Person

Khaleda Zia

b. 1945 · 20th century

Khaleda Zia, the widow of President Ziaur Rahman, became leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1984 and joined the movement that ended Hussain Muhammad Ershad's rule in 1990. She was Bangladesh's first woman prime minister, serving from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006, and her long rivalry with Sheikh Hasina dominated national politics. She was imprisoned on corruption charges in 2018 and fully freed in 2024.

Khaleda Zia
Image: U.S. Department of State from United States · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Bangladesh

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Khaleda Zia. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khaleda-zia
MLA
“Khaleda Zia.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khaleda-zia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Khaleda Zia.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khaleda-zia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Khaleda Zia’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/khaleda-zia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