The name of Sayyid Ahmad of Rai-Bareli appears in quite diverse formats. The point of this short note is to clarify it to new students of history.
First of all, it should be noted that Sayyid Ahmad (1786-1831) has name similar to Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817 – 1898), the later was also titled "Sir" by the British Govt., hence popularly known as "Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan". So one must be able to distinguish these two personalities.
Sayyid Ahmad (1786-1831) belonged to Rai-Bareli, a region near Lucknow. There is another region with similar name Bans-Bareli (or Bans-Bareilly). Both of these are located in presented day Utter Pradesh, India. A religious sect of Sunni Muslims appeared from Bans-Bareli (or Bans-Bareilly), who later became popular as "Barelvi", due to the name of their homeland. This is a common practice in Urdu language, e.g. people of Lahore are called Lahori etc. Thus, the word "Barelvi" became synonymous to a religious sect, where infact it was in essence a symbol of relation with one's homeland "Bans-Bareli (or Bans-Bareilly)".
As Sayyid Ahmad (1786-1831) belonged to Rai-Bareli, on similar linguistic pattern explained above, he is sometimes referred to as "Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi". Thus, people of Rai-Bareli and Bans-Bareli are commonly called "Barelvi" due to affiliate with their homeland and linguistic pattern of Urdu Language. Religious affiliation with "Barelvi" (sectarian ideology) is not compulsory in this case.
Moreover, the Barelvi sect came to appearance after the religious scholar Ahmad Raza Khan (1856 - 1921) of this area. Sayyid Ahmad (1786-1831) precedes this era, hence, he is called Barelvi irrespective of any religious ideology.
It is also proposed by some contemporary scholars that with Sayyid Ahmad (1786-1831) we can place the suffix "Rai-Barelvi" to distinguish his origins from Bans-Bareli.
The term "Shaheed" is an Urdu word for "martyr" especially based on Islamic ideology. Since Sayyid Ahmad lost his life in a battle against East India Company and their allies (Sikhs), he is commonly referred to as "Shaheed", A symbol of respect and acknowledgement of his efforts in Colonial period.
Hence, it would be more historically correct to write his name as "Sayyid Ahmad Rai-Barelvi (or RaiBarelvi)".
