Nawabganj District

Chapai Nawabganj চাঁপাই নবাবগঞ্জ
—  District  —
Chapai Nawabganj Landmarks (Clockwise from top): GONO KOBOR, Choto Sona Mosjid, Choto Sona Mosjid(side view), Mango, Liberation War Statue, Dorsibari
Chapai Nawabganj Location of Chapai Nawabganj in Bangladesh
Coordinates: 24.73°N 88.20°E / 24.73; 88.20
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Rajshahi Division
Area
• Total	1,702.55 km2 (657.36 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	16,47,521
• Density	Bad rounding here970/km2 (Bad rounding here2,500/sq mi)
Literacy rate
• Total	42.09%
Time zone	BST (UTC+6)
• Summer (DST)	BDST (UTC+7)
Postal code	6300
Website	Banglapedia Article

Chapai Nawabganj (চাঁপাই নবাবগঞ্জ) is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division. Originally it was a subdivision under Malda district. In 1947, this was severed from Malda and was given to East Pakistan as a sub-division of Rajshahi district. Eventually,it became a separate district of Bangladesh in 1984.

Geography

Geography

Chapai Nawabganj District (Rajshahi division) has an area of 1744.33 km². The main rivers are the Ganges, and Mahananda.

History

Chapai Nawabganj was one of the sub-divisions of the former Rajshahi zila. It is said that this area had strategic and commercial importance due to its location at the junction of the rivers Mahananda and the Ganges. Because of its importance, Alivardi Khan founded Nowabganj town which in course of time known as Nawabganj.Until 1947, Nawabganj was a thana under Malda district, India.

Climate

Chapai Nawabganj is very close to the big city Rajshahi and the climate of both districts are very close.Under Köppen climate classification, Rajshahi has a tropical wet and dry climate. The climate of Rajshahi is generally marked with monsoons, high temperature, considerable humidity and moderate rainfall. The hot season commences early in March and continues till the middle of July. The maximum mean temperature observed is about 32 to 36 °C (90 to 97 °F) during the months of April, May, June and July and the minimum temperature recorded in January is about 7 to 16 °C (45 to 61 °F). The highest rainfall is observed during the months of monsoon. The annual rainfall in the district is about 1,448 millimetres (57.0 in).

Climate in Chapai Nawabganj
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average Temperature (°C)	18°	20°	25°	30°	36°	35°	35°	38°	36°	30°	25°	16°
Average Precipitation (cm)	1.6	1.0	2.9	2.9	11.1	24.4	36.1	25.4	21.2	11.4	1.4	0.1
Source: WeatherBase.Com|[National news papers]

Civil administration

The upazilas are

• Bholahat Upazila, ভোলাহাট উপজেলা
• Gomastapur Upazila, গোমস্তাপুর উপজেলা
• Nachole Upazila, নাচোল উপজেলা
• Nawabganj Sadar Upazila, নবাবগঞ্জ উপজেলা and
• Shibganj Upazila, শিবগঞ্জ উপজেলা

Municipalities are

• Nawabganj Sadar, নবাবগঞ্জ সদর,
• Shibganj, শিবগঞ্জ,and
• Rohanpur, রহনপুর

Administration

Administrator of Zila Porishod: Moulana Abdul Matin [7]

Deputy Commissioner (DC): Dr Shah Alam [8]

Transportation

This district is the most western district in Bangladesh which has boundary with the neighboring country India. And for importing and exporting, there is a land port in this district which makes this district an important route for communicating with the neighboring country. And the construction of the Jamuna Bridge at Sirajganj also makes its transportation system an important one all over the country. That is why highways were constructed over the district. The major transport systems inside the town is the bike, rickshaws, bi-cycle and CNG rickshaws.

Rickshaw-The main intra-transport vehicle

Bus

The major transportation system in this town is the bus service to different districts and towns. The main transportation route is Nawabganj-Rajshahi. The bus transportation service is off three types which are gate-lock, direct and local service. The others bus routes are Nawabganj-Shibganj, Nawabganj-Naogaon, Nawabganj-Nachol, Nawabganj-Rohanpur. The BRTC bus service serves for the long intra-district route to almost all important districts of Bangladesh. The most important long route is the Nawabganj-Dhaka. There are lots of bus services on this route. There are two bus stopages. The biggest one is called Chapai Nawabganj Bus Terminal and the other is the Dhaka Bus Terminal.Sona Mosjid-Rajshahi-Sona Mosjid bus Service are on at7.15am to 5.15pm every 1 hour after.

Railway

There are limited railway services with Rohanpur and Rajshahi. One of the international rail line passes through the district to Malda, West Bengal, India. There are few services of local train from different stations of Chapai Nawabganj such as Nawabganj Sadar, Amnura, Nachole, Nijampur, Rahanpur to Rajshahi and other parts of Bangladesh and also has a shuttle service from Nawabganj to Rajshahi for the intercity train service from Rajshahi to other part of Bangladesh.

Waterway

In the past, the main transport system was based on the water path. The river Padma (Ganges), Mahananda River, Pagla, Moraganga and some beels (marshland) were used for intra-transport system. The water level went down due to adverse effect of Farakka Barrage on Padma (Ganges) river, and therefore, water transport has lost its popularity. But still rivers are used for transportation of daily goods from different parts of the district. Still the transportation from the villages in western and eastern parts of the district depends on the boat. In the Shibgonj Upozila have a small river name[ pagla]

Economy

This district is mainly a plain land with rivers. The whole district is full of fertile land with proper irrigation facilities. That's why the economy is totally dependent on the agriculture. But as there are a number of rivers flows by this district, lots of people depends on the river like fishing and some business related to the rivers.

