State. He donated one lakh of rupees when the Punjab University was being established and in recognition of his services, was elected the First Fellow of the University”. (Ibid, p. 77)

Dr Ghulam Mohyuddin Sufi, a renowned historian of Kashmir, asserts:

“Ranbir held gatherings on the model of Akbar when men of learning were gathered together for discussion of religious and social matters. Diwan Kirpa Ram was his Abu’l Fazl […]”. (Sufi, GMD, Kashir: Being a history of Kashmir, From the earliest to our own, University of the Punjab, Vol. 2, p. 802, Lahore, 1948)

We remind our readers that it was the same Diwan Kirpa Ram whose eye had seen the spark in Hazrat Nuruddin^ra and recommended him to Maharaja Ranbir Singh.

Sufi goes on to describe the grandeur of the learned court of Ranbir Singh:

“The names of important litterateurs were: Pandit Ganesh Kaul Shastri, Babu Nilambar Mukerji, Dr Bakhshi Ram, Dr Surajbal, Pandit Sahib Ram, Pandit Himmat Ram Razdan, Mirza Abar Beg, Hakim Waliullah Shah Lahauri, Sayyid Ghulam Jilani, Maulavi Nasiru-ud-Din, Maulavi Ghulam Husain Tabib of Luckhnow, Maulavi Qalandar Ali Panipati, Maulavi Abdullah Mujtahid-ul-Asr, Hafiz Hajji Hakim Nur-ud-Din Qadiani, Babu Nasrullah Isai.” (Ibid)

Sufi sees them as “the ornaments of the literary darbar of Maharaja Ranbir Singh.” (Ibid)

As mentioned above, Diwan Kirpa Ram was instrumental in gathering the intelligentsia in Kashmir. He is said to be dignified, of literary taste and was himself a seasoned author – Gulzar-e-Kashmir and Gulab-nama being his major works. (Ibid)

Richard Temple, who met Kirpa Ram in 1871 describes him as “a man of considerable intelligence, and ambitious of earning a good administrative repute for his master’s government”. (Richard Temple, Journals kept in Hyderabad, Kashmir, Sikkim and Nepal, Vol. 2, p. 144)

One of the greatest accomplishments of Ranbir Singh was the Dar al-Tarjuma (translation bureau) which he had established for translating world-class masterpieces into Dogri, Persian and other languages that the Kashmiri public could benefit from. (KL Kalla, The Literary Heritage of Kashmir)

This called for scholars from all parts of India to be employed by the Maharaja. Sukhdev Charak mentions this great literary and intellectual venture in the following words:

“This increased, in addition to the educational, the literary activity to such an immensity as has never been attained by the people of the State afterwards. For this purpose, he patronised scholars of all communities. This group of scholars included, besides numerous eminent teachers and experts, Fateh Singh, Hakim Fida Muhammad Khan, Maulvi Nur-ud-Din, Pandit Ganesh and Jeotshi Bashesharjoo.” (Sukhdev Singh Charak, Life and Times of Maharaja Ranbir Singh, Jay Kay Book House, Jammu)

The Maharaja had made certain reading material compulsory for all state employees to study and pass an examination to enter and maintain the service of the state. The examining and certificate awarding body comprised “scholars like Fateh Singh, Hakim Fida Mohammad Khan, Maulvi Nur-ud-Din, Pandit Ganesh and Jyotshi Bisheshwar”. (Ibid)

Out of all the learned men, Sufi particularly mentions one who excelled to world fame:

“Hakim Nur-ud-Din, his trusted physician, later became the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the founder of the Ahmadiyya sect in the Punjab.” (Sufi, GMD, Kashir: Being a history of Kashmir, From the earliest to our own, University of the Punjab, Vol. 2, p. 802, Lahore, 1948)

It was this golden era – and the most peaceful one – of Dogra Raj where this “trusted physician” enjoyed years of medical practice as well as teaching and learning about Islam. The names in the long list of learned men are self-evident of the cultural and religious diversity that Ranbir Singh has established in the state where Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had chosen to live.

The death of Ranbir Singh

As Ranbir Singh grew old and his health started to deteriorate, the British government set their intrigues at an all-time high. Correspondence that took place between the Oliver St John, the officer on special duty, and Henry Mortimer Durand, the secretary of state for India, lay bare the net knitted by the British government and how it was spread across the machinery of the State of Kashmir.

Durand gave instructions to St John in the following words:

“(1) That if at any time the Maharaja’s death should appear to be near at hand the officer on Special Duty should arrange to be near at hand.

(2) That he should join the Maharaja at Jammu or wherever he may then be and prevent any disorder occurring […]”. (India Office Records, R/2/1073/194, Foreign Office, Government of India, secret letter to Oliver St John, dated 7 April 1884)

Oliver St John had, a year before Ranbir Singh’s death, informed the British government that Partap Singh, the heir-apparent, was not fit to succeed as Maharaja. He informed the British-Indian Government that:

“There is no doubt that the Maharaja has occasionally had serious thoughts of setting aside his two eldest sons, Partab Singh and Ram Singh, in favour of his third son, Amar Singh. Mian Partab Singh, the eldest, is about 30 years of age, and has besotted an intellect, never very strong, by habitual indulgence in the most degrading vices […] It is certain that he would be a very weak, if not a very bad ruler.”

