The Tungipara Sheikh Family is one of the most powerful families in Bangladesh. Their political involvement has traditionally revolved around the Bangladesh Awami League.
Family origin
Old residence of the family
The first member of the Tungipara Sheikh family to come to Bengal was Sheikh Abdul Awal Darwish. Sheikh Abdul Awal was born in a suburb of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. During the early eighteenth century, Sheikh Abdul Awal had travelled to Chittagong to pursue business and to promote Islam in the region of Bengal, similar to that of the founders of other Sheikh families of Bengal. Sheikh Abdul Awal had preached in Chittagong for many years, until he went to Sonargaon for business and started preaching there. He married into the Khandakar family of Kandirpar, Faridpur, later his son Sheikh Zahiruddin also married into this family. Many years later, Sheikh Zahiruddin moved to Kolkata with his son Sheikh Jan Mahmud, since their wholesale business was based there. Sheikh Jan Mahmud's son, Sheikh Borhanuddin, continued to run that wholesale business and eventually shifted back to East Bengal. He married a girl from the Kazi family of Tungipara and permanently settled there. The Tungipara Sheikh family are related to a Sheikh family of Kolkata, a member of that family being Sheikh Assimuddin, the Kandirpar Sheikh family and a Sheikh family in Sonargaon as a result of these relocations. Sheikh Borhanuddin had a son named Sheikh Ekramullah, who in turn had two sons: Sheikh Wasimuddin and Sheikh Mohammad Zakir. Sheikh Mohammad Zakir had three sons: Sheikh Abdul Majid, Sheikh Abdul Hamid, and Sheikh Abdul Rashid. Sheikh Abdul Hamid was the father of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman while his wife, Sayera Khatun, was the daughter of his father's brother, Sheikh Abdul Majid. Their son was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who married his third-cousin Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, great-granddaughter of Sheikh Wasimuddin (his great-grandfather Sheikh Zakir's brother). Sheikh Mujib and Begum Mujib's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, married M. A. Wazed in 1968.
Family tree
Early ancestors
Sheikh Abdul Awal
Sheikh Zahiruddin
Sheikh Jan Mahmud
Sheikh Borhanuddin
Sheikh Taj Mahmud
Sheikh Ekramullah
Sheikh Qudratullah
Sheikh Mohammad Zakir
Sheikh Abdul Hamid
Sheikh Abdul Rashid
Sheikh Abdul Majid
See below
Family of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Sheikh Sayera Khatun
Feroza Begum’s husband is the son of Sheikh Fatema Begum, her mother’s sister. Therefore they were first-cousins.
Andaleeve Rahman Partho's maternal grandmother, Sheikh Asia Begum, was the sister of his wife’s paternal grandfather Sheikh Abu Naser. Therefore they are second-cousins.
Muntarin Chowdhury was married to Nixon Chowdhury until her death from falling from her apartment roof in 2014.
Family of Sheikh Amena Begum and Abdur Rab Serniabat
Ifrah was married to Sheikh Tonmoy until their divorce
Sheikh Shaira Rahman's paternal grandfather, Sheikh Abu Naser was the brother of Andaleeve Rahman's grandmother Sheikh Asia Begum. Therefore they are second-cousins.
Family of Khadijah Hossain Lily and ATM Syed Hossain
Parveen Jamal Rosy’s mother was the youngest sister of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of her husband Sheikh Jamal. Therefore they were first-cousins.
Extended family & in-laws
Qudratullah Sheikh: An early ancestor of the Sheikh family and Zamindar of Faridpur Mahakumar, he was a son of Sheikh Borhanuddin. His nickname was Kadu Sheikh.
Sheikh Abdul Jabbar: Son of Qudratullah Sheikh, father of Sheikh Nurul Haque, grandfather of Sheikh Selim and Sheikh Mani.
Sheikh Abdul Rashid: He was the son of Sheikh Mohammad Zakir, brother of both Sheikh Abdul Majid and Sheikh Abdul Hamid, paternal uncle of both Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Sheikh Sayera Khatun, and paternal granduncle of both Sheikh Mujib and Begum Mujib. He was given the title of Khan Sahib by the erstwhile ruling British.
Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain (d. 1991): He was a son of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a first-cousin of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman, and an uncle of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was given the title of Khan Sahib by the British Raj. He was a member of the legislative assembly of Pakistan in 1965 and 1970. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he was accused of collaborating with the Pakistan Army. After independence he was arrested on charges of collaboration but later freed due to his nephew Sheikh Mujib's intervention. He died on 12 July 1991.
Sheikh Kamrul Islam Bitu: Son of Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain, trustee of Khulna Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah University & former Bangladesh Chhatra League leader.
Sheikh Nadir Hossain: Son of Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain and chairman of Milkvita Bangladesh.
Sheikh Shahidul Islam: Son of Sheikh Mohammad Musa & Sheikh Zinnatunessa Begum, nephew of both Sheikh Mujib & Begum Mujib, and first-cousin of Sheikh Hasina. He served as the Minister for Education, Public Works, Youth and Sports from 1984 to 1990 and is a former member of parliament from Madaripur-3.
Kazi Zafarullah: Senior Awami League politician and former member of parliament from Faridpur-4. One of the early ancestors of the Sheikh family, Sheikh Borhanuddin, married a woman from the Kazi family of Tungipara, making them cousins of the Sheikhs. His father, Kazi Mahbubullah, was a cousin and close friend of Sheikh Mujib, while Zafarullah himself was a cousin and close friend of Sheikh Kamal. He is married to Nilufer Zafarullah, chairman of Midland Bank Limited and former member of parliament from Faridpur-4.
Shahid Serniabat: He was the nephew of Abdur Rab Serniabat. He was killed along with his uncle and cousins in 1975.
Sheikh Akram Hossain: Brother of Begum Mujib, cousin of Sheikh Mujib, and maternal uncle of Sheikh Hasina. Akram died in 2009, leaving behind his children: Sheikh Milly, Sheikh Molly, Sheikh Hera, and Sheikh Shafin.
Mominul Haque Khoka: He was a first-cousin of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (his mother was the sister of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman) and a freedom fighter. Khoka died in 2014 at the age of 81 in Singapore, leaving behind a son and a daughter.
Farhana Haque: Daughter of Mominul Haque Khoka and a Bangladeshi businesswoman. She is a director of Bank Asia Limited and owner of DHS Motors (distributor of Honda vehicles in Bangladesh). She is married to businessman Romo Rouf Chowdhury (son of A. Rouf Chowdhury, the founder of Rangs Group).
