Born: 7th July 1854
Died: 27th September 1927
Shri Abdul Hafiz Mohammed Barakatullah was born on 7th July 1854, in Itwra Mohalla Bhopal. He completed his education i.e. primary to college level at Bhopal and went to Bombay and London for higher studies. A meritorious scholar who had mastered seven different languages i.e. English, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Persian, Japanese, and German. Since childhood, he had nothing but his own skills, toughness, and motivation which helped him throughout his school/college days. Even though he topped most of the examinations he appeared for, both in India and England. Later, he started working as a Professor of Urdu at the Tokyo University, Japan.

During his stay in England, he came in close contact with Shri Lala Hardayal and Kunwar Mahendra Pratap (son of the Raja of Hathras). He also became friends with the Afghani Emir and the editor of the Kabul newspaper (Siraj Ul-ul-Akber). Later he became the first “Prime Minister ” of the ‘Provisional Government of India’ that was established on 1st December 1875, Kabul along with Raja Mahendra Pratap as the President. Prof. Barkatullah traveled to many countries with a mission to politically activate the Indian community and to seek support from the famous leaders of that time for the freedom of India. He went to some well-known personalities such as Amir Habibullah khan, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Lenin, Ghazi Pasha, and Hitler. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru met Prof. Barkatullah twice i.e. once in Berlin and later in 1927 at the Brussels Conference. He was really impressed with the Professor’s revolutionary beliefs and activities. After the Brussels Conference, Prof. Barkatullah and Raja Mahendra Pratap went to the USA to continue their mission and a hearty welcome was given to them there. Prof. Barkatullah lectured a big crowd that gathered in his honor at Maryville, California. Barkatullah stood up, addressed a few words, and gasped with emotion. Hundreds of men and women burst into tears and shouted “Maulana Zindabad”. Later he asked Raja Manendra Pratap to say a few words and sat down on his seat. Prof. Barkatullah died on the night of 27th September 1927, in San Francisco and his body was moved to Sacramento. His Coffin was then taken to Maryville where he was buried in the Muslim Cemetery. Swami Vivekanand Subharti University remembers Molvi Barkatullah on his birth anniversary, who did not live to see India free but whose contribution did bring freedom extremely near and whose life has lessons for all of us, and particularly for the rising generations of the country.
Excerpts from an interview with Izvestia newspaper
“I am not a communist or a socialist, but right now my political program includes throwing the British out of Asia. I am a staunch enemy of European capitalism in Asia. Therefore, there is complete compromise between myself and the communists over these objectives and we are allies in this field. I do not know what shape the future events will take, but what I can definitely say is that the famous appeal of the Soviet government of Russia, in which the people of all nations have been requested to rise up and conduct jihad against capitalists, has greatly influenced us, and what we like more than that is that the Soviet Union has revealed all the secret agreements (between Russia and Great Britain) whose objective was to enslave other nations, especially the Eastern nations. Not only this, but the Soviet Union has unilaterally cancelled all such agreements. Russia accepts the principle of equality and evenness between all small and great nations. The ideas of the Bolsheviks, which we call socialism, are also making a place in the hearts of the common Indian people.”