Nawab Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian language, Persian, Punjabi language, Punjabi , Sindhi language, Sindhi, Urd ...

Ali Haider Khan (11 February 1896 – 30 June 1963) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

noble and politician.

Early life and family

Khan was born on 11 February 1896 to an royal

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

family known as the Nawabs of Longla based in the village of

Prithimpassa The Prithimpassa family, also known as the Nawabs of Longla, are an royal family from the Prithimpassa Union, Kulaura Upazila, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Bangladesh. The family was of the erstwhile feudal nobility of East Bengal. They played importan ...

South Sylhet Moulvibazar ( bn, মৌলভীবাজার) also spelled Maulvibazar, Moulavibazar, and Maulavibazar, (former South Sylhet) is the southeastern district of Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh, named after the town of Moulvibazar. It i ...

(then under the

North-East Frontier Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' ...

province of 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 ...

). The royal family are descended from Sakhi Salamat, a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

nobleman from

Greater Khorasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...

, who settled in Prithimpassa after being granted land there by the Lodi sultans of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

in the 15th century. Khan's father,

Ali Amjad Khan, was an honorary magistrate by occupation. His mother, Syeda Fatima Banu, was the daughter of Syed Aminuddin Hasan of the Narpati Saheb Bari in

Chunarughat Chunarughat ( bn, চুনারুঘাট) is an Upazila of Habiganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Geography Chunarughat is located at . It has 43660 households and total area 495.52 km2. History Rajapur (Tekarghat) i ...

Habiganj Habiganj ( bn, হবিগঞ্জ) is a major town and district headquarters of Habiganj District in the division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Population: Total population of Habiganj is about 95,000 Railroad * Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–B ...

and a descendant of

Syed Nasiruddin Syed Shah Nasiruddin ( bn, শাহ সৈয়দ নাসিরুদ্দীন, ar, شاه سيد ناصر الدين) was a Sufi saint and military leader associated with the spread of Islam in Bengal in the 14th century. As the commande ...

Career

The

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present Western Assam region. The Legislative Assembly comprises 126 Me ...

was founded in 1937, and Khan won a seat in its first elections in the South Sylhet (East) constituency. Khan served as Assam's Minister of Agriculture in the cabinet of Sir

Muhammed Saadulah Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla KCIE ( as, ছাৰ ছৈয়দ মহম্মদ ছাদুল্লাহ; 21 May 1885 – 8 January 1955) was the Prime Minister of Assam in British India. He was also the chairman of Gauhati Municipalit ...

. From 1942 to 1946, he was the Minister of Power and Water Development in

Gopinath Bordoloi Gopinath Bordoloi (6 June 1890 – 5 August 1950) was a politician and Indian independence activist who served as the first Chief Minister of Assam. He was a follower of the Gandhian principle of non-violence as a political tool. Due to his un ...

's cabinet. He was also the leader of the Independent Muslim Party. In 1945, he led his party into an alliance with Assam Congress and its coalition partners which included the likes of Bordoloi and

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of India from 1974 to 1977. Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the ...

(who later became the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

). Bordoloi considered Khan as their mainstay. In 1950, he hosted King

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 October ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and Governor-General

Khwaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to hav ...

at his estate for four days and went hunting with them.

Personal life

In 1917, he married Nawabzadi Husna Ara Begum, the eldest child of

Wasif Ali Mirza Sayyid Sir Wasif Ali Mirza Khan Bahadur ( bn, ওয়াসিফ আলী মির্জা; 7 January 1875 – 23 October 1959) was the Nawab of Murshidabad during 1906–1959. Sir Wasif Ali Mirza was educated at Sherborne School, Rugby S ...

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

. They had three children - Ali Safdar Khan, Syeddunnessa Begum and Ali Sarwar Khan. He also had a son named Ali Dawar Khan.

Death

Khan died on 30 June 1963, in the village of Prithimpassa.

References

1900 births 1963 deaths Assam politicians Prithimpassa family 20th-century Bengalis Assam MLAs 1937–1946 {{Assam-politician-stub