Karimganj district is one of the 34

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n state of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Karimganj Karimganj is a city in the Karimganj District of the Indian state of Assam. It is the administrative headquarters of the district. Karimganj city is located at . The area of Karimganj city is 16.09 km2. It has an average elevation of 13 ...

town is both the administrative headquarters district and the biggest town of this district. It is located in southern Assam and borders

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

and the

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions ...

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 mo ...

. It makes up the

Barak Valley The Barak Valley is located in the southern region of the Indian state of Assam. The region is named after the Barak river. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The ...

alongside

Hailakandi Hailakandi (pron:ˈhaɪləˌkʌndi) is a town and the district headquarters of Hailakandi district in the Indian state of Assam. Hailakandi is located at . Demography According to the 2011 census, Hailakandi had a population of 33,637. Most ...

and

Cachar Cachar district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into four districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills), Cachar district alongside ...

. Karimganj was previously part of the

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 Pr ...

before the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

. It became a district in 1983.

History

After the

Conquest of Gour The Conquest of Sylhet ( bn, শ্রীহট্টের বিজয়, Srīhôtter Bijôy, Conquest of Srihatta) predominantly refers to an Islamic conquest of Srihatta (present-day Sylhet, Bangladesh) led by Sikandar Khan Ghazi, the milit ...

in 1303, many disciples of Shah Jalal migrated and settled in present-day Karimganj district where they preached Islam to the local people. Syed Abu Bakr migrated to Chhotalekha,

Adam Khaki Ādam Khākī ( bn, আদম খাকী, Adom Khākī, ar, ), also known as Khaki Pir, was a 14th-century Sufi Muslim figure in the Sylhet region. In 1303, he took part in the final battle of the Conquest of Sylhet led by Shah Jalal. His shri ...

and Shah Syed Badruddin to Badarpur and Shah Sikandar to Bundasil (Deorail). During the 15th century, an independent state was established in the region by a landowner named Malik Pratap, who seceded it from its previous rulers, the

Manikya dynasty The Manikya dynasty was the ruling house of the Twipra Kingdom and later the princely Tripura State, what is now the Indian state of Tripura. Ruling since the early 15th century, the dynasty at its height controlled a large swathe of the north ...

. This state, named the Pratapgarh Kingdom, ruled there for several centuries and came into conflict with the neighbouring monarchs of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and Kachar. Pratapgarh was eventually conquered by the latter during the early 17th century. Karimganj was first established as a subdivision of the

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 Pr ...

with 40

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 ...

s in 1778. The area got its name from Muhammad Karim Chowdhury, a

Bengali Muslim 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 ...

''mirashdar'' who originally established a

bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, such as in t ...

(known as Karimganj) less than four miles south of the confluence of the Natikhal and Kushiyara River. However, the Natikhal would become dry in autumn and for this reason, the bazaar was relocated to its present headquarters,

, in the 1870s. During the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

1946–47, a plebiscite was held so as to decide which whether Sylhet region covering entire

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 ...

, Moulovi Bazaar, Karimganj would remain in India or join the newly formed Pakistan.

Abdul Matlib Mazumdar Abdul Matlib Mazumder ( bn, আব্দুল মতলিব মজুমদার; 1890–1980) was an Indian freedom fighter and political leader based in undivided Assam State. In 1946, when India was still under British rule, he became an ...

was one of the silent Indian freedom fighters who led a delegation before Radcliffe commission to ensure Greater Sylhet region remained with India/Assam. But on stern demands of the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

, and with support of top leaders of Assam then, plebiscite was held where Sylhet region (including Karimganj) voted to go with Pakistan, winning by a very small margin. The referendum was held in July 1947, and the ayes for Pakistan won by a razor-thin margin. There were allegations of rigging and bogus votes, but that was only to be expected, whichever side won. Sylhet was gifted to

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...

with Karimganj being divided and handed over to India/Assam reason stated to let India have proper connectivity with

. The Kushiyara River was made the river border between India & East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Parts of Greater Karimganj including Beani-Bazar,

Barlekha Barlekha ( bn, বড়লেখা, Bôrlekha) is an upazila (sub-district) of Moulvibazar District, located in Bangladesh's Sylhet Division. Etymology Barlekha Upazila is named after Barlekha (formerly 'Barlikha') which means Great ''Likha''. ' ...