He goes on to speak about Ram Singh, the second eldest son and second in line to the throne, also being an unsuitable successor. Then he mentions the third son, Raja Amar Singh:

“Amar Singh, is a very good-looking lad of 18, is a general favourite, and is at least superior in ability to his elder brothers. The Maharajah had at one time made up his mind to speak or write to His Excellency the Viceroy on the subject of nominating Amar Singh his heir, but was at the last moment induced to abandon the idea by fear of a public enquiry into his reasons for disinheriting his elder sons.” (Ibid, Memorandum dated 20 January 1884, by Sir Oliver St Joh, Officer on Special Duty in Kashmir)

The government, keeping in view Oliver St John’s report, wrote to the Secretary of State for India and suggested that although “the heir-apparent to the chiefship is said to be unfitted in character and habits to govern the State”, but it was in the greater interest that:

“[…] no encouragement should be given to the idea that an eldest son can be set aside at the will of his father”. (India Office Records, R/2/1073/194, Foreign Office, Government of India, secret letter to Oliver St John, dated 7 April, 1884)

The Secretary of State, upon receiving the above proposal, endorsed it and replied:

“While I regret to receive so unfavourable an account of the character of the Maharaja’s heir, I agree with Your Excellency’s Government [of India] in regarding as inexpedient any deviation, in the case of Kashmir, from the regular succession by order of primogeniture”. (Ibid, Secret Despatch from Secretary of State for India, No. 11, 23 may 1884)

He further emphasised in the same letter that “Mian Pertab Singh should be proclaimed immediately on his father’s death”. (Ibid)

Gulab Singh had kept the British intrigues in the State of Kashmir at bay and so did his son Ranbir Singh. The British government’s eager and desperate desire for Ranbir Singh’s death is evident from the letters above (and many more that have not been quoted for fear of deviating from the actual subject). Another shrewd ruler like Amar Singh could further delay their ardent desire to annex Kashmir. Hence, what most suited their agenda was an incompetent ruler like Partap Singh, who, to their good fortune, was devoid of any political sensibility or vision and of any abilities of a good ruler.

The British had envisaged the death of Ranbir Singh and the succession of Partap Singh as the best opportunity to install a British Resident Officer in the State of Kashmir. This had been communicated by the Government of India’s Foreign Department through a secret letter dated 1 August 1884 to Oliver St John. He was, when the long-anticipated time struck instructed to:

“[…] inform His Highness [the new Maharaja] and the members of his Darbar of the views and intentions of the British Government in regard to the future administration of the State. You should give them clearly to understand that His Excellency the Viceroy regards the existing condition of affairs in Kashmir as most unsatisfactory, and you should warn His Highness and those about him that substantial reforms must be introduced without delay. You should then announce that, with the view of aiding His Highness in the introduction and maintenance of those reforms, the Viceroy has decided to give His Highness the assistance of a resident English Officer, and that for future the British representative in Kashmir will have the same status and duties as the Political Resident in other Indian States in subordinate alliance with the British Government.” (Ibid)

So desperate was the move that upon the death of Ranbir Singh on 12 September 1885, Oliver St John headed straight to the new Maharaja to inform him of the Government’s instructions. The Darbar staff made it clear to St John that due to the mourning rituals, the Maharaja would not see anyone, but he pushed his way and met the Maharaja, bringing to his knowledge all that had been decided about his fate. (Ibid, Oliver St John to Durand, 18 September 1885)

The ascension of Partap Singh

Hayat-e-Nur suggests that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had cordial relations with Raja Amar Singh and those who were envious of it conspired to have Hazrat Nuruddin^ra expelled from the court and also from Kashmir. However, research carried out for this article was able to tap on official documentation which presents a completely different story. The following detail, lengthy and windy it may seem, suggests that the situation was completely different, although Hazrat Nuruddin^ra spoke fondly of Raja Amar Singh on a number of occasions in his autobiographical accounts.

Partap Singh’s ascension to the gaddi as Maharaja and Oliver St John’s promotion from Officer on Special Duty to Political Resident in Kashmir happened simultaneously; with this started a tug of war that left the administration of Jammu and Kashmir torn to pieces, never to be put together again.

As we have seen above, the resident’s only ambition – fuelled by the British Indian government – was to control all affairs of the State of Kashmir. Installing a Political Resident was the government’s first move; how he was to manoeuvre the state of affairs in the desired direction was now to be decided.

We know from the facts presented above that Oliver St John had already informed the government about Partap Singh being unfit for the role of the Maharaja. Also, that his younger brother Amar Singh was seen as a much more suitable person for administrative matters. The policy of “divide and rule” had worked for the British so very well that not a minute was lost in employing the same; it was decided that the palace had to be split to gain full control of the conflicting forces.

