https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Abul_Kashem_KhanAbul Kashem Khan - Revision history2026-08-28T22:20:16ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abul_Kashem_Khan&diff=456337&oldid=prevPeter120 at 21:12, 23 March 20262026-03-23T21:12:35Z<p></p>
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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian politician}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2021}}<br />
{{more citations needed|date=February 2016}}<br />
{{infobox person<br />
| name = Abul Kashem Khan<br />
| image = Ayub Khan & A K Khan.jpg<br />
| caption = President [[Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan)|Ayub Khan]] at the residence of Khan (right) in [[Chittagong]] (1960)<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|4|5|df=y}}<br />
| birth_place = Mohara village, Panchlaish Thana, [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]], [[British India]]<br />
| nationality = British (1905-1947)<br>East Pakistani (1947-1971)<br>Bangladeshi (1971-1991)<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|3|31|1905|4|5|df=y}}<br />
| death_place = [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]]<br />
| alma_mater = [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency University]]<br />
| occupation = Industrialist<br />
| known_for = Founder of [[A K Khan & Company]]<br />
| spouse = Shamsun Nahar Khan<br />
| children = [[A. M. Zahiruddin Khan]] (son) <br> A.K Shamsuddin Khan (son) <br> Salahuddin Kasem Khan (son) <br> Sadruddin Khan (son) <br> A.M Ziauddin Khan (son) <br> Begum Latifa Siddiqi (daughter) <br> Zebun Nahar Islam (daughter) <br> Yasmin Kabir Khan (daughter) <br> Shamima Khanam (daughter)<br />
| parents = Abdul Latif Khan (father) <br> Wahabun Nessa Khan (mother)<br />
| relatives = [[Zeenat Mosharraf]] (niece) <br> [[Mustafizur Rahman Siddiqi|M.R Siddiqi]] (son-in-law) <br> [[Khandaker Abdur Rashid]] (nephew-in-law) <br> [[Syed Faruque Rahman]] (nephew-in-law) <br> [[Saifur Rahman (Bangladeshi politician)|Saifur Rahman]] (nephew-in-law)<br />
}}<br />
'''Abul Kashem Khan''' (best known as '''A. K. Khan'''; 5 April 1905 – 31 March 1991) was a [[Bangladeshi]] lawyer, industrialist and politician. In 1945, he founded [[A K Khan & Company]], one of Pakistan's leading [[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerates]] until 1971, when it became one of Bangladesh's leading conglomerates.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Islam|first1=Sirajul|title=Khan, Abul Kashem|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Khan,_Abul_Kashem|website=banglapedia|accessdate=24 January 2016}}</ref> Khan served as a member of the [[Constituent Assembly of India]] and the [[Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]]. He was a federal minister of [[Pakistan]] and member in the [[Pakistan National Assembly]].<br />
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== Early life ==<br />
He was born in an aristocratic family in the village of Mohara in [[Panchlaish Thana|Panchlaish]] in [[Chittagong]] in 1905. His father, Abdul Latif Khan, was a government sub-registrar at Fatehabad, Chittagong, and his mother's name was Wahabun Nessa Khan. Khan's great-great-great grandfather, Shamsher Khan, was a rich politician and minister in the [[Gauḍa (city)|city of Gour]] in the 16th-century.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Nahid|first=Farzana|date=2017|title=Entrepreneurial Capacity and State Incapacity: Family Firms in Bangladesh|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268879125.pdf|journal=Institute of Graduate Studies, University of Malaya|pages=153-172}}</ref> Khan studied law at [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency College]], [[Calcutta]]. In 1934 he joined the Kolkata High court as an advocate. He joined the judicial branch of the Bengali Civil service in 1935. He continued in the service till 1944.<ref name=":0"/><br />
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== Career ==<br />
Khan entered business during the [[Second World War]] in 1945, when Chittagong was a key base for Allied Forces. A variety of industries, including a match factory, a plywood factory, a garment mill, and a dockyard, have been stepped up by him. He was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly of India from the [[All-India Muslim League]] candidate in 1946. He joined the Pakistan Constituent Assembly after the partition of India. In 1951-1952 budget he spoke against the economical discrimination of East Pakistan.<ref name=":0"/><br />
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''"Sir, I cannot help' remark ' which I hope will not be misinterpreted as an indication of petty provincial-mindedness. Sir, these are the days of decentralisation and regional self-sufficiency. We find that in this six-year plan, the total sum allocated to East Bengal where 56 percent of your people live is less than 23 percent. Under the head 'Agriculture', provision has been made for 82 crores and a sum total of all the projects envisaged for East Bengal is only 5.6 crores. Under the head 'Development of Hydro-Electric Power', a provision for 45 crores has been made and the share of East Bengal is only 5 crores. Under the head 'Industries', provision has been made for textile industries' [for West Pakistan] to the tune of 30 crores and the provision for jute industry' [for East Bengal] is only 11 crores. Now, Sir, this gives a clear indication that not only in the past, not only in the present, but in the future development plans of the country, East Bengal is not expected to get its legitimate share."''<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC|title=Bangladesh: Past and Present|last=Ahmed|first=Salahuddin|date=2004-01-01|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=9788176484695|page=337|language=en}}</ref><br />
