The Muslims kept themselves aloof from western education as well as government service. But their compatriots, the Hindus, did not do so. They accepted the new rulers without reservation. They acquired western education, imbibed the new culture and captured positions hitherto filled in by the Muslims. If this situation had proionged, it would have done the Muslims an irreparable loss. The man to realize the impsending peril was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898), a witness to the tragic events of 1857. His assessment was that the Muslims' safety lay in the acquisition of western education and knowledge. He took several positive steps to achieve this objective. He founded a college at Aligarh to impart education on western lines. Of equal importance Conference, which he sponsored in 1886, to provide an intetlectual forum to the Muslims for the disemination of views in support of westen education and social reform. Similar were the objectives of the Muhammadan Literary Society by Nawab the Anglo-Muhammadan Abdul Latif (1828-93), but its activities were confined to Bengal.
