Rajshahi District ( bn, রাজশাহী জেলা) is a district in mid-western

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 a part of the

Rajshahi Division Rajshahi Division ( bn, রাজশাহী বিভাগ) is one of the eight first-level administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population at the 2011 Census of 18,484,858. Rajshahi Division consists of 8 district ...

. The metropolitan city of

Rajshahi Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi District ...

is in Rajshahi District.

Geography

Rajshahi district is bounded by

Naogaon District Naogaon District ( bn, নওগাঁ, Nôugã) is a district in northern Bangladesh, part of the Rajshahi Division. It is named after its headquarters, the city of Naogaon in Naogaon Sadar Upazila. Demographics According to the 2022 Census ...

to the north,

Natore District Natore district is a district of Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi, and used to be part of Rajshahi district. History Natore was the District Headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769 to 182 ...

to the east, Chapai Nababganj District to west and little part of

Kushtia District Kushtia District ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া জেলা, pronunciation: ''kuʃʈia'') is a district in the Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh l ...

& the river

Padma The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...

to the south. The district consists of alluvial plain.

Rivers

There are ten rivers in this district, totaling 146 km in length. The main river is the Padma River (Ganges). Some others are Mahananda, Baral and Barnai river.

History

Rajshahi region was ruled by the Puṭhia Raj family based in the Puṭhia Rajbari. The Mughal Emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

had given the Rajshahi region to the Puṭhia Raj family to govern, the governor was Pitambar. The Puṭhia family was given the title of Raja by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Rajshahi District was established in 1772. Parts of the districts eventually became

Bogura district Bogra District, officially known as Bogura District, is a district in the northern part of Bangladesh, in the Rajshahi Division. Bogra is an industrial city where many small and mid-sized companies are sited. Bogra was a part of the ancient Pun ...

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. T ...

Natore district Natore district is a district of Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi, and used to be part of Rajshahi district. History Natore was the District Headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769 to 182 ...

Naogaon district Naogaon District ( bn, নওগাঁ, Nôugã) is a district in northern Bangladesh, part of the Rajshahi Division. It is named after its headquarters, the city of Naogaon in Naogaon Sadar Upazila. Demographics According to the 2022 Census ...

Nawabganj district Chapainawabganj (Bengali: চাঁপাইনবাবগঞ্জ) is located in the north-western part of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division, and was formerly a sub-division of Malda district. The north and west part of Chap ...

, and

Pabna district Pabna District ( bn, পাবনা জেলা) is a district in central Bangladesh. It is an economically important district in Bangladesh. Its administrative capital is the eponymous Pabna town. History Archeologist Cunningham conjectured ...

. On 1 April 1876 Rajshahi town was made into municipal town. 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 ...

in 1971, the town was the site of battles between the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary ...

and the Pakistan Army. The Pakistan Army fought a battle against the Mukti Bahini on 30 March 1971 which resulted in the death of an East Pakistan Rifles member. Between 26 and 30 March, 31 individuals in Godagaɽi upazila were killed by 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 ...

. On 13 April the Pakistan Army killed

Rajshahi Cadet College Rajshahi Cadet College ( bn, রাজশাহী ক্যাডেট কলেজ), or RCC, is a military high school, located in Sardah, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is situated by the bank of river Padma at Mukhtarpur village of Sardah in Cha ...

Professor AB Siddiqi. The Pakistan Army attacked Tahirpur Haṭ in Bagmara upazila on 24 May and killed 25 people. Mukti Bahini commander Havilder Shafiq led an attack on Pakistan Army boat on 8 August killing 18 Pakistan Army personal. Pakistan Army killed two members of

Bangladesh Ansar The Bangladesh Ansar (also known as the Ansar Bahini) is a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for the preservation of internal security and law enforcement in Bangladesh. It is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government ...

in a war of attrition. Pakistan Army established a camp in the Zoha Hall of

Rajshahi University The University of Rajshahi, also known as Rajshahi University or RU ( bn, রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), is a public co-educational research university in Bangladesh situated near the northern Bangladeshi cit ...

