Khan Bahadur Abdul Karim

Khan Bahadur Maulvi Abdul Karim CIE (12 September 1873 – 3 March 1945) was a Bengali lawyer and politician.

Early life and family Abdul Karim was born on 12 September 1873 to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Bahernagar in Bajitpur, Kishoreganj, then part of the Mymensingh district of the Bengal Presidency. His father, Maulvi Ali Ahmad, was a deputy magistrate whilst his grandfather, Maulvi Muhammad Sadi, was a judge at the Sherpur Civil Court. They were descendants of the 13th-century Islamic preacher Shah Taj Muhammad of Iraq. Sadi had migrated from Kaliachapra in Pakundia to Bahernagar after his mearriage to Abdul Karim's paternal grandmother Hajera Banu Bibi, who belonged to the Hasan family of Bahernagar.

Due to his father's work moving around, Abdul Karim studied in places like Backergunge, Sudharam and Faridpur. He passed his Entrance examination from Dacca Mohsinia Madrasa. He completed his FA from Dacca College in 1892. In 1895, he graduated with a First Position First Class Bachelor of Arts in English literature from St. Xavier's College in Calcutta. He was awarded his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1898 from the University of Calcutta.

Career He was a member of the Council of State, representing the Muslims of East Bengal, from 1926 to 1930. During his membership, he was included in the Chairman's Panel in the absence of the chairman twice in the Delhi and Simla sessions of 1927 and twice in the Delhi and Simla sessions of 1928.

While a member of the Legislative Council, he presided over the Faridpur Bengal Provincial Muslim Conference in 1930. He was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937. In 1941, he served as the Education Minister in the cabinet of Sher-e-Bangla Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq.