Ramganj ( bn, রামগঞ্জ, Ramgônj) 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 ...

Lakshmipur District Lakshmipur ( bn, লক্ষ্মীপুর, Lokkhipur), also spelt Laxmipur, with an area of 1455.96 km2, is a district of Bangladesh. It is bordered by Chandpur to the north, Bhola and Noakhali districts to the south, Noakhali to th ...

in the Division of

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

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 ...

. The seat lies at Ramganj town, which is by road southeast 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 ...

History

This area was home to an influential

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 by the name of Ram after who Ramganj was named after. The Nagmud Madrasa was founded in Ramganj in 1856. In 1891, 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 ...

(police outpost) was established in Ramganj. The

Noakhali riots The Noakhali riots were a series of semi-organized massacres, rapes and abductions, combined with looting and arson of Hindu properties, perpetrated by the Muslim community in the districts of Noakhali in the Chittagong Division of Bengal (n ...

spread to Ramganj on 10 October 1946, and led to heavy casualties for several days. In response,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

arrived from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

as an appeal. 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, the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, 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 India, Partition of British India, wh ...

and their collaborators set up camps in Ramganj Godown, Dakbungalow and Ramganj MU High School, and plundered villages in Ramganj. Some of these soldiers were murdered whilst battling against Bengali freedom fighters in Dighir Par, Fatehpur. The army later kidnapped 14 freedom fighters, butchering them in their camp at Ramganj. Mass killings were also conducted near the Madrasa of Hajirhat Kalakopa. On 24 March 1983, Ramganj Thana was upgraded to an

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 project.

Geography

Ramganj is located at .

Demographics

According to the 2011 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 ...

, Ramganj had a population of 342027. Males constituted 47.98% of the population, and females 52.02%. Of the total population, only 171270 people are over the age of 18, meaning that more than 52.6% of the population is younger than 18.

Administration

Ramganj Upazila is divided into Ramganj 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: Bhadur, Bhatra, Bholakot, Chandipur, Darbeshpur, Icchapur, Kanchanpur, Karpara, Lamchar, and Noagaon. The union parishads are subdivided into 122 mauzas and 134 villages. Ramganj Municipality is subdivided into 9 wards and 18

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 ins ...

Education and facilities

Ramganj has an average literacy rate of 57.3%, 12.6 percentage points above the national average of 32.4%. It is home to 37

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s namely Nagmud Madrasa, Hajirhat Kalakopa Madrasa and Kethuri Senior Madrasa. There are 432 mosques in Ramganj and some include the Great Mosque of Sonapur, the Registry Office Mosque, Dakbungalow Mosque, the Great Mosque of Fatehpur and the Dayra Sharif Mosque in Shyampur.

Economy and tourism

Ramganj is home to several historic

dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

s in Kachua, Kanchanpur (Shah Miran) and Harris Char. It is home to

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

and mainly exports iron stationery, shital Pati, oranges, betel nuts and coconuts.

Notable people

ATM Shamsuzzaman Abu Taher Mohammad Shamsuzzaman ( bn, আবু তাহের মোহাম্মদ শামসুজ্জ়ামান; 10 September 1941 – 20 February 2021), better known as known as ATM Shamsuzzaman, was a Bangladeshi film and telev ...

, film and television actor, director and screen-playwright *

Gholam Sarwar Husseini Shah Syed Gholam Sarwar Hosseini ( bn, শাহ সৈয়দ গোলাম সারোয়ার হুসেইনী) was a Bengali politician and the hereditary '' Pir of Daira Sharif'' in Noakhali, Bengal Presidency. Family Sarwar wa ...

, politician and former Pir of Dayra * Nazim Uddin Ahmed, former MP for

Lakshmipur-1 Lakshmipur-1 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2019 by Anwar Hossain Khan of the Awami League. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Ramganj Upazila. History The constituency was c ...

S I M Nurunnabi Khan Shamsul Islam Muhammad Nurunnabi Khan ( bn, শামসুল ইসলাম মোহাম্মদ নূরুন্নবী খাঁন; 1942 – 22 May 2019) was a Bangladeshi freedom fighter and writer. He was awarded Bir Bikrom for hi ...

, freedom fighter * Ziaul Haque Zia, former MP for

Mahfuz Ahmed Mahfuz Ahmed (born 23 October 1967) is a Bangladeshi television and film actor. He is also a television presenter, model and television producer. He won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actor twice for his roles in ''Laal Sobuj'' (2005) and ...

, television actor *

Nishat Majumdar Nishat Mazumdar ( bn, নিশাত মজুমদার) became the first Bangladeshi woman to scale Mount Everest, with the help of three Sherpas - Lakpa Sherpa, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa and a bigger team led by another Bangladesh ...

, 1st women Everest winner in Bangladesh

References

{{Upazilas of Chittagong Division Ramganj Upazila