M. M. Ispahani

M. M. Ispahani is a family run Bangladeshi business conglomerate.

History

Haji Mohammed Hashem (1789-1850) the founder of The House of Ispahani, moved from Ispahan, Persia to Bombay in 1820 and established what was to become one of the most respected business concerns of the Sub-Continent. 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, when a branch office was also established in London. [cite book |title=Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947 |last=Chatterji |first=Joya |year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521523281 |pages=p. 80 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iDNAQcoVqoMC&pg=PA80&dq=%22M.+M.+Ispahani%22&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=L28wSCcLS2U-nKxYMs8439c4hY4]

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 in the newly created East Pakistan where it stands today.cite news |title=The four winners of Bangladesh Business Awards 2003 |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/03/20/d40320050247.htm |work=The Daily Star |date=2004-03-20 |accessdate=2008-02-10 ] The Company continued to operate as a foreign company in Calcutta until 1965 when its operations in India were 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, MM 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.

His son Mirza Mehdy Ispahani (a.k.a. Sadri Ispahani) born in 1923, was made chairman of M.M. Ispahani Limited in 1949 and remained in that post until he died in 2004, [cite news |title=Mirza Mehdy Ispahani passes away |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/01/21/d40121011717.htm |work=The Daily Star |date=2004-01-21 |accessdate=2008-02-10 ] when his son Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahani was elected chairperson of M.M. Ispahani Limited and its sister concerns.

The company now has corporate offices in Chittagong, Dhaka and Khulna where it employs over 20,000 people in many sectors such as tea, textile, real estate, chrisps, poultry, shipping and internet services.

Awards

*2003 - Enterprise of the Year - "Bangladesh Business Awards"
*2004 - AmCham Business Execitive of the Year (for managing director M. Salman Ispahani) - "American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh" [cite news |title=Salman Ispahani, Citibank win AmCham business awards |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/02/10/d60210050252.htm |work=The Daily Star |date=2006-02-10 |accessdate=2008-02-10 ]

References