Golam Ali Chowdhury
{{Short description|Bengali Muslim zamindar and philanthropist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = Zamindar Moulvi Mia
| name = Golam Ali Chowdhury
| honorific_suffix = Sahib
| native_name = গোলাম আলী চৌধুরী
| native_name_lang = bn
| birth_date = 1827
| birth_place = Faridpur district, Bengal Presidency
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1888|1|7|1827|df=y}}
| death_place = Faridpur district, Bengal Presidency
| occupation = Landlord, philanthropist
| children = 13
| father = Muhammad Ashuq
}}{{Zamindars of Bengal}}
Mia Golam Ali Chowdhury Sahib ({{langx|bn|মিঞা গোলাম আলী চৌধুরী সাহেব}}; 1824 – 7 January 1888),{{citation|title=The Calcutta Gazette, July-September 1875|chapter=July 14, 1875|page=860|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.68655/page/n139/mode/2up}} also known as Chowdhuri Golam Ali ({{langx|bn|চৌধুরী গোলাম আলী}}), was a 19th-century Bengali Muslim zamindar and philanthropist from Faridpur in eastern Bengal.{{cite book|title=The Modern History of the Indian Chiefs, Rajas, Zamindars, &c|url=https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryin00unkngoog|accessdate=3 April 2022|year=1881|publisher=J.N. Ghose|page=[https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryin00unkngoog/page/298/mode/2up 298]}}
Life
Chowdhury was born in 1824 to a Bengali zamindar family of Muslim Mridha-Chowdhuries in Haturia, then part of the Faridpur district of the Bengal Presidency. He was the feudal landlord of Haturia,{{cite web|url=http://www.shariatpur.police.gov.bd/index.php?r=content/view&id=21|title=জেলার দর্শনীয় স্থানসমূহ|date=1 Aug 2018|website=Superintendent of police, Shariatpur|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190820111359/http://www.shariatpur.police.gov.bd/index.php?r=content/view&id=21|archive-date=20 Aug 2019|access-date=20 Aug 2019}} now under the Shariatpur District of Bangladesh. He inherited from his father, Muhammad Ashuq Mridha of Idilpur, who was a shaykh that was influenced by the teachings of the Hanafite imam Abu Yusuf.{{cite book|title=Agrarian System in Eastern Bengal, C. 1870-1910|author=Nakazato, Nariaki|publisher=K.P. Bagchi & Company|year=1994|isbn=9788170741459}}
Chowdhury's zamindari was spread across the districts of Faridpur and Bakerganj. He was well known for his wealth and was a great patron of education and public welfare, and used to donate generously for this purpose. Chowdhury aided the government in constructing a public bridge and ghat in Madaripur and other roads in the district. He also entirely funded the building for Madaripur's first pharmacy, and largely contributed to the construction of Barisal Government Entrance School. Chowdhury donated ten thousand rupees to the Dacca College Extension Fund.{{cite book|title=Dacca: A Study in Urban History and Development|isbn=9781351186735|publisher=Taylor & Francis|author=Ahmed, Sharif Uddin|year=2018|chapter=3. A centre of education}}BEC, 874, April 1877, 39-13, 157
The Kheya Ghater Majhi poem mentions the might of Chowdhury Golam Ali.{{cite book|chapter=ব্যাক্তি ও ব্যাক্তিত্ত্ব|title=উনিশ শতকে বাঙালী মুসলমানের চিন্তাচেতনার ধারা|volume=1|page=101|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.265181/page/n107/mode/2up|author=Ahmed, Wakil|year=1983|publisher=Bangla Academy|language=bn|trans-title=The trend of Bengali Muslim thought in the 19th century}} He also constructed a mosque in his village, Ghatakhan-Haturia, which has now been demolished and rebuilt.{{cite book|page=108|title=Archaeological Survey Report of Greater Faridpur District|author1=Ahmed, Nazimuddin|author2=Miah, Muhammad Abul Hashem|year=2000|isbn=9789847730004|publisher=Department of Archaeology (Bangladesh)}}
Death and descendants
Chowdhury died on 7 January 1888. He was buried in his village in Ghatakhan (Haturia), and his brick grave is still preserved. The western wall of the grave has a Bengali inscription consisting of eight lines.
He had three wives, with whom he had three sons and eight daughters. His first wife, Aizunnesa Khatun, was the mother of Ali Ahmad Chowdhury and two daughters. After the death of his younger brother, Chowdhury married his widowed sister-in-law Izzatunnesa Khatun, who was his first wife's half-sister. Together they had two sons, Amjad Ali Chowdhury and Tajammul Ali Chowdhury, and six daughters with the eldest being Karimunnesa. Chowdhury had two daughters with his third wife, Jawaidunnesa, and he died before the birth of the younger daughter, Majidunnesa.{{citation|url=https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/56b49619607dba348f016a4c|date=5 December 1994|quote=Karimunnessa Khatun and others v. Mahomed Fazlul Karim and others|title=Privy Council Appeal No. 90 of 1922, from Bengal Appeal No. 27 of 1919|work=Case Mine}}{{cite journal|journal=All India Reporter|page=587|volume=6|year=1929|publisher=D.V. Chitaley|title=Jamilennessa v. Ijjatennesa|author=Ghose, J. B. B.|location=Calcutta}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bengal Nobility}}
{{Nobility of the Raj}}
{{Shariatpur District}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Golam Ali}}
Category:19th-century Bengalis