[6] He was born as Thakur Das to Mehta Gurmukh Singh on June 21, 1874, in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

One of his daughters, Mumtaz Jahan, served as Principal of the Women's College at Aligarh Muslim University for 30 years.

[7] Later when he went to United Province, he met with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and adopted Sunni Islam, leaving the Ahmadiyya.

His life is covered in a book titled Muslim Leadership and Women's Education in Uttar Pradesh, 1886–1947 written by Nasreen Ahmad.

[8][9] In 1975, a documentary titled Papa Miya of Aligarh, based on his life and directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was released.