Abdul Wahab Khan ( bn, আব্দুল ওহাব খান; 18 April 1898 – 12 July 1972) was the 3rd speaker of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

. He is the grandfather of

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

, founder of the

Khan Academy Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2008 by Sal Khan. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also in ...

Early life and family

Khan was born on 18 April 1898 to a middle-class

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family of

Khans Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *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 ...

in the village of Rahmatpur in Babuganj,

Backergunge District Backergunge, Backergunje, Bakarganj, or Bakerganj was a former district of British India. It was the southernmost district of the Dacca Division. The district was located in the swampy lowlands of the vast delta of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra r ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. The village was named after his ancestor, Rahmat Khan, an Afghan migrant who was killed in conflict with

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Kandarpanarayan Rai of

Chandradwip Chandradwip or Chandradvipa is a small region in Barisal District, Bangladesh. It was once the ancient and medieval name of Barishal. History The history of Chandradwip goes back to the Pre-Pala Period. Chandradwip was successively ruled by the ...

in the 16th century. His father, Sadat Ali Khan, was a '' moulvi''. Khan completed his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Brojomohun College Govt. Brojomohun College, Barisal (also BM College) is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Bangladesh. It is located in the city of Barisal in south-western Bangladesh. History On June 14, 1889, Aswini Kumar Dutta founded Brojo ...

in 1918, and his

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

in 1921.সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান (in Bengali)

Career

Khan served as an assistant public prosecutor for twenty years at the

Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Dist ...

Court. He became the vice-chairman of Barisal Sadar Local Board in 1922, and then the vice-chairman of the Barisal District Board from 1927 to 1933. In 1940, he was appointed the chairman of the District Board and held this role until 1952. He served as the elected commissioner of the Barisal Municipality for three consecutive terms. In 1942, he became the vice-president of the Barisal District School Board, and was made president in 1950. He was also one of the founding members of the

Krishak Sramik Party The Krishak Sramik Party ( bn, কৃষক শ্রমিক পার্টি, ''Farmer Labourer Party'') was a major anti-feudal political party in the British Indian province of Bengal and later in the Dominion of Pakistan's East Bengal and ...

and represented them at the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was established under the Government of India Ac ...

after winning in the 1937 Bengal elections against his rival Mawlana Abul Qasim of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcontin ...

. His constituency, Backergunge North, covered Babuganj,

Gournadi Gournadi is a town and paurashava situated in the Barisal district, south-central Bangladesh. See also * Gournadi Upazila Gournadi ( bn, গৌরনদী) is an administrative unit of Barishal District in the Division of Barishal, Banglades ...

, Wazirpur and the Kotwali metropolitan thana. The

1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative elections were held in East Bengal between 8 and 12 March 1954, the first since Pakistan became an independent country in 1947. The opposition United Front led by the Awami League and Krishak Sramik Party won a landslide victory wit ...

was the first legislative election in the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of I ...

, and Khan contested as a candidate of the Krishak Sramik Party under its

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

coalition. He was thus elected as a member of the

East Bengal Legislative Assembly The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as the East Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature of East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the ...

, and subsequently the 2nd

, where he was also appointed as the Speaker. Khan later lost his role as Speaker as a result of the

1958 Pakistani coup d'état The 1958 Pakistani coup d'état began on October 7, when the first President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza abrogated the Constitution of Pakistan and declared martial law, and lasted until October 27, when Mirza himself was deposed by Gen. Ayub Kha ...

. Khan competed in the 1962 Basic Democracy elections but was unsuccessful.

Death

Khan died on 12 July 1972.

References

Speakers of the National Assembly of Pakistan Bengal MLAs 1937–1945 Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958 1898 births Bangladeshi people of Afghan descent 1972 deaths 20th-century Bengalis Brojomohun College alumni University of Calcutta alumni People from Barisal District {{Pakistan-MNA-stub