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Chowdhuries of Natore
Political family in Bengal From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Chowdhuries of Natore (Bengali: নাটোরের চৌধুরী বংশ) are a noble Bengali family who have played important roles throughout the history of North Bengal.[1]
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The family is descended from Amanullah Khan, a Yusufzai Afghan Muslim nobleman who settled in Burdwan, Bengal Subah in the early 18th century with his son, Azam Khan. The family moved to Natore in northern Bengal after descendent Muhammad Zaman Khan was appointed as the Nazir of the Natore faujdari court and given large tracts of land in that district.[2]
After his death, his son, Dost Muhammad Khan, extended the zamindari across the Kholabaria, Piprul and Kalam areas, along the wetlands of Chalan Beel.[3] In 1787, under the rule of Mubarak ud-Daulah, the Company Raj conferred the title of Chowdhury to him, in addition to the family's original title of Khan. Dost Muhammad Khan Chowdhury is said to have married the daughter of the trustee of the waqf of the neigboring Bagha Upazila.[4] His eldest son, Chowdhury Muhammad Ali Khan, was a religious scholar.[5]
Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Muhammad Ali Khan had two sons; Rashid and Ershad. His daughter, Rabeya Khatun, married into the Dhanbari Nawab family and was gifted a quarter of the Dhanbari zamindari.[6] Rashid Ali Khan Chowdhury inherited said zamindari from his father and most notably founded the Rashid Anglo-Persian School in 1862.[1] Ershad Ali Khan Chowdhury was a notable politician and member of the Bengal Legislative Council.[7] After the establishment of the All-India Muslim League in 1906, he was appointed as the inaugural chairman of its Natore branch. He was also a member of the Bengal Management Conference and Rajshahi District Board, and a supporter of the Mohammedan Literary Society.[2]
Following the death of Ershad Ali Khan Chowdhury in 1928, his son, Ashraf Ali Khan Chowdhury, succeeded him as patriarch of the zamindari estate. Through matrinileal inheritance, Khan Chowdhury inherited the Shahzadpur zamindari.[7] A Muslim League politician like his father, Khan Chowdhury also served as the deputy speaker of the Bengal Legislative Assembly.[8] Khan Chowdhury's daughter married into the Dhanbari zamindari.[9]
Although the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 led to the abolishment of the zamindari system, members of the family continued to hold political power in Bangladesh, including Abdus Sattar Khan Chowdhury, a former BNP parliamentarian.[1]
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