Howlader (Bengali: হাওলাদার Persian: حول دار, romanized: Howlader) is a surname native to Bangladesh and eastern India. In India, it is found mainly in West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam. The surname is most common in Bangladesh and is a combination of Arabic and Persian words (Arabic word حول "hawla" and Persian word دار "dar", In Bengali the word means (noun) "owner of land or one who enjoys land". Howlader is used as a surname for Muslims in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Historically, the Howlader title was given by Kings to their Zamindars (land lords) and the methodology was adopted by the then British government. Conventionally, during the British period, land was divided into large tracts of 'ails' for the convenience of cultivation. The owners of these ails were called 'aildars'. From 'aildars' came Howladars. 'howladars' were the clans of rich Zamindars who owned lots of land. The people who had this title were awarded a certain area called “Howla” by the kings as the sub-rulers, who used to carry out the administrative as well as the financial rule on king’s behalf. Since, this title was very prestigious in nature, the decedents kept it and over a period of time, it became a surname by itself. The Howlader clan is found all over Bangladesh, including Munshiganj, Narayanganj, Faridpur, Khulna, among the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, and parts of Pakistan.
Notable people with this surname include:
- A.B.M. Ruhul Amin Howlader, Bangladeshi politician
- Mujibur Rahman Howlader, Bangladeshi politician
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.