Ashraf Ali Khan Chowdhury ( bn, আশরফ আলী খান চৌধুরী; 1878 – 8 December 1941) was a Bengali lawyer and politician.

Early life

Chowdhury was born in 1878 to a

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 ...

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

'' family known as the

Chowdhuries of Natore The Chowdhuries of Natore ( bn, নাটোরের চৌধুরী বংশ) are a notable Bengali Muslim family who have played important roles throughout the history of North Bengal. History The family is descended from Amanullah Khan, ...

. His father was

Khan Bahadur Khan Bahadur – a compound of khan ('leader') and bahadur ('brave') – was a formal title of respect and honor, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim and other non-Hindu natives of British India. It was one degree higher than the title of K ...

Ershad Ali Khan Chowdhury Ershad is the transliteration of an Arabic given name meaning "universal guidance". Ershad also means "recite" in Urdu language. People *Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1930–2019), President of Bangladesh during 1983-1990. * Ershad Sikder (died 2004), ...

, member of Bengal Legislative Council, and his mother was Masirunnesa Khanam. He studied law in England and became a Barrister in 1912.

Career

Chowdhury started his legal career by joining the

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...

bar. He was introduced to politics by his father and developed a political career under the patronage of Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury. He helped the founding of East Bengal and Assam Provincial Muslim Educational Society. He was a founding Member 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 ...

. In 1928, he was elected to the

Bengal Legislative Council The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the legislative council of British Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms wer ...

from

Natore Natore district is a district of Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi, and used to be part of Rajshahi district. History Natore was the District Headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769 to 182 ...

. In 1932 he was offered a judgeship at the Calcutta High Court which he declined as he preferred a career in politics over law. In 1937, he was re-elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly from Natore District as a candidate of All India Muslim League. He served as the Deputy Speaker of the Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Personal life

He had a daughter named Syedani Razya Khatun who married Nawab Syed Hasan Ali Chowdhury of Dhanbari. After her death, his other daughter Syedani Lamya Asya married the same Nawab of Dhanbari.

Death

Chowdhury died on 8 December 1941 in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Ashraf Ali Khan 1878 births 1941 deaths Bengali lawyers Chowdhuries of Natore All India Muslim League members Lawyers from British India