My Home District: Munshiganj

Jahara Islam
Department of Business Administration
IUBAT - International University of Business Agriculture and Technology
4 Embankment Drive road, Sector 10, Uttara Model Town,
Uttara, Dhaka 1230, Bangladesh.
Email: jaharaislamjui@gmail.com

Introduction:
Munshiganj is also historically known as
Bikrampur is a district in central Bangladesh. It
is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders
Dhaka District.
Geography
Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km²), out of
which 138472 acres (560 km²) are cultivable and
5609 acres (23 km²) are fallow land. It has no
forest area. 40277 acres (163 km²) of land is
irrigated while 26242 acres (106 km²) of land is
under river. It has 14 rivers. It has 50609 units of
house hold and total area 160.79 km².
Munshiganj (Town) consists of 9 wards and 42
mahallas. The area of the town is 14.17 km2. The
population of the town is 52071; male 51.62%
and female 48.38%; density of population is
Figure 1. Map of Munshiganj District in Bangladesh Map
3674 per km2. Literacy rate among the town
people is 49.3%. The town has two tongibari, serajdikhan, lohajang, sreenagar and
dakbungalows. The old high school name is Munshiganj sadar. Munshiganj is one of famous
Munshiganj Multilateral High school, but district in Bangladesh and it has great reputation.
nowadays the famous high school is K. K. Govt. Sub District:
Institution. Other famous high school is A. V. G.
The district consists of 6 upazilas. They are
M. Govt. girls’ high school.
lohaganj, sreenagar, Munshiganj Sadar,
Demographics: sirajdikhan, Tongipara, Gazaria.
As of the 1991 Bangladesh census, Munshiganj Administrative:
district, formerly a subdivision under Dhaka
Munshiganj Sadar has 12 Unions/Wards, 129
district was established in 1984. It consists of 6
Mauzas/Mahallas, and 219 villages. There has a
upazilas, 67 union parishads, 662 mouzas, 906
hospital named Munshigonj Sadar Hospital of
villages, 18 wards, 73 mahallas and 2
200 bes. There is a very famous and historic
municipalities. The upazilas are gazaria,
college named Haragonga College Munshiganj
is also called as Bikrampur.
Historical Events:
During the Mughal rule the present Munshigonj
town including the outlying areas was known as
Idrakpur which was named after the then
Mughal faujdar Idrak. A village on the outskirts
of Munshigonj town is still known as Idrakpur.
During the British rule Idrakpur was renamed as
Munshigonj after the name of Munshi Enayet
Ali, the local zamindar and the inhabitant of the
village Kazi Kasba in Rampal.
History
Bikrampur (Munshiganj) was the political and
cultural centre of ancient Bengal. Munshiganj is
one of famous district in Bangladesh and it has
great reputation. It was known as Bikrampur. It
was officially known as Bikrampur until 1986
and was part of Dhaka District. The remains of
the city of Bikrampur, the capital of the ancient
kingdoms of southeastern Bengal, are lost and
its location can only be guessed on the basis of
available data. Bangla, Old History, It was the
capital city of the Candra, Varman and Sena
dynasties, from the beginning of the 10th
century AD to the beginning of the 13th century
AD. A village on the outskirts of Munshigonj
town is still known as Idrakpur. During the
British rule Idrakpur was renamed as
Munshigonj after the name of Munshi Enayet
Ali, the local zamindar and the inhabitant of the
village Kazi Kasba in Rampal. The name of
Bikrampur survived in the name of a pargana in
the Mughal period. Today the name does not
exist even officially, but the inhabitants of a vast
tract of land in the Munshiganj district still feel
pride in saying that they belong to Bikrampur,
which, of course, emanates from the past glory
of the area. Also, within the confines of
Munshigonj, the colonial era mansion of Badrul
Islam, the renowned Kombal merchant, is
located. Today it is a sacred site for Tibetan
Buddhists.
