Mia Golam Ali Chowdhury Sahib ( bn, মিঞা গোলাম আলী চৌধুরী সাহেব; 1824 – 7 January 1888), also known as Chowdhuri Golam Ali ( bn, চৌধুরী গোলাম আলী), was a 19th-century

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 ...

and philanthropist from Faridpur in eastern Bengal.

Life

Chowdhury was the feudal landlord of Haturia, now under the

Shariatpur District Shariatpur ( bn, শরিয়তপুর জেলা, ''Shariatpur Jela'' also ''Shariatpur Zila'') is a district in the Dhaka Division of central Bangladesh. It is bounded by Munshiganj district on the north, Barisal district on the south, Ch ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He inherited from his father, Muhammad Ashuq Mridha of Idilpur, who was a ''

shaykh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliteration of Arabic, transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonl ...

'' that was influenced by the teachings of the

Hanafite The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari () better known as Abu Yusuf ( ar, أبو يوسف, Abū Yūsuf) (d.798) was a student of jurist Abu Hanifa (d.767) who helped spread the influence of the Hanafi school of Sharia, Islamic law through his writings and ...

. Chowdhury's ''

zamindari 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 ...

'' was spread across the districts of Faridpur and

Bakerganj Bakerganj (বাকেরগঞ্জ) is a town in Barisal District, Barisal Division, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in ...

. He was well-known for his wealth and was a great patron of education and public welfare, and used to donate generously for this purpose. Chowdhury aided the government in constructing a public bridge and ''

ghat Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...

'' in

Madaripur Madaripur ( bn, মাদারীপুর ), being a part of the Dhaka Division, is a district in central Bangladesh. History Madaripur subdivision was established in 1854 under the district of Bakerganj. In 1873 it was separated from Bakerganj ...

and other roads in the district. He also entirely funded the building for Madaripur's first pharmacy, and largely contributed to the construction of Barisal Government Entrance School. Chowdhury donated ten thousand

rupee Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

s to the

Dacca College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...

Extension Fund. The ''Kheya Ghater Majhi'' poem mentions the might of Chowdhury Golam Ali. He also constructed a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

in his village, Ghatakhan-Haturia, which has now been demolished and rebuilt.

Death and descendants

Chowdhury died on 7 January 1888. He was buried in his village in Ghatakhan (Haturia), and his brick grave is still preserved. The western wall of the grave has a Bengali inscription consisting of eight lines. He had three wives, with whom he had three sons and eight daughters. His first wife, Aizunnesa Khatun, was the mother of Ali Ahmad Chowdhury and two daughters. After the death of his younger brother, Chowdhury married his widowed sister-in-law Izzatunnesa Khatun, who was his first wife's half-sister. Together they had two sons, Amjad Ali Chowdhury and Tajammul Ali Chowdhury, and six daughters with the eldest being Karimunnesa. Chowdhury had two daughters with his third wife, Jawaidunnesa, and he died before the birth of the younger daughter, Majidunnesa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Golam Ali 1824 births 1888 deaths 19th-century Bengalis People from Shariatpur District Bengali zamindars Bengali Muslims Bangladeshi philanthropists