26/04/2026
Late Jorif Miah, who is often regarded as a guide and pioneer for Bangladeshis in Great Britain.
He arrived in London by ship in the early 1930s. His ancestral home was in Islampur Borobari, in present-day Chandnighat Union, Moulvibazar.
After coming to England, through hard work and perseverance, he started one restaurant business after another. On his own initiative, he brought relatives, acquaintances, and even strangers from his homeland (Moulvibazar)to London. His system worked like this: people would work in his restaurant, and from their weekly wages, they would keep half, while the other half would be saved with him. Later he would make them partners in business and help open restaurants for them.
Through this remarkable initiative, Jorif Miah and his late brother Sirajul Islam Israel Miah (Founder of Bangladesh Caterers Association-UK in 1960) established many restaurants across London and throughout Great Britain.
Since these businesses continued to thrive, others were inspired to enter the restaurant trade as well.
According to information from the 1990s, there were around 12,000 to 15,000 Indian restaurants across Great Britain, and about 90% of them were owned and run by Bangladeshis, particularly people from the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. Perhaps for this reason, Bangladeshis there became socially, politically, and economically prosperous.
This photograph of Jorif Miah was taken in his youth at a Turkish restaurant in frith street Soho, London.
May Allah (swt) grant them both highest place in Jannatul Ferdous, Ameen!!