where they massacred hundreds of civilians. Pakistan Army had also established camps inside Rajshahi Cadet College, Roy Saheb brickfield, Sardaha Pilot School, and Sardah Police Academy. The Pakistan Army tortured members of Mukti Bahini and civilians in the camps. The Pakistan Army also killed hundreds of refugees on the banks of Padma river who were fleeing to India. In a fight between Mukti Bahini and Pakistan Army near Kabasmul, a Pakistan Army major was killed. Pakistan Army retaliated by killing 44 civilians in Gaganbari and Palsa. The Pakistan Army stationed in Pabna and Rajshahi districts surrendered on 18 December 1971, two days after Pakistani forces in Bangladesh signed the

Pakistani instrument of Surrender The Pakistani Instrument of Surrender ( bn, পাকিস্তানের আত্মসমর্পণের দলিল, translit=Pākistānēr Atmasamarpaṇēr Dalil) was a written agreement between India, Pakistan, and the Provisional ...

in Dhaka on 16 December 1971. Pakistani military surrendered to

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Captain Nanda in Naṭore. The Pakistan Army camp in Rajshahi University was taken over by Mukti Bahini members on 17 December after fighting them. Surrender ceremonies took place on 20 December. Rajshahi town was upgraded to a

municipal corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owne ...

on 13 August 1987. In 1997 the government of Bangladesh made Rajshahi town into a full city corporation,

Rajshahi City Corporation Rajshahi City Corporation ( bn, রাজশাহী সিটি কর্পোরেশন - in short: RCC) is the self-governing corporation that is associated with the task of running the affairs of Rajshahi city. It is one of the major di ...

. In 2016 Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, a professor at University of Rajshahi, and a 65 year old Sufi preacher, Shahidullah, were killed by Islamic extremists.

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 ...

, Rajshahi District had a population of 2,595,197, of which 1,309,890 were males and 1,285,307 females. Rural population was 1,740,578 (67.07%) while the urban population was 854,619 (32.93%). Rajshahi district had a literacy rate of 52.98% for the population 7 years and above: 55.84% for males and 50.09% for females. Muslims are the majority population. The Christian population has grown quickly, while the number of those following ethnic religions has declined significantly. Ethnic minorities were 49,312 (1.90%), mainly

Santals 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 ...

and

Oraons The Kurukh or Oraon, also spelt Uraon, or Dhangar ( Kurukh: ''Karḵẖ'' and ''Oṛāōn'') are a Dravidian speaking ethnolinguistic group inhabiting Chhotanagpur Plateau and adjoining areas - mainly the Indian states of Jharkhand, West Benga ...

Upazilas

Sub-district or

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 ...

s and thanas of Rajshahi are *

Bagha Upazila Bagha ( bn, বাঘা) is an upazila of the Rajshahi District, located in Bangladesh's Rajshahi Division. Geography Bagha is located at . It has 29056 households and total area 184.25 km2. Bagha Upazila is bounded by Charghat Upazila and ...

* Bagmara Upazila *

Charghat Upazila Charghat ( bn, চারঘাট) is an Upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Background Charghat is located on the bank of the river Padma. Bangladesh Police Academy is situated at Sardah area of the upazila. Ther ...

* Durgapur Upazila *

Godagari Upazila Godagari ( bn, গোদাগাড়ী) is an Upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. This is the place where Mahananda river fall to Padma or Ganges. Geography Godagari is located at . It has 40011 households an ...

Mohanpur Upazila Mohanpur ( bn, মোহনপুর) is an Upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Geography Mohanpur is located at . It is 25 km away from Rajshahi district headquarter. It has 43984 households and a total a ...

Paba Upazila Paba ( bn, পবা) is an Upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Geography Paba is located at . It has 40,000 households and a total area of 280.42 km2. Paba Upazila is bounded by Mohanpur and Tanore Upazil ...

Puthia Upazila Puthia ( bn, পুঠিয়া) is an Upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi Division, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Geography Puthia is located at . It has 30484 households and total area 192.64 km2. This is a historical & trad ...

