Khwaja Atiqullah ( ur, ; 1876–1945) was a Bengali British Indian politician and member of the

Dhaka Nawab Family The Nawab of Dhaka ( Bengali: "ঢাকার নবাব"), originally spelt in English Nawab of Dacca, was the title of the head of largest Muslim zamindar in British Bengal and Assam, based in present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh. The title of ''n ...

Early life

He was born on 26 July 1876. He was taught by private British teachers. He learned English,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Aligarh University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a public central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875. Muhammadan Anglo-Orienta ...

Fund in 1911. The Nawab of Dhaka, his father Nawab Sir

Khwaja Ahsanullah Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Ahsanullah KCIE (22 August 1846 – 16 December 1901) was the third Nawab of Dhaka. He also authored books in Persian and Urdu under the pen name of Shaheen. Ahsanullah is recognised for his philanthropic works in Ben ...

celebrated the Atiqullah's marriage on 7 December 1901, by donating four 4 hundred thousand rupees for the electrification of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Career

On 31 December 1906 he petitioned the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

to reconsider the Partition of Bengal. Initially he was an advocate of United India and Muslim-Hindu unity. He was a proponent of

Syed Ahmed Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he ...

. He later changed his views after the annulment of the partition on 12 December 1911. Nawab Bahadur Sir

Khwaja Salimullah Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur (7 June 1871 – 16 January 1915) was the fourth Nawab of Dhaka and one of the leading Muslim politicians during the British rule in India. In 1906, the Muslim League was officially founded at the educationa ...

held a meeting of the leading Bengali Muslims where Atiqullah supported a new partition. He proposed Muslim majority region of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

province to be included in the proposed

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. He had differences over the ancestral property with his brothers after Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Salimullah appointed his son

Khwaja Habibullah Nawab Khwaja Habibullah Bahadur (26 April 1895 – 21 November 1958) was the fifth Nawab of Dhaka. He was the son of Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur. Under Habibullah's rule, the Dhaka Nawab Estate went into decline until its actual relinqui ...

the Mutawalli (Guardian) of the property. Atiqullah filed a case claiming himself as the true Mutawalli but lost it. Initially he was a strong supporter of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

but later supported All India Muslim League. He held Musical and cultural events in his house Dilkusha Garden.

Death

He died in January 1945. His daughter

Farhat Banu Farhat Banu was a Member of the Dhaka Nawab family and member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly in British India. Her uncle was the Nawab of Dhaka, Sir Khwaja Salimullah. Career Farhat Banu was a Member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, the lar ...

was married to

Khwaja Shahabuddin Khawaja Shahabuddin (31 May 1898 – 9 February 1977) was a politician of Kashmiri-Bengali descent from East Pakistan who was a minister in the Government of Pakistan and member of the Dhaka Nawab family. He was the younger brother of Khawaja N ...

, his nephew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atiqullah, Khwaja Members of the Dhaka Nawab family 1876 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Bengalis 19th-century Bengalis Politicians from British India