Muhammad Mohsin

{{Short description|Bengali philanthropist (c.1732–1812)}} {{similar names|Mohammad Mohsin (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Haji | name = Muhammad Mohsin<br />{{no bold|মুহম্মদ মোহসীন}} | image = Muhammad mohsin.jpg | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{circa|1732}} | birth_place = Hooghly, Bengal, Mughal Empire (now West Bengal, India) | death_date = {{death year and age|1812|1732}} | death_place = Hooghly, Bengal, British India (now West Bengal, India) | burial_place = Hooghly Imambara,<br> Chinsurah, West Bengal, India | burial_coordinates =  | other_names = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = Philanthropy | notable_works = | title = ''Dānavīr'' (Hero of Charity) | module = {{Infobox religious biography |embed = yes |religion = Islam |denomination = Shia}} }}

'''Haji Muhammad Mohsin''' ({{circa|1732}} – 29 November 1812) was a prominent Bengali Muslim philanthropist and Educator. His most notable contribution was establishing the Hooghly Mohsin College and the Hooghly Imambara. He also played a significant role during the Great Bengal famine of 1770 by helping thousands of victims.

==Early life== Mohsin was born into a Bengali Shia Muslim family to Haji Faizullah and Zainab Khanam in Bengal in {{nobr|1143{{nbsp}}AH (1731–1732{{nbsp}}AD)}}.<ref name="Rizvi1986">{{cite book |last=Rizvi |first=Saiyid Athar Abbas |authorlink=Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi |title=A Socio-intellectual History of the Isnā ʼAsharī Shīʼīs in India: 16th to 19th century A.D |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Z0OAAAAIAAJ |volume=2 |year=1986 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |page=47 |oclc=15406211}}</ref> He was home-schooled and gained knowledge in the study of the Quran, Hadith and the Fiqh. Later, he went on a voyage to other countries of Asia, including the regions in current-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and the Arab peninsula. He also made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and visited Medina, Kufa, Karbala and other holy places. After performing the Hajj, he was given the title ''Haji''.<ref>{{Cite Banglapedia|article=Mohsin, Haji Muhammad}}</ref>

== Philanthropy == [[File:Hooghly Imambara Courtyard.JPG|thumb|Hooghly Imambara founded by Haji Muhammad Mohsin at Hooghly]] Following his return, Mohsin took over the management of the estate of his half-sister, Munnujan. She was the widow of Mirza Salahuddin, the ''Naib-faujdar'' or deputy military governor of Hooghly working for the Nawab of Bengal. She inherited a fortune from her mother Zainab, whose first husband Aga Motahar had much land and properties in Hooghly, Jessore, Murshidabad and Nadia.

After Munnujan's death in 1803, Mohsin inherited all of her fortune. He bequeathed this fortune for charity and created a Waqf or trust in 1806, with his entire wealth of 156,000 taka. One-third of his fortune was to be donated for education and religious programmes, four-ninths for pensions to the elderly and disabled, and the remaining two-ninths for the expenses of the two trustees.

== Death and legacy == thumb|Grave of Haji Muhammad Mohsin Mohsin died on 29 November 1812. His grave is situated near Hooghly Imambara.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The famous Sundial of Hooghly Imambara came from Big Ben's makers of London |url=https://www.getbengal.com/details/the-famous-sundial-of-hooghly-imambara-came-from-big-bens-makers-of-london |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=Get Bengal |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:The wall inscription of Hooghly Imambara.jpg|thumb|The wall inscription of Hooghly Imambara in West Bengal, writing about activities of its founder and philanthropist Muhammad Mohsin.]] Due to his contributions in the field of education, Mohsin is the namesake of many educational institutions in India and Bangladesh. The New Hooghly College in Chinsurah, West Bengal, which now bears his name as the Hooghly Mohsin College was established by him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hooghlymohsincollege.org/heritage.html |title=Heritage of Hooghly Mohsin College |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919205840/http://hooghlymohsincollege.org/heritage.html |archive-date=19 September 2013 |access-date=9 February 2014}}</ref><ref>See Dey (1893: 96/192) pp.286-287, and (1893: 97/194), pp.354-366.</ref> In Bangladesh, he is the namesake of Hazi Mohammad Mohsin Government High School and Government Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College in Chittagong, Haji Muhammad Mohsin Government High School Rajshahi in Rajshahi, Government Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College in Khulna, Mohsinia Madrasa, Dhaka (at present Kabi Nazrul Government College) and the ''Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hall'' in University of Dhaka.<ref>{{cite web |title=University of Dhaka |url=http://www.du.ac.bd/halls_of_residence/hall_details.php?bodyid=HMM |access-date=10 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920000659/http://www.du.ac.bd/halls_of_residence/hall_details.php?bodyid=HMM |archivedate=20 September 2013}}</ref>

Mohsin is also the namesake of a Bangladesh Navy base BNS Haji Mohsin located in Dhaka.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bangladesh Navy |url=http://www.bangladeshnavy.org/glance.html |access-date=9 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324070742/http://www.bangladeshnavy.org/glance.html |archivedate=24 March 2010}}</ref> Commendably, ''Mohipur Hazi Mohsin Government College'' is located at Panchbibi, Joypurhat as founded by Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani.

==Footnotes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * Dey, S.C., "Hooghly Past and Present", ''The Calcutta Review'', [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.286313 Vol.96, No.191, (January 1893), pp.22-42; No.192, (April 1893), 276-288]; [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.68734 Vol.97, No.193, (July 1893), pp.71-81; No.194, (October 1893), 340-366];[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.68735 Vol.98, No.195, (January 1894), pp.152-170]; [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.20929 Vol.99, No.197, (July 1894), pp.153-164]; [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.20875 Vol.104, No.208, (April 1897), pp.355-373.]

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Muhammad Mohsin}} * {{LCAuth|nb2014025069}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohsin, Muhammad}} Category:1730s births Category:1812 deaths Category:Philanthropists from British India Category:People from Hooghly district Category:18th-century Bengali people Category:Bengali Muslims Category:Bengali educators Category:18th-century Indian educators Category:18th-century Indian scholars Category:Indian social reformers Category:Indian social workers Category:People from the Bengal Presidency Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges