Narayanganj ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ ''Naraeongônj'') is a city in central

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 ...

. It is in the

Narayanganj District Narayanganj District ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ, Narayoṇgonj) is a district in central Bangladesh which is a part of the Dhaka Division. It is home to the ancient city of Sonargaon and is one of the oldest industrial districts in the ...

, about southeast of the capital city of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, and has a population of about 2 million. It is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is also a center of business and industry, especially the

jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ''Corchorus olit ...

trade and processing plants, and the textile sector of the country. It is nicknamed the

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

of Bangladesh, due to the presence of its many jute mills. (Dundee was the first industrialised 'Juteopolis' in the world.)

History

The city got its name from Bicon Lal Pandey, a

Hindu 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 ...

religious leader who was also known as Benur Thakur or 'Lakhsmi Narayan Thakur'. He leased the area from the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in 1766 following the Battle of Plassey. He donated the markets and the land on the banks of the river as ''Devottor'' or 'Given to God' property, bequeathed for maintenance expenses for the worship of the god Narayan. A post office was set up in 1866, and Dhaka-Narayanganj