Oliver St John, on 8 January 1886, wrote to the government:

“In a memorandum written two years ago on Kashmir affairs, I remarked that Mian Pertab Singh, then the heir-apparent, would, if he ever succeeded to the Chiefship, prove a very weak, if not a very bad, ruler. He has now been nearly four months in power, and has shown himself equally weak and bad […]

“His Highness’s two brothers, Mian Ram Singh and Mian Amar Singh, were at once and ostentatiously excluded from all participation in affairs. There then remained only Diwan Anant Ram, the titular Prime Minister, Gobind Sahai, his cousin, formerly Vakil in attendance on His Excellency the Viceroy, and Babu Nilambar Mukerji.” (Ibid)

The two brothers, Ram Singh and Amar Singh had gathered that the only way to gain power was through the resident; the resident had gathered that to stay on top of everything was by having the brothers on his side. The resident continues in the same letter:

“On the 26^th of December the two asked me to come and see them, and begged me to interfere to save both themselves and the State from ruin […]

“Mian Amar Singh then showed me, and afterwards gave me, copies of photographs of documents which, if genuine, as I have reason to believe them to be, place the criminal foolishness of the Maharaja and his unfitness to rule beyond doubt”. (Ibid, Folio 40-41)

Purging Partap Singh’s court

The above correspondence clearly shows that Partap Singh could not be deposed owing to cultural traditions and fear of a public uprising, but he had to be set aside. To set him aside, everyone close to him had to be purged from the court. And this, consequently, meant that the administrative décor set up by Ranbir Singh – and inherited by Partap Singh – had to be purged from the darbar; lest any element of resistance to the British agenda remained behind.

So the newly appointed resident, Oliver St John, and his successors took it upon themselves to not only portray Partap Singh as corrupt, foolish, insane, superstitious and anything that could prove him unworthy and unfit for his inherited office. The same had to be done to everyone around him in his court. The groundwork had started already through Oliver St John’s letter, quoted above and dated 8 January 1886. He further wrote:

“As long as Maharaja Pertab Singh is allowed any power, that power will be misused. Every encroachment on the independence, as compared to other feudatories, which the late Maharaja was allowed to retain, will be fought with every possible weapon; no real reform will be made, and such measures as may be forced upon the Darbar will be grudgingly carried out and evaded in every possible way, while the resources of the State will be squandered on unworthy favourites.” (Ibid)

As Oliver St John was delegated other duties, he was succeeded by TJC Plowden as Resident in Kashmir. The narrative had to remain the same and so it did. Plowden compiled a detailed report titled “Report on the affairs of the State of Jummoo and Kashmir”, marked it as “Confidential” and sent it off to the secretary to the government of India, foreign department. This report, dated 5 March 1888 and spanning 18 pages, was a reinforcement of the idea that the Maharaja was unfit for the office, was under the influence of superstitious soothsayers and had “favourites” around him. The whole report can be summarised in one sentence: The Maharaja must be kept away from state affairs and all “favourites” must be disgraced and kicked out of the darbar. (Details: Report on the affairs of the State of Jummoo and Kashmir by Plowden, IOR/1073/194)

Feeling that the report might not have been enough, he wrote to the Foreign Department again on 28 March, 1888. He wrote:

“In continuation of this office No.12-C, dated 8^th March, I have the honour to enclose copy of the paper complaining of the Maharaja referred to in paragraph 22 of my report on the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir”. (Ibid, Folio 48)

This letter summarised and further emphasised the charge laid against the Maharaja “that he surrounded himself with disreputable and fraudulent persons whose tool he became and also at whose instigation he entered in a course of reckless extravagance.”

With his letter, he attached a lengthy document titled “Translation of petition of certain Princes and Sirdars of the Jammu State to the address of the Resident in Kashmir”.

The petition elaborated how disgraceful and unworthy a man Partap Singh was and had always been. But since the “favourites” had to be completely purged from the state, the first point of the petition read:

“The present Maharaja when he was heir apparent, attempted to take the life of his father and brothers, that he might more quickly ascend to the Gaddi and ruin the State and empty the Treasury. Moreover to carry out his designs he surrounded himself with low-born persons such as Mohd. Bux Najumi (astrologer), Shisti Chander (Bengali), Mian Chatru, Bakhshi Ram Lubaid, Nehalu Teka, Lal Man, Karam Singh, Sheikh Miran Bux, Sawal Singh, Prem Nath, Amir Jiwar, Set Ramanand, Sheikh Fateh Mohammad, Moulvi Nur Din, Pandit Pitamber etc. persons who stayed with him and took lacs of rupees and valuable jewels and clothing from him.” (Ibid, Folio 54)

This petition was signed by none else but the brothers of the Maharaja, namely Raja Amar Singh and Raja Ram Singh, along with Diwan Lachman Das, Wazir Shibcharan and Mian Lal Din.

Before we come back to Hazrat Nuruddin’s story, it must be noted here that of those declaring Hazrat Nuruddin^ra a “low-born” and as one who had caused much harm to the state treasury through their closeness with Partap Singh, is Raja Amar Singh.

Now that the stage was set to have the Maharaja side-lined as defunct, the Indian Government was still grappling with the native culture where doing so could create public unrest and uprising. So Plowden’s conspiracies, fully backed by the brothers of the Maharaja were at an all-time high, when Plowden was transferred and replaced by Parry Nisbet as the new Resident in Kashmir.

Nisbet had been a close friend of Maharaja Ranbir Singh, and later of Partap Singh as well. This once-upon-a-time friendship left the Maharaja relieved of many worries, later to realise that political ambitions always supersede friendship and cordial relations. Nisbet was there to carry on in executing the agenda that had been unfolding during the times of his predecessors, Oliver St John and Plowden.

