Gopalganj ( bn,
গোপালগঞ্জ জেলা) is a
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
(''zilla'' in
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
) in the
Dhaka Division
Dhaka Division ( bn, ঢাকা বিভাগ, ''Ḑhaka Bibhag'') is an administrative division within Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of the Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains a populati ...
of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
.
The district has about 1,172,415 civilians and its surface area is 1,490 km
2. The main city of the district is also called
Gopalganj
Gopalganj may refer to:
Bangladesh
*Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, a district of Dhaka Division
** Gopalganj, Bangladesh, a town and headquarter of Gopalganj district
** Gopalganj Sadar Upazila, an upazila of Gopalganj District
** Gopalganj-1, a ...
. It stands on the bank of the Madhumati river and located at 23°00’47.67" N 89°49’21.41". It is bounded by
Faridpur district on the North,
Pirojpur and
Bagerhat district on the south,
Madaripur &
Barisal district on the East and
Narail district on the West.
Gopalganj is subdivided into five sub-districts (
upazila
An ''upazila'' ( bn, উপজেলা, upôzela, lit=sub-district pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative region in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a ...
/
thana).
The Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Gopalganj has developed a
web portal
A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayi ...
of the district as www.gopalganj.gov.bd under the 'Access to Information' program of the Prime Minister's Office. This has been done under the
Digital Bangladesh implementation concept of the incumbent government.
History
Preetiram Das from Gyanbajar,
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
purchased Makimpur porgona (presently under the area of Gopalganj) with 19 thousand taka in 1800 and became the landlord of the porgona. Rajchandra Das, the 2
nd son of Preetiram Das married off Rasmoni of Mahishya clan in 4th April, 1804. Landlord Rajchandra died at 49 leaving his widowed wife Rani Rasmoni and 3 dauthers in 9th June, 1836. Padmamoni, the eldest daughter of Rani Rasmoni got married with Ramchandra and gave birth to 7 children; Mahendranath, Ganeshchandra, Soudaminee, Suvadra, Balaram, Kali and Satinath. Mahendranath died at premature age and Ganeshchandra became landlord of the estate. To show respect to Rani Rasmoni, the tenants of Khatra estate named Rajganj Bajar following the name of Nabo Gopal, son of Ganeshchandra for '
Gopalganj
Gopalganj may refer to:
Bangladesh
*Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, a district of Dhaka Division
** Gopalganj, Bangladesh, a town and headquarter of Gopalganj district
** Gopalganj Sadar Upazila, an upazila of Gopalganj District
** Gopalganj-1, a ...
' (Gopal from Nabo Gopal and Ganj from Rajganj).
This area was under the southern part of ancient Bengal called
Vanga. Around 300 BC here in Kotalipara was the capital of
Gangaridai dynasty.
Gangaridai was one of the powerful kingdom of Indian subcontinent. It was described by the Greek traveller
Megasthenes in his work
Indica. During Sultanate and Mughal period several Hindu kings ruled the area. In 1713, Muksudpur Upazila was part of Jessore district while the rest of Gopalganj was part of Dhaka - Jalalpur District. Muksedpur was later transferred to Faridpur district in 1807. Gopalgaj
Gopalganj Sadar and Kotalipara was part of Jalalpur Porgona of Faridpur district. Chandana (now Modhumoti) river was the borderline for Jessore and Dhaka - Jalalpur districts in 1812. Gopalgnaj - Madaripur was a large water body back then where maritime robbery was a regular activity. Thus, Madaripur Mohakuma or Sub-division was separated in 1854 from Bakergonj District.
Later, Gopalganj emerged as a police station in 1872 under the Madaripur Mohakuma or Sub-division vide Calcutta Gazette of 1870. In 1873, Madaripur Mohakuma or Sub-division was transferred to Faridpur district from Bakergonj district. Later in 1909, it was separated from the Madaripur Mohakuma of Bakergonj district to form a new Gopalganj Mohhakuma or sub-division. Later, Muksudpur Police Station of Faridpur district joined
Gopalganj
Gopalganj may refer to:
Bangladesh
*Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, a district of Dhaka Division
** Gopalganj, Bangladesh, a town and headquarter of Gopalganj district
** Gopalganj Sadar Upazila, an upazila of Gopalganj District
** Gopalganj-1, a ...
and Kotalipara police stations of Gopalganj Mohakuma or sub-division of Faridpur district.
