Ali Khan Mahmudabad Height, Age, Wife, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ali Khan Mahmudabad

• His grandfather, Mohammad Amir Ahmad Khan, was the last ruler of Mahmudabad, Uttar Pradesh. He was associated with Muslim League.

• His father, Sulaiman, Raja of Mahmudabad, fought a 40-year court case to get his property back, which was seized under the Enemy Properties Act.

• His mother was a Hindu and the daughter of Jagat Singh Mehta, a noted former Indian civil servant. Her brother, Vikram Mehta, was the CEO of Shell India.

• Ali Khan Mahmudabad grew up in Mahmudabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.

• During his M.Phil. at Cambridge, his thesis topic was ‘Shi‘a Muslim networks between South Asia and the Middle East in the early 1900s.’

• He pursued his Ph.D. in History at Cambridge University. His research topic was ‘Rhetorics and Spaces of Belonging among North Indian Muslims, 1850-1950.’

• In his Ph.D., he also studied the changes in poetry gatherings (Mushairas) and the idea of homeland (watan) from 1850 to 1950 in South Asia.

• His Ph.D. research was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

• Later, it was added in a book called The Shi‘a in Modern South Asia.

• He often plays for the Varsity Squash Team at Amherst College.

• He is fluent in Arabic, which he learnt at the University of Damascus, Syria.

• During his studies at the University of Damascus, he wrote many newspapers and magazines articles about Syria . He has travelled a lot in Syria and to other countries.

• Later, he travelled more in the Middle East for research work. He has spent much time in Iran and Iraq.

• His travels and research work helped him to write for noted publications such as National Geographic magazine.

• He writes under the pen name Ali Khan Mahmudabad.

• Ali Khan Mahmudabad has a regular column in Urdu for The Inquilab, an Indian newspaper.

• He writes for many other Indian newspapers and magazines such as Caravan Magazine, The Indian Express, The Times of India, Outlook Magazine, Hindustan Times, Business Standard, Daily News and Analysis (DNA), Tehelka Magazine, and The Sunday Guardian.

• He also writes for some international publications such as The Guardian, The Straits Times, Huffington Post, and OpenDemocracy.

• His writings cover political, social, economic, and security topics, mainly in South Asia and the Middle East.

• He often serves as a guest lecturer at many schools, colleges, and universities.
  

  Ali Khan Mahmudabad while delivering a lecture

• He also works as a political advisor on various topics, such as politics, religion, and security in South Asia and the Middle East.

• In 2010, he was granted the Evan Carroll Commager Fellowship at Amherst College.

• He is fluent in English, Hindi, Urdu, Awadhi, Arabic, Persian, and French.

• In January 2015, he was appointed as a Strategic Advisor on South Asian and Middle Eastern Geopolitics.

• After that, Ashoka University in Haryana appointed him as their facuty member.

• In 2017, Ali Khan Mahmudabad joined the Samajwadi Party. He was appointed as its member and spokesperson.
  

  Ali Khan Mahmudabad with Akhilesh Yadav

• He serves as a columnist for Sahāfat, an Urdu newspaper, and Aalami Samay, an Urdu magazine.

• He has contributed chapters to several books, such as A Leaf Turns Yellow: the Sufis of Awadh – chapter titled “Reliving a Sacrifice,” Lucknow: A City Between Cultures – chapter titled “Lucknow: A Binding Legacy,” The Shi‘a in Modern South Asia – chapter titled “Local Nodes of a Trans-national Network: A Case Study of a Shi‘i Family in Awadh (1900–1950),” and Poetry of Belonging: Muslim Imaginings of India (1850–1950).

• On 8 May 2025, his two social media posts about Operation Sindoor became controversial and two FIRs were filed against him.

• On 18 May 2025, he was detained in Delhi.

• In the first post, he wrote about the praise Colonel Sophia Qureshi was receiving for her briefing on Operation Sindoor. He wrote,
  

  I am very happy to see so many right wing commentators applauding Colonel Sofiya Qureshi but perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the BJP’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens. The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is important, but optics must translate to reality on the ground, otherwise it’s just hypocrisy.”

• In the second post, he stated that the was was just a blind lust for blood of innocent people.

• After the arrest, he said that in his posts were misread and misunderstood as he was using his right to free speech.

• Ali Khan Mahmudabad called the case a new form of censorship and harassment, and said that the people were creating issues where there were none.

• Practising shooting is his favourite recreational activity.
  

  Ali Khan Mahmudabad while practising shooting

• Ali Khan Mahmudabad likes travelling to distant places in his free time.
  

  Ali Khan Mahmudabad during a trip