Hathazari ( bn, হাটহাজারী) 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
Chattogram District
Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is lo ...
in
Chattogram 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 ...
,
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 ...
.
Geography
Hathazari is located at . It has 52,594 households and a total area of 251.28 km
2. The main river is
Halda
Halda Watch Company is a Swedish manufacturer of high-end watches. It was founded in 1887 by Henning Hammarlund in Svängsta.
History
Halda was founded in 1887 by the factory owner Henning Hammarlund (1857-1922) in order to primarily pro ...
. It is surrounded by
Fatikchhari Upazila
Fatikchari( bn, ফটিকছড়ি, Fôṭikchhôṛi) is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh.
History
The Fatikchhari Jami al-Uloom Fazil Madrasa and the Jamia Arabia Nasirul Islam Madrasa were founded i ...
on the north,
Panchlaish Thana
Panchlaish ( bn, পাঁচলাইশ) is a Administrative divisions of Bangladesh, thana of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh.
Geography
Panchlaish is located at . It has 37105 households and total area 27.45 km² ...
and
Chandgaon Thana
Chandgaon ( bn, চান্দগাঁও) is a thana of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. It comprises the Chandgoan Residential Area and the Kalurghat Industrial Area.
Geography
Chandgaon Thana is located at . It has 40 ...
on the south,
Raozan
Raozan,gohira ( bn, রাউজান) is an upazila of Chattogram District, in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. It was established in 1947.
Geography
Raozan has 45,777 households and a total area of 246.58 km2.
The two main rivers ...
Upazila on the east and
Sitakunda Upazila
Sitakunda ( bn, সীতাকুণ্ড ''Shitakunḍo,'' ) is an upazila in the Chattogram District of Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. It includes one urban settlement, the Sitakunda Town, and 10 unions. Sitakunda is the home of the co ...
on the west.
History
Part of the ancient kingdom of
Harikela
Harikela () was an ancient empire located in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, it was a neighboring independent and independent township of ancient East Bengal, which had a continuous existence of about 500 years. The st ...
, 36 thin bull-and-triglyph silver coins were discovered inside a little clay pot in Hathazari's Jobra village in July 1980. All, except one, mentioned the kingdom of Harikela. The
Kingdom of Mrauk U
The Kingdom of Mrauk-U ( Arakanese: မြောက်ဦး နေပြည်တော်,) was a kingdom that existed on the Arakan littoral from 1429 to 1785. Based out of the capital Mrauk-U, near the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, t ...
built numerous mudforts in present-day Hathazari.
In the fifteenth century, the
Sultan of Bengal
The Sultanate of Bengal (Middle Bengali language, Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centu ...
Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah
Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah ( fa, شمس الدین یوسف شاه, bn, শামসউদ্দীন ইউসুফ শাহ) was the Sultan of Bengal from 1474 to 1481. He belonged to the Ilyas Shahi dynasty and was the successor of his father, ...
had a mosque constructed in Dewannagar
mouza
In Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of India a mouza or mauza (also mouja) is a type of administrative district, corresponding to a specific land area within which there may be one or more settlements. Before the 20th century, the term referred to a ...
which is now known as
Faqir Mosque
Faqir Mosque ( bn, ফকির মসজিদ, ar, ) is an oblong six-domed Islamic place of worship in Bangladesh's Chittagong District. The fifteenth-century mosque dates back to the Bengal Sultanate period.
Location
It is located in the ...
. During an expedition against the
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 ...
ese in the early 16th century, Prince
Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah
Nāsir ad-Dīn Naṣrat Shāh ( bn, নাসিরউদ্দীন নুসরত শাহ, fa, ناصر الدین نصرت شاه; r. 1519–1533), also known as Nusrat Shah, was the second Sultan of Bengal belonging to the Hussain Shahi ...
passed through the area where he dug a reservoir and built a mosque which still stands today in
Chikandandi Union
Chikandandi Union ( bn, চিকনদন্ডী, Chikondondi) is a union parishad of Hathazari Upazila of Chittagong District, Bangladesh.
Geography
Chikandandi Union has a total area of . It is the south-westernmost union of Hathazari Upazila ...
. 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 ...
, present-day Hathazari was a part of the Aurangabad Pargana. 12 ''hazari''s were appointed to keep law and order and defend the
pargana
Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...
of Aurangabad. Due to Aurangabad being so far away from
Murshidabad
Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district.
During ...
, the erstwhile capital of the
Nawabs of Bengal
The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...
, the ''hazari''s neglected their duties. The Nawab's representative, Mahasingh, resorted to a ruse to undermine the power of the Hazaris and took the invitation to the Nawab's Kanchari in
Sitakunda
Sitakunda or Sitakunda Town ( bn, সীতাকুণ্ড শহর) is an administrative centre and the sole municipality (''Paurashava'') of Sitakunda Upazila in Chattogram District, located in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Sitakunda ...
by cheating with the help of a trick. He was able to betray and capture eight of the twelve Hazaris and send them to Murshidabad. Two of the ten remaining Hazaris surrendered and were excused. The
Nawab of Bengal
The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...
imprisoned the eight Hazaris in iron cages and ordered them to be drowned in the Ganges. One of the excused Hazaris, Bir Singh Hazari, established a
haat bazaar
Haat or hat, even haat bazaar, is an open-air market that serves as a trading venue for local people in rural areas and towns of Indian subcontinent, especially in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Haat bazaars are conducted on a regular ba ...
in the area and so it came to be known as Hathazari (The haat/market of the Hazari).
Hathazari
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 ...
(an area controlled by a police station) was formed in 1929. The following year, it was the site of a battle between Bengali revolutionaries led by
Surya Sen
Surya Sen, also called Surya Kumar Sen (22 March 189412 January 1934), was an Indian revolutionary who was influential in the Indian independence movement against British rule in India and is best known for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury ...
and
Ananta Singh
Ananta Lal Singh (1 December 1903 - 25 January 1979) was an Indian revolutionary, who participated in the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahity ...