The first SDO (sub-divisional officer) was Mr. Suresh Chandra Sen. In 1910, the sub-divisional officer's bench court was transformed into Criminal Court. In 1921, Gopalganj was elevated to township status which was inhabited by only 3,478 persons. 1925 saw the initiation of Civil Court. In 1936, Muksudpur was split to form Kashiani police station.
Gopalganj Mohakuma or sub-division emerged as Gopalganj district on the 1st day of February in 1984. Mr. AFM Ehiya Chowdhury was the first District Commissioner of Gopalganj District.
In the same year, Tungipara was separated from the Sadar Upazila to form a new upazila namely Tungipara upazila. After the liberation war in 1972,
Gopalganj Sadar became Municipality or Pourashava and Panna Biswas was selected as its first chairman.
Politics
Gopalganj is associated with significant importance in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
politics. The district is the political bastion of the
Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people.
The adjective appears in the following proper names:
*Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
*Awami Front, wa ...
.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali polit ...
, the
Father of the Nation and the first
President of Bangladesh
The president of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — ) officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশে ...
, hailed from the village of
Tungipara
Tungipara ( bn, টুঙ্গিপাড়া) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the birthplace of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of independent Bangladesh and his grave is also ...
in the district and began his political career in the said district. Her Excellency
Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the current
Prime Minister of Bangladesh
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, translit=Bangladesher Prodhanmontri), officially Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজা ...
also hails from the same district.
Sheikh Fazlul Haq Mani, his nephew, had also been elected to Parliament from
Gopalganj-2 constituency. Unfortunately both Rahman and his nephew were
assassinated on 15 August 1975.
Rahman's daughter, has been elected 4 times as the
Member of the Parliament (MP) from
Gopalganj-3 (
Kotalipara and
Tungipara
Tungipara ( bn, টুঙ্গিপাড়া) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the birthplace of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of independent Bangladesh and his grave is also ...
) constituency and thrice as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Her cousin and Sheikh Mani's brother,
Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim has been elected 4 times as the MP from Gopalganj-2 constituency. Lt. Col.
Mohammad Faruq Khan, also a presidium member of Bangladesh Awami League, is from
Gopalganj-1 constituency.
Molla Jalal, Choudhury Emdadul Hoq, Khan Saheb, Sheikh Mosharrof Hossain and Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Uddin, Sheikh Shahadat Hossain, a boyhood friend of Bangabandhu and an educationalist were among other popular political leaders of this area.
Geography
* Rivers: Garai, Modhumoti, Kaliganga, Madaripur Beel route channel, Hunda, Ghagore,Old Kumar rivers and Barashia River etc.
* Large Water Bodies/Beel/Haor/Baor: Borni Baor, Chandar beel and Baghyar beel.
Climate
Demographics
According to the
2011 Bangladesh census
In 2011, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, conducted a national census in Bangladesh, which provided a provisional estimate of the total population of the country as 142,319,000. The previous decennial census was the 2001 census. Data were reco ...
, Gopalganj District had a population of 1,172,415, of which 577,868 were males and 594,547 were females. Rural population was 1,043,710 (89.02%) while urban population was 128,705 (10.98%). Gopalganj had a literacy rate of 58.09% for the population 7 years and above: 60.30% for males and 55.98% for females.
Today the majority are the
Bengali Muslims, although before Partition Hindus, most of whom were
Namasudras, formed a clear majority in what is today Gopalganj district. The largest minority group is the
Bengali Hindus
Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...
, while Christians are present in good numbers. The Muslim population has constantly increased, while due to land grabbing and persecution Hindu population has constantly decreased from a high of nearly 400,000 (40% of the population in 1981) to 350,000 today, and the Christian population has remained constant at 13,000. Gopalganj has the highest percentage of Hindus of any district in Bangladesh. The district of Gopalganj has 356 mosques, 359 temples, and 250 churches.
