The party has roots back to the days of the princely State of
Hyderabad. It was founded and shaped by Nawab Mahmood Nawaz Khan Qiledar of
Hyderabad Stateby the advice of Nawab Mir
Osman Ali Khan, the
Nizam of Hyderabad and in the presence of Ulma-e-Mashaeqeen in 1927 as a pro-
Nizam party. Then it was only
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and the first meeting was held in the house of Nawab Mahmood Nawaz Khan on November 12, 1927. The MIM advocated the set up of a Muslim dominion rather than integration with India. In 1938
Bahadur Yar Jung was elected President of the MIM which had a cultural and religious manifesto. It soon acquired political complexion and became aligned with the
Muslim League in British India.
The
Razakars (volunteers), a Muslim paramilitary organization aimed at resisting merger with India, was linked to the MIM. In total up to 150,000 Razakar soldiers were mobilized to fight against the
Indian Union and for the independence of the
Hyderabad State against Indian integration. After the
integration of the Hyderabad state with India, the MIM was banned in 1948. The Razakar leader
Qasim Rizvi was jailed from 1948 to 1957, and then he was released on the condition to go to
Pakistan, where he was granted asylum.
[3]
Before leaving,
Qasim Rizvi handed over the responsibility of whatever remained of the Ittehadul Muslimeen, to Abdul Wahid Owaisi,a lawyer. Abdul Wahed Owaisi restructured the Party and Organised it into
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
[4][5] After Abdul Wahed Owaisi, his son
Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi took control of AIMIM in 1975 and was referred to as
Salar E Millat (commander of the community).