Uttar Dinajpur (), also known as North Dinajpur, is one of the 23 districts of the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

in India. The district is the part of

Malda Division Malda Division is an administrative division within the Indian state of West Bengal. This division was earlier a part of Jalpaiguri division and was carved out from it in 2016. The headquarters and the largest city of the Malda Division is Malda ...

Raiganj Raiganj (), is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal and it stands on the bank of the Kulik river. This city is the headquarters of the Uttar Dinajpur district. The city situated in the narrow strip which joins the Northern and Southern p ...

city is the headquarters of the district. This district bifurcated on 1 April 1992 from the erstwhile West Dinajpur district.

History

Undivided Dinajpur district was part of the Pundra and

Gauda Kingdom The Gauḍa kingdom was a kingdom during the Classical India, Classical era in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the Gauḍa (region), Gauda region of Bengal (modern-day West Bengal and Bangladesh) in 4th century CE or possibly earl ...

of ancient

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. The whole of Pundra was part of the Mauryan empire, and Jainism was spread in the region in the fourth century BCE. Their capital was at Pundrabardhan (now in

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 ...

), and two other ancient towns were Gourpur and Kotibarsha, now called Bangarh. Later multiple inscriptions show how the

Guptas The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...

also controlled Pundra. After the reign of

, the district was then ruled by

Pala Empire The Pāla Empire was the empire ruled by the Pala dynasty, ("protector" in Sanskrit) a medieval Indian dynasty which ruled the kingdom of Gauda Kingdom, Gauda. The empire was founded with the election of Gopala, Gopāla by the chiefs of Kingdo ...

from 750 CE. The Senas overthrew the Palas in 1143. In

1204 Year 1204 ( MCCIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events * January 27– 28 – Byzantine emperor Alexios IV Angelos is overthrown in a revolution. * February 5 – Alexios V Doukas is crowned Byzant ...

, Bakhtiyar Khilji defeated the Senas and had Bangarh as its capital. After his murder, it was controlled by various governors sent by the Delhi Sultan from Gauda. In

1586 Events January – March * January 3 – Augustus of Wettin, the Elector of Saxony, marries Agnes Hedwig of Anhalt, the 12-year-old daughter of Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt. Augustus dies less than six weeks later. * January ...

Mughal Emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

conquered

and

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( ) is a city and the district headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka. It is bounded on the north by Suihari, Katapara, Bangi ...

was controlled by the ''sarkars'' of Tajpur and Panjara. In 1765, it fell under the rule of the East India Company and was ruled from

Murshidabad Murshidabad (), is a town in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. This town is the headquarters of Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, Bhagirathi Riv ...

. In the later part of the 18th century, the district was home to the Sanyasi-Fakir rebellion until the early 19th century. The district remained relatively peaceful all through the rest of the 1800s. In 1905, the people of Dinajpur district protested against the Partition of Bengal. They participated in the Freedom struggle by refusing to pay tax, doing hartals, and launching agitations. In 1947, Dinajpur district was split between India and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

with West Dinajpur remaining with India. In 1992, West Dinajpur district was bifurcated to form Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur districts.

Geography

Uttar Dinajpur district lies between

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

25°11' N to 26°49' N and

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

87°49' E to 90°00' E occupying an area of enclosed by Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and

districts of

on the east,

Kishanganj Kishanganj is a city and district headquarters of Kishanganj district in Purnia division of Bihar state in India. History Kishanganj, which was previously part of Purnia district, is part of the Mithila region. Mithila first gained prominen ...

, Purnia and

Katihar Katihar (; ), is the tenth largest city in the state of Bihar in India in terms of population, Along with being one of the largest economic, educational and administrative centre in the eastern part of Bihar. The city situated in the eastern ...

districts of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

on the west, Darjeeling district and

Jalpaiguri district Jalpaiguri district () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was established in 1869 during British Raj. The headquarters of the district are in the city of Jalpaiguri, which is also the divisional headquarters of Ja ...

on the north and

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. The capital of the Bengal Sultanate, Gauda and Pandua, was situated in this district. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this ...

and

Dakshin Dinajpur district Dakshin Dinajpur (), also known as South Dinajpur, is a district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, India. It was created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur District. The head ...

on the south. Uttar Dinajpur is well connected with the rest of the state through National Highways, State Highways and Railways. NH-27 and NH-12 pass through the heart of the district. The regional topography is generally flat with a gentle southerly slope towards which the main rivers like Kulik, Nagar, Mahananda. The District forms a part of the basin lying between Rajmahal hills on the east. The older alluvium is estimated to be