Administration
Gopalganj district consists of 5 upazilas (previously known as 'Thana or police station' which is essentially a sub-district) namely
Gopalganj Sadar,
Kotalipara,
Kashiani,
Muksudpur
Muksudpur ( bn, মুকসুদপুর) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Geography
Muksudpur is located at . It has a total area of 309.63 km2.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Bangladesh ce ...
, and
Tungipara
Tungipara ( bn, টুঙ্গিপাড়া) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the birthplace of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of independent Bangladesh and his grave is also ...
; 4 Pourashavas/ Municipalities namely Gopalganj (Class A), Tungipara (Class B), Kotalipara (Class B) & Muksudpur (Class C) and 68 unions.
The main township is known as
Gopalganj Sadar, which consists of 9 wards and 49 mahallas.
Gopalganj municipality was constituted in 1972. It has an area of 8.59 km
2 and a population of 40,987; male 53.27%, female 46.73% with a population density of 4,771 per km
2.
Administrator of Zila Porishod:Choudhury Emdadul Haq
Deputy Commissioner (DC): Sarker Mukhlesur Rahman
Subdivisions
#
Gopalganj Sadar Upazila
Gopalganj Sadar ( bn, গোপালগঞ্জ সদর) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
History
Gopalganj sadar is the main town of Gopalgonj District. 15 MPs are from there. It has 15 banks, includ ...
#
Kashiani Upazila
#
Kotalipara Upazila
Kotalipara ( bn, কোটালীপাড়া) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Geography
Kotalipara is located at . It has 37,603 households and a total area of 362.05 km2. It is a '' mofussil'' ...
#
Muksudpur Upazila
#
Tungipara Upazila
Tungipara ( bn, টুঙ্গিপাড়া) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the birthplace of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of independent Bangladesh and his grave is also h ...
Transport
Gopalganj has a great transportation system. It is a 5 hours drive away from the capital
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...
by road subject to traffic conditions. The journey time is set to reduce once the
Padma Multipurpose Bridge is opened for all.
Dhaka-Khulna Highway goes through Gopalganj to connect the neighbouring districts namely
Barisal
Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Di ...
,
Narail,
Faridpur,
Madaripur,
Bagerhat
Bagerhat Sadar ( bn, বাগেরহাট সদর) is an upazila of Bagerhat District in the Division of Khulna, Bangladesh. The municipality was established in 1958. It consists of 9 wards and 31 mahallas.
History
Khan Jahan Ali established ...
and
Khulna
Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 ...
. Buses leaves Dhaka for Gopalganj from both Gabtoli and Syedabad. Tungipara Express, Modhumoti, Dola, Bonoful leaves from Sayedabad for Gopalganj via
Munshiganj
Munshiganj ( bn, মুন্সীগঞ্জ), also historically known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District.
Geography
Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km2), ...
- Mawa - Kawrakandi -
Madaripur and Comfort Line, Sheba Green, Polash leaves from Gabtoli for Gopalganj via
Manikgonj - Paturia - Doulotdia -
Rajbari -
Faridpur.
Water transportation was the main medium of transport for the people of this district in the 1980s but the popularity of it has declined over time with the introduction of road connectivity. Now a launch operates between
Sadarghat
The Port of Dhaka is a major river port on the Buriganga River in Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. The port is located in the southern part of the city. It is Bangladesh's busiest port in terms of passenger traffic. The port has s ...
of Dhaka and Poisharhat of Kotalipara. However, mechanical trawlers and boats still ply through the rivers, canals and vast water bodies.
An inoperable rail line is in place till
Kashiani. The train service is also set to be reintroduced after the
Padma Bridge
The Padma Multipurpose Bridge ( bn, পদ্মা বহুমুখী সেতু, Pôdma Bôhumukhī Setu), commonly known as the Padma Bridge ( bn, পদ্মা সেতু, Pôdma Setu), is a two-level road-rail bridge across the P ...
is built.
