Khwaja Habibullah

Nawab Khwaja Habibullah Bahadur (1895–1958)^[1] was the fifth and last Nawab of Dhaka. He was the son of his more prominent father, Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur. Under his rule, the Dhaka Nawab Estate went into decline until its actual relinquishment in 1952 by the East Pakistan Estates Acquisition Act.

Early life

Khwaja Habibullah was in 26 April 1895 in Dhaka.^[2] He father was Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur of Dhaka Nawab family. He went to school in Darjeeling, at St. Paul's school and later continued his education in England.^[2] In 1915 at the death of his father he succeeded as the Nawab of Dhaka. In 1918 he joined the Bengali Platoon of the British Indian army. He served in the British mandate of Mesopotamia as an honorary lieutenant.^[2] He served in Dhaka district board and Dhaka municipality board. He took part in the Khilafat Andolan.^[2] He was the representative of Dhaka in the Bengal legislative council from 1924 till 1932.^[2]

Career

Nawab Habibullah had supported the 1932 communal award proposal of the British Raj. In 1935 he was the president of the Bengal Muslim League and member of the executive of the All India Muslim league.^[2] From 1937 to 1941 he was a minister in the cabinet of A K Fazlul Haq.^[2] He joined the second cabinet of Haq against the wishes of the Muslim league for which he was suspended from the league till 1946. In 1946 he stood in the assembly election of Bengal as an independent candidate but suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of his relative, Khwaja Khairuddin who was on a Muslim League ticket.^[2] After the partition of India he held the position of vice-president in East Pakistan Muslim League.^[2] He held organize the celebration of Pakistan Independence in Dhaka and raised the flag of Pakistan in Lalbagh fort.^[3] During his reign as the Nawab of Dhaka, the estate fell into the control of the Court of Wards.^[2]

Personal life and death

In his closing days he retired from politics because of health related reasons. He left the Ahsan Manzil Palace and resided in another of the royal residences, Green House, in Dhaka's Paribagh area. He died on 21 November, 1958 and was buried alongside his father at the Nawab family graveyard in Begumbazar in Dhaka.^[2]

References