The Russian Gambit

Raja Amar Singh and his associates took leverage of the change and assisted Nisbet in his conspiracies against the Maharaja and his “favourites”.

On 25 February 1889, Raja Amar Singh handed Nisbet a bundle of letters written by the Maharaja to the Tsar of Russia. The letters were written in Dogri and appeared to be in the Maharaja’s own handwriting.

Without any investigation, Nisbet reported this discovery to the Indian Government and pushed that the Maharaja be deposed with immediate effect. However, Nisbet’s enthusiasm was not shared at the same level by the Viceroy or Henry Mortimer Durand, the foreign secretary. Durand, who was well aware of Raja Amar Singh’s ventures against the Maharaja, wrote back that using these letters as leverage for deposing the Maharaja and his associates would make the government “wash a great deal of dirty linen in public”. (National Archives of India, Lansdowne Papers, 7B(i), pp. 535-537)

However, Nisbet approached the Maharaja and told him what grave consequences the letters could have on the repute of the Maharaja and his family, and how the public would lose confidence in him and the ruling family. The Maharaja, although denying writing any such letters, appeared tired and worn of the conspiracies. He consented that he was ready to accept any proposal of the Indian government as long as his face and that of his family could be saved from shame before the public. This was on the 7 and 8 March 1889. (India Office Records, R/2/1073/194, Foreign Office, Government of India, Nisbet to Foreign Office, Government of India, Folio 173)

On 8 March 1889, Raja Amar Singh brought to the Resident an edict written by the Maharaja where he gave consent to stay away from all administrative affairs of the state and let the government decide how the affairs were to be managed. (Ibid, Nisbet’s report on Kashmir Affairs, 20 March 1889)

On 26 March 1889, Foreign Secretary for the Government of India, Mortimer Durand, wrote to the Resident in Kashmir (Parry Nisbet) that a State Council be formed and made responsible for running the affairs of the State. The Maharaja was to be kept aloof and confined to his palace. As to the functionality of the State Council, Durand wrote:

“Raja Amar Singh will be president. The Council will have full powers subject to provision that they must consult you before taking any important step and that they must follow your advice whenever you may offer it.” (India Office Records, R/2/1073/194, Folio 178)

The prophetic apprehensions of Ranbir Singh were thus manifested. The mighty engine of Britain, obsessively paranoid of Russian intrigues, had pushed upwards with full force and the State of Kashmir, like a ripe fruit, had fallen straight into the hands of the British Indian government; or out of the pan, into the fire, to put it more factually.

A new Kashmir for Hazrat Nuruddin^ra

Gone were the days of Maharaja Ranbir Singh and his court that thrived on knowledgeable and intellectual scholars. Kashmir was ablaze with political conspiracies and more like its famous autumnal Chinars. What now prevailed in the court of the Maharaja was an atmosphere of dysfunctionality and lowly tactics for survival.

We can imagine what grief this must have caused for a man with love for knowledge. With a magnificent background of learning and scholarship, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had certainly not signed up for such hostile atmosphere.

Although his own accounts do not speak much about the anguish he suffered in this new setting, the correspondence that took place between him and his spiritual master, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as of Qadian, tells a very sorrowful story.

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra seems to have found this spiritual master in 1885 (Maktubat-e-Ahmad, being letters of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Vol. 2). This was around the time when Ranbir Singh was succeeded by Partap Singh and Kashmir had turned into nothing more than a political theatre. The great vacuum left behind by the fall of a centre of learning and knowledge got filled by his acquaintance with the man who had only just started calling the world to the Kingdom of God.

It is very unfortunate that we do not have the letters written by Hazrat Nuruddin^ra, but the replies by Hazrat Ahmad^as were kept safe and published as Maktubat-e-Ahmad. These replies speak sufficiently for their missing counterparts.

It appears that the “favourites”, once employed by the Maharaja’s court, were made to revise their contracts. These contracts were to be signed on terms and conditions set by the council. This is evident from Durand’s letter (dated 26 March, 1889 and quoted above) where he instructs the Resident as such:

“You should also ascertain requirements of the State in regard to trained subordinate officials and suggest precise conditions to which Maharaja will be expected to conform. He must have adequate but no extravagant allowance and must resign all power of alienating State revenue.” (India Office Records, R/2/1073/194)

It appears that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra resigned from the State service in the early summer of 1886. Hazrat Ahmad^as wrote to him on 20 June 1886:

“Your resignation from the job is apparently disheartening; but you must have seen some wisdom behind it”.

Another letter from Hazrat Ahmad^as, dated 7 July 1886, addressed to Hazrat Nuruddin^ra reads:

“That your resignation has not been accepted is just as I had desired. God willing, promotion will follow soon.”

But our great intellectual seems dissatisfied. This is gathered from another letter by Hazrat Ahmad^as in 1886 (date not given):

“In my opinion, you should not quit the job. Even if they offer you a lower pay, you should accept it. Deal with everyone with good morals and dignity. A believer is expected not to make hasty decisions and that too without consultation. I, therefore, advise you not to dissociate yourself [from the employment]. I am disturbed to know that you resigned when you had told me earlier that this dissociation is not from your side. However, you should now aim at trying to stay in this job.”