, Shahpur and Zakiganj fell under

and Karimganj was given to India.

Geography

Karimganj district occupies an area of , comparatively equivalent to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

Afognak Island Afognak (Alutiiq: ''Agw’aneq''; russian: Афогнак) is an island in the Kodiak Archipelago north of Kodiak Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is long from east to west and wide from north to south and has a land area of , making ...

. It is bordered on the north east by

Cachar District Cachar district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into four districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills), Cachar district alongsid ...

, east and south by

Hailakandi district Hailakandi district is one of the 33 districts of Assam state in north-eastern India. It makes up the Barak Valley alongside Cachar and Karimganj. It was constituted as a civil subdivision on 1 June 1869. Subsequently, it was upgraded to a dist ...

, south by

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...

, southwest by

state, and on the west and northwest by

, the administrative headquarters and main town of the district also bears the same name, that is, Karimganj. Karimganj town is located on the northern fringe of the district adjoining Bangladesh, by the river Kushiyara. Its distance from

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

- the largest city of

- is approximately 330 km by road and about 350 km by rail. Distances of other important places are : Silchar - 55 km,

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...

- 220 km,

Agartala Agartala () is the capital city of the Indian state of Tripura, and is one of the largest cities in northeast India. The city is governed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The city is the seat of the Government of Tripura. It is located ...

- 250 km. Flanked on two sides by the rivers Kushiyara and Longai, Karimganj town is located just on the Bangladesh border with the river Kushiyara flowing in between. One prominent feature of the place is a long and winding canal called Noti Khal meandering through the town. Earlier, it used to be a connecting river way between Kushiyara and Longai facilitating river communication and also balancing of water-levels between the two rivers. Now, however, this canal has been blocked at several places through embankments and landfills to pave way for road transport and construction works. Karimganj and the Barak valley has been prone to serious flooding for decades. The recent floods that did significant damage were in 1976, 1988 and 2007. The forests of Karimganj were once rich in wildlife but now vanishing due to human onslaught.Talukdar, N.R., Choudhury, P. (2017). Conserving wildlife wealth of Patharia Hills reserve Forest, Assam, India: a critical analysis. ''Global Ecology and Conservation'' 10:126–138. Rare species found are Tiger, Hoolock gibbon, Porcupine, Golden Langur (Hanuman), Monkey, Fox, Asian Elephant, Giant river otter, macaw parrots, Parakeets, Hornbill, Maina, different types of local and migratory birds, Snakes, Coypubara (2nd largest rodent in world) etc., have been recorded. The Patharia hills reserve forest of the district is the habitat of many mammals and was recommended to upgrade as 'Patharia hills wildlife sanctuary'. The southern part was also recommended as 'Dhaleswari' wildlife sanctuary.

Economy

Karimganj town is an important centre of trade and commerce in the North East India. Its river port, with elaborate infra-structures like cargo-terminal, jetty, warehouses etc., is capable of handling large volumes of cargoes carried by steamers plying through river ways via Bangladesh. Karimganj is also a border trade centre and import-export business worth crores of rupees is carried out through the custom trade point at Dakbangla Ghat in the town and Sutarkandi Custom Station. Karimganj is an agricultural district. Historically, tea has been the major agricultural product of Cachar region including Karimganj.