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

age. Uttar Dinajpur is bestowed with a very fertile soil. The soil is very rich in nature due to the

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

deposition which helps to grow Paddy,

Jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

, Mesta and

Sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

etc. Raiganj on the banks of the River Kulik is the District Headquarters where the Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary, the second largest bird sanctuary in Asia, is situated. In Uttar Dinajpur district, there are two sub-divisions,

and Islampur, apart from each other. There are four municipalities, nine blocks and 99 Panchayats covering 1577 villages.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Uttar Dinajpur district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 3,007,134, roughly equal to the nation of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

or the US state of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. This gives it a ranking of 124th in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001-2011 was 22.9%. Uttar Dinajpur has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 936

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 59.1%. 12.05% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 26.87% and 5.41% of the population respectively.

Religion

Language

According to the 2011 census, 68.06% of the population spoke Bengali, 13.22% Surjapuri, 9.48%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, 3.77% Santali, 3.76%

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and 1.03% Rajbongshi as their first language.

Divisions

Sub-divisions

Uttar Dinajpur District comprises two subdivisions: * Raiganj Sub-Division and * Islampur Sub-Division

Assembly constituencies

As per order of the

Delimitation Commission The Delimitation Commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act, tasked with redrawing the boundaries of legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies bas ...

in respect of the

delimitation of constituencies Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as states, counties or other municipalities.Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Along with six assembly constituencies from Darjeeling district, Chopra constituency forms the

Darjeeling (Lok Sabha constituency) Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Darjeeling in West Bengal. While five assembly segments are in Darjeeling district, one assembly segment is in Kalimpong di ...

. Islampur, Goalpokhar, Chakulia, Karandighi, Hemtabad, Kaliaganj and Raiganj constituencies forms the Raiganj (Lok Sabha constituency). Along with six assembly constituencies from South Dinajpur district, Itahar forms the

Balurghat (Lok Sabha constituency) Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 Lok Sabha, parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Balurghat in West Bengal. While six of the assembly segments of No. 6 Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency are in S ...

Villages

* Baroduary * Maharaja Hat

Economy

In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj () is a branch of the Government of India. The Ministry is in charge of the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The Ministry is headed by a minister of cabinet rank / Min ...

named Uttar Dinajpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

). It is one of the eleven districts in West Bengal currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). but now Dalkhola the main commercial, business town with well-connected railway and roadways, increasing the economy of Dalkhola and Uttar Dinajpur District. Other important urban regions include

, Islampur and Kaliaganj.

Tourism

In 1985, Uttar Dinajpur district became home to the Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of . Other tourist places include: * Swaminath Temple at Swaminath * Rajbari at Rajbari Gate * Shiv Mandir at Itahar * Danhasori Pithasthal at Chandigram * Shree Shree Ma Bhabani Devi Than at Bouaha *Shidhi binayak Mandir at, Maharaja Hat

Transport

Major railway stations are Raiganj(RGJ), Radhikapur (RDP), Kaliyagunj, Dalkolha and Aluabari Road Jn (Islampur). Dalkolha is most important stoppage of long-distance train. NH 27 and NH 12 are two National Highways in this District. Radhikapur-Kolkata (RDP-KOAA) Express train and Radhikapur-Howrah Kulik Express (RDP-HWH) are the two direct train for Raiganj to South Bengal Communication. Although RDP-SGUJ DEMU is the only direct train for Raiganj to North Bengal Communication. NBSTC, SBSTC are transport corporations serving the area. Siliguri More is that point zone which connect four district zone North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, North Bengal and South Bengal through High Ways.

Education

As of 2012, there were 3282 schools in the Uttar Dinajpur district. 3100 of these are in rural areas, and 182 urban. There is Raiganj University in Uttar Dinajpur situated at Raiganj. Others general degree and diploma colleges are here also. Some notable colleges such as: * Chopra Kamala Paul Smriti Mahavidyalaya * Dr. Meghnad Saha College * Islampur College * Islampur Government Polytechnic * Kaliyaganj College * Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital * Raiganj Polytechnic * Raiganj Surendranath Mahavidyalaya * Shree Agrasen Mahavidyalaya

Notable people

* Abdul Karim Chowdhury - politician * Mosaraf Hussen - politician * Krishna Kalyani - politician, industrialist * Md. Ghulam Rabbani - politician * Hamidul Rahman - politician * Soumen Roy - politician * Tapan Deb Singha - politician

Notes

References

External links

Official WebsiteUttar-Dinajpur.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uttar Dinajpur District Districts of West Bengal Minority concentrated districts in India 1992 establishments in West Bengal