Kamrangirchar () is a

thana Thana means " station" or "place" in South Asian countries. The word ''thana'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''sthana'' or "sthanak", meaning "place" or "stand", which was anglicized as ''thana'' by the British. * Thanas of Bangladesh, forme ...

(police precinct) in

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

, Bangladesh. The thana is under the jurisdiction of

Dhaka South City Corporation Dhaka South City Corporation (), is a local governing body that manages all civic services in the southern part of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The DSCC government is elected by popular vote every five years. It is headed by a mayor, who p ...

wards 55, 56, and 57. Kamrangirchar was a disconnected landmass until 1991. The thana was established in 1998 and incorporated into the city corporation in 2013. A long-term plan to transform the area into a

business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

is underway.

Geography

Kamrangirchar is bounded by Hazaribagh Thana and

Lalbagh Thana Lalbagh () is a neighbourhood of the Dhaka District in the division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Geography Lalbagh Thana is bounded by New Market Thana on the north, Keraniganj Upazila on the south, Chawkbazar Thana and Shahbagh on the east and Haza ...

on the north,

and Chawkbazar Thana on the east and

Keraniganj Upazila Keraniganj () is an upazila of Dhaka District in the division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. History It is believed that during the reign of Nawab Shaista Khan the ''paik-peyada'' and clerical staff (''kerani'') of the Nawab used to live on the other s ...

on the south and west. Its total area is .

History

The exact origin of the name Kamrangirchar is uncertain. According to historian Nazir Hossain, the area was named after a beautiful woman named Kamrangi, who drowned while crossing the Buriganga. He also suggests that British surveyors named the area after seeing Kamranga

chilli peppers Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to add pungency ( ...

being cultivated there. Another legend proposes that the name evolved from (), referring to a Mughal-era

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

. Sources suggest that Kamrangirchar may have first been settled in the 17th century. In 1912, the government acquired the land from Bhawal Raja, who owned most of it. Until 1991, Kamrangirchar was an island in the Buriganga, completely disconnected from the main landmass of Dhaka, when it was first connected to Lalbagh through the construction of the 'Hakkul Ebad Iron Bridge'. In 1998, Kamrangirchar Thana was formed consisting parts of Lalbagh Thana. In 2013, Kamrangirchar was brought under the jurisdiction of wards 55, 56, and 57 of

, following the dissolution of Sultanganj Union. In November 2021, mayor of Dhaka South Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh announced long-term plans to build a modern central business district in Kamrangirchar. In March 2024, residents held a rally protesting the plan, which would require acquisition of and eviction of almost two million people.

Demographics

According to

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 ...

, Kamrangirchar Thana has a population of 93,601 with average household size of 4.3 members, and an average literacy rate of 57.6% vs national average of 51.8% literacy. The religious breakdown was

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

99.46% (93,095),

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

0.52% (491), Christian 0.01% (11),

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

0.00% (4), and others 0.00% (00). A 2006 survey of slums in Bangladesh found that the single largest concentration of

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

s in the Dhaka Metropolitan Area was in Kamrangirchar, and reported that of the 300,000 people living there, 265,000 are slum dwellers.

References

{{Upazilas and Thanas of Dhaka Thanas of Dhaka Slums in Asia

Geography

History

Demographics

See also

References