Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah
| Sheikh Abdullah | |
|---|---|
| شیخ محمد عبد اللہ | |
Sheikh Abdullah
|
|
| 4th Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir | |
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In office 25 February 1975 – 26 March 1977 |
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| Succeeded by | Governor's rule |
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In office 9 July 1977 – 8 September 1982 |
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| Preceded by | Governor's rule |
| Succeeded by | Farooq Abdullah |
| 2nd Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir | |
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In office 5 March 1948 – 9 August 1953 |
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| Preceded by | Mehr Chand Mahajan |
| Succeeded by | Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad |
| Member of Constituent Assembly of India | |
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In office 9 December 1946 – 24 January 1950 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 December 1905 Soura, Kashmir and Jammu, British India |
| Died | 8 September 1982 (aged 76) Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
| Political party | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference |
| Spouse(s) | Begum Akbar Jahan Abdullah |
| Children | Farooq Abdullah, Suraiya Abdullah Ali |
| Alma mater |
Islamia College Lahore Aligarh Muslim University |
| Religion | Islam |
Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah (Urdu: شیخ محمد عبد اللہ) (Born, 5 December 1905 – Died, 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost Indian state. The self-styled "Sher-e-Kashmir" (Lion of Kashmir), Abdullah was the founding leader of the National Conference and thrice served as the head of government in Kashmir. He agitated against the rule of the Maharaja Hari Singh and urged self-rule for Kashmir.
He was the Prime Minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after its accession to India in 1947 and was later jailed and exiled. He was dismissed from the position of Prime Ministership on 8 August 1953 and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed as the new Prime Minister. The expressions ‘Sadar-i-Riyasat’ and ‘Prime Minister’ were replaced with the terms ‘Governor’ and ‘Chief Minister’ in 1965. Sheikh Abdullah again became the Chief Minister of the state following the 1974 Indira-Sheikh accord and remained in the top slot till his death on 8 September 1982.
Sheikh Abdullah was born in Soura, a village on the outskirts of Srinagar, eleven days after the death of his father Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim. His father was a middle class manufacturer and trader of Kashmiri shawls. He was a descendent of a Kashmiri Pandit named Ragho Ram Kaul, who was converted to Islam in 1722 by the saint Rashid Balkhi and after conversion changed his name to Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, as per Abdullah's autobiography Atish-e-Chinar.
According to Sheikh Abdullah, his step brother mistreated his mother and his early childhood was marked by utter poverty. His mother was keen that her children should receive proper education and, so, as a child, he was first admitted to a traditional school or Maktab where he learnt the recitation of the Koran and some basic Persian texts like Gulistan of Sa'di, Bostan, Padshanama, etc. Then in 1911 he was admitted to a primary school where he studied for about two years.
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Wikipedia