, and
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
soldiers.
Four days earlier, the revolutionaries had carried out the
Chittagong armoury raid
The Chittagong armoury raid, also known as the Chittagong uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armoury in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Bangladesh) b ...
. British forces caught up with them at Jalalabad Hill. In the ensuing fight over 80 soldiers and 12 revolutionaries were killed. Sen dispersed his men to neighbouring villages in small groups, allowing some to escape or delay capture.
During the
Burma campaign 1944–45
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
used the
Hathazari Airfield as a supply point and staging airfield for resupply airlift drops over
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and also as a radio relay station. 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, 11 Bengali freedom fighters were murdered near Nazirhat Bus Stand. The Nobel Prize-recognised
Grameen Bank
Grameen Bank ( bn, গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organisation and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requi ...
was established in the village of Jobra through a rural banking project there. Hathazari Thana was made 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 ...
in 1983.
Demographics
According to 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 ...
, Hathazari had a total population of 431,748 with 215,201 Males and 226,547 Females.
Most of the people immigrate largely in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries in Europe and the Middle East.
Literacy and education
The average literacy rate of Hathazari is 57.9%; with male percentage being 61.1% and female being 54.6%.
[ ]Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam
Al-Jāmiʿah al-Ahliyyah Dār al-ʿUlūm Muʿīn al-Islām ( ar, الجامعة الأهلية دار العلوم معين الإسلام), popularly known as the Hāṭhazārī Madrasa ( bn, হাটহাজারী মাদ্রাসা) ...
, established in 1896, is the oldest and largest Deobandi
Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law,
formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives,
by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, R ...
institution in the country - ranking among the top ten madrasas in the subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
. The public research University of Chittagong
The University of Chittagong ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, caṭṭagram bishwabidyalay) is a public research university with multidisciplinary faculties situated across a 1754-acres hilly landmas ...
in Fatehpur was founded in 1966 and is notable for having the largest campus among the universities of Bangladesh. Hathazari Government University College, the Hathazari research and farm-based campus of the , Fatehpur Mehernega High School Fatehabad Model Multilateral High School and Farhadabad High School are also notable educational institutions of Hathazari. The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ কৃষি গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউট) is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of agriculture, that conducts research on all crops e ...
has a research station in Hathazari.
Administration
Hathazari Upazila is divided into 15 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, further divided into 48 mouza
In Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of India a mouza or mauza (also mouja) is a type of administrative district, corresponding to a specific land area within which there may be one or more settlements. Before the 20th century, the term referred to a ...
s and 59 villages. The unions are:
# Burischar
# Chhibatali
# Chikandandi
# South Madarsha
# Dhalai
Dhalai (pron: /ˈdʰɔlai/) is an administrative district in the state of Tripura in India. The district headquarter is in Ambassa. As of 2011 it was the least populous district of Tripura (out of 8), although it is the largest district in th ...
# Fatehpur
# Forhadabad
# Garduara
# Gumanmardan
# Hathazari
# Mekhal
# Mirzapur
# Nangalmora
# Shikarpur
# North Madarsa
Upazila chairmen
Notable people
* Abdul Hamid Madarshahi
Fakhr al-Islām ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Rustam ʿAlī al-Madārshāhī ( ar, فخر الإسلام عبد الحميد بن رستم علي المدارشاهي; 1869–31 March 1920), commonly known as Abdul Hamid Madarshahi ( bn, আব্দ ...
, Islamic scholar
* Anisul Islam Mahmud
Anisul Islam Mahmud (born 20 December 1947) is the former Minister of Environment and Forest in the Cabinet of Bangladesh. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 1985 to December 1990.
Mahmud was educated at the Universit ...
, politician
* Habibullah Qurayshi
Ḥabībullāh Qurayshī ( bn, হাবিবুল্লাহ কুরাইশি; 1865 – 1943) was a Bengali Islamic scholar and educationist of the Deobandi movement. He was the founding director-general of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum M ...
, Islamic scholar
* Mahbubul Alam, award-winning writer
* M Harun-Ar-Rashid
M Harun-Ar-Rashid (born 15 February 1948) is a retired Bangladesh Army general who served as the Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army from 24 December 2000 – 16 June 2002. The Bangladesh government awarded him the title of Bir Pratik ...
, former Chief of Army Staff
* Muhammad Ibrahim
Muhammad Ibrahim ( bn, মোহাম্মদ ইব্রাহিম; – 6 September 1989) was a Bangladeshi physician. He established Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDE ...
, physician
* Muhammad Faizullah
Muḥammad Fayḍ Allāh ibn Hidāyat ʿAlī al-Islāmābādī ( ar, محمد فيض الله بن هداية علي الإسلام آبادي, 1890–1976), popularly known as Mufti Faizullah ( bn, মুফতি ফয়জুল্লাহ) ...
, Islamic speaker
* Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance ...
, Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
laureate
* Syed Muhammad Ibrahim
Syed Muhammad Ibrahim is a Bangladeshi politician and retired Major General of the Bangladesh Army. He is the founder of Bangladesh Kallyan Party. He was awarded Bir Protik, the fourth highest gallantry award for military personnel in Banglade ...
, former army officer and politician
* Syed Wahidul Alam
Syed Wahidul Alam ( bn, সৈয়দ ওয়াহিদুল আলম) was a Bangladesh Nationalist Party
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātī ...
, politician
See also
* Upazilas of Bangladesh
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 ...
* Districts of Bangladesh
* Divisions of Bangladesh
References
External links
{{Upazilas and Thanas of Chittagong