Syed Ameer Ali Order of the Star of India (1849–1928) was an Indian jurist, a prominent political leader, and author of a number of influential books on Muslim history and the modern development of Islam. He hailed from the state of Oudh from where his father moved and settled down in the Bengal Presidency and is credited for his contributions to the law of India, particularly Muslim personal law, as well as the development of political philosophy for Muslims, during the British Raj. He was a signatory to the 1906 Petition to the Viceroy and was thus a founding-member of the All India Muslim League. He played a key role in securing separate electorates for the Muslims in British India and promoting the cause of the Khilafat Movement. Family background He was born on 6 April 1849, toward the end of Mughal empire in India, at Cuttack in Odisha as the fourth of five sons of Syed Saadat Ali (d. 1856) from Mohan in Unnao of Oudh State. The Shiite family traced its descent to prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima from Imam Ali al-Rida, his great-grandfather having moved to India from Khorasan during Nadir Shah's Indian campaign in 1739. His father settled in Cuttack after Ameer Ali's grandfather (who worked in the service of Asaf-ud-Daulah - the Nawab of Awadh) died in 1820, there he married the daughter of Shamsuddin Khan, one of the nobles of Sambalpur. He would later move the family to Calcutta, and then to Chinsura where they settled more permanently. His family took advantage of the educational facilities provided by the British government but otherwise shunned by the Muslim community. He received his initial education at Hooghly Mohsin College and with the assistance of his British teachers and supported by several competitive scholarships, he achieved outstanding examination results, graduating from Calcutta University in 1867, and gaining an MA degree with Honours in history in 1868. The LLB degree followed quickly in 1869. He then began legal practice in Calcutta. By this time, he was already one of the few outstanding Muslim achievers of his generation. Political career After moving to London, where he stayed between 1869 and 1873, he joined the Inner Temple (professional associations for barristers and judges) and made contacts with some people of London. He absorbed the influence of contemporary liberalism. He had contacts with almost all the administrators concerned with India