On 14 April 1986, at least 92 people were killed in Gopalganj by the heaviest hailstones ever recorded, which were the size of grapefruits and weighed around 1 kg (2.2 lb) each.
Education
The district has 21 colleges, 181 high schools and 760 primary schools. Other notable educational institutions are as follows:
*
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University
*Arpara Islamia High School
*Binapani Govt. Girls High School
*Bhatiapara High School (1961)
*Bangabandhu Poverty Reduction Training Complex
*Gaohardanga Madrasa (historical Madrasa in southern part of Bangladesh)
*Govt. Bangabandhu College
*Gopinathpur High School (1911)
*Gopalgonj Model Polytechnic Institute
*Gimadanga Ideal High School
*Hazi Laal Mia City College
*Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Govt. Mohila College
*S.M. Model Govt. High School
*S.K. Aliya Madrasah
*Sheikh Russel Destitute Children Training and Rehabilitation Center at Tungipara
*Sheikh Hasina Girls School and College
*Swarnakali High School
*Sabira - Rouf College
*Moulovi Abdul Hye Memorial School & College
*Paikkandi Panchapalli Madrasah
*Ulpur PC High School (1900)
Notable people
*
Shamsul Haque Faridpuri
Shams al-Ḥaqq ibn Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Chirāgh ʿAlī al-Farīdfūrī ( ar, شمس الحق بن محمد عبد الله بن تشراغ علي الفريدفوري), or simply known as Shamsul Haque Faridpuri ( bn, শামসু� ...
, Islamic scholar
*
A. Q. M. Jainul Abedin, journalist
*
Abdullah Baqui, public health scientist
*
Sukanta Bhattacharya
Sukanta Bhattacharya ( bn, সুকান্ত ভট্টাচার্য) (; 15 August 1926 – 13 May 1947) was a Bengali poet and playwright.
He was called 'Young Nazrul' and 'Kishore Bidrohi Kobi', a reference to the great rebel poet ...
, Bengali poet
*
Habibur Rahman, police officer
*
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
*
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, First Prime Minister of Bangladesh
*
Shariff Enamul Kabir, academic
*
Kazi Anowar Hossain, painter
*
Sarbari Roy Choudhury
Sarbari Roy Chowdhury (21 January 1933 – 21 February 2012), was an Indian artist.
Biography
Chowdhury was born in Ulpur, East Bengal (now Bangladesh) into a Zamindari family, and graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolka ...
, Indian sculptor
*
Sayera Khatun
Sheikh Sayera Khatun (1886 – 31 March 1975) was the matriarch of Sheikh-Wazed political family and mother of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh. She was the grandmother of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasin ...
, mother of Mujibur Rahman
*
Sheikh Lutfar Rahman
Sheikh Lutfur Rahman ( bn, শেখ লুৎফর রহমান; 1881 – 30 March 1975) was a Bangladeshi ''serestadar'', an officer responsible for record-keeping at the Gopalganj civil court in British India. His son Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ...
, civil servant and father of Mujibur Rahman
*
Wahiduzzaman
Wahiduzzaman also known as Thanda Mia, was a Bangladeshi, politician from Faridpur.
Early life
Wahiduzzaman was born in 1912 at Sitarampur, Gopalganj District, Bengal Presidency, British India. He graduated from Calcutta Islamia College in 1932 ...
, politician
*
R. C. Majumdar, Indian historian
*
Jamil Uddin Ahmed
Brigadier general#Bangladesh, Brigadier-General Shaheed Jamil Uddin Ahmed (1 February 1936 - 15 August 1975) was a career officer in the Pakistan Army Signal Corps and then the Bangladesh Army. Appointed as the military secretary to the President ...
, Bangladeshi army general
*
Harichand Thakur
Harichand Thakur (হরিচাঁদ ঠাকুর) (30 March 1812 – 5 March 1878), worked among the untouchable people of Bengal Presidency. He formed the Matua sect of Hindus.
Life
Harichand Thakur was born in a Namashudra (or avarna ...
, Founder of Matua sect
Notes
References
External links
Districts of BangladeshGopalganj districtDetailed Maps of Gopalganj
{{Authority control
Districts of Bangladesh