Ahmad, Khan Bahadur Naziruddin

Ahmad, Khan Bahadur Naziruddin (1888-1949) Registrar of Dhaka University from 1921 to 1944. A strict disciplinarian and an efficient administrator, Naziruddin Ahmad steered the University in its formative period with a vision to succeed.

Naziruddin Ahmad's father Bashiruddin Ahmad hailed from Dhaka and was a noted physician. In 1901, Naziruddin had earned first division in entrance examination from the Dacca Madrasa. He passed Intermediate of Arts from the Dacca College in first division. He graduated from Dacca College with 2nd Class Honors in English. In 1906, he had the distinction of being the first Muslim to stand first in the First Class in MA in English from Calcutta University.

Naziruddin Ahmad was appointed Lecturer in English in the Dacca College in 1907, and in the following year he was appointed to the Bengal Civil Service where he served as a deputy magistrate. He worked in various capacities during this part of his service. Between 1914 and 1919, he worked in the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner's office. In 1920, he became the sub-divisional officer of Jamalpur in the district of Mymensingh. In recognition of his meritorious public service, the government conferred upon him the title of Khan Bahadur in 1917. Naziruddin Ahmad was appointed the first Registrar of Dhaka University in 1921. p j hartog, who was the Registrar of the University of London before he joined as the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Dacca on 23 March 1920 under the Dhaka University Act, had praised Naziruddin Ahmad's excellent command of the English language. During the formative period of Dacca University, Naziruddin Ahmad made distinctive contribution to the development of the University. The Khan Bahadur's contributions have been eloquently recorded in the Annual Reports of the University. The University's Annual Reports from the 1920s to 1940s reveal outstanding achievements of the Khan Bahadur both in academic as well as infra-structural developments.

In a letter dated the 24th January 1935, written to the assistant secretary to the Government of Bengal, Education Department, we find the Registrar is requesting that Professors be granted study leave on full pay. To support such research opportunities, he cites Resolution 44 passed by the Executive Council under section xiv of the Ordinance and Regulations, which stipulated this leave with full payment of salary. The Registrar's letters to the various departments of the Government exemplify how strongly he tried to foster research, and develop research facilities for the faculty members. As is gathered from one of his letters written in August 1935 to the government, he is recommending recurring grants for scientific apparatus and chemicals needed for conducting researches in various fields, and emphasizing their importance in the advancement of knowledge so essential for establishing the reputation of a modern university.

In his Convocation Address in 1945, Professor mahmud hasan, the Vice Chancellor of Dacca University, praised Naziruddin Ahmad both for his scholarship and his administrative acumen. This address was given after the Registrar's retirement. In their memoirs and other writings, many teachers and students of the early period of Dacca University mentioned Khan Bahadur Naziruddin Ahmad as a man of great integrity and ability. [Anique A Newaz]