Gowainghat ( bn, গোয়াইনঘাট) 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 ...

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

in the Division of

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...

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 ...

History

The British Empire conquered the

Jaintia Kingdom The Jaintia Kingdom was a matrilineal kingdom in present-day Bangladesh's Sylhet Division and India's Meghalaya state. It was partitioned into three in 630 AD by Raja Guhak for his three sons, into the Jaintia Kingdom, Gour Kingdom and Laur K ...

on 25 March 1835, finally incorporating Gowainghat in its Sylhet District Collectorate. In 1908, the Gowainghat Thana was founded with the union of 5 parganas; Dhargram, Araikha, Piyaingul, Panchbhag and

Jaflong Jaflong ( bn, জাফলং) is a hill station and tourist destination in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. It is located in Gowainghat Upazila of Sylhet District and situated at the border between Bangladesh and the Indian state of Meghal ...

and then separated into 9 union councils. 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 ...

, the

Pakistani army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the 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 British India, which occurred as a result ...

launched an attack in Ujuhat, Alirgaon killing 25 freedom fighters on the night of 28 November 1971. 7 mass graves are found in the upazila in Ujuhat, Atgram, Tamabil Zero Point, Health Complex and Birkuli. To commemorate the loss of lives, a memorial has been built. The thana prospered, officially upgrading to an

on 14 March 1983.

Geography

Gowainghat is located at . It has 34,133 households and a total area of 486.1 km². The rivers are quarried for their stones, in areas like

Bichnakandi Bichnakandi ( bn, বিছানাকান্দি, Bichhanakandi), also known as Bisnakandi, is a village in Rustompur Union, Gowainghat Upazila of Bangladesh's Sylhet District. In recent years, there has been an influx of tourists to its ri ...

Demographics

Bangladesh

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Gowainghat has a population of 207,170. Males constituted 51.80% of the population, and females 48.20%. Gowainghat has an average literacy rate of 22.8%.

Administration

Gowainghat Upazila is divided into nine

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: Alirgaon, Daubaria, Fatehpur, Lengura, Nandirgaon, Purba Jaflong, Paschim Jaflong, Rustampur, and Towakul. The union parishads are subdivided into 231 mauzas and 266 villages.

Notable people

Saiful Alom Muhammad Sayful Alam ( bn, মোঃ ছয়ফুল আলম; 7 March 1934 – 14 January 1997) was a Bangladeshi politician and teacher. He was a member of the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly. He had made extensive contributions to the ov ...

, former member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly * Abdul Hannan, former parliamentarian *

Faizul Hasan Faizul Hasan ( bn, ফয়জুল হাসান) was a Bangladeshi politician. Biography Hasan was born into a Bengali Muslim family from Daubari in Gowainghat, Sylhet District. He was successful in a 1956 by-election for the East Bengal ...

, former member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly *

Dildar Hossain Selim Dildar Hossain Selim (13 November 1950 – 5 May 2021) was a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician who served as Jatiya Sangsad member from Sylhet-4. Early life Dildar Hossain Selim was born on 13 November 1950 in the village of Radhanagar ...

, politician

References