Figure 2. Sub district of Munshiganj
Archaeological Heritage:
Idrakpur Fort (1660) at Munshigonj town,
Panditer Bhita (birthplace of Atis Dipankar ) at
Vajrayogini, Baba Adam’s Mosque at Rampal,
home stead of Raja Vallala Sena, Rampal Dighi,
Raja Harish Chandra’s Dighi, Kodal Dhoar
Dighi, home stead of Raja Sreenath, marble
statue of Ashutosh Ganguly at the library room
of Haraganga College.
Liberation War:
Munshiganj liberated on Dec 11. The saga of the
heroic freedom struggle against the subjugation
of the Pakistani Occupation Forces in the district
culminated in victory, and Munshiganj was
liberated from the Pakistani marauders on this
day – the 11th of December, 1971. The day is
now remembered here by the people at large
both as an auspicious day of glorious triumph of
Bengalee nationalist and patriotic forces and as a
tearful occasion of mourning for the valiant
martyrs who laid down their lives in our War of
Liberation. The people of Munshiganj now
console themselves with the thought that the
freedom fighters shed their blood for a noble
cause. To quote the poet Laurence Binyon -
‘There is music in the midst of desolation and a
glory that shines upon our tears’. The Pakistani
occupation forces mounted a dastardly raid and
overran the Munshiganj town on May 9, 1971.
They set up a military camp at the Haraganga
College hostel. Before capturing the town, the
gun-boats of Pakistan Army invaded Gosair
Char areas in Gazaria thana under cover of
darkness of the night and perpetrated a horrible
genocide in the sleepy hamlet. The occupation
soldiers, in a murderous frenzy, dragged the
unarmed, innocent people, mostly fishermen, out
to the river-bank. The baffled victims were
herded into a long row and then shot - dead by
brush-fire. In all 360 innocent villagers dropped
dead in an instant. On May 14, the occupation
army most brutally killed seven eminent people
of the town at Chowdhury Bari in Kewar.
During their occupation of the then sub-division
for a little over 7 months, the Pakistani soldiers
and their local collaborators let loose a reign of
pillage, killing, arson and raping of women.
Gradually the Pakistani occupation army got
signals of resistance by the armed freedom
fighters from the outlying areas. In September
the Pakistani soldiers were routed by the
freedom fighters at Shikrampur Hat in
Baroikhali. About 100 Pak soldiers were killed
in that battle. Another fierce battle took place at
Goalimandra. In the engagement about 75
(seventyfive) Pak soldiers met with a watery
grave as their gun-boat, riddled with freedom -
fighter’s bullets went down into the stream. In
December the Pak army encountered a
determined resistance by the brave freedom
fighters at Ratanpur near Munshiganj town. In
the face of stiff resistance, the Pak soldiers had
to flee the place, leaving behind three bodies of
their colleagues in uniform. At one stage of the
Liberation War, the Munshiganj town was
encircled by armed freedom fighters. The
Munshiganj thana was raided and burned down
in the town by the freedom fighters. By the
beginning of December, the Pak soldiers were
virtually confined to the camp in the college
hostel. The freedom fighters had already
established their sway over rural areas. Finding
themselves in such a precarious situation, the
morale of the Pakistani occupation forces started
sagging and they fled the Munshiganj town
under cover of darkness in the small hours of
December 11, 1971. Soon afterward, the
freedom fighters marched into the town in a
triumphal procession shooting into the air from
their fire arms in celebration of the victory of
their liberation struggle. People from all walks
of life, who heaved a sigh of relief from the
nightmarish persecution and atrocities of the Pak
Army, heartily greeted the freedom fighters.
Marks of War:
Of Liberation Mass killing site and memorial
monument 1 (old student hostel premises of
Munshiganj High School).
Population:
294823; Male 53%, Female 47%; Muslim
83.82%, Hindu15.78%, Buddhist 0.04%,
Christian 0.05%, others 0.31%.
Religion:
The district of Munshiganj consist 3254
mosques, 348 temples, nine Buddhist temples
and a church here.