Letters from early 1887 reflect the great distress and anguish that struck Hazrat Nuruddin^ra in the unfavourable atmosphere he was living in. For instance, a letter from January 1887 reads:

“If your state of sloth and anxiety is a physical ailment, then you would know its cure and treatment better than me. If it is out of spiritual reasons, then there is no better cure than what Allah the Almighty has given us […]

“So it is best to take God the Almighty to be our Provider and Carer; and to remain steadfast through tests and tribulations is the only cure to sloth and anxiety.”

On 13 February 1887, Hazrat Ahmad^as wrote to him:

“May Allah the Almighty, through His powers and His benevolence that have left in awe the whole world, rescue you from your sloth and fear and anxiety.

“It has been a very appropriate decision to have accepted the employment.”

Letters, written throughout 1887, point to a state of dissatisfaction and malaise of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra. His holy master, however, continues to pray and keeps him going.

Letters written in 1888 show Hazrat Nuruddin^ra still undergoing immense stress. Hazrat Ahmad^as, on 5 January, expresses his concern and desire to visit Hazrat Nuruddin^ra in Jammu.

A letter of 22 January 1888 again carries advice and prayers for the tests and trials that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra is having to endure; another written on 22 February mentions financial hardships where he is having to borrow money.

These were the years when Hazrat Ahmad^as was in the process of setting up his divine mission. He was constantly writing books for the defence of Islam and having them published. The cost of printing extensive material was hefty and Hazrat Ahmad^as was considering having his own press installed in Qadian. Almost every letter carries mention of these expenses and gratitude for Hazrat Nuruddin’s generous contributions towards them.

A letter dated 29 February advises Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to stay away from debts and be very careful with his spending, using only a quarter or third of his earnings and saving the rest. Hazrat Ahmad^as states:

“Be very careful with your spending as your earnings are important for our economy and bring for you a great deal of spiritual reward”.

This goes to prove that the pain and hardship of staying in an extremely hostile and unfavourable atmosphere was Hazrat Nuruddin’s sacrifice for his faith. He remained a major contributor, surpassing all other members of the then small community of Hazrat Ahmad^as in financial offerings.

Hazrat Ahmad^as had announced in late March 1889 the formal inauguration of the Ahmadiyya Community by taking the oath of initiation from those that had accepted his claims and were ready to be counted among his community. A letter of Hazrat Ahmad^as, dated 20 February 1889, indicates that the said time was not suitable for Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to travel for the said purpose. It reads:

“The dates announced in the tract Takmil-e-Tabligh are only administratively suitable […] and not obligatory. You are allowed to attend for this ceremony when you have the time and when there are no obstacles.”

This letter from February 1889 coincides with the conspiracy hatched against the Maharaja in relation to the letters to the Tsar. It was a difficult time not only for the Maharaja but all the state staff; not to mention those accused of being his “favourites”. Hazrat Nuruddin’s reluctance seems to be due to the grave allegations brought against the Maharaja and his close associates.

However, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra managed to attend the initiation ceremony on 23 March 1889 and to return to Jammu; to find out that the Maharaja had become defunct and the State Council had completely taken over all administrative affairs. Hardship awaited him. Durand’s letter of 1 April 1889 had ordered the Resident that the government did not want to leave Kashmir “in the hands of Punjabi foreigners” and that he should “ascertain requirements of the State with regard to subordinate services and should submit for the approval of the Government […] as to the steps to be taken for reorganising the administrative services.” (National Archives of India, Lansdowne Papers, Durand to Nisbet, 1 April 1889)

Letters written to him by Hazrat Ahmad^as point to a new surge of disturbance and distress that awaited Hazrat Nuruddin^ra in Jammu. On 21 March 1891, he is consoled in the following words:

“Your employment is of a great benefit to us. Its exterior may seem worldly but intrinsically, it is all for the faith.

“Although there is a great conflict going on, there seems to be divine wisdom behind you being stationed at such a place.”

The situation continued to deteriorate and on 16 August 1891, he is told:

“It is quite natural for jealousy to exist in worldly affairs […]. May God’s protection and favour be with you. It is without a doubt that such matters are perilous […]

“You are at an advance level of camaraderie and morals and mellowness, and I hope that you will demonstrate the same with your enemies and the envious; and that you shall abstain from interfering in affairs of the state.”

In the meantime, in 1891, the Maharaja was reinstated partially back to power. By this time, the game of betrayal and conspiracy had got to the extent where the Maharaja was no longer sure who was trustworthy and who was not.

Advice and consolations continue to go out to him from Hazrat Ahmad^as until, finally, in August 1892; Hazrat Nuruddin^ra is expelled from his employment by the State Council. We gather this from Hazrat Ahmad’s letter dated 26 August:

“Having received your letter yesterday, I was left astonished. But then my heart opened up: This is another test from God, the Omniscience, the Merciful. God willing, this is nothing to fear. It is from Allah the Almighty’s ways of love that He tests His believers […]

“I cannot see why such harsh orders have been issued. How unfortunate is a state where the blessed and fortunate and truthful are driven out. Who knows what might happen next.”

