Chowdhury, Dewan Taimur Raja

Chowdhury, Dewan Taimur Raja (1917-1997) landholder, politician. He was born on 5 November 1917 at village Rampasha in Bishwanath thana of Sylhet district. His father was Khan Bahadur Dewan Eklimur Raja and his mother was Meherjan Banu. Mystic poet Hasan Raja was his grandfather.

Taimur Raja studied at Rajaganj Primary School, Sylhet Government Alia Madrasa, Rusamoy High School and Government High School. He was a student of government Murari Chand College. He was involved in politics in his student life and was the secretary of Assam Provincial Muslim Students Federation.

Dewan Taimur Raja was the honorary magistrate in Sylhet from 1943 to 1946. In 1945 he was elected vice chairman of Sylhet Local Board and later elected as the chairman of Local Board. He was elected a member of the Assam Provincial Assembly in 1946. He took active part in the Referendum of Sylhet in 1946. For sometime he was the acting secretary general of Assam provincial Muslim League. He was the member of working committee of East Pakistan Muslim League, parliamentary member of the Party and the president of Sylhet District Muslim League. He worked as the parliamentary secretary from 1947 to 1954.

Taimur Raja was elected a member of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly in 1965. In 1979, he was elected president of the Sylhet district unit of bangladesh nationalist party. Taimur Raja was elected a member of the Jatiya Sangsad from Sylhet in 1979 and had been the state minister in the cabinet of Ziaur Rahman from 1979 to 1980. At the closing years of his life Taimur Raja Chowdhury began composing mystic poems and songs. Some of his songs have been published. Before his death, he floated the Dewan Taimur Raja Trust with the Sylhet branch of Islami Bank. Various educational institutions receive grants from this Trust Fund.

Dewan Taimur Raja died on 14 December 1997. [Dewan Nurul Anwar Hossain Chowdhury]