==Politics==<br />
He was the minister of Industries, Works, Irrigation, Power and Mineral Resources from 1958 to 1962. From 1962 to 1964 he was a member of the national assembly of Pakistan. He retired from politics in 1965.<ref name=":0"/><br />
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== Personal life ==<br />
Khan married his wife Shamsun Nahar Khan in 1935. She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Abdul Bari Chowdhury, who owned industries in [[British Burma]]. Abdul Bari owned a shipping company and multiple rice mills in [[Rangoon]] until the [[Japanese invasion of Burma]], after which he moved to [[Chittagong]]. In Chittagong, he established a shipping company called the Bengal-Burma Steam Navigation Company, the first maritime company in the area to challenge the dominance of the [[British India Steam Navigation Company]]. <br />
Chowdhury also served as a director of the [[Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation]]. <br />
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Khan had 9 children with Shamsun Nahar: 5 sons and 4 daughters; [[A. M. Zahiruddin Khan|Zahiruddin (Bambu)]], Shamsuddin (Jambu), Salahuddin, Sadruddin, Ziauddin (Pablo), Latifa (Kohinoor), Zebun Nahar, Yasmin, and Shamima.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Nahid|first=Farzana|date=2017|title=Entrepreneurial Capacity and State Incapacity: Family Firms in Bangladesh|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268879125.pdf|journal=Institute of Graduate Studies, University of Malaya|pages=153-172}}</ref><br />
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Khan's eldest daughter, Latifa, was married to Bangladesh's first minister of commerce and the first Bangladeshi ambassador to the United States, [[Mustafizur Rahman Siddiqi]]. Khan's maternal niece, Durrani, was married to the former finance minister of Bangladesh [[Saifur Rahman (Bangladeshi politician)|Saifur Rahman]]. Durrani's daughter, Saifa, was married to her cousin Amer Siddiqi (Guchchu), son of Khan's eldest daugher Latifa and [[Mustafizur Rahman Siddiqi|M.R Siddiqi]]. Khan's granddaughter through his eldest son, [[A. M. Zahiruddin Khan|Zahiruddin]], is married to the son of former [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party|BNP]] foreign minister [[Morshed Khan]]. <br />
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Khan's brother, Shamshul Huda Khan (S.H Khan), was the president of the Chittagong branch of the All Pakistan Muslim Youth Movement. He was elected vice-president of the movement's central committee in 1954. In 1955, S.H Khan was elected as the vice-president of the International Assembly of Muslim Youth.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shamshul Huda Khan|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Shamshul-Khan/6000000076618150061|access-date=2022-01-08|website=geni_family_tree|language=en-US}}</ref> S.H Khan's daughter, Farida, was married to [[Syed Faruque Rahman|Major Faruque]], and his other daugher, Zubeida (Tinku), was married to [[Khandaker Abdur Rashid|Major Rashid]]. Major Faruque and Major Rashid played leading roles in the [[assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1975) - profile of two masterminds or 'Killer Majors' Syed Farook Rahman & Khandaker Abdur Rashid - History of Bangladesh|url=http://www.londoni.co/index.php/26-history-of-bangladesh/1975-assassination-of-sheikh-mujibur-rahman/271-assassination-of-sheikh-mujibur-rahman-1975-profile-of-two-masterminds-or-killer-majors-syed-farook-rahman-khandaker-abdur-rashid-history-of-bangladesh|access-date=2022-01-08|website=Londoni|language=en-gb}}</ref> Another niece of Khan, [[Zeenat Mosharraf]], was married to [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party|BNP]] minister and former state minister of energy [[A. K. M. Mosharraf Hossain]]. Zeenat was also a mistress of former military dictator [[H M Ershad]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Nahid|first=Farzana|date=2017|title=Entrepreneurial Capacity and State Incapacity: Family Firms in Bangladesh|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268879125.pdf|journal=Institute of Graduate Studies, University of Malaya|pages=153-172}}</ref><br />
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== Death ==<br />
He died on 31 March 1991.<ref name=":0"/> His wife, Shamsun Nahar Khan, died the same year just two months after his death.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Nahid|first=Farzana|date=2017|title=Entrepreneurial Capacity and State Incapacity: Family Firms in Bangladesh|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268879125.pdf|journal=Institute of Graduate Studies, University of Malaya|pages=153-172}}</ref> He left behind nine children; 5 sons and 4 daughters.<br />
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==In popular culture==<br />
'''AK Khan More''' is a circle located in Chittagong, Bangladesh near Dhaka-Chittagong Trunk Road.<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Abul Kashem}}<br />
[[Category:20th-century Bangladeshi businesspeople]]<br />
[[Category:Bangladeshi politicians]]<br />
[[Category:1905 births]]<br />
[[Category:1991 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali Muslims]]<br />
[[Category:Bangladeshi Muslims]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]<br />
[[Category:Federal ministers of Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Pakistan International Airlines people]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers]]<br />
[[Category:Pakistani MNAs 1962–1965]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Pakistani businesspeople]]<br />
[[Category:People from Chittagong District]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Bengalis]]</div>>Lolal2