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Draft:Siddiky family

Siddiky family of Baliadi
বলিয়াদী সিদ্দিকী পরিবার
Baliadi Zamindar Bari, the ancestral residence of the family (2022)
Country
Current regionBaliadi, Kaliakair Upazila, Gazipur District
Place of originMughal Empire
Foundedc. 1612
FounderSaaduddin Khan Siddiqi
Titles
TraditionsSunni Islam
Estate(s)Baliadi Estate (later Baliadi Waqf Estate), Pargana Talebabad

The Siddiky family of Baliadi (Bengali: বলিয়াদী সিদ্দিকী পরিবার), also referred to as the Baliadi Zamindar family, is a Bengali Muslim aristocratic family based in the Kaliakair Upazila of Gazipur District, Bangladesh. The family held the zamindari of the Baliadi Estate from 1612, following a grant of three jagirs by the Mughal emperor Jahangir, and has continued to administer the estate as a Waqf endowment since the abolition of the zamindari system in East Bengal in 1950.[1][2][3]

The family traces its descent through the Mughal noble Qutubuddin Koka (died 1607), the foster-brother of Emperor Jahangir and subahdar of Bengal, and according to family tradition further traces its lineage to Abu Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddīq, the first Rashidun caliph.[1][2] Members of the family have held roles in the political, legal, commercial, and judicial life of British India, Pakistan, and independent Bangladesh, including Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky (1876–1937), one of the founders of the University of Dhaka and first president of the East Bengal and Assam Provincial Muslim League, and Justice Badruddin Ahmed Siddiky (1915–1991), Chief Justice of the High Court of Dacca and Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.[2][4]

Origins and early history

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The Baliadi branch is descended from Saaduddin Khan Siddiqi (fl. 1612), a son of Qutubuddin Koka (Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah), the Mughal governor of Bengal and foster-brother of Emperor Jahangir. Qutubuddin Koka was killed at Burdwan in 1607 while confronting the rebel Sher Afghan Khan.[1]

In 1612, Emperor Jahangir granted Saaduddin three jagirs in eastern Bengal (Chandrapratap, Amenabad (Aminabad), and Talebabad), which together became the nucleus of the Baliadi Estate.[1][2] The family later relocated to Baliadi village in Pargana Talebabad, from which the lineage took its name.[3]

According to family tradition recorded in Banglapedia, the zamindars of Baliadi claim descent from Abū Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddīq, the first Caliph of Sunni Islam, from whom the surname is derived.[2]

Baliadi Estate and Waqf

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Entrance to Baliadi Zamindar Bari

The Baliadi Estate originally covered the area of present-day Kaliakair Thana, with a recorded population of approximately 3,278 at the time of its establishment.[2][3] The family residence, the Baliadi Zamindar Bari, stands in Baliadi Union approximately two kilometres south of Kaliakair Bazar. Unlike several comparable sites, it is not administered by the Bangladesh Department of Archaeology and remains in family possession.[3]

Following the abolition of the zamindari system under the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950, the family reconstituted its holdings at Baliadi as a religious endowment (Arabic: waqf) under Bangladesh's waqf administration.[3] Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky currently serves as mutawalli (trustee) of the estate and is the 37th-generation descendant of Abu Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddīq within the family's recorded tradition.[3]

Dacca residence and political organising

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Press notice in The Light, 16 July 1939, listing 1, Kazemuddin Siddiky Lane, Dacca, as the office of the Reception Committee for the Ninth All-Bengal Muslim Students' Conference
Press notice in The Light (Lahore), 16 July 1939, listing the family's Dacca residence "El Dorado" at 1, Kazemuddin Siddiky Lane as the office of the Reception Committee for the Ninth All-Bengal Muslim Students' Conference

In addition to Baliadi, the family maintained a Dacca town residence known as "El Dorado" at 1, Kazemuddin Siddiky Lane, a street named for Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky. During the late 1930s and early 1940s the address served as a venue for Muslim civic and student political organising in the city.

