Syed Mahmood
Judge Syed Mahmood (1853–1903) was a Muslim Theosophist who is best known in Theosophical Society history as being present for the cup-and-saucer phenomenon at the Sinnetts’ picnic in 1880.
Personal life and career
Syed Mahmood was born in 1853. His father was Sir Syed Amhad Khan. He was educated at Indian colleges and at Christ College, Cambridge, where he studied Latin, Greek, and Arabic. He was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn on May 10, 1869, and called to the bar on April 30, 1872, as one of the first Indians to become an English barrister. He practiced at the High Court in Allahabad until 1878 and became the district judge at Rai Bereli (Raibareilly), Oudh, in 1879, as well as the judge of the High Court of the N.W. Provinces, 1887–93. He then served on the North-Western Provinces and Oudh Legislative Council from 1896 to 1898. With his father, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, he founded Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh. He translated the legal code into Urdu; wrote over three hundred judgments, often using arguments from Islamic law; and wrote numerous articles on law and education.
Theosophical Society involvement
It is not known whether Judge Mahmood was ever admitted as a member of the Theosophical Society, but he was certainly known to Madame Blavatsky, Colonel Olcott, and A. P. Sinnett. Judge Mahmood contributed at least one article to The Theosophist, called "A Musselman's Abdal (Yogi)," published in the fifth issue, February, 1880, on page 131. In it, Mahmood posited the existence of genuine phenomena being performed by holy men of his religion. The editor, probably Madame Blavatsky herself, added these notes to the article:
[The contributor, Syed Mahmood, having referred to a narrative in Ch. iii of the Bûstân* concerning a Dervish who crossed a river on a small carpet which he spread on the water, asks: “Why do the opponents not believe that abdals can go into water and fire?”]
This anecdote, kindly furnished by the accomplished Mr. Mahmood, has a real interest and value; in that it reminds the student of psychological science that a certain range of psycho-physiological powers maybe developed, irrespective of creed or race, by whoever will undergo a certain system of training, or, as Mr. Mahmood expresses it in his note to his translation, who lead holy lives and so overcome the ordinary, that is, the more familiar, laws of matter. Mohammedan literature teems with authentic accounts of psychical phenomena performed by devotees and ascetics of that faith, and it is to be hoped that a portion, at least, may find their way into these columns through the friendly aid of Persian and Arabic scholars.
* [The Bûstân or “Fruit Garden” is a poem of Sa’di (1184-1291), the greatest didactic poet and the most popular writer of Persia, and was dedicated to the reigning at âbeg Abû Bekr. — Compiler.][1]
Cup and saucer phenomenon
On October 3, 1880, Mr. A. P. and Mrs. Patience Sinnett organized a picnic near their home in Simla, India. The party consisted of the Sinnetts, Madame Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, Major Henderson, Mrs. Reed of Ajmere, and Damodar K. Mavalankar. At the last minute, after the picnic had been packed, Judge Mahmood joined the group. No cup and saucer were available for his tea, so Madame Blavatsky used her special abilities to create an extra set for him to use. The cup and saucer were found by Major Henderson buried in the black soil at the place she pointed out.
By the next day, however, Judge Mahmood and Mrs. Reed expressed some skepticism about the phenomenon, looking for alternate explanations, and as a result Major Henderson gave up his membership in the Theosophical Society. Madame Blavatsky was very disappointed in them, as she expressed in her letter of October 6, 1880 to Judge Mahmood, whom she admired.[2] The judge does not seem to have engaged with THeosophists after that.
Additional resources
- C. Jinarājadāsa, "The Early History of the T.S.: XVIII The Cup and Saucer Phenomenon" The Theosophist 47 no. 1 (October, 1925): 70-71.
- Mohammad Nasir and Samreen Ahmad, Syed Mahmood; Colonial India’s Dissenting Judge Bloomsbury, 2022.