Khondakar () is an aristocratic Bengali Muslim surname found in Bangladesh and neighbouring East Indian regions.
Etymology and history
The Bengali surname comes from the Old Persian Khandan () and the suffix kar () which joins the root of the verb to mean the one who reads. The Bengali definition of the word is an instructor or teacher. The usage of Persian as an official language in Bengal was common during the rule of the Bengal Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. The Persians as well as members of the Turco-Persian tradition were a large immigrant community during both periods in which they integrated with the local Bengali community. Many Persians in Bengal became teachers, lawyers, scholars and clerics. These Persians merged with Bengalis to become Bengali Muslims.
Variations
Variations of the surname Khondakar also remain very common. These include different English transliterations and regional pronunciations of the term. Different English spellings include: Khondker, Khandaker, Khondoker, Khondokar, Khondaker, Khondkar, Khandakar,Khandker, and Khandoker.
Notables with the surname
Khandakar Fazle Rabbi, Dewan of the Nawab of Murshidabad
Khondakar Abdul Hamid, journalist
Khondakar Abu Taleb, chief reporter of The
Daily Ittefaq
IRANI KHONDOKER, playback singer , "nightingale of Bangladesh" Khondakar Abul Kashem, lecturer of History at the Pabna Edward College Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, writer
Khondaker Hasibul Kabir, Bangladeshi landscape architect and sustainability advocate Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, President of Bangladesh
Khandaker Abdul Baten, MP for Tangail-6
Khandaker Abdul Malik, MP for Sylhet-1
Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Bangladesh Army officer
Khandaker Anwarul Haque, MP for Tangail-1
Khandaker Asaduzzaman, MP for Tangail-2
Khandaker Delwar Hossain, MP for Manikganj-1
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, MP for Comilla-2
Khandaker Muhammad Asad, Bangladeshi documentary photographer and photojournalist Khandaker Rashiduzzaman Dudu, MP for Kushtia-3 M. H. Khandaker, first Attorney General of Bangladesh
Golam Faruk Khandakar Prince, MP for Pabna-5
Abdul Karim Khandker, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Armed Forces
Akbar Ali Khondkar, Indian politician
Hassan Mahmood Khandker, longest serving Inspector General of Police (Bangladesh) Khandkar Manwar Hossain, founder of the Department of Statistics in Rajshahi University Khandker Anwarul Islam, Secretary of the Bridges Division under Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges Khandokar Mahbub Uddin Ahmad, MP for Dhaka-9 Khondkar Siddique-e-Rabbani , biomedical physicist Khondokar Mahmud Hasan, 13th Chief Justice of Bangladesh Khondokar Rehman Sobhan, Bangladeshi Economist
See also
Khondoker Abdul Majid High School
Sheikh (Bangladeshi Surname) Bengali Kazi Sayyid Akhund