Prithimpassa Union () is a

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 ...

under

Kulaura Upazila Kulaura (), is the largest upazila (sub-district) of Moulvibazar District in north-eastern Bangladesh. The total area of this upazila is 545 km2. Hakaluki Haor, the largest marsh wetland in Sylhet Division and one of the largest in Bangladesh ...

Moulvibazar District Moulvibazar District, () also spelled Moulavibazar, or Maulavibazar, (previous name: South Sylhet) is the southeastern district of Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh, named after the town of Moulvibazar. It is bordered by the Indian states ...

in the division of

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

, Bangladesh. It has an area of 21 square kilometres and a population of 18,053.

History

The union was named after the village of Prithimpassa, home of the Prithimpassa Nawab family. In 1499, a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

nobleman from

Greater Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

known as Prince Sakhi Salamat settled in Prithimpassa, Kulaura. Being a wealthy nobleman; he was granted a Jagir in mouza Prithimpassa by the Lodi sultans of Delhi from where he established the

Prithimpassa family The Prithimpassa family, also known as the Nawabs of Longla, are a Shia royal family from the Prithimpassa Union, Kulaura Upazila, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Bangladesh. The family was of the erstwhile feudal nobility of East Bengal. They played impo ...

. His son, Ismail Khan Lodhi, was granted a

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

by the Mughals and given the status of

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

in addition to other prestigious titles. In 1756, the

Nawab of Longla The Prithimpassa family, also known as the Nawabs of Longla, are a Shia royal family from the Prithimpassa Union, Kulaura Upazila, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Bangladesh. The family was of the erstwhile feudal nobility of East Bengal. They played imp ...

Moulvi Muhammad Rabi Khan Danishmand established the famous Rabir Bazar (Rabi's Market). Begum Talib-un-Nisa Khatun of Chhoto Saheb Bari (Prithimpasha village) established the Rabir Bazar Jame Masjid. In the anti-British

Sepoy Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

of 1857, 300 sepoys who revolted against the British, looted the Chittagong Treasury and took shelter with Nawab Gaus Ali Khan of Prithimpassa. The treasury remained under rebel control for several days. Abdul Ghafur, grandfather of Ali Haydar ibn Ali Gawhar, of Kanihati was present during the mutiny.Sreehatter Itibritta – Uttorangsho (A History of Sylhet), page 263-264,

Achyut Charan Choudhury Achyut Charan Choudhury (; 5 February 1866 – 25 September 1953) was a Bengali writer and historian. Though he wrote several books regarding Vaishnav Hinduism, Choudhury is most well known for his monumental work on the history of the Sylhet reg ...

; Publisher: Mustafa Selim; Source publication, 2004 In 1950, the

Shah of Iran The monarchs of Iran ruled for over two and a half millennia, beginning as early as the 7th century BC and enduring until the 20th century AD. The earliest Iranian king is generally considered to have been either Deioces of the Median dynasty () ...

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

, visited Prithimpassa and stayed for four days at the palace and went wildlife hunting in the Estate forests alongside

Khwaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964), also spelled Khwaja Nazimuddin, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second Prime Minister ...

and

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

Demography

Prithimpassa has a population of 18,053.

Administration

Prithimpassa constitutes the no. 11 union council of Kulaura Upazila. It contains villages and

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 ...

Economy and tourism

Prithimpassa has a significant number of British and American immigrants contributing to its economy. It has three state-owned

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

s; Robir Bazar, Chhoidol Bazar and Brindaranir Dighir Par Bazar, and it also has four non-governmental bazaars; Rajnagar Chaumuhani Bazar, Nandigram Bazar, Pursai Bazar and Jhilerpar Bazar. The Prithimpassa family estate is a historical site which attracts tourism in the Union. Robirbazar jame mosjid

Language and culture

The native population converse in their native

Sylheti dialect Sylheti (Sylheti Nagri: , ''síloṭi'', ; , ''sileṭi'', ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by an estimated 11 million people, primarily in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, Barak Valley of Assam, and northern parts of Tripura in India."S ...

but can also converse in

Standard Bengali Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is native to the Bengal region (Bangladesh, India's West Bengal and Tripura) of Sou ...

. Languages such as Arabic and English are also taught in schools. The Union contains 14

eidgah Eidgah or Idgah, also Eid Gah or Id Gah ( "site of Eid bservances; ; ; ; ) is a term used in South Asian Islamic culture for the open-air enclosure usually outside the city (or at the outskirts) reserved for Eid prayers offered in the morning ...

s; Shikoriya, Gonokiya, Dhamuli, East Gajbhag, Karaigram, Alinagar, Shomman Shahi, Kanaitikor, Yusuf Sadar, Rajnagar, Rabir Bazar, Sultanpur Shahi, Bhatgaon and Pursai Eidgah. There are many mosques, most notable is the historic Rabir Bazar Jame Masjid.

List of chairmen

References

{{Moulvibazar District Unions of Kulaura Upazila