Eidgaon ( bn, ঈদগাঁও) 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
Cox's Bazar District
Cox's Bazar ( bn, কক্সবাজার জেলা , ''Cox's Bazar Jela'' also ''Cox's Bazar Zila'') is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh.
It is named after Cox's Bazar town. It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's ...
in the Division of
Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
,
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 ...
. Combined with the adjoining unions of Chowfaldandi and Varuakhali, it forms the traditional region of Greater Eidgaon.
Geography
Eidgaon Upazila is bounded by
Ramu Upazila
Ramu ( bn, রামু) is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Geography
Ramu is located at . It has 26964 households and the area of the town is 22.03 km2.
Demographics
As of the 1991 Bangladesh ...
to the east,
Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila to its south,
Maheshkhali Upazila
Moheshkhali ( bn, মহেশখালী) is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Geography
Moheshkhali is located at . It has 33287 households and total area 362.18 km2.
Demographics
As of the 19 ...
to its west, and
Chakaria Upazila
Chakaria ( bn, চকরিয়া) is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Geography
Chakoria is located at . It has 63671 households and a total area of 643.46 km2. Once there was a mangrove fore ...
to its north. It has a total area of .
History
The present-day Eidgaon area of the upazila was formerly known as Nayabad. Greater Nayabad/Eidgaon encompassed the current Eidgaon Upazilas as well as the unions of Chowfaldandi and Varuakhali. The Mughal prince
Shah Shuja set off with his forces to
Arakan
Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...
after being defeated in the war of imperial succession. They passed through Nayabad on the day of
Eid al-Fitr
, nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast
, observedby = Muslims
, type = Islamic
, longtype = Islamic
, significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan
, dat ...
, where they performed
Eid prayers
Eid prayers, also referred to as Salat al-Eid ( ar, صلاة العيد), are holy holiday prayers in the Islamic tradition. The literal translation of the word "Eid" in Arabic is "festival" or "feast" and is a time when Muslims congregate with ...
. From this event, the Nayabad area came to be known as Eidgaon (the village of Eid). Some elders have located the place of this incident to be an
eidgah
Eidgah or Idgah, also Eid Gah or Id Gah ( fa, "site of Eid bservances; bn, ঈদগাহ; pnb, ; ur, ; hi, ईदगाह) is a term used in South Asian Islamic culture for the open-air enclosure usually outside the city (or at th ...
in the village of Yusufer Khil in
Islamabad Union
Islamabad Union ( bn, ইসলামাবাদ ইউনিয়ন) is a Union Councils of Bangladesh, union of Eidgaon Upazila, Cox's Bazar District, Bangladesh.
History
The Greater Eidgaon Union was demolished in 1990 in the union of Is ...
.
In the 1900s,
Khan Saheb Muzaffar Ahmad Chowdhury was the principal
zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
of Eidgaon. His capital was at Chowfaldandi (presently in
Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila), where his palace can still be seen in Khamarpara and the stairs of his kachari in the hills. Chowdhury disappeared after setting off for
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
in 1937. He was succeeded by his grandson
Mostaq Ahmad Chowdhury and Kaniz Fatimah Ahmad. Other zamindars of the area included Muhammad Shiqdar, the Amir of Masuakhali, who is credited for the development of the Eidgaon Bazar Central Mosque in 1946. It was first established by his father, Magan Ali Shiqdar, in 1905 at his own wooden cottage house near a pond. Tayyabullah Faraizi of Farazipara became the dominant zamindar of greater Eidgaon in the 1960s during the rule of
Ayub Khan
Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...
. In the 1970s, administration fell in the hands of Nurul Islam Chowdhury (Bedar Miah) of Shiqdarpara, better known as Bedar Mian. Other members were Jalal Ahmad Faraizi, Muzaffar Ahmad Member, Abu Khalifah, Moulvi Sayyid Nur, Moulvi Siddiq Khalwi, who distrusted Bedar Mian.
[
After, Greater Eidgaon was divided into three unions; Eidgaon, Chowfaldandi and Pokkhali. Chowfaldandi was later divided into Chowfaldandi and Varuakhali, and Pokkhali was divided into Pokkhali and Islampur. By 1990, the Eidgaon Union was also divided into three unions; Islamabad, Jalalabad and (reduced) Eidgaon. A memorandum was sent to the Cox's Bazar District Commissioner for the declaration of Eidgaon as a separate upazila on 22 July 2019. The National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reorganization-Reform (NICAR) established Eidgaon as a ]thana
Thana means "police station" in South Asian countries, and can also mean the district controlled by a police station.
* Thanas of Bangladesh, former subdistricts in the administrative geography of Bangladesh; later renamed ''upazila''
* in (Briti ...
on 21 October 2019. On 26 July 2021, Khandker Anwarul Islam
Khandker Anwarul Islam is a retired Bangladeshi civil servant. He had served as the country's 22nd Cabinet Secretary. Prior to that, he was the Senior Secretary of the Bridges Division under Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges and the ex-offic ...
upgraded the status of Eidgaon to an upazila, consisting of the northern five unions of the Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila.
Administration
The upazila is made up of five 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:
# Islampur Union
# Pokkhali Union
# Islamabad Union
Islamabad Union ( bn, ইসলামাবাদ ইউনিয়ন) is a Union Councils of Bangladesh, union of Eidgaon Upazila, Cox's Bazar District, Bangladesh.
History
The Greater Eidgaon Union was demolished in 1990 in the union of Is ...
# Eidgaon Union
# Jalalabad Union
Demographics
Eidgaon Upazila has a total population of 124,794 people, majority of whom are Bengali Muslims
Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...
. The people of the Greater Eidgaon region (Eidgaon Upazila, Chowfaldandi and Varuakhali) maintain a distinct identity in addition to their regional, ethnic and religious identities, due to their geographical and historical heritage. Before 2021, greater Eidgaon was divided into many unions but the people continued to refer to themselves to be "from Eidgaon" even to the people of Cox's Bazar, even if they weren't from the reduced "Eidgaon Union".[
]
Education
Khan Saheb Muzaffar Ahmad Chowdhury, the zamindar of Eidgaon in the 1900s, established the ME School in Eidgaon. This school has now evolved into the Eidgaon Model High School and Eidgaon Government Primary School. Chowdhury also established the Eidgaon Almasia Madrasa, named after his wife, Almas Khatun. The madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
is now at Kamil degree status.
Notable people
* , poet
* Mostaq Ahmad Chowdhury, chairman of Cox's Bazar District Council
References
{{Upazilas of Chittagong Division
Upazilas of Cox's Bazar District