Baniachong (), is a village and

upazila An ''upazila'' ( pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative division in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a borough of Western countries. Rural upazilas ...

Habiganj District Habiganj District (; ), formerly known as Habibganj District (), is a district in north-eastern Bangladesh, located in the Sylhet Division. It was established as a district in 1984 as a successor to its ''subdivision'' status since 1867. It is na ...

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division () is a northeastern Divisions of Bangladesh, division of Bangladesh, renowned for its lush tea gardens, rolling hills and vibrant cultural heritage. Covering an area of approximately 12,298 square kilometres, it is bordered by t ...

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 and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

History

Baniachong constituted the grand estate (zamindari) of Anwar Khan, who was looked upon as a raja by the local people. Estate of Baniachong was so vast, it crisscrossed all districts of Sylhet region as well as the greater Mymensingh, Dhaka and Comilla. In accordance with the Pargana system introduced by

Murshid Quli Khan Murshid Quli Khan ( 1660 – 30 June 1727), also known as Mohammad Hadi (born as Suryanarayana Mishra), was the first Nawab of Bengal, serving from 1717 to 1727. According to some writers, he was born a Hindu in the Deccan Plateau 1670, Mur ...

in 1722, Anwar Khan claimed tenure of 28 Parganas of Muazzamabad, but his claim was rejected after an investigation by the revenue office, as these Parganas belong to the posterity of Shah Muazzam Uddin Qureshi, who assumed the name of Muazzam Khan when he ascended the throne of Muazzamabad. Hence, these 28 Parganas: Banshikunda (Vamshikunda), Ranadigha, Shelvarsh, Sukhaid, Bétaal, Palash, Laxmanshree, Chamtala, Pagla (Paragala), Dohaliya, Bazu Jatua, Sinchapaid, Shafahar (Shaharpara), Sik Sonaita (Sonauta), Atuajan (Atuajahan), Aatgaon, Kuwazpur, Joar Baniyachung, Kasba Baniyachung, Jalsuka, Bithangal, Joanshahi, Mudaikaid (Mudakadi), Kuresha, Jantari (Yantri), Haveli Sonaita, Satar Sati and Paikuda, were allotted to new landholders that created numerous zamindars and taluquedars in former Muazzamabad (districts of Sunamganj and Habiganj). The history of the battle between Anwar Khan and his brother Hussain Khan (Bara Bhuiyans of Baniachang) with the Mughal army in the first decade of the seventeenth century is found in the Baharistan-i-Gayebi. Zamindars of Banyachung was renowned for their generosity, but the last zamindar was more than generous; he was well known for his gullibility and his aged but adept and calculating servants such as dewans and chaudharies swindled him left, right and centre. By the time of the retirement, dewans and chauddharies working for Banyachung zamindar ended up holding more lands than the zamindar himself. This was achieved through a severance scheme conjured up by a shrewd dewan; this scheme made the zamindar honour-bound to grant land (taluque) to his servants on retirement and there were two categories of taluque: (i) Khalisa and (ii) Mujrahi, aka Mujrai. The first category of taluque, i.e. Khalisa, was reserved for the male servants and the second category of taluque, i.e. Mujrai, was reserved for zamindar's courtesans. This scheme ruined the zamindary of Baniyachung within a very short span of time and created numerous Khalisadar and Mujraidar in the region, who nowadays style themselves as chowdhury in Sylhet region.

Geography

Baniachong is located at . It has 59,433 households and total area 482.46 km². Baniachang Upazila is bounded by Sullah and Derai upazilas on the north, Habiganj Sadar and Lakhai upazilas on the south, Habiganj Sadar and Nabiganj upazilas on the east, Ajmiriganj, Mithamain and Austagram upazilas on the west. Main rivers are Kushiyara, Kalai and Barak. Notable beels: Charagaon, Bata, Sonamua, Dhala, Chatal and Chandra Beel.

Demographics

According to the

2011 Census of Bangladesh 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 r ...

, Baniachong Upazila had 59,433 households and a population of 332,530. 102,564 (30.84%) were under 10 years of age. Baniachong had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 34.65%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 1029 females per 1000 males. 28,506 (8.57%) lived in urban areas. 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 ...

, Baniachong has a population of 3,34,605. Males constitute 50.84% of the population, and females 49.16%. This Upazila's eighteen up population is 115151. Baniachong has an average literacy rate of 20.8% (7+ years), and the national average of 32.4% literate. Baniachang (town) consists of 7 mouzas. The area of the town is 3.06 km². It has a population of 21,111; male 50.75%, female 49.25%. Literacy rate among the town people is 25.3%. Once the town was the capital of the ancient Loud Kingdom of Sylhet. It has one post house ("

dak bungalow A dak bungalow, dak-house or dâk-bungalow was a government building in British India under Company rule in India, Company Rule and the British Raj, Raj. It may also refer to some similarly-built or -used structures in modern India, Bangladesh, ...

").

Administration

Baniachang thana, now an upazila, was established in 1790 and was turned into a sub-division of a district in 1934. Baniachang Upazila is divided into 15 union parishads: Baraiuri, Dakshin Paschim Baniachong, Dakshin Purba Baniachong, Daulatpur, Kagapasha, Khagaura, Makrampur, Mandari, Muradpur, Pailar Kandi, Pukhra, Sujatpur, Subidpur, Uttar Paschim Baniachong, and Uttar Purba Baniachong. The union parishads are subdivided into 237 mauzas and 359 villages. Archaeological heritage and relics remnants of ancient Rajbari (1737–38) at Puranbagh, Bibir Dargah Mosque, Bithangal Akhra. * Chairman: Md. Abul Kashem Chowdhury * Vice Chairman: Faruk Amin Talukder * Woman Vice Chairman: Hasina Akther *

Upazila Nirbahi Officer An Upazila Nirbahi Officer (, abbreviated as UNO) is the chief executive officer of an upazila (subdistrict) and a mid-level officer of the Bangladesh Civil Service (administration cadre), known as Bangladesh Administrative Service. A senior a ...

(UNO): Padmasan Singha

Notable people

Fazle Hasan Abed Sir Fazle Hasan Abed (; 27 April 1936 – 20 December 2019) was the founder of BRAC, one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations. Early life Abed was born on 27 April 1936 in the village of Baniachong, located in what is pres ...

KCMG, founder of the world's largest

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

, BRAC * Ramnath Biswas, soldier and writer best known for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle * Sirajul Hossain Khan, former editor of

Pakistan Times ''The Pakistan Times'' (1947–1996) was a Pakistani newspaper, established by Mian Itikharuddin and Faiz Ahmed Faiz through the leftist Progressive Papers Limited. Its headquarters was in Lahore, Pakistan. Later, it started another edition fr ...

and the Eastern News Agency * Mohammad Abdur Rab (Bir Uttam), 1st Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army, Major general during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

* Najmul Hasan Zahed,

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

politician * Padmanath Bhattacharya, historian

References