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Bishwanath Upazila

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Bishwanath
বিশ্বনাথ
Location of Bishwanath
DivisionSylhet Division
DistrictSylhet District
Government
 • MP (Sylhet-2)Mokabbir Khan (Gano Forum)
Area
 • Total
214.5 km2 (82.8 sq mi)
Population
 • Total
169,730
 • Density791/km2 (2,050/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Bishwanathi, Bishnathi
Time zoneUTC+6 (BST)
Postal code
3130-34
Websitebishwanath.sylhet.gov.bd

Bishwanath (Template:Lang-bn) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.[1]

History

One of the palaces of Gour Govinda, the last Hindu ruler of Sylhet, was situated in present-day Bishwanath.[1] Its ruins are still intact and is locally referred to as 'Jahazer Manzil' and next to Govinda's personal pond, the 'Satpari Dighi'. During the Muslim conquest of Sylhet in 1303, Govinda abandoned Sylhet and fled to the Kamrup region.[2]

After the defeat of Raja Subid Narayan of Ita by Khwaja Usman in the early 17th century, many Hindus migrated elsewhere including the area now comprising Bishwanath. Vijayaram Upadhayaya and his Kayastha student Bidhar Khan sailed with their family and friends through the Kapna river to this area (then a forest) for safety. The area was then home to a group of bandits led by Jula, but they were defeated by Bidhar Khan and his associates. The new settlers named the area 'Banabhag' (forest area), the area which he docked his boat came to be known as 'Bidhar Ghat' and the neighbourhood of the bandits came to be known as 'Jular Chiri'. When the Mughals came into power, they divided Banabhag into three parganas: Khalisa-Banabhag, Bazu-Banabhag and Kazakhabad. Bidhar Khan became the Zamindar of Bazu-Banabhag. His descendant, Ramnath Dhar, was a contemporary of Gopinath Bachaspati. Dhar's son, Babu Ramjivan Rai, was given the title of Chowdhury and granted land in Baurbhag by Inayetullah Khan, the Mughal administrator of Sylhet, in 1692. He was known to have been devoted to idol worship.[3] His son, Bhavani Shankar, was the father of Zamindar Ram Shankar Chowdhury. Ram Shankar's son, Bishwanath Rai Chaudhury, established the 'Bishwanath Bazaar' which gradually expanded. His son, Brajanath Chaudhury, established an akhara for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and was succeeded by Baikuntha Nath Chaudhury. Baikuntha Nath's son, Varada Nath Chaudhury, was a distinguished poet of Bishwanath.[4]

Bishwanath was established as a thana in 1922. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, many Hindus were killed in Bishwanath including Jitendra Das, Dhirendra Kumar Das, Byomkesh Chaudhury, Narayan Sen and Basanta Kumar Das. Bishwanath Thana was upgraded to upazila (sub-district) in 1983 as part of the President of Bangladesh Hussain Muhammad Ershad's decentralisation programme.[1]

Demographics

At the 1991 Bangladesh census, Bishwanath had a population of 169,730, of whom 83,794 were aged 18 or older. Males constituted 50.99% of the population, and females 49.01%. Bishwanath had an average literacy rate of 30.6% (7+ years), against the national average of 32.4%.[5]

Administration

Bishwanath Upazila is divided into eight union parishads: Alankari, Bishwanath, Doshghar, Daulatpur, Deokalas, Khajanchi, Lamakazi, and Rampasha. The union parishads are subdivided into 123 mauzas and 444 villages.[6]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Jayanta Singh Roy (2012). "Bishwanath Upazila". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  2. ^ Qurashi, Ishfaq. "তিন'শ ষাট আউলিয়ার বিবরণ" [Description of the three hundred and sixty saints]. শাহজালাল(রঃ) এবং শাহদাউদ কুরায়শী(রঃ) [Shahjalal and Shah Dawud Qurayshi (R)] (in Bengali).
  3. ^ Choudhury, Achyut Charan (2000) [1916]. "কায়স্থাদির কথা: বনভাগের চৌধুরী". Srihatter Itibritta: Uttorangsho (in Bengali). Kolkata: Kotha. p. 101-102.
  4. ^ বিশ্বনাথ উপজেলার পটভূমি [Background of Viswanath Upazila]. Bishwanath Upazila.
  5. ^ "Population Census Wing, BBS". Archived from the original on 2005-03-27. Retrieved November 10, 2006.
  6. ^ "District Statistics 2011: Sylhet" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
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