Short answers, pulled from the story.
Irfan Habib was born on the 12th of August 1931 to Mohammad Habib and Sohaila Tyabji. His father came from a family deeply embedded in India's legal history while his mother belonged to a lineage with significant political influence.
Irfan Habib served as Professor of History at Aligarh Muslim University from 1969 until 1991. He currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus at the same institution after his long tenure ended.
His first major publication appeared in 1963 through Asia Publishing House under the title The Agrarian System of Mughal India 1556, 1707. A second extensively revised edition followed in 1999 published by Oxford University Press which solidified his reputation.
Irfan Habib argued that the BJP government holding power from 1998 to 2004 invented facts and dates to suit their specific interpretation of the past. He condemned the removal of chapters on Muslim rule from school textbooks as an Islamophobic agenda aimed at denying Muslims their place in Indian history.
Irfan Habib became an Elected Corresponding Fellow of the British Royal Historical Society in 1997 and received the Ibn Sina Memorial Lecture honor in 2009. An honorary doctorate followed from the University of Calicut in 2010 while Yash Bharti was bestowed upon him in 2016 before New College Oxford named him an Honorary Fellow in 2021.