Mahmud Hasan Deobandi was born in 1851 in the town of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Zulfiqar Ali Deobandi, who co-founded the Darul Uloom Deoband, was a professor at Bareilly College. During the revolt of 1857, his father was transferred to Meerut, and Hasan was shifted to Deonand, where he studied Persian and Arabic literature.
He was a staunch opponent of the British Raj. He launched movements to overthrow their power in India but was arrested in 1916 and imprisoned in Malta. He wrote religious edicts in support of the Non-cooperation movement and traveled to various parts of India, to enroll Muslims in the freedom movement. He was also a co-founder of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.