Behind the scenes

The worries and sorrows of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra have been mentioned above. It would be a grave injustice to not mention how this great man continued with his duties and other virtuous acts as all this happened around him.

From his biographical accounts, we can infer that he was engaged in three major activities:

1. Treatment of the Maharaja, his relatives, as well as that of the underprivileged class. He occupied himself selflessly during the days of the great famines of Kashmir and those of cholera outbreaks.

2. Learning anything new that he could get his hands on. He mentions very fondly of learning Ayurvedic medicine from a Pandit Harnamdas. From Jammu, he wrote to German scholars of the Arabic language to enquire what books are best for learning Arabic and received their replies. He sponsored a group of young men to learn languages for the cause of the propagation of Islam.

3. Practicing and propagating the teachings of Islam. He takes pride in mentioning having taught some courtiers and even Raja Amar Singh some parts of the Holy Quran. He was known as an exemplary scholar of Islam in not only the State of Kashmir but all over India. He would travel to places to deliver lectures and would be highly commended.

While all the palace conspiracies went on and it became more and more difficult for him to stay in the hostile atmosphere, he remained steadfast in his faith and was widely known for doing so.

Amir Nisar Ali Shuhrat, editor of Rozan-e-Punjab and formerly head of the education department in Jammu, wrote a letter to the Civil & Military Gazette about Muslims in Kashmir and testified that:

“I have often said my prayers with Moulvie Noor-ud-din, the Durbar Physician, where they have loudly and freely called their Azan. Had it been forbidden by the Durbar, the said Moulvie would not have openly ventured to do so.” (Civil & Military Gazette, Lahore, 7 March 1889)

During these turbulent days, he delivered lectures on Islam to large gatherings of Muslims. Civil & Military Gazette, reporting on the annual convention of the Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam, said:

“At 2 p.m. Hakim Nuruddin of Jamu delivered a long lecture in vernacular on the present condition of the community at large, and assured his hearers that so long as the Muhammadans remained firm in their devotion to the law of the prophet and loyal to the British Government they need have no fear as to their future success in life.” (Civil & Military Gazette, Lahore, 25 February 1890)

Even in 1892, when his agony in the service of the State of Kashmir was at its height, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was busy lecturing about the teachings of Islam. A report from Civil & Military Gazette states:

“Moulvi Noor-ud-din, physician to H. H. the Maharajah of Kashmir, gave a philosophical lecture on Islam to a very large audience at Raja Dian Singh’s Haveli on the night of the 8^th instant. The lecture commenced at half past 7, and lasted till half past eleven.”

It appears that he was travelling with the Maharaja’s entourage who were visiting Lahore on the same dates. The news story immediately above this one mentioned the Maharaja visiting the Punjab Chief Court, Lahore on the same date as the lecture of Hazrat Nuruddin. (Ibid)

It is clear from his accounts that he would make generous contributions towards the Muslim cause wherever he deemed it useful. Amongst his beneficiaries were the likes of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam and, of course, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as of Qadian.

From Hazrat Ahmad’s letters addressed to him, it is seen that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra helped a large number of people in gaining employment in the State of Kashmir, even in the days when he himself was under immense pressure and his own employment dangled in uncertainty.

He summed up four deficiencies of states that function under absolute rulers:

1. The more ignorant the courtiers, the higher the chances there are of them gaining greater influence.

2. The rulers never let the bureaucracy work in peace and keep moving them around. This results in unrest and trust can never be developed between the ruler and his administrative staff.

3. Courtiers and ministers, owing to uncertainty, tend to get greedier so as to make the most out of their time in a certain position.

4. The government’s residents are conveyed mixed messages, which result in the resident’s mistrust in the ruler.

We can see from the entire story narrated in the above pages, that these points are derived from the experiences that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra endured during his state service in Kashmir.

He maintained good relations with everyone around him, regardless of whether this goodwill was reciprocated or not. He fondly mentions a few names that he spent time with in his Jammu years: Sheikh Fateh Muhammad, Gobind Sihai, Diwan Lachman Das, Raja Moti Singh of Poonch etc.

All of these men underwent hardships at the hands of the British Resident and his cronies i.e. the members of the State Council.

First of all, Lachman Das, the prime minister, was fired (The Englishman, 23 September 1885); the same happening to his successor, Gobind Sihai. (The Pioneer, 21 October, 1886; Minutes of meeting between the Maharaja and the Viceroy, Lord Dufferin, National Archives of India, Foreign Department, Progs, Sec E, December 1886)

The rest of the benefactors of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra, himself included, have already been mentioned in the list of persona non grata issued and signed by Raja Amar Singh and his associates.

The private servants of the Maharaja were a thorn in Plowden’s flesh ever since he had assumed office and was desperate to get rid of them at any cost. He wrote to the Foreign Department that if he could have them depart, “even on leave on [their] own accord, it will be a great gain.” (NAI, DP Reel 530, Plowden to Durand, 8 August 1886)

Some of these persons – once the blood and soul of an intellectually rich darbar – left on their own accord while some decided to cling on for as long as they could. Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was one of the latter. He had wanted to leave since 1885 but stayed behind on instructions of his master. In his autobiography, he recalls how once someone advised him to quit and leave. He replied by referring to the teachings of the Holy Prophet^sa of Islam that it was not a good deed to abandon a source of livelihood for no good reason. His employment was not only a source of livelihood for him but also a source of the funds that supported the budding mission of his master, Hazrat Ahmad^as.