Religious institutions:
There are 166 Mosques, 22 temples, 2 mazars, 1
dargah, and 1 akhra. Noted institutions are,
Kacharighat Jami Mosque, Thana Jami Mosque,
Launch-ghat Jami Mosque, Jaikalimata Mandir,
Jagaddhatri Mandir, tomb of Kadira Pagla, tomb
of Chhala-pagli, dargah of Elahi Mastan,
Lakshmi Narayan Jeu Akhra. Sarbojonin puja
mandir of Bagmamudali para.
Literacy and educational institutions:
Average literacy is 35.5%; male 40.9%, female
30%. Educational institutions: college 4, high
school 22, junior high school 4, primary
teacher’s training institute 1, technical training
centre 1, madrasa 9, government primary school
100, non-government primary school 9; noted
old institutions: Government Haraganga
College, Munshiganj High School.
Newspapers and periodicals:
Weekly Munshiganj, Weekly Munshiganj
Sangbad; defunct periodicals: Kaler Vela,
Sangsaptak, Sarab.
Cultural Organizations:
There are 6 Clubs, literary and cultural
organisation 4, public library 2, musical
academy 2, art school 1, theatre party 3, drama
stage 1, cinema hall 6, and 1 auditorium, 1
stadium.
Main Occupations:
Agriculture 25.64%, agricultural labourer
21.12%, fishing 1.32%, industry 1.1%,
construction 1.52%, commerce 19.31%, service
9.34%, transport 3.1%, wage labourer 4.97%
and others 12.58%.
Economy:
Munshiganj is one of the largest producers of
potatoes in Bangladesh. It produces significant
amounts of jute, rice, wheat and other
vegetables. It also produces sugar cane and
banana.
Land use and cultivation:
land 12140 hectares; single crop 6.5%, double
crop 75.75%, and triple crop land 17.75%.
Cultivable land under irrigation is 36.2%.
Land control among the peasants:
27.8% are landless, 21.25% are marginal
peasant, 32.95% small peasant, 13.5%
intermediate, 4.5% rich; cultivable land per head
0.041 hectare.
Main crops:
The main crops are Paddy, potato, wheat, jute,
mustard, vegetables, and chili.
Extinct or nearly extinct:
Crops Indigo, kaun, linseed, arahar (pulse).
Main fruits Banana, mango, papaya, jackfruit,
litchi. Communication facilities Roads: pucca
27.27 km and mud road 100 km.
Traditional transport:
Palanquin (extinct), bullock cart and horse
carriage (nearly extinct), boat, Manufactories
Large industry 2, medium industry 12, ice mill
and cold storage 20. Cottage industries: Various
cottage industries and workshops 392. Hats,
bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 17, fairs 8,
most noted of which are Munshir Hat, Chitalia
Hat, Mirkadim, Makahati, Munshiganj Bazar,
Katakhali Bazar, Kamalaghat Bazar, Rikabi
Bazar, Barani Mela (Kamalaghat), Rampal
Maghi-purnima Mela, Dasami Mela
(Kamalaghat), Munshiganj Rathjatra Mela,
Rampal Rathjatra Mela, Manasa Mela
(Munshiganj).
Main exports:
Potato, patal, vegetables, jute.
NGO activities:
Operationally important NGOs are asa, brac,
proshika, Juba Sangha, Mahila Angana.
Health centres:
Hospital 1, mother and childcare centre 1,
upazila health complex 1, 4 private clinics
Revolutionary Nationalists:
M Hamidullah Khan (Sector Commander,
Sector 11, Bangladesh War of Independence
1971.)
Social & Scientific:
Chashi Najrul Islam – artist, Dr. Humayun Azad
linguistic scientist, poet and novelist.
Art, Culture & Sports:
Brozen Das, the first Bangladeshi and Asian to
swim across the English Channel and the first
person to cross it four times
Public Affairs:
Fakhruddin Ahmed, former chief adviser, Non-
Party Caretaker Government of Bangladesh,
2007–2008.