Haji Muhammad Dula Mia Saudagar (1910 – 2000) was a Bangladeshi jeweller.

Biography

Saudagar was born in 1910, to a Bengali family of

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 ...

Saudagars in the village of Bathua, Hathazari in the

Chittagong District Chittagong District (), ( Chatgaiya: Sitang/Chatga), officially Chattogram District, is a district located in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. Due to its geographical location, Chittagong is classified as a s ...

of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

. His father, Haji Muhammad Nazu Mia Saudagar, was a gold jeweller based in Chittagong. There is a commercial area and

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

in Chittagong district named after his father as Nazu Miar

Hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

. He dropped out of high school but inherited the business from his father. In 1943, his shop was bombed by the

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...

during the Burma campaign (1942–1943) and so he moved to 20 Bakhshir Hat instead based in Khatunganj,

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

. His house was later partially bombed by the Japanese, and so he briefly returned to Bathua, his ancestral village, along with his family. Saudagar was a member of the Muslim League National Guard. Saudagar was a disciple of Maulana Shah Abdus Salam Arakani and Jamiat politician Qutbul Alam Sultanul Auliya Maulana Shah Abdul Majid (Bara Huzur Qebla, Garangia Darbar Sharif), both of whom were spiritual successors of Maulana Shah Alhaj Hafiz Hamid Hasan Alvi of Azamgarh, India. Saudagar was a member of the committee which overlooked the Khanqah-e-Hamidiyyah on Kazem Ali Lane in Khalifapatti, Ghatfarhadbeg. This was the oldest purpose-built khanqa in Chittagong city and established by Shah Abdul Majid of Garangia in the

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the Woodstock, 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong ...

. In 1959, Saudagar and his family established a building called Niribili in Panchlaish, just west of the United Nations Park. Everyday he would still go to the gold shop in Khatunganj from Panchlaish as well as the

Wali Khan Mosque The Wali Khan Mosque () is an 18th-century Sunni mosque, located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is situated in the Chawk Bazar area of the city. History The mosque was built between 1713 and 1716 by Wali Beg Khan, who was a Mughal Faujdar or Gen ...

, he would walk there in a pair of kharams for the completion of Fajr and

Asr Asr () is the 3rd of the 5 mandatory five daily Islamic prayers. The Asr prayer consists of four obligatory cycles, rak'a. As with Dhuhr, if it is performed in congregation, the imam is silent except when announcing the takbir, i'tidal, and ...

prayers. He completed the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

three times. Saudagar expanded his business into multiple sectors, including a packaging factory as well.

Personal life and death

He was married to Sufia Khatun in 1930, the daughter of a landowner in the Chittagong-

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

region. They had 7 sons and 2 daughters. Among them is

Muhammad Yunus Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, entrepreneur, and civil society leader who has been serving as the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Chief Adviser of the Interim government of Muhammad Yunus, interim Yunus ministry, g ...

, the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, and the academic

Muhammad Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim (; – 6 September 1989) was a Bangladeshi physician. He established Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM), the diabetes health-care and research institute c ...

. Saudagar died in 2000, aged 89 or 90. He was a very notable personality and so the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

permitted for a road to be named after him as Haji Muhammad Dula Mia Road near Bathua.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saudagar, Dula Mia 20th-century Bengalis People from British India Bengali Muslims People from Hathazari Upazila 1910 births 2000 deaths Bangladeshi Sufis Bangladeshi Sunni Muslims