Sir Syed Mohammad Saadulla, the 1st Prime Minister of Assam in British India, was born on May 21, 1885, in Guwahati. And, in 2023, this date marks his birth anniversary to remember and acknowledge the contributions of the Indian leader for the country.
All you need to know about Sir Syed Mohammad Saadulla:
Raised within a traditional Muslim family from Assam, Saadulla went on to attend Cotton College in Guwahati and Presidency College in Calcutta. He even received a knighthood during King George V’s 1928 birthday honours and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire (KCIE) during King George VI’s 1946 birthday honours.
Known to be quite active and athletic in his youth due to his participation in frequent cricket and football games, he became a part of the Pleaders and eventually established his own practice in 1910 in Guwahati at the age of 24.
Achieving great success as a lawyer, he became Chairman of Guwahati Municipality and, at Shillong, a member of the Legislative Council of which he was an active part and took up issues that affected Assamese people the most.
Saadulla became an advocate at Calcutta High Court but returned to Assam to be an elected official with a huge majority in the Reformed Legislative Council in 1922.
He served as the Minister in the Executive Council of the Governor of Assam in 1924.
After the passing of the Government of India Act of 1935, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1937 and was soon appointed to be Assam’s 1st Prime Minister till 1946.
As the PM of Assam in British India, he quickly achieved popularity for his land settlement scheme to increase agricultural productivity, especially during World War II.
During the final years of his legal and political career, he was instrumental in the preparation of the Muslim League’s 1940 Lahore Resolution but later served in the Constituent Assembly from 1947 to 1950, the only representative from North East India and was instrumental in the drafting of India’s Constitution.
