Sheikh Akij Uddin (1929 – 10 October 2006) was a leading Bangladeshi entrepreneur and the founding chairman of Bangladeshi conglomerate

Akij Group Akij Group is a Bangladeshi industrial conglomerate founded by Sheikh Akijuddin in 1940. The industries under this conglomerate include textiles, tobacco, food and beverage, cement, ceramics, printing and packaging, pharmaceuticals, consumer pro ...

Early life

Akij Uddin was born on 1929 in Madhyadanga, Phultala,

Khulna Khulna (, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. It is the divisional centre of 10 districts of the division. Khulna is also the seco ...

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. He was an only child. He worked while in school and had to discontinue his studies to help his family income. He left home amidst the Bengal Famine for Calcutta .

Career

He slept rough in

Sealdah railway station Sealdah railway station (station code: SDAH) is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Sealdah railway division of Eastern Railway zone. It is one of the five terminal railway stations serving the Kolkata metropolitan area, the o ...

in Kolkata while looking for work. He once saw retailers auctioning off fruits to vendors. He opened his store in Kolkaka called Nilamwala Chhay Ana (Auctioneer six ana) where everything cost six ana. He was arrested and fined after which he sold of his assets in Kolkata. He moved to

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

and stayed there for two years. He returned to Kolkata with some capital from Peshawar. He started a small business in Kolkata, which he sold and returned to his home town in Phultala with 10 rupee. He met a friend of his father, Bidhu Bhushan, who used to manufacture

Beedi A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...

(hand-rolled cigarettes). Akij Uddin started to manufacture beedi with Bhushans help in 1952. He opened up a grocery store alongside his beedi factory. From 1954 he sold them under Akij Beedi label. The companies were reorganized into Akij group in 1972.

Family

Akij got married three times. Among his 15 children, there are 10 sons and five daughters. A son from his first marriage,

Sheikh Afil Uddin Sheikh Afil Uddin (born 6 May 1966) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Jessore-1 constituency. Early life Afil Uddin was born on 6 May 1966. His father, Sheikh Akij Uddin, is the founde ...

was a member of the parliament from the Jessore 1 constituency. Another son from his third marriage,

Sheikh Bashir Uddin Sheikh Bashir Uddin () is a Bangladeshi businessman and the managing director of Akij-Bashir Group, an industrial conglomerate in Bangladesh. He is currently serving as an adviser to the Interim government of Bangladesh. Early life He was born in ...

is a adviser to the interim Government of Bangladesh led by Muhammad Yunus.

Death and legacy

Akij Uddin died on 10 October 2006 in Singapore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akij Uddin, Sheikh 1929 births 2006 deaths People from Khulna District People from Khulna Bangladeshi chairpersons of corporations 20th-century Bangladeshi businesspeople