Mirza Ahmad Ispahani - The House of Ispahani

The House of Ispahani

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