Hotel Purbani International Timeline

                                      Timeline of Hotel Purbani International

                                 A chronological progression of Hotel Purbani as related to it's founder:

                                        Original offices of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd. in the sheds in front.
                                                                                    (July 22, 1964)

1960                  The idea for a hotel of international stature was conceived about the time

                          of his transfer from Dhaka from his position of Additional Chief Secretary,

                          East Pakistan, to Karachi, briefly in the Ministry of Finance and then as 

                          Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industries. The shape and design of the hotel

                          was chosen from visits to Europe and the employ of an European architect.

                          

1961 - 1962   -  East Pakistan Hotels Limited was registered  with the Joint Stock  

                          Registrar of Companies in Dhaka, with Eastern Enterprises as the

                          appointed Managing  Agency of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd. Shareholders.

                          included A. Sattar as a shareholder of the company.                                

1961 - 1962   -  1 Dilkusha Commercial Area acquired from DIT (Dhaka Improvement Trust)  in

                          the name of East Pakistan Hotels Ltd.

                          (The name “Hotel Purbani “ and logo were obtained with suggestions invited

                           from , I believe, the Shilpakala (Artists) Academy in Dhaka)

1964 -1965    -   Imported goods for the hotel were stranded and accruing demurrage,

                          (warehousing fees charged by the port authority of Chittagong). Because of

                          misappropriated company funds, there was not enough  money to pay customs

                          taxes and port charges on the imported items.

1965 -1966     -   Mr Sattar agreed to provide the funding needed to salvage the hotel and the

                          Company, given the majority shares in East Pakistan Hotels Ltd.

1966 - 1967       S.A.Sobhan retired from public service and returned to Dhaka to take charge of

                          Hotel Purbani International as Managing Director. (The first Managing Director

                          was Salahuddin Ahmad ).

1971                  On May 1, at about 8 am, Mr Sobhan passed away in Room # 525 in Hotel

                          Purbani.

(Disclaimer: The dates are as accurate as possible. Corrections will be made if and when discovered and verified with documentation. The sequence of events are factual)  

The purpose of this article is to restore the rightful place of the Late Mr. S.A.Sobhan in  history  as the original founder of  Hotel Purbani on land designated as  1 Dilkusha Commercial Area and that is the land that Hotel Purbani  International  stands on today. Other aspects  of the two articles as reported are doubtful and any honest investigative journalist should be able to uncover the real truths.  As for the Sobhan family, they wish to preserve the honor and dignity of their fathers achievements.