In July 1939 the residence appeared in The Light as the office of the Reception Committee for the Ninth All-Bengal Muslim Students' Conference, then preparing to convene at Dacca in August of that year, with Badruddin Ahmed Siddiky named as Chairman of the Reception Committee.[5]

Surviving correspondence in the Jinnah Papers shows that on 4 December 1941 Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the All-India Muslim League, wrote from New Delhi to "Badruddin Ahmed Siddiky, Esq., 1 Kazemuddin Siddiky Lane, Dacca," and that Siddiky replied the same day from the same address on behalf of the Students' Pakistan League at Dacca University, forwarding a resolution of the university's Muslim students and corresponding with Jinnah on the contemporary Bengal political situation, including the position of A. K. Fazlul Huq.[6]


Philanthropy and patronage

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Press report on page 268 of Bongsho-Porichoy, vol. 17, reporting Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky's sanction of Rs. 10,000 for tank excavation as Depression-era relief
Press report on page 268 of Jnanendra Nath Kumar's Bongsho-Porichoy, vol. 17 (1933), describing Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky's sanction of Rs. 10,000 for tank excavation as Great Depression relief, with the work supervised by his son Moulvi Chowdhury Labibuddin Ahmed Siddiky

The family, particularly under Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky in the early twentieth century, has a recorded tradition of donations to educational, cultural, and public-welfare institutions in Bengal.

Contemporary press coverage documents the family's relief activities during the Great Depression. A May 1933 report from Baliadi, reproduced on page 268 of the seventeenth volume of Jnanendra Nath Kumar's Bongsho-Porichoy (1933), recorded that the family had sanctioned Rs. 10,000 for the excavation of several tanks to provide drinking water and irrigation for tenants and agriculturists during a period of severe economic distress; the work was supervised by Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky and his son, Moulvi Chowdhury Labibuddin Ahmed Siddiky.[7] According to Banglapedia, the family also donated lands for the construction of the Kadda–Kaliakair, Kaliakair–Dhamrai, and Sreepur–Phulbaria roads, and founded local dispensaries and hospitals while extending irrigation facilities to tenants without imposing additional charges.[2]

In higher education, the Siddiky family was a major early benefactor of the University of Dhaka Library. According to the University of Dacca Annual Report for 1928, Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky donated approximately 6,756 manuscripts to the library, in addition to other materials including rare and valuable books; this remains one of the largest single private contributions to the library's historical manuscript holdings.[8][9] In 1929 Kazemuddin also donated Rs. 4,200 to Salimullah Muslim Hall at the University of Dacca, earmarked as stipends restricted to students who observed daily prayers.[2]

In museum patronage, Kazemuddin Siddiky was recorded as a donor to the Dacca Museum in N. K. Bhattasali's 1929 Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum, which identifies "Kazimuddin Siddiqui of Baliadi" among the patrons whose contributions enriched the museum's pre-Islamic sculptural collection during its formative period.[10]

Notable members

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Nineteenth and early twentieth century

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Khan Bahadur Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky (1876–1937)

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Chowdhury Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky was a zamindar, politician, and social reformer in early twentieth-century Bengal. Born at Baliadi in 1876, he was a descendant of Qutubuddin Koka.[2] He served as the first president of the East Bengal and Assam Provincial Muslim League from its establishment in June 1908, with Sir Khwaja Salimullah as secretary, and was a member of the Muslim Deputation to Lord Hardinge that pressed for the foundation of the University of Dhaka; in 1921 he was appointed to the university's governing court.[2] Kazemuddin Siddiky was also a published Bengali author. He authored the work Shanti-Sopan ("Steps to Peace").[11] In recognition of his public services, he was conferred the title of Khan Bahadur by the British government.[2] The family's Depression-era relief work, manuscript donations to the University of Dhaka, and museum patronage during his lifetime are described in greater detail in the philanthropy and patronage section above.

Mid-twentieth century

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Justice Badruddin Ahmed Siddiky (1915–1991)

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Badruddin Ahmed Siddiky (born 4 January 1915), nephew of Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky and eldest of the three sons of Borhanuddin Ahmed Siddiky, was a Bangladeshi jurist who served as Chief Justice of the High Court of Dacca.[4] By the late 1930s and early 1940s, while in early legal practice in Dacca, he was active in Bengali Muslim student politics, chairing the Reception Committee for the Ninth All-Bengal Muslim Students' Conference at Dacca in 1939 and corresponding directly with Muhammad Ali Jinnah in late 1941 on behalf of the Students' Pakistan League at Dacca University, as detailed in the section above on the family's Dacca residence.[5][6]

