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Fazl-I-Husain
‐
Lawyer, politician, government minister and founder of the Unionist Party in Punjab
Other names
Mian Fazl-i-Husain
Fazli Husain
Place of birth
Date of arrival to Britain
Location(s)
CB2 3BU
United Kingdom
Date of time spent in Britain
1898–1901
About
Fazl-i-Husain travelled to Britain in 1898 to further his education. He was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge in 1899 and graduated with a BA in 1901. He had intended to enter the Indian Civil Service (ICS) but was unsuccessful in the exams. He studied Oriental languages and law at Cambridge and was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1901. Husain was elected President of the Cambridge Majlis in January 1901 and was involved in writing a telegram of condolence to Edward VII upon the death of Queen Victoria.
Husain returned to the Punjab in 1901 and set up a law practice in Sialkot. He then practised at the Punjab High Court in Lahore until 1920. He was also actively involved with the Punjab branch of the Muslim League and became a minister in the Punjab Government, 1921–30. He then began to break away from Jinnah and the Muslim League to build up the Unionist Party in Punjab. He was a member of the Viceroy's Council, 1929–35, and died in 1936.
Ahmad, Waheed (ed.) Letters of Mian Fazl-i-Husain (Lahore: Research Society of Pakistan, 1976)
Husain, M. Azim, Fazl-i-Husain: A Political Biography (Bombay: Longmans Green, 1946)
Moore, R. J., The Crisis of Indian Unity 1917–1940 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974)
Page, D. J. A., 'Prelude to Partition: All-India Moslem Politics, 1920–32', unpublished DPhil thesis (University of Oxford, 1974)
Mss Eur E352, private papers, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras
Image credit
© Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1930s – present
