Khwaja Habibullah was born on 26 April 1895 in Dhaka.[2] His father was Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur of the Dhaka Nawab family. Habibullah went to school at St. Paul's School in Darjeeling, and later continued his education in England.[2] In 1915, at the death of his father, he succeeded as the Nawab of Dhaka.[2]