Wajed Ali Khan Panni (also known as Chand Mian; 14 November 1871 – 25 April 1936) was a Bengali politician, educationist and the zamindar of Karatia.

Early life

Panni was born into a Bengali Muslim family in Karatia, Tangail, Bengal Presidency in 1871. His father, Hafez Mahmud Ali Khan Panni, belonged to the Karatia Zamindari, a wealthy landowning family in the area. Their forefathers were

Pashtuns 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 ...

of the Panni tribe, and had migrated from Afghanistan during the

Mughal period The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

. Panni was homeschooled by private tutors and learned Arabic,

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 ...

, English, Persian, and Urdu.

Career

In 1892, Panni assisted the poet

Naimuddin Muhammad Naimuddin ( bn, মোহাম্মদ নইমুদ্দীন; 1832 - 1907/1916) was a Bengali Islamic scholar, writer and journalist. He was the chief editor of the Akhbare Islamia. Early life and education Naimuddin was born ...

in translating the

Fatawa-e-Alamgiri Fatawa 'Alamgiri, also known as Al-Fatawa al-'Alamgiriyya ( ar, الفتاوى العالمگيرية) or Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya ( ar, الفتاوى الهندية), is a 17th-century sharia based compilation on statecraft, general ethics, milita ...

into four volumes in Bengali, with his father's patronage. At the start of the 20th century, Panni ordered the digging of a canal, known as Katakhali, in order to aid communication in Tangail. Panni aided Abu Ahmad Ghuznavi Khan, the Zamindar of Delduar, in repairing the

Atia Mosque Atia Mosque ( bn, আতিয়া মসজিদ, ar, مسجد عطية) is a four-domed mosque located in Bangladesh's Tangail District. It was built in the 17th century during the Mughal period and lies on the eastern banks of the Louhajan ...

in 1909 which was founded by his ancestor, Sayeed Khan Panni. Panni helped the Nawab of Dhaka Khwaja Salimullah organize the ''Muslim Education Conference'' in Karatia in 1913. He founded two schools in Karatia after the conference, ''Hafez Mahmud Ali Khan High School'', named after his father, and ''Rokeya Aliyah Madrasah'', named after his wife. He served as the head of the Mymensingh District Khilafat movement committee and the unit of All India Congress, serving as vice-president of the

Bengal Provincial Congress Committee Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. He was jailed for his role in the

Khilafat movement The Khilafat Movement (1919–24), also known as the Caliphate movement or the Indian Muslim movement, was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajma ...

in December 1921. Panni founded

Saadat College Government Saadat College ( bn, সরকারী সা'দত কলেজ) is an old public college in Karatia, Tangail, Bangladesh. It is often referred to as Karatia College.It was established in July 1926. The college is located at Karatia ...

in July 1926, named after his grandfather Saadat Ali Khan Panni, which was one of the country's first five university-colleges and the first college in rural Bengal. He was a philanthropist who spent 20 percent of his own income in charity work. As a landlord, he was known to have been fair to his

ryot Ryot (alternatives: raiyat, rait or ravat) was a general economic term used throughout India for peasant cultivators but with variations in different provinces. While zamindars were landlords, raiyats were tenants and cultivators, and served as hi ...

s/tenants and waive rent in case of natural disasters such as famine or flood. Panni also established a

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

department in his land which was engaged by 700 Islamic scholars. Panni also established the Karatia Zamindar Bari (Karatia Palace) and one of the buildings, Rokeya Manzil, was named after his wife. Panni died in 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panni, Wajed Ali Khan 1871 births 1936 deaths Bengali politicians People from Tangail District Karatia Zamindari family 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis