Tafazzul Husain Khan Kashmiri (1727âÂÂ1801) (Urdu: ùÃÂçààêÃÂöàÃÂóÃÂàéôàÃÂñÃÂ), also known as Khan-e-Allama, was a Twelver Shia scholar, physicist, and philosopher. He produced an Arabic translation of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia.
Nawab Tafazzul Husain Kashmiri was born to a Kashmiri family in Sialkot in 1727. His grandfather, Karamullah, was a scholar who served as a minister under Moin-ul-Mulk, governor of Lahore. At the age of 13, his father moved to Delhi, where he studied basic logic and philosophy under Mulla Wajih . He learned Mathematics from Mirza Muhammad Ali. At the age of 18, his family moved to Lucknow where he joined the seminary of Firangi Mahal. Soon he developed doubts about the teachings of Sunni Islam and philosophy and moved out of the seminary, and started to research on his own. He then studied modern science and astronomy of his age. He had learned the philosophy of Mulla Sadra in Firangi Mahal, but moved on.
Shuja-ud-Daula appointed him tutor to his son Saadat Ali Khan II in Allahabad. There the then young Dildar Ali Naseerabadi, who later came to be known as Ghufran Maab, became his student.After the death of Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula his elder son Asaf-ud-Daula appointed Allama Tafazzul Hussain Khan Kashmiri as the Prime Minister of Awadh. In the time of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula, Kashmiri was also appointed as an ambassador to the court of governor general of East India Company at Calcutta. Here he interacted with Reuben Burrow and James Dinwiddie. He learned Greek, Latin and English and started to translate scientific works of European scientists into Arabic to bridge the gap between the scientific revolution and the Muslim and Indian educational institutions. Science had flourished in the 18th century Europe due to public discussions in coffee houses, pubs, shops, fairs and other public places. By the end of eighteenth century CE, Calcutta had become a major center of cultural exchange where several scientific works, like James Ferguson's "Introduction to Electricity", Tiberius Cavallo's "A Complete Treatise on Electricity" and his "Essay on Theory and Practice of Medical Electricity", George Adams's "Essays on Electricity", Thomas Beddoes's "Factitious Airs", Jean-Antoine Chaptal's "Chemistry" and scholarly journals like the "Philosophical Magazine", were in circulation. The members of The Asiatic Society, founded by William Jones in 1784, held discussions on philosophy.
He authored the following:
Some of these books were taught in Shia seminaries in the nineteenth century Lucknow. His successor, Saadat Ali Khan, founded an observatory in Lucknow. Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah and Nasir-ud-Din Haidar Shah patronized modern scientific learning.
James Dinwiddie first taught him Optics and then modern geometry. To his surprise, Tafazzul was struggling with mathematics. He remarked:<blockquote>"It is somewhat irregular that a man who reads so much theory should be so totally ignorant of practical mathematics".</blockquote>
Shah Abdul Aziz, son of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, considered him an apostate because of some of his views.
In 1799, he suffered a brain hemorrhage which left his body in a state of paralysis. He died travelling from Banaras to Lucknow on 3 March 1801. Mirza Abu Talib Khan wrote the following eulogy upon receiving the news of his death while in London:
In Search of a Scholar: Tracing Allama Tafazzul Husain KhanâÂÂs Resting Place.
Arshad (Nayyar Hasnain Khan), a descendant of Allama Tafazzul Husain Khan, entered the classified services of the Government of India on his first attempt and was appointed to the Bihar cadre. It was historically known that Allama Tafazzul Husain Khan had died in Bihar in 1801 during a journey, though the exact location of his burial remained unknown. Determined to uncover this lost piece of family and scholarly heritage, Arshad undertook a personal mission to trace the burial site of his distinguished ancestor. After extensive research and effort, he successfully identified the location in present-day Hazaribagh. The site comprises the Nawab Gunj Masjid, Eid Gah, and Maqbara, situated in: ⢠Village: Nawab Gunj ⢠Police Station & Post Office: Hazaribagh