Chowdhuries Of Natore
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The Chowdhuries of Natore () are a notable
Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...
family who have played important roles throughout the history of
North Bengal North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...
.


History

The family is descended from Amanullah Khan, a Yusufzai Afghan
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
nobleman who settled in
Burdwan Bardhaman (, ), officially Bardhaman Sadar, is a city and municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an a ...
,
Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah (Bengali language, Bengali: সুবাহ বাংলা, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal and Bengal State (after 1717), was one of the puppet states and the largest subah, subdivision of The Mughal India, Mughal Emp ...
in the early 18th century with his son, Azam Khan. The family moved to
Natore Natore is a city ("town" in some sources) in western Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of the Natore District. Its current administrator is Asha Khatun. The Narod river is passing through the center of the city with pollution from upstream industr ...
in northern Bengal after Muhammad Zaman Khan was appointed as the '' Nazir'' of the Natore
faujdar Faujdar under the Mughals was an office that combined the functions of a military commander along with judicial and land revenue functions. The term faujdar contained pre-Mughal origins. During those times, the term referred to a military offic ...
i court and given large tracts of land in that district. After his death, he was succeeded by his son, Dost Muhammad Khan, who extended the
zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...
i across the Kholabaria, Piprul and Kalam areas of Natore. In 1787, the
Company Raj Company rule in India (also known as the Company Raj, from Hindi , ) refers to regions of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC). The EIC, founded in 1600, established its first trading post in India ...
conferred the title of
Chowdhury Chowdhury (also: Choudhuri, Chaudhuri, Choudhury, Chaudhri, Chaudhary) is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminen ...
to him, in addition to the family's original title of
Khan Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...
. Dost Muhammad Khan Chowdhury married the daughter of the Mutawalli of Bagha. His heir was his eldest son, Chowdhury Muhammad Ali Khan, who was a scholar of the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
.
Khan Bahadur Khan Bahadur – a compound of ''Khan'' "Leader" and ''Bahadur'' "Brave" – was an honorary title in British India conferred on Indian subjects who were adherents of Islam or Zoroastrianism. The equivalent title for Hindus, Buddhists and India ...
Chowdhury Muhammad Ali Khan had two sons; Rashid and Ershad. His daughter, Rabeya Khatun, married Shah Syed Janab Ali Chowdhury from the Dhanbari Nawab family and was gifted a quarter of the Dhanbari zamindari. Rashid Ali Khan Chowdhury inherited the zamindari from his father and most notably founded the Rashid Anglo-Persian School in 1862. The main zamindari branch inherited by Chowdhury Nur Ali Khan from his father Chowdhury Rashid Ali Khan crumbled. But the branch of his younger brother, Ershad Ali Khan Chowdhury, continued to survive. Ershad was a notable politician and member of the
Bengal Legislative Council The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the legislative council of Bengal Presidency. It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms were adopted in 1937, it served as the upper house of ...
. He served as the chairman of
Natore Natore is a city ("town" in some sources) in western Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of the Natore District. Its current administrator is Asha Khatun. The Narod river is passing through the center of the city with pollution from upstream industr ...
municipality from 1891, and is heavily credited for the development of Natore. In 1903, Ershad Ali Khan Chowdhury chaired the Muslim Education Associatian's first session in
Rajshahi Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...
. After the establishment of the
All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...
in 1906, he was appointed as the inaugural chairman of its Natore branch. He was also a member of the Bengal Management Conference and Rajshahi District Board, and a supporter of the
Mohammedan Literary Society Mohammedan Literary Society was a literary society of Muslims in British India. Based in Calcutta, it was established in 1863 and was succeeded by the Muslim Institute of Calcutta in 1930. History Mohammedan Literary Society was founded by N ...
and Anjuman-e-Islamia organisations. After Ershad Ali Khan Chowdhury's death in 1928, he was succeeded by his son, Ashraf Ali Khan Chowdhury. Ashraf's mother, Masirunnesa Khanum, was the only child of the
Zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...
of Shahzadpur, and he eventually inherited the Shahzadpur zamindari too. He was a
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties British India *All-India Muslim League, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organization above **Unionist Muslim L ...
politician like his father, and also served as the deputy speaker of the
Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...
. He had a daughter named Syedani Razya Khatun who married Nawab Syed Hasan Ali Chowdhury of Dhanbari. After her death, his other daughter Syedani Lamya Asya married the Nawab of Dhanbari. Although the
East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 The East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 was a law passed by the newly formed democratic Government of East Bengal in the Dominion of Pakistan (present day Bangladesh). The bill was drafted on 31 March 1948 during the early yea ...
led to the abolishment of the zamindari system, the family continue to hold influential positions in north Bengal, for example,
Abdus Sattar Khan Chowdhury Abdus Sattar Khan Chowdhury () is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician and a former member of parliament for Rajshahi-16. Biography Abdus Sattar Khan Chowdhury was born on 1 June 1926 in Natore, Bengal Presidency, British India. Chowdhury ...
, a former BNP parliamentarian.


See also

* History of Rajshahi


References

{{Nobility of the Raj Chowdhuries of Natore Bangladeshi people of Afghan descent