He began legal practice as junior partner to Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, served as Legal Counsel to the State Bank of Pakistan (1952–57), and as a judge of the Dhaka High Court from 1960. In March 1971, on the eve of the Bangladesh Liberation War, he refused to administer the oath of office to General Tikka Khan as Governor of East Pakistan, an act regarded as a contribution to Bangladeshi independence. From 1986 to 1988 he served as Bangladesh's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.[4]

Chowdhury Abraruddin Ahmed Siddiky

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Chowdhury Abraruddin Ahmed Siddiky was elected to the 3rd National Assembly of Pakistan from Dacca-4 in 1962.[12] He led the East Pakistan and East Bengal Film Associations and in 1926 founded the Manasi cinema hall in Dhaka, which was named by Rabindranath Tagore.[13]

Late twentieth and twenty-first century

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Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky (born 1939)

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Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky (born 14 February 1939), grandson of Kazemuddin Ahmed Siddiky, is a Bangladeshi politician and businessman. A founding member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), he served as State Minister for Commerce under Presidents Ziaur Rahman and Abdus Sattar in 1980–81, and as president of the FBCCI in 1979 and the DCCI in 1976–78.[14] He was a long-standing member of the BNP National Standing Committee; expelled in March 2009, he was reinstated in November 2018.[15]

Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky (born 1970)

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Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky, elder son of Tanbir, is a Bangladeshi political figure and social activist. He is the author of The Compromised Republic: An Inquiry into the Development of Underdevelopment (2003) and of academic papers on electoral governance and postcolonial political economy.[16] Siddiky entered national prominence in March 2009 when, at a press conference announcing his candidacy for Mayor of Dhaka, he publicly alleged that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia had demanded a bribe of five crore taka in exchange for the party's mayoral nomination.[17] The allegations led to his expulsion from the BNP alongside his father and to a Tk 50 crore defamation suit filed against him by BNP leader ASM Hannan Shah; the High Court Division granted Siddiky anticipatory bail on 17 March 2009.[18] He contested the 2015 Dhaka North mayoral election[19] and has since sought the Gazipur-1 parliamentary seat in multiple elections, most recently in 2025 as a candidate of the Bangladesh Labour Party.[20][21]

On 23 February 2017, Siddiky was arrested upon arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from the Netherlands, under Section 57 of Bangladesh's Information and Communication Technology Act, in connection with Facebook posts critical of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government.[22] The case was subsequently documented by international human rights organisations as part of a broader crackdown on online political expression in Bangladesh. Freedom House named him in its Freedom on the Net 2017 country report for Bangladesh under "Prosecutions and Detentions for Online Activities," situating his arrest within a coverage period in which more than 300 people were detained for online comments under the ICT Act.[23] Human Rights Watch included his case in Annex 1 ("Examples Concerning Political Criticism on Social Media") of its May 2018 report No Place for Criticism: Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary.[24]

Barrister Chowdhury Ishrak Ahmed Siddiky

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Chowdhury Ishrak Ahmed Siddiky, younger son of Tanbir, is a Bangladeshi lawyer and political figure. A Barrister-at-Law of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, London, he holds an LL.B. (Hons.) and an LL.M. and Ph.D. in Energy Law from the CEPMLP at the University of Dundee.[25][26] He serves as Member Secretary of the BNP's Gazipur District unit, and on 31 March 2026 was appointed Administrator of Gazipur Zila Parishad by the Government of Bangladesh.[27][28]

Political activity and public profile

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Members of the family have been active across multiple political parties in independent Bangladesh. Chowdhury Tanbir Ahmed Siddiky, a founding member of the BNP, was expelled from the party in March 2009 following his son Irad's public allegations of internal party corruption against chairperson Khaleda Zia; both father and son were expelled together.[17] The expulsion was withdrawn in November 2018 and Tanbir was reinstated to the BNP National Standing Committee.[15]

