Begumganj ( bn, বেগমগঞ্জ, Begomgonj) is an

upazila An ''upazila'' ( bn, উপজেলা, upôzela, lit=sub-district pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative region in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a ...

of the

Noakhali District Noakhali ( bn, নোয়াখালী, , New canal), historically known as Bhulua ( bn, ভুলুয়া), is a district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in the Chittagong Division. It was established as district in 1821, and offici ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Chittagong Division Chittagong Division, officially known as Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the south-easternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population at the 2 ...

. Begumganj Thana, now an upazila, was established in 1892.

Geography

Begumganj is located at . It has 118361 households and total area 426.05 km². It is considered to be a very poorly-drained area of the Old Meghna Estuarine Floodplain along with

Laksam Upazila Laksam ( bn, লাকসাম) is an upazila of Comilla District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Laksam is widely known as the birthplace of Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani. History Laksam was made into an upazila in 1983. On 6 April ...

History

During the

Mughal period The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, a mosque was established in Chowdhury Bari, Gopalpur which still stands today. On 7 November 1946, Begumganj was visited by

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

to suppress the

Noakhali riots The Noakhali riots were a series of semi-organized massacres, rapes and abductions, combined with looting and arson of Hindu properties, perpetrated by the Muslim community in the districts of Noakhali in the Chittagong Division of Bengal (n ...

. Begumganj suffered from

tidal bore Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

on 12 November 1970 as part of the

1970 Bhola cyclone The 1970 Bhola cyclone (Also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970) was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal on November 11, 1970. It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever re ...

. During the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

of 1971, the Noakhali Company led by

Subedar Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History ''Subedar'' or ''subadar'' was the ...

Lutfur Rahman was based in Begumganj. Bengali freedom fighters brawled with the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

at Aminbazar Point on Chaumuhani-Lakshmipur road on 25 April. The freedom fighters launched an attack on a Razakar Camp located in Chandraganj High School on 2 July. On 19 August, 50 civilians were killed at Nayahat Bazar. Begumganj Thana was finally liberated on 6 August, and monuments were established in

Chowmuhani Chowmuhani ( bn, চৌমুহনী, Choumuhonī) is a city and municipal corporation in Noakhali District, located in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. It is the administrative centre and capital of the Begumganj Upazila Begumganj ( bn, ব� ...

and Sonaipur. In 1982, Begumganj Thana was upgraded to

status as part of the

President of Bangladesh The president of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — ) officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশে ...

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time ma ...

's decentralisation programme. The 1988, 1998 and 2004 floods caused a lot of damage to properties, crops and lives.

Demographics

As of the

2011 Bangladesh census In 2011, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, conducted a national census in Bangladesh, which provided a provisional estimate of the total population of the country as 142,319,000. The previous decennial census was the 2001 census. Data were reco ...

, Begumganj has a population of 549,308. Males constitute 49.2% of the population, and females 50.8%. This Upazila's eighteen up population is 313911. Begumganj has an average literacy rate of 44.4% (7+ years), and the national average of 32.4% literate.

Administration

Begumganj Upazila is divided into Chowmuhani Municipality and 16

union parishad Union council ( bn, ইউনিয়ন পরিষদ, translit=iūniyan pariṣad, translit-std=IAST), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit ...

s: Alyearpur, Amanullapur, Begumganj, Chayani, Durgapur, Eklashpur, Gopalpur, Hajipur, Jirtali, Kadirpur, Kutubpur, Mirwarishpur, Narottampur, Rajganj, Rasulpur, and Sharifpur. The union parishads are subdivided into 178 mauzas and 184 villages. Chowmuhani Municipality is subdivided into 9 wards and 23

mahalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social ins ...

Education

There are four colleges in the upazila. They include Chowmuhani Government S.A College,

Jalal Uddin College Jalal (Arabic: جلال) is a masculine given or family name. The name or word Jalal means majesty and is used to honor and venerate. When the Arabic language spread across non-Arabic regions, Jalal has also become a name for some Arabic-speaking C ...

, and

M. A. Hashem College ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...

. Among specialized colleges are

Begumgonj Textile Engineering College, Noakhali The Textile Engineering College, Noakhali ( bn, টেক্সটাইল ইঞ্জিনিয়ারিং কলেজ, নোয়াখালী}) is a textile technology learning institute situated in Noakhali, Bangladesh and i ...

and Abdul Malek Ukil Medical College, Noakhali. According to Banglapedia, Begumganj Government Pilot High School, Babupur Jirtoli Union High School, founded in 1928, Ghatla High School (1915), Hazipur Abdul Majid High School (1928), Kadirpur High School (1915), and Kalikapur Babupur Union High School (1929) are notable secondary schools. The madrasa education system includes eight fazil and one kamil madrasas.

Notable people

* Aftab Ahmed, 5th vice-chancellor of the

National University, Bangladesh The National University of Bangladesh ( bn, জাতীয় বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, বাংলাদেশ ) is a public university of Bangladesh that was established by an Act of Parliament as an affiliating University ...

Moeen U Ahmed Moeen Uddin Ahmed is a former Bangladesh Army general and the 12th Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army from 15 June 2005 to 15 June 2009 with last one-year extension during the caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed. He has worke ...

, 12th

Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army Chief of Army Staff (CAS) ( bn, সেনাবাহিনী প্রধান, Senabahini Prodhan) of Bangladesh Army, also known as Army Chief, is the highest-ranking officer of the Bangladesh Army. The Chief of Army staff has been a four-s ...

Barkat Ullah Bulu Barkat Ullah Bulu (born 20 December 1956) is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Noakhali-2 and Noakhali-3 constituencies in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th parliament. He served as the stat ...

, former State Minister for Commerce *

Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (22 July 1926 – 14 December 1971) was a prominent Bengali essayist, prized scholar of Bengali literature, educator and linguist of the Bengali language. Early life and education Born in Khalishpur village, in Noakhal ...

, essayist and linguist * MA Hashem, founder of

Partex Group Partex Group is one of the largest family-run conglomerates in Bangladesh, consisting of over 70 factories. The industries under this conglomerate include foods and beverages, steel, real estate, furniture, agribusiness, plastics, etc. History ...

* Mamunur Rashid Kiron, director of Globe Pharmaceuticals *

Dhiraj Kumar Nath Dhiraj Kumar Nath (January 9, 1945 – January 5, 2018) was a Bangladeshi diplomat. He was named as an advisor of the interim caretaker government of Bangladesh in October 2006.(10 December 2009La santé, oubliée de Copenhague ''Courrier Inte ...

, diplomat *

Kazi Golam Rasul Kazi Golam Rasul ( bn, কাজী গোলাম রসূল) was a Bangladeshi judge who is known for his verdict in the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman case in 1998. Early life Rasul was born in 1942 in Begumganj Upazila, Noakhali ...

, judge known for his verdict in the

Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman The first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most of his family were killed during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of young Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, Dhanmondi 32 resi ...

case *

Chittaranjan Saha Chittaranjan Saha (1 January 1927 – 26 December 2007) was a Bangladeshi educationist. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2005 by the Government of Bangladesh. Early life and education Saha was born to Koilas Chandra Saha and Tirthabasi Saha in La ...

, educationist * Mahfuz Ullah, environmentalist

References

{{Upazilas of Chittagong Division Begumganj Upazila