Administration

Divisions

Karimganj District has one sub-division. The district has 5

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its adminis ...

s or development circles (

, Badarpur, Nilambazar, Patharkandi and Ramkrishna Nagar), two urban areas (Karimganj and Patahrkandi) 3 towns (Karimganj, Badarpur, and Patahrkandi), 7 community development blocks (North Karimganj, South Karimganj, Badarpur, Patharkandi, Ramkrishna Nagar, Dullavcherra and Lowairpoa), 7 police stations (

, Badarpur, Ramkrishna Nagar, Patharkandi, Ratabari, Nilambazar, and Bazarichara), 96

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

s, and seven anchalik panchayats. There are five

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present Western Assam region. The Legislative Assembly comprises 126 Me ...

constituencies in this district: Ratabari, Patharkandi, Karimganj North, Karimganj South, and Badarpur. Ratabari is designated for

scheduled caste The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

s. All five are in the

Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam state in north-eastern India, covering Karimganj district, Karimganj and Hailakandi district, Hailakandi districts in the Barak Valley. This constituency is reserv ...

Transport

Another view of New BG station, Karimganj Junction

Karimganj town is linked via both rail and road transport with the rest of India. Karimganj town is a railway junction and

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...

lines connecting Tripura with Assam pass through this station. Badarpur railway station is the biggest junction of the district. The most popular mode of passenger transport, however, is by road. A good number of buses - mostly night services - ply between Karimganj and

daily. Direct long-distance bus services are also available to Shillong, Agartala,

Aizawl Aizawl (; Mizo: ) is the capital of the state of Mizoram in India. Aizawl was officially established on 25 February 1890. With a population of 293,416, it is the largest city in the state. It is also the centre of administration containing all ...

and so on. Communication with Silchar, Badarpur, Patharkandi and other nearby places is also mainly dependent on road transport, with services by all sorts of light and heavy vehicles available at frequent intervals. The nearest airport is Kumbhirgram (85 km) near Silchar - the headquarters of the adjacent district of

. Karimganj town is also an important river port and has seasonal cargo and freight transport links with

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

through river ways via Bangladesh.

Sutarkandi international border crossing

Sutarkandi international border crossing on

Bangladesh–India border The Bangladesh–India border, known locally as the International Border (IB), is an international border running between Bangladesh and India that demarcates the eight divisions of Bangladesh and the Indian states. Bangladesh and India sha ...

on Karimganj- Beanibazar route is in Karimganj district of Assam in India.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 census Karimganj district has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 1,228,686, roughly equal to the nation of

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

or the US state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. This gives it a ranking of 392nd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 20.74%. Karimganj has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species dev ...

of 961

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 79.72%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 12.85% and 0.16% of the population respectively.

Religion

Religious demographics are as follows: * Muslims ( Star and Crescent

) - 692,489 * Hindus (

) - 521,962 * Christians ( ChristianitySymbol

) - 11,990. According to 2011 Indian Census, the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

form a slight majority in the district constituting 56.4% of the population, with

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

at 42.5% of the population, followed by 1.0% Christians. Small populations of Jain, Buddhists and Sikhs also reside in the district.

Language

According to the 2011 census, 86.84% of the district spoke

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, 5.70%

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, 2.00% Bishnupriya Manipuri and 1.65%

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

as their first language. Karimganj is one of several districts in Assam where

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...

is spoken by the majority of the population, as also in some other districts such as

, Halaikandi and Hojai. Bengali is the official language in Karimganj along with the other two districts of Barak valley such as Hailakandi and Cachar. Notable minority languages include Bishnupriya Manipuri and Meitei. There are also a small tribal communities like Hrangkhol, Kuki,

Khasi Khasi may refer to: * Khasi people, an ethnic group of Meghalaya, India * Khasi language, a major Austroasiatic language spoken in Meghalaya, India * Khāṣi language, an Indo-Aryan language of Jammu and Kashmir, India See also * Khasi Hills * ...

, Tripuri and Sakachep.

Notable people

* Siddique Ahmed, MLA of Karimganj South *

Syed Mujtaba Ali Syed Mujtaba Ali ( bn, সৈয়দ মুজতবা আলী; 13 September 1904 – 11 February 1974) was a Bengali writer, journalist, travel enthusiast, academic, scholar and linguist. He lived in Bangladesh, India, Germany, Afghanist ...

