Khan, Mohammad Akram (1868-1969) Journalist, politician, Islamic scholar. Born in village Hakimpur in the district of 24 Parganas of West Bengal, Maulana Mohammad Akram Khan did not have much formal education. He had, however, acquired deep knowledge in Islamic lore and in the history and culture of the Muslims of Bengal and of India.

In October 1936, he published the Azad, the only Bengali daily of that time which contributed greatly to generating support for the muslim league in the pre-1947 days in Bengal.

Akram Khan started his political career as a supporter of the indian national congress. His concern was to safeguard the interests and rights of the Muslims of Bengal. He, therefore, actively participated in the formation of the Muslim League in 1906. From 1918 to1924 he was involved in the Khilafat and Non-cooperation movements. He was elected Secretary of the Khilafat Committee at the Conference held at ahsan manzil in Dhaka in 1920, which was attended by other eminent Khilafatist leaders like maulana abul kalam azad (1885-1958), maulana maniruzzaman islamabadi (1875-1950) and Maulana Mujibur Rahman (1873-1924). Akram Khan was given the responsibility to collect funds for the Khilafat in Turkey. He organised mass meetings in different parts of Bengal to propagate the cause of the Khilafat and the Non-cooperation movements during 1920-1923.

As a believer in Hindu-Muslim amity, Akram Khan supported chitta ranjan das's Swaraj Party in Calcutta in 1922, and also the bengal pact in 1923. But due to the communal riots of 1926-1927 and other contemporary political developments Akram Khan lost his faith in Indian nationalist politics and left both the Swaraj Party and Congress. From 1929 to 1935 he was deeply involved in Praja or peasant politics. However, he left peasant politics in 1936 and became an activist of the Muslim League. He was a member of the central working committee of the League until 1947. After the partition of India (1947) he opted for East Bengal and settled in Dhaka.

He wrote voluminously. His major works include Samasya O Samadhan, the Mostafa Charit, Amparar Banganubad. His most significant book, Moslem Banglar Samajik Itihas, discusses various aspects of Bengal society such as the influence of Pirism and Sufiism and the reasons for the degeneration of the Muslims of Bengal. There he criticised Akbar's Din-i-Ilahi and praised Aurangzeb's conformist orthodoxy and his crusade against the syncretic trend. He died on 18 August 1969. He was buried at the Ahl-i-Hadith mosque at Bangshal in Dhaka. [Rana Razzaq]