Narayanganj ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ ''Naraeongônj'') is a city in central

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 ...

. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of

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 ...

, and has a population of about 2 million. It is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is also a center of business and industry, especially the

jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is '' Corchorus ol ...

trade and processing plants, and the textile sector of the country. It is nicknamed the

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

of Bangladesh, due to the presence of its many jute mills. (Dundee was the first industrialised 'Juteopolis' in the world.)

History

The city got its name from Bicon Lal Pandey, a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

religious leader who was also known as Benur Thakur or 'Lakhsmi Narayan Thakur'. He leased the area from the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

in 1766 following the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar ...

. He donated the markets and the land on the banks of the river as ''Devottor'' or 'Given to God' property, bequeathed for maintenance expenses for the worship of the god Narayan. A post office was set up in 1866, and Dhaka-Narayanganj

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

service was started in 1877. The Bank of Bengal introduced the first telephone service in 1882. The Narayanganj Municipality was incorporated on 8 September 1876. The first hospital of the area of Narayanganj Victoria Hospital was established in 1885 by the Municipality with financial contributions from Harakanta Banerjee. Narayanganj City Corporation was established on 5 May 2011, unifying three former municipalities: Narayanganj Municipality, Siddhirganj Municipality, and Kadam Rasul Municipality. The mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) is Dr Selina Hayet Ivy. Prior to this, she was the mayor of Narayanganj Municipality. The tomb of

Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah ( bn, গিয়াসউদ্দীন আজম শাহ, fa, ) was the third Sultan of Bengal and the Ilyas Shahi dynasty. He was one of the most prominent medieval Bengali sultans. He established diplomatic relatio ...

is also located in Narayanganj which was built in 1410 CE just before his death. Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah was Sultan of Bengal from 1390 to 1411.

References

External links

Website of Narayanganj City Corporation

Narayanganj: Attractive Places
{{Bangladesh cities Populated places in Dhaka Division

History

See also

References

External links