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Sheikh family of Tungipara

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Sheikhs of Tungipara
টুঙ্গিপাড়ার শেখ বংশ
Political family
CountryBangladesh
Current region
Place of origin
Tungipara
FounderSheikh Borhanuddin
Current headSheikh Hasina
TitlesPrime Minister of Bangladesh
President of Bangladesh
Connected families
Khandakar Family of Kandirpar
Kazi Family of Tungipara
Serniabat Family
Chowdhuries of Duttapara
Khan Taluqdars of Bhola
DistinctionsLeading the Bangladesh Awami League, the family itself is a Zamindar family of Faridpur
TraditionsSunni Islam
EstateTungipara Sheikh Bari

The Tungipara Sheikh family (Bengali: টুঙ্গিপাড়ার শেখ বংশ, romanized: Ṭuṅgipāṛār śēkh bôngśô) is one of the two most prominent Bangladeshi political families, other being the Zia family. The family primarily consists of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and their relatives.[1] Their political involvement has traditionally revolved around the Bangladesh Awami League.[2][3][4][5]

Family origin

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Old residence of the family

The first member of the Tungipara Sheikh family to come to Bengal was Sheikh Abdul Awal Darwish who arrived with a group of Sufi Muslim missionaries from outside of Bengal. Sheikh Abdul Awal was claimed by the family to have come from Baghdad, though this is historically untenable, factors such as the family being Persian speaking,[6] Sheikh Abdul Awal having a son named Zahiruddin, and a grandson named Jan Mahmud, usage of the Persian term Dervish for Abdul Awal, lack of possession of a surname connecting them to the Arab families in Baghdad, and claiming that Abdul Awal was born in Baghdad in a suburb called Hasnabad, while historical records show that no suburb called Hasnabad has ever existed in Baghdad,[7] all indicate an Ajam origin rather than an Arabic speaking one. Family historical records and testimonies of descendants of others who came as Islamic preachers in Bengal in Abdul Awal's group state an Eastern Persian origin rather than a Baghdadi one. It could be said that the Sheikh Family of Tungipara, a few generations after settling in Bengal had disregarded or forgotten their Persian origin and instead started claiming a fictitious Baghdadi origin which was often seen as more fashionable and prestigious, a rather common trend amongst more prominent Muslim families in rural Bengal and also a common invention amongst Indian Muslim hagiographers. Abdul Awal was also stated by the family to have been accompanied by Bayezid Bastami, though this claim has been declared by historians an example of exaggerated hagiography as should this claim have been true, it would mean that the family would have only gone through around eight generations in more than a millennium.[8] Nevertheless, this Sheikh Abdul Awal had travelled to Chittagong to pursue business and to promote Islam in the region 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.[9][7] 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.[9]

During the era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's great-grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Zakir, the family was still a Persian-speaking family.[6]

Family tree

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Family of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

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Sheikh Mujibur RahmanSheikh Fazilatunnesa[a]
Sheikh HasinaM. A. WazedSheikh KamalSultana KamalSheikh Jamal[b]Parveen Jamal RosySheikh Rehana[c]Shafiq Ahmed SiddiqSheikh Russel
Kristine O. OvermireSajeeb WazedSaima WazedKhandakar Masrur HossainRadwan Mujib Siddiq BobbyAzmina SiddiqTulip SiddiqChristian Percy
  1. ↑ Begum Mujib and Sheikh Mujib were paternal third-cousins as both their great-grandfathers were brothers.
  2. ↑ Sheikh Jamal's father was the eldest brother of Khadijah Hossain Lily, the mother of his wife Parveen Jamal Rosy. Therefore they were first-cousins.
  3. ↑ Sheikh Rehana is sister-in-law to Tarique Ahmed Siddique and niece-in-law to Ivy Rahman and President Zillur Rahman

Family of Sheikh Fatema Begum

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Sheikh Fatema Begum
Ilias Ahmed Chowdhury[a]Sheikh Feroza Begum
Liton ChowdhuryNixon ChowdhuryMuntarin Chowdhury[b]
Nazora Chowdhury
  1. ↑ Ilias Ahmed Chowdhury's wife is the daughter of Sheikh Asia Begum, his mother's sister. Therefore they were first-cousins.
  2. ↑ Muntarin Chowdhury was married to Nixon Chowdhury until her death from falling from her apartment roof in 2014.

Family of Sheikh Asia Begum

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Sheikh Asia Begum
Sheikh Fazlul Haque ManiArzu MoniSheikh Fazlul Karim SelimSheikh Reba RahmanNaziur Rahman ManzurSheikh Feroza Begum[a]Ilias Ahmed ChowdhurySheikh Sultana RekhaOmor Faruk ChowdhurySheikh Fazlur Rahman MarufSanijda Rahman