Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah (27 December 1873 – 9 February 1965) was an educator, litterateur, Islamic theologist and social reformer of pre-partition India. He was instrumental in the formation of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

and is the namesake of

Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (), commonly known as AUST, is a private science and technology university in Bangladesh. It was founded by the Dhaka Ahsania Mission in 1995. Dhaka Ahsania Mission is a non-profit voluntary orga ...

Career

Ahsanullah completed his MA in philosophy from

Presidency College, Kolkata Presidency University, formerly Presidency College, is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. Established in 1817 as the ''Hindoo College'', it was later renamed ''Presidency College'' in 1855 and functioned as a leadi ...

in 1895, and went on to serve as first Muslim headmaster of

Rajshahi Collegiate School Rajshahi Collegiate School (), a public school for boys located in Boalia Thana in the center of Rajshahi, which is a metropolitan city in northern Bangladesh, is the oldest school in the country. History Rajshahi Collegiate School is the olde ...

. In 1911 he was awarded fellowship in The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) which has worldwide member of 30,000 (). In the same year British Indian Government also awarded him the title "Khan Bahadur". He became the first person amongst the Hindus and Muslims of Undivided Bengal to join the

Indian Education Service The Indian Education Service or Indian Educational Service (IES) formed part of the British Raj between 1896 and 1924, when overseas recruitment ceased. It was an administrative organisation running educational establishments in British India, larg ...

. He served as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, and was especially active in the movement to establish the

Ahsania Mission

Ahsanullah founded "Nalta Central Ahsania Mission (NCAM)" on 15 March 1935 at Nalta Sharif. NCAM is the ''Central Ahsania Mission'' in the world. "Divine & Humanitarian Service" is the motto of Dhaka Ahsania Mission. Then, in 1958, Ahsanullah founded the Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), a non-profitable organization with broad social goals. DAM founded the

(AUST), Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah Teachers Training College (KATTC), Ahsania Mission College (AMC), Ahsanullah Institute of Information & Communication Technology (AIICT), Ahsania Mission Institute of Medical Technology (AMIMT), Ahsania Institute of Technology and Business (AITB), Ahsania e-Solutions (AeS), Ahsania Mission Book Distribution House (AMBDH), Ahsania Mission Cancer & General Hospital (AMCGH), and NCAM also founded Nalta Sharif Ahsania Mission Orphanage (NSAMO) at Dhaka, naming it in honor of their founder.

Works

Ahsanullah wrote around 100 books on different contents. Some of his notable books are: * ''Bangabhasa O Musalman Sahitya'' (1918) * ''Teachers’ Manual'' (1918) * ''Dīniyat'' (1938) * ''Islam O Adarsha Mahapurus'' (1926) * ''Hejaz Bhraman'' (1929) * Hazrat Mohammad (Sm) (1931) * ''Shiksaksetre Bangiya Musalman'' (1931) * ''History of the Muslim World'' (1931) * ''Tariqat Shiksa'' (1940) * ''Amar Jibandhara'' (1946) * ''Sufi'' (1947) * ''Bangla Sahitya''(1948)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahsanullah, Khan Bahadur 1873 births 1965 deaths University of Dhaka people University of Calcutta alumni People from Satkhira District Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Indian social reformers