Kawoosahamad at 00:20, 9 February 2026

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{{Short description|Bengali Muslim zamindar and philanthropist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Zamindar]] [[Moulvi]] [[Mian (title)|Mia]]
| name = Golam Ali Chowdhury
| honorific_suffix = [[Sahib]]
| native_name = গোলাম আলী চৌধুরী
| native_name_lang = bn
| birth_date = 1827
| birth_place = [[Faridpur Division|Faridpur district]], [[Bengal Presidency]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1888|1|7|1827|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Faridpur Division|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),<ref>{{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}}</ref> also known as '''Chowdhuri Golam Ali''' ({{langx|bn|চৌধুরী গোলাম আলী}}), was a 19th-century [[Bengali Muslim]] [[zamindar]] and philanthropist from [[Padma Division|Faridpur]] in eastern Bengal.<ref name=z>{{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]}}</ref>

==Life==
Chowdhury was born in 1824 to a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] ''[[zamindar]]'' family of [[Muslim]] [[Mridha]]-[[Chowdhury|Chowdhuries]] in [[Gosairhat Upazila|Haturia]], then part of the [[Faridpur Division|Faridpur district]] of the [[Bengal Presidency]]. He was the feudal landlord of [[Gosairhat Upazila|Haturia]],<ref>{{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}}</ref> now under the [[Shariatpur District]] of [[Bangladesh]]. He inherited from his father, [[Muhammad Ashuq Mridha]] of [[Idilpur Union|Idilpur]], who was a ''[[shaykh]]'' that was influenced by the teachings of the [[Hanafite]] ''[[imam]]'' [[Abu Yusuf]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Agrarian System in Eastern Bengal, C. 1870-1910|author=Nakazato, Nariaki|publisher=K.P. Bagchi & Company|year=1994|isbn=9788170741459}}</ref>

Chowdhury's ''[[zamindari]]'' was spread across the districts of [[Padma Division|Faridpur]] and [[Backergunge District|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 District|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 [[rupee]]s to the [[Dacca College]] Extension Fund.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>BEC, 874, April 1877, 39-13, 157</ref>

The ''Kheya Ghater Majhi'' poem mentions the might of Chowdhury Golam Ali.<ref name=z/><ref>{{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=[[Wakil Ahmed|Ahmed, Wakil]]|year=1983|publisher=[[Bangla Academy]]|language=bn|trans-title=The trend of Bengali Muslim thought in the 19th century}}</ref> He also constructed a [[mosque]] in his village, Ghatakhan-Haturia, which has now been demolished and rebuilt.<ref name=arch>{{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)]]}}</ref>

==Death and descendants==
Chowdhury died on 7 January 1888.<ref name=case/> 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.<ref name=arch/>

He had three wives, with whom he had three sons and eight daughters.<ref name=z/> 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.<ref name=case>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Bengal Nobility}}
{{Nobility of the Raj}}
{{Shariatpur District}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Golam Ali}}
[[Category:1820s births]]
[[Category:1888 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:People from Shariatpur District]]
[[Category:Bengali zamindars]]
[[Category:Bengali Muslims]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi philanthropists]]
[[Category:19th-century philanthropists]]

Golam Ali Chowdhury - Revision history

Kawoosahamad at 00:20, 9 February 2026