Irad Siddiky has remained publicly active as a political commentator, contesting parliamentary elections under several party banners, including Trinamool BNP in 2023 and the Bangladesh Labour Party in 2025.[20][21] His February 2017 arrest under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act was documented by Freedom House and Human Rights Watch as an example of the law's use against online political expression in Bangladesh.[23][24]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Chowdhury, AM. "Qutb-ud-Din Khan Kokah". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Siddiky, Kazemuddin Ahmad". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "বলিয়াদী জমিদার বাড়ী, গাজীপুর". Vromonguide (in Bengali). Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Siddiky, Justice Badruddin Ahmad". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  5. 1 2 "All-Bengal Muslim Students' Conference" (PDF). The Light. Lahore. 16 July 1939.
  6. 1 2 Zaidi, Z. H., ed. (2004). Jinnah Papers, Volume 17: Call for Unity, Faith and Discipline (1 August 1941 – 31 March 1942). Islamabad: Quaid-i-Azam Papers Project, National Archives of Pakistan. pp. 209, 337.
  7. ↑ Kumar, Jnanendra Nath (1933). Bongsho-Porichoy (in Bengali). Vol. 17. Calcutta: Unknown. p. 268.
  8. ↑ Annual Report of the University of Dacca (Report). University of Dacca. 1928. pp. 33, 38.
  9. ↑ Nahla, Sabiha (26 September 2025). "Dhaka University's manuscripts are a hidden treasure trove". Bangla Outlook.
  10. ↑ Bhattasali, Nalini Kanta (1929). Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum. Dacca: Dacca Museum Committee.
  11. ↑ "শান্তি-সোপান" (PDF). Bengali Wikisource (in Bengali). Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  12. ↑ "List of Members of the 3rd National Assembly of Pakistan" (PDF). National Assembly of Pakistan. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  13. ↑ Ali, Masum. "Manasi's lights turned off on Eid". Prothom Alo.
  14. ↑ "'Political parties must work together to save democracy'". The Daily Star. 13 October 2008.
  15. 1 2 "BNP withdraws expulsion order against Tanvir". Dhaka Tribune. 26 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiky". IDEAS/RePEc. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  17. 1 2 "Khaleda demands Tk 5 crore for party backing; Claims mayor aspirant Irad Siddiky". The Daily Star. 10 March 2009.
  18. ↑ "HC grants bail to Irad Siddiky". The Daily Star. 18 March 2009.
  19. ↑ "Annisul, Mintoo, Kabori, 18 others to fight it out for Dhaka North mayor". bdnews24.com. 30 March 2015.
  20. 1 2 "গাজীপুর-১ আসনে তৃণমূল বিএনপির মনোনয়নপত্র কিনলেন চৌধুরী ইরাদ আহমদ" [Chowdhury Irad Ahmed collects Trinamool BNP nomination for Gazipur-1]. Bahumatrik (in Bengali). 24 November 2023.
  21. 1 2 "গাজীপুর-১ আসনে দুই ভাইয়ের মনোনয়ন সংগ্রহ" [Two candidates collect nominations in Gazipur-1]. Desh Rupantor (in Bengali). 24 December 2025.
  22. ↑ Rabbi, Arifur Rahman (23 February 2017). "Irad Siddiky arrested upon arrival at Shahjalal". Dhaka Tribune.
  23. 1 2 Bangladesh: Freedom on the Net 2017 (Report). Freedom House. 2017.
  24. 1 2 No Place for Criticism: Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary (PDF) (Report). Human Rights Watch. May 2018. p. 74.
  25. ↑ "Dr. Ishrak Ahmed Siddiky Contributing Author". Oil, Gas & Energy Law Journal (OGEL). Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "Chowdhury Ishrak Ahmed Siddiky". The Legal 500. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "Chowdhury Ishraq Ahmed appointed as Gazipur Zila Parishad administrator". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. 31 March 2026.
  28. ↑ "Chowdhury Ishraq Ahmed appointed as Gazipur Zila Parishad administrator". Dhaka Tribune. 31 March 2026.

Further reading

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  • Taifur, Muhammad (1994). A History of Dhaka. Dhaka: University Press Ltd.
  • Kumar, Jnanendra Nath (1933). Bongsho-Porichoy. Vol. 17. Calcutta: Unknown.
  • Bhattasali, Nalini Kanta (1929). Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum. Dacca: Dacca Museum Committee.
  • Zaidi, Z. H., ed. (2004). Jinnah Papers, Volume 17: Call for Unity, Faith and Discipline (1 August 1941 – 31 March 1942). Islamabad: Quaid-i-Azam Papers Project, National Archives of Pakistan.

Category:Siddiky family of Baliadi

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