Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi

Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1797–1861) was a prominent 19th-century Islamic scholar, logician, philosopher, and poet who authored the famous 1857 fatwa calling for armed resistance against British East India Company rule. Born in Khairabad, Awadh, he was a renowned master of rational sciences (ma'qulat) in Delhi and a close literary companion of Mirza Ghalib.

During the 1857 Rebellion in Delhi, Khairabadi took an active role in advising the rebel court and drafting the constitution for the administrative council governing the city. He authored religious decrees arguing that Company rule constituted illegal occupation and that resistance was a collective duty.

Following the suppression of the uprising, Khairabadi was arrested, tried for treason, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Andaman Islands (Kalapani). While incarcerated at Port Blair, he authored his famous Arabic historical memoir, Al-Thawra al-Hindiyya (The Indian Rebellion, later translated as Baaghi Hindustan), documenting the events and causes of 1857. He died in prison in Port Blair on 19 August 1861.