Ahmad studied Persian locally with Munshi Mutasim Billah[citation needed] as well as Khwaja Asadullah Kawkab, a noteworthy poet of the Dhaka Nawab family.
Ali again replied in challenge to Ghalib, with a booklet called Shamsher-i-Teztar (Urdu: شمشیر تیزتر, Sharper Sword) but he had it published under the name of his student Maulvi Abdus Samad Fida Sylheti.
He started to teach Persian at the Calcutta Aliyah Madrasah in 1864 taking the advice of Edward Byles Cowell, the principal of the Sanskrit College.
In addition to this, Ali also taught Persian to Cowell as well as Heinrich Blochmann, another leading European orientalist.
[citation needed] Agha Ahmad Ali worked closely with The Asiatic Society and contributed heavily to the Bibliotheca Indica.