Syed Mahmud

Dr. Syed Mahmud was an Indian politician and senior leader in the Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement and in post-independence India.

Mahmud was born in the village of Saidpur, near Ghazipur in modern Uttar Pradesh, India. He was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University. During his time at the University, Mahmud became involved in student political activities and attended the 1905 session of the Indian National Congress, the largest Indian nationalist organisation in what was then British-ruled India. Along with fellow student and later political leader, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, Mahmud was amongst the Muslim students who opposed the pro-British loyalties of the All India Muslim League and were drawn more to the nationalist Congress. After being expelled from Aligarh for his political activities, Mahmud travelled to England and studied Law at Cambridge University before going on to study at Lincoln's Inn to become a barrister. In 1909, in London he came in contact with Mahatma Gandhi and J.L. Nehru. In 1912, he obtained Ph.D. from Germany and came back to India, and from 1913 he started his legal profession in Patna under the able guidance of Mazharul Haq. In 1915, he married Mazharul Haq's niece. . After practising law for a few years, he was soon drawn into the strengthening movement for India's independence.

Syed Mahmud was one of the young Muslim leaders who played a role in crafting the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the Muslim League. He participated in the Indian Home Rule Movement in 1916 and in the Non-cooperation movement and the Khilafat movement under the influence and leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1923 he was elected to the post of deputy general secretary of the All India Congress Committee. In 1930, he was imprisoned in Allahabad along with Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru during the Civil disobedience movement.

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