Peter120 at 21:12, 23 March 2026

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{{Short description|Bangladeshi politician (1905–1991)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2021}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2016}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name = Abul Kashem Khan
| image = KhanAbulKashem.jpg
| caption = Khan at his residence (1960)

| office = Member of the [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]]
| constituency = [[List of members of the 3rd National Assembly of Pakistan|NE-72 (Chittagong-II)]]
| term_start = 1958
| term_end = 1962
| successor = [[A. K. M. Fazlul Quader Chowdhury]]

| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|4|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Panchlaish Thana|Panchlaish]], [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|3|31|1905|4|5|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Dhaka]], Bangladesh
| alma_mater = [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency University]]
| occupation = Industrialist
| known_for = Founder of [[A K Khan & Company]]
| spouse = {{marriage|Shamsun Nahar Khan|1935}}
| children = 9, including [[A. M. Zahiruddin Khan]]
| party = [[Convention Muslim League]] {{small|(till 1965)}}
| otherparty = [[All India Muslim League]] {{small|(till 1948)}}
| relatives = {{ubl|[[Mustafizur Rahman Siddiqi|M.R Siddiqi]] (son-in-law)|[[Khondokar Mahmud Hasan|Justice KM Hasan]] (son-in-law)|[[Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman|Colonel Farooq]] (nephew-in-law)|[[Khandaker Abdur Rashid]] (nephew-in-law)}}
}}
'''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 and later Bangladesh's leading [[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerates]].<ref name=bpedia>{{cite Banglapedia|title=Khan, Abul Kashem}}</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]].

== Early life ==
Abul Kashem Khan was born in a family historically active in the politics of [[Bengal]] 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.{{sfn|Nahid|2017|p=154}} 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=bpedia/>

== Career ==
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=bpedia/>

''"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=bpedia/><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>

==Politics==
Khan 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=bpedia/>

== Personal life ==
Khan married 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]].
Chowdhury also served as a director of the [[Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation]].

Khan had nine children with Shamsun Nahar: five sons and four daughters; [[A. M. Zahiruddin Khan|Zahiruddin (Bambu)]], Shamsuddin (Jambu), Salahuddin, Sadruddin, Ziauddin (Pablo), Latifa (Kohinoor), Zebun Nahar, Yasmin, and Shamima.{{sfn|Nahid|2017|p=162}}

Khan's eldest son, [[A. M. Zahiruddin Khan|Zahiruddin]], was married to Asma Afzal, Daughter of Barrister Khandkar Ali Afzal, the first Bengali secretary of the Bengal Legislative Assembly and Granddaughter of [[Khandakar Fazle Rabbi]], [[Dewan]] for the [[Nawabs of Murshidabad|Nawab of Murshidabad]]

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]].{{sfn|Nahid|2017|p=162}}

== Death ==
Khan died on 31 March 1991.<ref name=bpedia/> His wife, Shamsun Nahar Khan, died two months later.{{sfn|Nahid|2017|p=154}}

==In popular culture==
''AK Khan More'' is a circle located in Chittagong, Bangladesh near Dhaka-Chittagong Trunk Road.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite journal|last=Nahid|first=Farzana|date=2017|title=Entrepreneurial Capacity and State Incapacity: Family Firms in Bangladesh|url=https://files01.core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268879125.pdf|journal=Institute of Graduate Studies, University of Malaya}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Abul Kashem}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Chittagong District]]
[[Category:Politicians from Chittagong Division]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Federal ministers of Pakistan]]
[[Category:20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers]]
[[Category:Pakistani MNAs 1962–1965]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi industrialists]]
[[Category:20th-century Pakistani businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Bangladeshi businesspeople]]

Abul Kashem Khan - Revision history

Peter120 at 21:12, 23 March 2026