Parbatipur ( bn, পার্বতীপুর, Parbatīpur) 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 ...

(sub-district) of the Dinajpur District in northern

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 ...

, part of the Rangpur Division. It is home to the only mine in Bangladesh, the Barapukuria coal mine.

History

The present-day area of Kholahati was the site of a small kingdom ruled by a local

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

called ''Kichak Rājā''. Kichak's fort remains a place of interest in Parvatipur. Kichak had a daughter called Payravati (পায়রাবতী) or Parvati. Parvati was a child widow, and was once kidnapped by miscreants and taken to the nearby dighi (reservoir) of Dimali where she was assaulted in a dishonorary manner. She later committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake, and in her honour, the area was named by others as Parbatipur. Another theory suggests that the area was named after a Hindu deity known as

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

, as the area was formerly home to a large Hindu population. In 1800, the British colonials established 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 ...

in Parbatipur. The settlement of large numbers of Santals was promoted during this period. Following the Partition of India in 1947, a large number of Indian Muslims (mainly

Bihari Muslims Bihari Muslims are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Biharis. They are geographically native to the region comprising the Bihar state of India, although there are significantly large communities ...

) migrated to

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

and settled in Parbatipur where they gained prominence as an influential community. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, 300 locals were mass murdered by the Pakistan Army and its collaborators in the areas of Peyadapara, Ramkrishnapur and Baghbari on the south of the Badarganj and Kholahati railway lines on 8 April. One of those murdered was Mohammad Shamshad Ali, a Bihari pharmacist who had supported the 1969 uprising. One of Parbatipur's martyred freedom fighters was Captain Mahbubur Rahman, and the Kholahati Cantonment was later renamed to his name following the war. As part of the

President of Bangladesh The president of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — ) officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশে ...

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time ma ...

's decentralisation programme, Parbatipur Thana was upgraded to an upazila in 1983. On 13 January 1985, a fire broke out on the ''Samanta Express'' train from Khulna to Parbatipur, and passengers pulled out the

communication cord On trains, the expression emergency brake has several meanings: * The ''maximum'' brake force available to the engine driver from the conventional braking system, usually operated by taking the brake handle to its furthest position, through a gat ...

but the driver did not stop, apparently because robbers operate in the area. 27 people were killed with at least 58 injured, but news reports stated that 150 or more were killed.

Geography

Parbatipur is located at . It has 53,146 households and a total area 395.1 km².

Demographics

As of the 1991 Bangladesh census, Parbatipur had a population of 270,904. Males constitute 51.46% of the population, and females 48.54%. Upazila's population of people eighteen years old or older is 139,294. Parbatipur has an average literacy rate of 29.7% (7+ years), compared to the national average of 32.4%. The majority-

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 ...

people of Parbatipur speak the Dinajpuri dialect with the official language being

Standard Bengali 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 of t ...

. There are also speakers of English,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Santali, with the latter two being spoken by the Stranded Pakistani and

Santal The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...

population.

Administration

Barapukuria Coal Mine Dinajpur Bangladesh

Parbatipur Upazila is divided into Parbatipur Municipality and ten

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: Belaichandi, Chandipur, Habra, Hamidpur, Harirampur, Mominpur, Monmothopur, Mostofapur, Polashbari, and Rampur. The union parishads are subdivided into 157 mauzas and 230 villages. Parbatipur Municipality is subdivided into 9 wards and 36

mahalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social i ...

Chairmen

Education

Parbatipur has many schools and colleges like, * Harirampur High School * Alo Kingdergarten And Residencial Model School, Parbatipur, Dinajpur. * Moniria High School, Parbatipur, Dinajpur * Parbatipur Adarsha Degree College * Cantonment Public School & College BUSMS * Parbatipur Degree College * Kholahati Degree College * Cantonment Board High School, BUSMS * Parbatipur Agriculture College * Parbatipur Mohila Agriculture College * Manmathpur Ideal Degree College * Janankur Pilot High School. * Parbatipur Girls Pilot High School. * Parbatipur Govt. Technical School & College * Parbatipur Balika Biddapit School. * Ainul Huda Fazil Madrasah ,Ainul Huda (5250), Parbatipur, Dinajpur. * Parbatipur Mohila Degree College * Ambari M. L High School * Barnamala Niketon High School & College, Parbatipur, Dinajpur. * Mitaly high school Parbatipur, Dinajpur. *Shohid srity gov. primary school , Parbatipur, Dinajpur.

Economy and tourism

Parbatipur is home to numerous tourist sites. The ancient fort of Kichan Raja, a former local sovereign, can be found in Kholahati, Palashbari Union. Other places include the Harirampur Mound, Hirajira's Bhita, the Pancharatna Fort of Deol in Manmathpur Union and Habra Site. Parbatipur is the focal point of the northern railway connection with different parts of Bangladesh. A four-way railway has been laid here. Therefore, it is one of the largest railway junctions and the pride of the factory and the upazila with bright potential in mineral resources. The Parbatipur Junction connects the area to the Burimari–Lalmonirhat–Parbatipur line. The Barapukuria coal mine is the only mine in Bangladesh. A part of the

Saidpur Airport Syedpur Airport (Bengali: সৈয়দপুর বিমানবন্দর '' Saiẏadapur bimānabandar'') is a domestic airport located in Syedpur, Nilphamari, Bangladesh. Syedpur is a city of Nilphamari district in Rangpur divis ...

is in Parbatipur Upazila.

Notable people

* Abdullah el Baqui, Islamic scholar, writer and politician * AZM Rezwanul Haque, politician *

Jumbo Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...

, film actor * Lutfullah al-Majid, former Minister of Fisheries and Livestock * Mohammad Shamshad Ali, pharmacist *

Muhammad Abdul Bari Muhammad Abdul Bari ( bn, মুহাম্মাদ আব্দুল বারি; born October 1953), is a Bangladeshi-born British physicist, writer, teacher, and community leader. He is a former secretary of Muslim Aid, a former chairm ...

, Islamic scholar, writer and teacher *

Sardar Mosharraf Hossain Sardar Mosharraf Hossain is a Bangladesh Awami League 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 mi ...

, politician * Syed Abdus Samad, footballer

References

{{Upazilas of Rangpur Division Parbatipur Upazila