When the Maharaja was deposed, the two new members added to the council were Suraj Kaul and Bhag Ram. (India Office Records, L/2/1073/194, Constitution of the Council, Folio 193)

Various departments were delegated to all four members of the council, with Suraj overseeing Revenue and Finance. With his newfound power, Suraj Kaul accused the “favourites” of the Maharaja’s court to be defaulters of huge amounts of money. This was the “Baqidar question” that loomed the latter days of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra in state service.

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra recalls that in the final days, Bag Ram, the fourth member of the Council and, naturally, a confidant of the Resident approached him and advised him to resign. Hazrat Nuruddin^ra replied in the negative as he placed teachings of Islam above personal pain or gain.

However, he was soon to be informed that he had been dismissed from state service and was ordered to leave Kashmir.

Although we do not find direct reference to this accusation of default in his autobiography, but a statement therein does lead us to assume a correlation. He states that he was “in debt of 195,000 rupees” at the time of his departure from Jammu.

Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had maintained cordial relations with the Maharaja as well as with Raja Amar Singh. Hazrat Nuruddin^ra states that Suraj Kaul – who wanted him out of the darbar by hook or by crook – took leverage of this and incited the Maharaja against him; the brothers were, after all, rivals in the game of power.

But this is Hazrat Nuruddin’s own assumption, about which he states:

“I do not have full knowledge [of what happened], but there are strong hints to suggest so.”

Later on, and a few lines down the same page, he mentions how the Maharaja – who had by then been reinstated – felt hurt at the pains that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had went through and invited him to join the state service again.

Hence, as is quite evident from the documents quoted above, it is more probable that the State Council, including Raja Amar Singh, were and had always been against Hazrat Nuruddin^ra. The Maharaja was flustered by the then situation and was happy to sign anything that could save the gaddi that he had been reinstated to.

However, Hazrat Nuruddin^ra had to leave Jammu. He never took it personally. When the Maharaja later apologised for the wrongdoings against Hazrat Nuruddin^ra, he replied:

“It was a crime against God the Almighty and only God can forgive it. What is there in man’s power?”

He departed from the worldly kingdom that was plagued with greed, intrigue, deceit and conspiracy. He moved to the place that he had actually been groomed by God to live in. He lived the rest of his life in Qadian where he was to be enthroned as a caliph of the heavenly kingdom established by his master, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.

The only character that appears to be remorseful is none else but the Maharaja who later arranged for Hazrat Nuruddin’s debt of 195,000 rupees to be paid off.

Was Hazrat Nuruddin^ra a spy?

While we are discussing the Jammu years of Hazrat Nuruddin^ra, it seems appropriate to address an allegation that has been levied against him by the opponents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Some say he was spying for the British government in Kashmir. Others say he was working as an agent with Russian authorities at the behest of the Maharaja.

As for spying for the British, the allegations can be found in anti-Ahmadiyya material written in the form of casual and passing statements. Such works in the Urdu language are Rafiq Dilawari’s Aima-e-Talbis and Rais-e-Qadian. No reference has been cited and the allegations have been imposed in casual and passing statements.

An English language work to insist on such claims is a book titled “Ahmadiyya Movement: British-Jewish Connections” by a Bashir Ahmad. This work, although garbed as an academic work by citing references, is published by no established publisher but by an Abdur Rashid of Islamic Study Forum, Rawalpindi. This work was published in 1994.

The author mentions Hazrat Nuruddin^ra as a “shrewd and clever person” before stating that “the Hakim kept a close watch on the bear hugs of Ranbir Singh who aspired to get rid of British domination in collaboration with the Czarist Russia.” (Bashir Ahmad, The Ahmadiyya Movement: British-Jewish Connections, Islamic Study Forum, Rawalpindi, 1994, p. 60)

He then goes on to mention two missions to Russia by Maharaja Ranbir Singh. He rightly mentions the names of persons involved, i.e. Sarfraz Khan, Abdur Rehman Khan, Baba Karam Parkash etc, but fails to cite any source to prove Hazrat Nuruddin’s involvement. To sound credible, he refers to Devandra Kaushir’s work Central Asia in Modern Times but fails to link it to his allegation against Hazrat Nuruddin^ra. Having read through Kaushir’s work, nothing has been found that links these missions to Hazrat Nuruddin^ra; on the contrary, a link even to the Maharaja is not established. General Chernayev, who received these missions in Russia, denied their claims to be representing the Maharaja as both the missions could not provide any proof of being so; the authorising letter, these delegates said, had been lost on the way. (Devandra Kaushir, Central Asia in Modern Times, Moscow, 1970, p. 104; National Archives of India, Foreign Department, Secret E, Pros April 1889, titled “Affairs of the Kashmir State. Discovery of treasonable letters.”)

