Mirza Ahmad Ispahani - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mirza Ahmad Ispahani or M A Ispahani was the first and longest serving chairman of Pakistan International Airlines

Pakistan International Airlines

Pakistan International Airlines Corporation commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier airline of Pakistan. The airline has its head office on the grounds of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. and operates scheduled services to 24 domestic destinations and 38 international destinations in 27...

(PIA) from its inception until 1962. In the days when Pakistan was still in the offing (June 1946) Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....

, the founder of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, requested Mr. M.A. Ispahani, a leading industrialist, to set up a national airline, on priority basis. Orient Airways Ltd.

Orient Airways

Orient Airways Ltd. was an airline established in 1946 with a base in Calcutta, India. It was the first and only Muslim owned airline in pre-partition India.-History:...

, registered in Calcutta city of British India on 23 October 1946 was established by Mr. M.A. Ispahani. After independence of Pakistan

Pakistan

, Orient Airways transferred its base to Pakistan

Pakistan

and established the vital, link between Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

and Dacca, the two capitals of the two wings of Pakistan

Pakistan

.

Orient Airways

Orient Airways

Orient Airways Ltd. was an airline established in 1946 with a base in Calcutta, India. It was the first and only Muslim owned airline in pre-partition India.-History:...

was a privately owned company, with limited capital and resources. It could not be expected to grow and expand on its own. It was then that the Government of Pakistan

Pakistan

decided to form a state-owned airline and invited Orient Airways to merge with it. The outcome of the merger was the birth of a new airline, named Pakistan International Airlines

Pakistan International Airlines

(PIA) on 11 March, 1955.

PIA's wide-body aircraft maintenance hangar at Jinnah International Airport

Jinnah International Airport

Jinnah International Airport is Pakistan's largest international and domestic airport. It is located in Karachi, Pakistan, and its passenger terminal is also commonly known as the جناح ٹرمینل Jinnah Terminal...

in Karachi

Karachi

has been named in honor of Mr. Mirza Ahmad Ispahani.

The House of Ispahani

Haji Mohammed Hashem (1789-1850) the founder of The House of Ispahani, moved from Ispahan (now Esfahan), Persia

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

to Bombay in 1820 and established what was to become one of the most respected business concerns of the South Asia. The Ispahani family subsequently expanded to include a broad range of businesses stretching from Bombay in the west, to Madras in the south and Burma in the east. His grandson Haji Mirza Mehdy Ispahani (1841-1913) moved the corporate headquarters to Madras. He also spent twelve years in Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

expanding his trade - leather, tea, turmeric; tamarind, peanuts and other produce of India. He opened a branch office in Dhaka in the year 1888. His son Mirza Mohamed Ispahani (1871-1925) established the Calcutta office of MM Ispahani & Sons in the year 1900.

Mirza Ahmad Ispahani (1898-1986) eldest son of Mirza Mohamed Ispahani joined the partnership in 1918 and established the private limited company, M.M. Ispahani Limited in 1934 in Calcutta along with his younger brothers Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani and Haji Mirza Mahmood Ispahani. The final move was made in 1947 with the shifting of the corporate headquarters to Chittagong

Chittagong

Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...

where it stands today. The Company continued to operate as a foreign company in Calcutta until 1965 when it was taken over by the Indian Government.

It was under the visionary leadership of Mirza Ahmad Ispahani that the company rapidly expanded its business. By 1947, M.M. Ispahani Limited was the foremost exporter of shellac, kapok, hessian, jute bags, tea and chemicals In 1948 Mirza Ahmad Ispahani left the family business for public service where he and his brother Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani

Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani

Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani was a Pakistani legislator and diplomat. He belonged to a well-to-do family and was educated at St John's College, Cambridge. He completed his Bar-at-Law in 1924 of the All India Muslim League held in Madras in April 1941...

played a pivotal role in the formation and industrialisation of the new country.

He was the pioneering spirit and driving force behind Orient Airways Limited, of which he was a founding director. Orient Airways was taken over by the Pakistan International Airlines

Pakistan International Airlines

(PIA) in 1954 Mirza Ahmad Ispahani was the longest serving chairman of PIA from its inception until 1962. He was also founding director of the Jute Board and of the Industrial Development Corporation which oversaw the industrialisation of the region in jute, textiles, sugar, paper, matches etc. Eastern Federal Union Insurance Company (EFU), of which he was a director and major shareholder transferred its head office from Calcutta to Chittagong He was also a founder director of the Muslim Commercial Bank Limited which began to function soon after 1947. His son Mirza Mehdy Ispahani born in 1923, was made chairman of M.M. Ispahani Limited in 1949 and remained in that post until he died in 2004. Mirza Ahmad Ispahani returned to the family business in 1969 where he continued to play, an active role as senior director until his demise in Dhaka in 1986.

The House of Ispahani

See also