Tanore Upazila Tanore ( bn, তানোর) is an Upazila of Rajshahi District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Tanore police station was established in February 1869 and it was declared sub-district or upazila in 1983. Geography Tanore is 30 kilomete ...

* Boalia Thana * Matihar Thana * Rajpara Thana * Shah Makdam Thana *Chandrima Thana *Katakhali Thana *Belpukur Thana *Airport Thana *Kashiadanga Thana *Kornohar Thana *Damkura Thana

Communications

Rajshahi district has well organized internal communication as well as connection to other parts of the country. There are 96 metalled roads with a total length of about 1270 km, 108 semi-metalled roads of about 546 km length, and six railways of about 63 km total length.

Media and press club

There are many Bengali daily newspapers published from the city, including ''Sonali Sangbad'', ''Sunshine'', ''Dainik Barta'', ''Sonar Desh'', ''Natun Provat'', and ''Amader Rajshahi''. There are also many online news portal such as rajshahinews24.com, silkcitynews.com
''Uttorbongo Protidin''''GKhobor''
etc. The government-run

Bangladesh Television Bangladesh Television ( bn, বাংলাদেশ টেলিভিশন), commonly known by its acronym BTV ( bn, বিটিভি), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East ...

and

Bangladesh Betar Bangladesh Betar ( bn, বাংলাদেশ বেতার; ), or BB is the state-owned radio broadcaster of Bangladesh, initially established as the Dhaka station of All India Radio in 1939. It was later made part of Radio Pakistan. After t ...

have transmission centres in Rajshahi. A local FM radio station,

Radio Padma Radio broadcasts commenced in what is now known as Bangladesh in 1939 under British rule, as a part of All India Radio. The state-owned Bangladesh Betar monopolized the radio industry of the country until the launch of Radio Metrowave in 1999. Th ...

, transmits at 99.2

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

frequency and

Radio Foorti Radio Foorti is a Bangladeshi FM radio station. The station went live on 22 September 2006, and is currently available in Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet. Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal, Mymensingh, Cox's Bazar, Bogura, Noakhali and Kushtia. It ha ...

transmits at 88.0

. There is also four

press club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

s in Rajshahi City. Known as Rajshahi City Press Club, Rajshahi Press Club, Rajshahi Metropolitan Press Club and Rajshahi Model Press Club.

Economy

Rajshahi Metropolitan is widely known as Silk City of Bangladesh, the

Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board The Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board is a regulatory board in Bangladesh that is in charge of sericulture and is based in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. History The Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board was formed in 1978 through the Presidenti ...

(In Bengali : Jatio Resham Board) is situated at Rajshahi. There are seven silk factories in the BSCIC Industrial Town in Rajshahi. Also an Inter-City train is named Silk City express after Rajshahi. The train communicates from Rajshahi to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Rajshahi is notable in Bangladesh for producing

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

and

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

Points of interest

* Bagdhani Mosque *

Bagha Mosque Bagha Mosque ( bn, বাঘা মসজিদ) is a mosque located at Bagha, southeast of Rajshahi in Bangladesh. History The mosque was built in 1523-1524 (930 AH) by Sultan Nusrat Shah, son of Alauddin Shah, the founder of the Husain Shahi ...

* Kismat Maria Mosque * Tomb of Shah Makhdum * Tomb of Shah Sultan * Talando Shiv Mandir *

Puthia Temple Complex The Puthia Temple Complex consists of a cluster of notable old Hindu temples in Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District, Bangladesh. Located 23 km to the east of Rajshahi city, it has the largest number of historic temples in Bangladesh.McAdam, Ma ...

Boro Kuthi Boro Kuthi ( bn, বড়কুঠি ) is a historic building in Rajshahi, Bangladesh built by Dutch traders in eighteenth century. The building was also used as the first administrative center for Rajshahi University. The building is now under ...

Notes

References

{{Authority control Districts of Bangladesh Districts of Bangladesh established before 1971