Lucknow Pact (Hindustani: लखनऊ का मुआहिदा, لکھنؤ کا معاہدہ Lakhnaū kā Mu'āhidā) refers to an agreement between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. In 1916, Muhammed Ali Jinnah, a member of the Muslim League, negotiated with the Indian National Congress to reach an agreement to pressure the British government to adopt a more liberal approach to India and give Indians more authority to run their country. This was a considerable change of policy for the Muslim League, as its position had been that to preserve Muslim interests in India, it needed to support British rule. After the unpopular partition of Bengal, the Muslim League was confused about its stand and it was at that time that Jinnah approached the League. Jinnah was the mastermind and architect of the pact.

The Lucknow Pact also marked the establishment of cordial relations between the two prominent groups of the Indian National Congress – the bold, fierce^{[citation needed]} leaders or garam dal led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and the moderates or the naram dal led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Lucknow /ˈlʌknaʊ/ (Hindi: लखनऊ, Urdu: لکھنؤ, Lakhnaū, IPA: [ˈləkʰnəu] ( listen)) is a city in India and capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division. Located in what was originally known as the Awadh (Oudh) region, Lucknow has always been known as a multicultural city, and flourished as a cultural and artistic capital of North India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Courtly manners, beautiful gardens, poetry, music, and fine cuisine patronised by the Shia Nawabs of Iranian origin, are well known amongst Indians and students of South Asian culture and history. Lucknow is popularly known as The City of Nawabs. It is also known as the "Golden City of the East," "Shiraz-i-Hind" and "The Constantinople of India."

The ancient history of Lucknow is mired in mystries and folk sayings. It is popularly believed that Lucknow (लखनऊ) derives its name from Lakshman (लक्ष्मण) (also known as Lakhan (लखन)), younger brother of Lord Rama, greatest hero of Suryawanshi kshatriya clan of India. Ram ordered Lakshman to establish a new town near Ayodhya, the capital of Rama. Lakshman came and built a strong fort. The present Lakshman Teela (लक्ष्मण टीला) in Lucknow is believed to be the site of ancient city of Lakhanpur built by Lakshman.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Urdu: محمد علی جناح,  Audio (help·info); 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a lawyer, politician and statesman who is known as being the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as 'Quaid-e-Azam' (lit. Great Leader) and 'Baba-e-Qaum' (lit. Father of the Nation).

Jinnah served as leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until Pakistan's independence on 14 August 1947, and as Pakistan's first Governor-General from 15 August 1947 until his death on 11 September 1948. Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress initially expounding ideas of Hindu-Muslim unity and helping shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress; he also became a key leader in the All India Home Rule League. He proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a self-governing India.

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; January 17, 1942) is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist. Considered a cultural icon, Ali was both idolized and vilified.

Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975, and more recently practicing Sufism.^{[clarification needed]} In 1967, three years after Ali had won the World Heavyweight Championship, he was publicly vilified for his refusal to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. Ali stated, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong... No Viet Cong ever called me nigger" – one of the more telling remarks of the era.

Widespread protests against the Vietnam War had not yet begun, but with that one phrase, Ali articulated the reason to oppose the war for a generation of young Americans, and his words served as a touchstone for the racial and antiwar upheavals that would rock the 1960s. Ali's example inspired Martin Luther King Jr. – who had been reluctant to alienate the Johnson Administration and its support of the civil rights agenda – to voice his own opposition to the war for the first time.