Mango

Chapai Nawabganj is called the capital of mango in Bangladesh. The main product which mainly accelerates the economy of this district is the mango. Lots of mangoes are produced in summer each year. Most of the land of this district is full of mango orchards where various kinds of mango are produced. The economy is surrounded by the production of the mango in this district. The main part of mango production is the Shibganj, Bholahat and Gamostapur upozilla.

Culture

Gombhira gaan

Gombhira gaan is one kind of folk song popular in this district and as well as the northeaster part of Bangladesh.It is assumed that gombhira gaan was originated from the worship of the god SHIVA (one of the god of Hindu religion), who was also known as 'Gombhir'. This type of song was used only in Puja (worship) in past time. Most of the Hindu community celebrated the puja of Dharma Thakur (a popular god of Hindus) on the last day of the Bengali year which was known as GAJAN of shiva in medieval era. At that time, it was imagined that SHIVA was present at the performance. Initially, Gombhira was of two kinds; the primary Gombhira in which god and goddess were addressed and human joys and sorrows were described and sometimes important events of the year were described. In secondary Gombhira also called narrative Gombhira, every character would represent a social problem. Gombhira songs originated among the Hindu community of Maldah in West Bengal. After the creation of Pakistan, Chapai Nawabganj was severed to Rajshahi District and became the main center of Gombhira songs, which underwent major changes in theme and mode of presentation. Muslims became the custodians of this song and made it integral part of their social life and there culture.

Nowadays, Gambhira reflects contemporary social problems through witty dialogue, songs, dances and jokes. This is the main part in any cultural celebration in this district with great entertainment and explanation of social problems.

Religion

Religion in Nawabganj District
Religion			Percent
Islam			94.27%
Hinduism			4.52%
Buddhism			0.63%
Christianity			0.58%

The district of Nawabganj consists 1987 mosques, 474 temples, 56 Buddhist temples and 28 churches. Chotto Sona Mosque, Chapai Mosque, 15th century Darashbari mosque, etc. are famous mosques. Jora Math is the famous Buddhist monastery and Naoda Stupa is the Buddhist monument.

Places of interest

Choto Sona Mosque

One of the most graceful monument of the Sultanate period is the Chhota Sona Masjid or Small Golden Mosque at Gaur in Chapainawabganj Built by one Wali Muhammad during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah (1493–1519). Originally it was roofed over with 15 gold-gilded domes including the 3 Chauchala domes in the middle row, from which it derives its curious name.

Educational institutions

This is a small District in Bangladesh with some good educational institutions.

Colleges

Harimohon Govt. High School

• Nawabganj Government College(নবাবগঞ্জ মহাবিদ্যালয়)Website.
• Nawabganj Government Women's College(নবাবগঞ্জ মহিলা মহাবিদ্যালয়).
• Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir (Birshreshtho) College(ক্যাপ্টেন মহিউদ্দিন জাহাংগীর বীরশ্রেষ্ঠ মহাবিদ্যালয়)
• Shah Neyamotullah College(শাহ নেয়মুতুল্লা মহাবিদ্যালয়)
• Adina Fazlul Haque College (1937) (Shibganj)
• Shibganj Govt. Model High School. (1948)[Shibgonj]
• Shibgonj Girls High school. [Shibgonj]
• Rohanpur Yeasuf Ali College (1967) (Gomostapur)
• Nachoul Degree College (1972)
• Kansat Soleman Degree College (1968)(Shibganj)
• Nawabganj City Collage (1996).
• Shympur Degree College (Shibganj)
• Sonamosjid Degree college(Shibganj)
• Shahbajpur Degree College(Shibganj)
• Chakkirty Degree College(Shibganj)
• Pukuria Women College(Shibganj)
• Binodpur Degree College(Shibganj)
• Krishnogobinda Pur Degree college, Nawabganj (1970).
• Mahipur Degree college (Nawabgonj)
• Mirjapur college (Nachole)
• Harimohon Government High School School Website
• Bholahat Mohbullah College (Bholahat)
• Bholahat College (Bholahat)
• Bholahat Mohila College (Bholahat)

Notable person

Ila Mitra

Rafiqun Nabi

Great politician and scholar Idris Ahmed Miah M.L.A was born 13th Sep, 1894 at Dadanchak, Shibgonj and died 9th Oct, 1966. He was buried at Adina College Campus. He is called father of Education in North Bengal. Because he founded Adina College in 1938 and it is the fourth oldest college in North Bengal. He founded many educational institution in his period. He was also the first founder member of Rajshahi University.

Habibur Rahman, a Bangladeshi cow trader brutally tortured by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) [9] on 9 December 2011. The video footage of his torture [10] was first aired by an Indian TV channel NDTV [11] and created great uproar in Bangladesh and India.

Dr Jayanti Kumar Ghosh,born at Chapai Nawabganj at a house near old market place (Purano Bazar),former student of HariMohan High School, is a distinguished Doctor in NorthEast England of Great Britain. Now settled in Great Britain and a British citizen. He is also a Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine of London besides other achievements.

References

Banglapedia . . . . .