Mr Syed Ali Bilgrami (1853–1911?)

Indian civil servant, lecturer, translator and geologist. Born in 1853 he was educated in Canning College, Lucknow, Patna College, Bankipur, and Thomson Civil Engineering College, Roorki. While visiting Europe he qualified for an Associateship at the Royal School of Mines and won the Murchison Medal in Geology. He spent many years as Secretary in the Departments of Public Works, Railways and Mines before retiring to England in 1901. In England he was appointed Lecturer in Marathi at the University of Cambridge and became a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. In April 1902, aged 50, he was admitted as student at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar on 19 Nov 1906 and again on 28 Jan 1907. He returned to India due to ill-health. From 1911 he worked to transform M.A.O. College into a University with Raja Mahmoodabad as President, Syed Ali Bilgrami as Secretary and Dr Ziauddin Ahmed as Joint Secretary.