Balaganj ( bn, বালাগঞ্জ) is an

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 ...

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions o ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

Etymology

The name Balaganj is derived from the

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 ...

word ''bala'' meaning 'strength' and the Persian/Bengali word ''ganj'' that means 'marketplace' or 'neighbourhood'. Its older name was Kushiyarakul named after the abundance of sugar-cane (''kushiyar'' in Sylheti) in the area. The town also lies on the banks of the

Kushiyara River The Kushiyara River is a distributary river in Bangladesh and Assam, India. It forms on the India-Bangladesh border as a branch of the Barak River, when the Barak separates into the Kushiyara and Surma. The waters that eventually form the Kushiy ...

, which also takes its name from sugarcane. An

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< bazaar known as the Madan Mohan Jiu Ashram, which renamed the area to Madanganj. The female worshippers at the temple were known for wearing many bangles on both of their hands. The popularity of bangles in the area increased so much that the town eventually became known as Balaganj Bazaar.

History

After the Conquest of Gour in 1303, many disciples of

Shah Jalal Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal, was a celebrated Sufi figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Conquest of Sylhet and the spread of Islam into the region, part of a long history of interactions bet ...

migrated to modern-day Balaganj (Gauharpur Pargana) where they preached Islam to the local people such as Aziz Chishti. Shah Alauddin went to Alapur, Shah Kala Miah Irani went to Shiyorkhal and Shah Sultan went to what is now Sultanpur. Balaganj thana was established in 1882 and included present-day Osmani Nagar,

Fenchuganj Fenchuganj ( bn, ফেঞ্চুগঞ্জ) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Etymology There are many theories behind the naming of the upazila. Some say that Fenchuganj is named after Penchu (or Fenchui ...

and Rajnagar. It separated from Fenchuganj and Rajnagar by 10 January 1922. Balaganj was the scene of the battles at Sherpur and Sadipur during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

in 1971. The Adityapur massacre on 6 May 1971 and Galimpur massacre against

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 ...

took place in this upazila. The war dead are buried in mass graves at Adityapur and Bhatpara Salimpur. It is the third largest upazila of Sylhet district by population. It was turned into an upazila on 7 November 1982. It consists of 14 union parishads, 241

mouza In Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of India a mouza or mauza (also mouja) is a type of administrative district, corresponding to a specific land area within which there may be one or more settlements. Before the 20th century, the term referred to a ...

s and 467 villages.

Geography

Balaganj stands on the

and is on the southwest periphery of Sylhet district. To the north is

Sylhet Sadar Upazila Sylhet Sadar ( bn, সিলেট সদর) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Geography Sylhet Sadar is located at . It has 86,074 households and a total area of 323.17 km2. The city of Sylhet is loca ...

, to the south are

Rajnagar Upazila Rajnagar ( bn, রাজনগর) is an upazila of the Moulvibazar District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. The district has roughly 29,300 houses and an area of approximately 340 km2. There are three well-known rivers which flow ac ...

and

Moulvibazar Sadar Upazila Moulvibazar Sadar ( bn, মৌলভীবাজার সদর) is an upazila of Moulvibazar District in the Division of Sylhet Division, Sylhet, Bangladesh. History In ancient times, the region was known as Chandrapur or Chandrarajya. After t ...

Moulvibazar District Moulvibazar ( bn, মৌলভীবাজার) also spelled Maulvibazar, Moulavibazar, and Maulavibazar, (former South Sylhet) is the southeastern district of Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh, named after the town of Moulvibazar. It ...

, Fenchuganj Upazila of this district is on the east and on the west is Bishwanath Upazila of this district and Jagannathpur Upazila of

Sunamganj District Sunamganj ( bn, সুনামগঞ্জ) is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh within the Sylhet Division. History In the ancient period, Sunamganj was part of the Laur Kingdom. After the conquest of Sylhet (Kingdom of Gauiurh ...

. Geographically Balaganj Upazila is situated at about 24.36* and 24.47* longitude and 91.38* and 91.56* east latitude. The distance of the Upazila headquarter(HQ) from the district HQ is nearly 37 km. The land area is approximately 375.92 km² Balaganj is located at . It has 36,919 household units and occupies an area of 389.51 km². The upazila is bordered on the north by Sylhet Sadar and Bishwanath Upazilas, on the east by Fenchuganj Upazila, on the South by Maulvibazar Sadar Upazila and Rajnagar Upazila of Maulvibazar district, and on the west by Jagannathpur Upazila of Sunamganj district and Nabiganj Upazila of Habiganj district.

Demographics

As of the

1991 Bangladesh census In 1991, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, conducted a national census in Bangladesh. They recorded data from all of the districts and upazilas and main cities in Bangladesh including statistical data on population size, households, sex and a ...

, Balaganj has a population of 230,865. Males constitute 50.67% of the population, and females 49.33%. Muslim 90.04%, Hindu 9.89%, Buddhist, Christian and others 0.07%. This Upazila's eighteen and over population is 115,624. Balaganj has an average literacy rate of 57.4% (7+ years), with the national average being 32.4%. The population is 3,20,227. (Census-2001).

Economy

Main hats, bazars and fairs Balaganj, Moyna Bazar, Goala Bazar, Tajpur Bazar, Doyamir Bazar, Pirer Bazar, Bualjur Bazar, Ilashpur Bazar, Azizpur Bazar, Goherpur Bazar/Murar Bazar, Madrasa Bazar, Bangla Bazar, Khaler Mukh Hats and Shior Khal Mela are notable. Main occupations Agriculture 26.04%, service 24.51%, commerce 18.22%, agricultural labourer 11.31%, wage labourer 7.25%, fishing 4.29%, transport 1.97%, others 6.41%

Administration

Balaganj Upazila is divided into 14

union parishad Union council ( bn, ইউনিয়ন পরিষদ, translit=iūniyan pariṣad, translit-std=IAST), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit ...

s: Balaganj, Boaljur Bazar, Burunga, Dayamir, Dewan Bazar, Goula Bazar, Omarpur, Osmanpur, Paschim Gauripur, Paschim Pailanpur, Purba Gauripur, Purba Pailanpur, Saidpur, and Tajpur. The union parishads are subdivided into 239 mauzas and 473 villages.

Education

Educational institutions: 11 colleges, 57 secondary schools, 278 primary schools, 44 madrasas. * Islamia Mohammadiya Alim Madrasha * Balaganj Degree College * Islamia Mohammadiya Alim Madrasha * Balaganj D.N. High School, D.N. High School

Notable residents

* Aziz Chishti * Enamul Haque Chowdhury * Islah Abdur-Rahman * Iqbal Ahmed * Lutfur Rahman * Nur Uddin Gohorpuri

References

{{Upazilas of Sylhet Division Balaganj Upazila,