Matlab Uttar () is an

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 ...

Chandpur District Chandpur District () is a district located in Chattogram Division of Bangladesh. It was part of Comilla District until 15 February 1984.Musa, Muhammad. Brahmanbariar Itibrittyo, Shetu Prokashoni, Brahmanbaria,1998. History During the rule ...

Chattogram Division Chittagong Division (), officially Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the southeasternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population according to th ...

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 ...

. The former Matlab Upazila was bifurcated in 2000, creating Matlab Dakshin and Matlab Uttar upazilas.

History

During the Mughal period, when the Lalar Hat Bazaar, located on the banks of the , a tributary of the Gumti, at the northern end of the present villages of Babu Para and Pail Para, was destroyed by river erosion, a market called Bairagir Hat at the northern end of the Kaladi village was founded by the Jamadar of Matlab. Jealous of this, the Zamindar of Faridpur increased his zamindari and established another market in his name in the western part south of the Bairagir Hat. After some time, both the markets became very competitive and Jamadar's

haat bazaar Haat Bazaar () is an open-air market that serves as a Trading post, trading venue for local people in rural areas and towns mainly in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India. Haat bazaars are conducted on a regular basis, usually once, twice or th ...

became popularly known as Matlab rather than Bairagir Hat. The name Matlab was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

on 9 August 1918. Gazette No. 236. In 1900, the government divided the Chandpur circle and created the Matlab circle. As a result, the progress of police station with 22 unions started. During the

Bangladesh War of Independence 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 ...

in 1971, the area was under the control of Bengali pro-independence fighters. Whenever the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

tried to enter the area, skirmishes would take place. A hospital was established for the wounded freedom fighters in the village of Nishchintapur. There were also mass graves in the village of Harina. On 30 April 2000, Matlab Uttar Upazila, an archipelago surrounded by the Meghna-Dhanagoda river, started its journey as an independent upazila with 1 municipality and 13 unions (later 1 increase). Later on 5 September of the same year Matlab North started functioning as a newly created upazila. As the adjoining Matlab upazila is on the north side, this upazila was named Matlab Uttar.

Geography

Matlab is located at . It has a total land area of 260.29 km².

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 ...

, Matlab Uttar Upazila had 63,784 households and a population of 292,057. 64,180 (21.98%) were under 10 years of age. Matlab Uttar had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 54.40%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 1075 females per 1000 males. 36,691 (12.56%) lived in urban areas.

Administration

Matlab Uttar Upazila is divided into Chengar Char Municipality and 14

union parishad Union council (), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit in Bangladesh, with zila parishads (district councils) being the largest rural authori ...

s: Baganbari, Durgapur, Eklaspur, Faraji Kandi, Gazra, Islamabad, Jahirabad, Kalakanda, Mohanpur, Paschim Fatehpur, Purba Fatehpur, Sadullapur, Satnal, and Sultanabad. The union parishads are subdivided into 127 mauzas and 251 villages. Chengar Char Municipality is subdivided into 9 wards and 41

mahalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, Quarter (country subdivision), quarter, Ward (country subdivision), ward, or neighborhood in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. ...

Research

Matlab MATLAB (an abbreviation of "MATrix LABoratory") is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment developed by MathWorks. MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementat ...

, including both Matlab Dakshin and Matlab Uttar Upazilas, is also the primary rural field site for the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, and the world's longest running health project.

Notable people

* Rafiqul Islam -

National Professor National Professor () is a prestigious teaching award given by the government of Bangladesh for outstanding contribution in the field of education. It is awarded by the President of Bangladesh according to ''Bangladesh National Professor Resolutio ...

, president of

Bangla Academy The Bangla Academy (, ) is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in Bangladesh. It is an autonomous institution funded by the Government of Bangladesh that fosters the Bengali language, literature and culture, works to develop an ...

, chairman of

Nazrul Institute The Jatiya Kabi Nazrul Institute is Bangladesh's national institute, established in February 1985. Its headquarters are located in Kabi Bhaban in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It fulfills a number of roles; promoting the literary work of the p ...

and 1st vice-chancellor of

Jashore University of Science and Technology Jashore University of Science and Technology (), commonly known and abbreviated as JUST (), is a government-financed public university in Bangladesh. JUST is located at Sadhinata Sarak in Jessore Sadar Upazila, in Khulna Division. Its postal co ...

* Shamsul Alam, economist and state minister of

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

* Aziz Ahmed, 16th Chief of Bangladesh Army Staff *

Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya (born 3 February 1948) is a senior Bangladesh Awami League politician who served as a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Chandpur-2 constituency and a minister of several ministries. On 19 November 2021 he n ...

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 and former minister * Md. Nurul Huda,

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

politician and former minister * Nawab Ali, first Bengali principal of

Dhaka Medical College and Hospital Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) is a public university, public medical school, medical college and hospital located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1946, the college houses a medical school as well as a Tertiary referral hospital, ...

* Wahiduddin Ahmed, 3rd vice chancellor of

BUET The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology () commonly known by its acronym BUET, is a public technological research university in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Founded in 1876 as the Dacca Survey School and gaining univer ...

, adviser to interim government led by the then president Justice

Shahabuddin Ahmed Shahabuddin Ahmed (1 February 1930 – 19 March 2022) was a Bangladeshis, Bangladeshi head of state who served as the president of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001, and the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, chief justice of Bangladesh from 1990 to 1995 ...

in December 1990 * Golam Mostafa Mia, ex-chairman * Monowarul Islam, ex-chairman * Golam Rabbani Bablu

References

{{Chandpur District Matlab Uttar Upazila