Bashir Ahmad, having conveniently forgotten that he had, on just the opposite page, tried to prove Hazrat Nuruddin^ra to be an agent of the Maharaja in Russia, goes on to state:

“Nuruddin exerted considerable influence over Amar Singh. He convinced him that collaboration with the British was a prerequisite to attain power. Nuruddin also hatched another plot which was meant to establish British control in Kishtwar but the plan was subsequently dropped by the British Political Department.” (Bashir Ahmad, The Ahmadiyya Movement: British-Jewish Connections, Islamic Study Forum, Rawalpindi, 1994, p. 61)

For this self-contradicting statement, he cites as reference Rafiq Dilawari’s tabloid book, Aima-e-Talbis – the earlier mentioned casual and bias-laden work with no reference to any source whatsoever.

Since both statements contradict each other, there is no need for further comment. Bashir Ahmad, in his religious bias, presented his wishful thoughts as historical facts. Also, from the detailed discussion in this article has shown, from original sources, that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra was trusted neither by Raja Amar Singh (who signed the petition declaring him persona non grata), nor by the British Residents, who always sought ways of ousting him out of the system through any possible means.

The only work by a Western academic carrying this allegation, that I have been able to find, is titled Victoria’s Spymasters: Empire and Espionage by Stephen Wade. He writes:

“[…] before the Arab Bureau was in place, a group of Indian spies working for the British were in Egypt being sent there on a mission by Hakim Nuruddin, a doctor and court physician at Kashmir. Hakim worked with British political officers in the Raj from 1870, when he arranged for spies to travel to Tashkent and find out what diplomacy was going on regarding Russians.” (Stephen Wade, Victoria’s Spymasters: Empire and Espionage, The History Press, 2009)

Without providing any reference, Wade shamelessly moves on to narrating stories from history as if he was an eyewitness and his mere narration of events should suffice as credible testimony. The whole book is completely devoid of any citations. The once professor at the University of Hull should have known that such books might earn a bit of money and cheap fame, but never find a standing in the academic world; a hefty bibliography at the end of the book is no proof of any claims made therein.

Wade’s intellectual dishonesty also goes to show how publishers can be completely negligent of their responsibilities only at face value; although the author and his publisher, both seem to be devoid of any face value either.

What has given this baseless allegation currency for anti-Ahmadiyya writers and journalists in the Urdu language is Qudrutullah Shahab’s memoir-style autobiography, titled Shahabnama. While Shahab – a bureaucrat of Pakistan – is known for twisting facts and presenting lies as truth to fit his storyline, we can understand his underlying impetus behind him venturing on this allegation.

Shahab was a pseudo-mystic who gained following in the intellectual circles. He was very successful to have gained followers like Bano Qudsia and Ashfaq Ahmad. Not all intellectuals were under his spell and the liberal minded see him as an opportunist and a turncoat. (For a better understanding: Akhtar Abbas, From Bhutto to Zia to Musharraf, The Daily Dawn, 2 January 2016)

Before moving on, we need to see how opportunist literati (ironic as the term might sound) like Qudratullah Shahab mushroomed the literary scene of Urdu literature. To avoid giving my personal statement (that could be seen as biased), I present below an extract from international political analyst Ayesha Siddiqa’s enlightening piece:

“General Ziaul Haq’s military regime needed to take all sects, particularly, Sunni schools, on board. While the Deobandi and Ahl-Hadith were provided the shoulder of the state to grow, recruit men  and fight its wars, the Barelvis and those subscribing to Sufi Islam were also kept close to the bosom. This was the period when the state discovered men like Tahirul Qadri. Intellectually, Zia encouraged the Qudratullah Shahb-Ashfaq Ahmed-Mumtaz Mufti gang to turn into vendors of a specific narrative […]

“During the 1980s, General Zia’s information secretary Lt. General Mujeebur Rehman acted as the Joseph Goebbels to alter the intellectual discourse into developing its distinctive Islamic and nationalist character. This was a period when the stock of not just the Qudratullah Shahab gang rose but also that of fiction writers like Sharif Husain alias Naseem Hijazi and Inayatullah Altamash.” (Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, Old Men’s Tales, www.drayeshasiddiqa.com, accessed 13 December 2021)

We move now to Shahab’s statement about the topic at hand:

“Maharaja Partab Singh was issueless, so he adopted a boy from his clan. But Raja Amar Singh, father of Hari Singh, could not accept this for he had desired his son to be the heir of the State. To fulfil this desire, he laid a net of conspiracies all over the State. In doing so, he was immensely assisted by Hakim Nuruddin.” (Qudrutullah Shahab, Shahabnama, Sang-e Mil Publications, Lahore, p. 358)

Again, his casual memoirs have misconstrued a supposed fact; no reference, no source, no person cited. Had he lived in Kashmir in the years that he mentions (1885-1892), one could still give his statement a second thought. But this statement is a crossbreed of wild imagination and intellectual corruption – no wonder, he was a mushroom in Ziaul Haq’s kitchen garden and had to live up to his master’s agenda.

Also worth noting is that Hazrat Nuruddin^ra here is portrayed as neither spying for the British, nor the Russians and for no one for that matter. He is shown conspiring with Amar Singh; the same Amar Singh who wanted him out of Kashmir at any cost.

The allegation of being a spy to be levied against such a great scholar and spiritually exalted personality is most definitely unfounded. I conclude here and let the inconsistencies and discrepancies in all such allegations speak for themselves.