, author, journalist, travel enthusiast, academic, scholar and linguist * Syed Murtaza Ali, author, and historian * Radheshyam Biswas, former MP for

* Abdul Munim Choudhury, former MLA of Karimganj South * Achyut Charan Choudhury, historian *

Khaled Choudhury Khaled Choudhury (20 December 1919 – 30 April 2014) was a theatre personality and artist of Bengal. He worked for various directors of both Bengali and Hindi plays, including Sombhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, and Shyamanand Jalan in various ...

, theatre personality * Najib Ali Choudhury, Islamic scholar and founder of Assam's first madrasa ( Madinatul Uloom Bagbari) * Dwarka Nath Das, former MP for

Mission Ranjan Das Mission Ranjan Das is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Assam. He has been elected in Assam Legislative Assembly election in 1991, 2000, 2001 and 2006 from Karimganj North constituency. Currently, he is the chairman of Assam State Transpor ...

, former MLA of Karimganj North (1991–1996) & (1999–2006) * Nepal Chandra Das, former MP for

Gurusaday Dutt Gurusaday Dutt (1882–1941) was a civil servant, folklorist, and writer. He was the founder of the ''Bratachari'' Movement in the 1930s. Early life and education Gurusaday was the son of the Ramkrishna Dutta Chaudhuri and Anandamayee Debi. ...

, folklorist * Ketaki Prasad Dutta, former president of the District Sports Association, Karimganj *

Shukhendu Shekhar Dutta Shukhendu Shekhar Dutta is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Assam. He was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati ...

, former MLA of Patharkandi *

Zohurul Hoque Zohurul Hoque ( bn, জহূরুল হক; 11 October 1926 – 18 January 2017) was an Indian Islamic scholar and doctor known for his translations of the Qur'an into the Bengali, Assamese and English languages. He later moved to Muscat in ...

, translator of the Qur'an into Bengali, Assamese and English *

, 14th-century Sufi missionary *

Aziz Ahmed Khan Aziz Ahmed Khan (born 1978) is an Indian politician. In 2016, he was elected as MLA of Karimganj South Vidhan Sabha constituency in Assam Legislative Assembly. He is an All India United Democratic Front politician. Just before the 2021 Assemb ...

, former MLA of Karimganj South * Bijoy Malakar, MLA of Ratabari * Kripanath Mallah, MP of

, former Deputy Speaker in the

* Sambhu Sing Mallah, former MLA of Ratabari * Krishnendu Paul, MLA of Patharkandi *

Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha is an Indian politician from the State of Assam, belonging to Indian National Congress. He was elected as MLA of Karimganj North (Vidhan Sabha constituency) for the first time in 2011 defeating the 4 time BJP MLA Miss ...

, MLA of Karimganj North * Ramapayare Rabidas, former MLA of Ratabari *

Kartik Sena Sinha Kartik Sena Sinha is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Assam. He has been elected in Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the c ...

, former MLA of Patharkandi * Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya, former MP for

Madhusudhan Tiwari Madhusudhan Tiwari was a Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Assam. He was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the ...

, former MLA of Patharkandi (1991–1996) *

Abu Saleh Najmuddin Abu Saleh Najmuddin was a former legislator of Assam. He won assembly elections in 1991 and 1996 from Badarpur constituency. He was a Minister in Government of Assam under the chief ministership of late Hiteswar Saikia. Abu Saleh was an advocate ...

, former MLA of Badarpur (1991–1996), (1996–2001), and former Minister of

. * Jamal Uddin Ahmed (MLA)

Notes

References

External links

Karimganj District official website

KarimganjTown

Karimganj District KARIMGANJ ONLINE

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karimganj District Districts of Assam 1983 establishments in Assam Minority Concentrated Districts in India