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Nawab Sirajul Islam

Nawab Sirajul Islam was a lawyer and social-worker. Born at Pearakandi, a flourishing village under Nabinagar Upazila of Brahmanbaria district, his father Kazi Mohammad Kazem was said to have been a Sadr Amin (revenue-judicial officer) under the company government.

Sirajul Islam graduated from Dhaka College in 1867 and started his career as an Assistant Headmaster of Pogose School, a famous Armenian institution in Dhaka. Later, he obtained the BL degree and joined the Calcutta High Court Bar in 1873.

In 1885, he was elected an Assistant Secretary of the Central National Muhammedan Association. Earlier, he had been elected a Commissioner of the Calcutta Municipality in 1875. In 1893 and 1902 he worked as a nominated member of the Bengal Legislative Council.

Sirajul Islam was an honourary member of the Bengal Provincial Educational Conference, in those days an influential forum for moulding public opinion. He was also a nominated member of the Calcutta University Syndicate.

Sirajul Islam was originally against the Partition of Bengal in 1905 and condemned it in a meeting organised by the Central National Mohammedan Association held in 1904 in Calcutta. However, he changed his mind about the partition subsequently.

In appreciation of his services to his community and to the British Raj, he was conferred the title of 'Nawab' in 1911. Earlier, he had received the title of 'Khan Bahadur' in 1887.

Nawab was a designation indicating political rank and power in the Mughal administrative hierarchy. In the British period, the term was used for a state conferred honourary title of rank without any official attachment. The term Nawab got widest currency in the nineteenth century.

In order to motivate the Bengal ruling classes to participate in the community services, the Auckland administration (1836-1842) had introduced a system of conferring honourific titles on the philanthropic and socially leading people. For the Muslim elite, titles of varying ranks and status were introduced, such as Nawab, Khan Saheb, Khan Bahadur, etc.

Nawab Sirajul Islam was also a part of the Nathan Commission and was instrumental in the formation of the University of Dhaka.

Nawab Sirajul Islam died in 1923 in Calcutta and is buried there.