Sheikh Lutfur Rahman (; 1881 – 30 March 1975) was a Bangladeshi ''serestadar'', an officer responsible for record-keeping at the Gopalganj civil court in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His son

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

was the first president of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Lutfar was also the paternal grandfather of

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

Early life

Rahman was born in 1881 to the

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 ...

Sheikh family in the village of

Tungipara Tungipara (Bengali language, Bangla: টুঙ্গিপাড়া) is a municipality in Tungipara Upazila of Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, Gopalganj District in Bangladesh. It is the birthplace of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is considered the ...

located in Gopalganj,

Faridpur district Faridpur District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to the northeast. The district was named for its headquarters, the city of Faridpur, Bangladesh, Faridpur, which its ...

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 ...

. He had Iraqi

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

ancestry through his father Sheikh Abdul Hamid, who was a direct descendant 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 ...

preacher Sheikh Abdul Awal Darwish of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in his 6th generation, who had arrived in the late Mughal era in Bengal. Lutfar Rahman was married to his paternal first-cousin Sayera Khatun, the daughter of his father's brother Sheikh Abdul Majid. He left home to find a job and worked in the Dewani court, today Gopalganj civil court.

1971 Liberation War

During the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

, Lutfar Rahman and his wife

Sheikh Sayera Khatun Sheikh Sayera Khatun (1886 – 31 May 1975) was the matriarch of Sheikh-Wazed political family and mother of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh. She was the grandmother of the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh ...

, along with the family of

were put under arrest by the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. Initially, Lutfar Rahman and his wife were in Khulna at their younger son Naser's house in Khulna, but was later sent away to their ancestral home in Gopalganj. On 8 April 1971, the

looted ornaments and other valuables from the house and later bulldozed and set fire to it. The soldiers also shot dead four relatives and two servants of the household. The elderly couple were rendered homeless until the local

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

activists built them a temporary shed which was also destroyed by the

after 20 days. They were then sent away to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

where they were put under arrest with their elder son's family.

Death and legacy

Rahman died on 30 March 1975. He was buried in

, Gopalganj district,

. Sheikh Lutfar Rahman Bridge over

Madhumati River The Gorai-Madhumati ( , ''Gôŗai-Modhumoti'') is one of the longest rivers in Bangladesh and a distributary of the Ganges. In its upper reaches, it is called the Gorai, and the name changes to Madhumati further downstream. The Madhumati flows ...

connecting Gopalganj-Pirojpur Highway. The foundation stone of the bridge was laid on 23 December 2000 by Sheikh Hasina. The construction was stopped in 2001 by the 4-party government. The construction work resumed in 2009 when

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

returned to power in 2009. The bridge was inaugurated in January 2015 by Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Lutfar Rahman Adarsha Government College is a government college in Kotalipara, Gopalganj.

Descendants

Popular culture

Actor

Chanchal Chowdhury Suchinta Chowdhury Chanchal (born June 1, 1974), better known as Chanchal Chowdhury (), , is a Bangladeshi actor. He gained recognition with television roles in late 2000s, and went on to become one of the most popular leading men of Cinema of B ...

portrayed Rahman in the biopic '' Mujib: The Making of a Nation'' (2023), directed by

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. H ...

References

{{Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 1881 births 1975 deaths Tungipara Sheikh family People from Gopalganj District, Bangladesh