Sheth Ghoolam Hyder

Drawing of Sheth Ghoolam Hyder with two students c. 1808 by Thomas Medland

Sheth Ghoolam Hyder, also spelt as Sheth Ghulam Hyder (1776 – 1823), was a British Indian professor of Persian at the East India Company College which later became known as Haileybury College. He was often addressed by his students as "Moonshi Ghoolam Hyder" and worked at the college from 1806 until his death in 1823.

Born in Darbhanga in the Indian state of Bihar and arriving in the UK in 1806, he is considered to be one of the first Indians to teach in the UK. His appointment was shortly followed by a wave of other Indian teachers at the college including Meer Abdul Alee of Benares and Meer Hassan Ali of Lucknow.

Life and career

Ghoolam Hyder was born in Darbhanga, Bihar in 1776. In 1806, he travelled on his own initiative to London to seek employment as a teacher of the Persian language. He would often teach wearing his traditional attire, as shown in a drawing from 1808.

Ghoolam Hyder found his salary insufficient to cover his expenses in England as he was often sending money back to his family in India. In 1808, he composed a formal petition for a raise in his salary which the company did not approve of, however, they did grant a £40 annual subsidy to his house rent. Ghoolam Hyder had to maintain two families, as he had a wife and two children still in India in addition to his marriage to an English woman, Rose Slocomb. He married Rose in St Botolph's Church in London, and they had at least 6 children together. It was noted that Rose was viewed in the eyes of Ghoolam's colleagues as his "social inferior" as she had "no family".

Final years Over the next 13 years, despite continuing illnesses, Hyder continued to teach Persian orthography. During these years, he incurred mounting debts and failed to achieve promotions within his department as Britons superseded him. He died in May 1823, leaving 4 children and his pregnant wife, Rose, who was deeply in debt. Out of respect for him, Hyder's students contributed £15 towards his gravestone and his supervisor, Charles Stewart, purchased £45 worth of the family possessions from an auction. Stewart also enrolled two of Ghoolam Hyder's sons in the First Church Hospital, and had two of his daughters trained as domestic servants. Rose Hyder received a pension from the East India Company of £40 annually, which was not sufficient for her to maintain the middle-class lifestyle that she previously had when her husband was alive.