Santahar ( bn, সান্তাহার) is a railway junction in
Adamdighi Upazila
Adamdighi Upazila ( bn, আদমদিঘী উপজেলা) is an upazila of Bogra District in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
Adamdighi Thana was established in 1821 and was converted into an upazila in 1983. It is named after its admi ...
in
Bogra 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 ...
of
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 ...
in
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 ...
.
History
From 1878, the railway route from
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 ...
, then called Calcutta, to
Siliguri
Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...
was in two laps. The first lap was a 185 km journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the
Padma River
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 ...
, then across the river in a ferry and the second lap of the journey. A metre gauge line of the North Bengal Railway linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.
It was during this period that Santahar came up as a railway station.
In 1899-1900 a metre gauge railway line was constructed between Santahar and
Fulchhari, on the western bank of the
Jamuna by Brahmaputra-Sultanpur Railway Company.
The Kolkata-Siliguri main line was converted to broad gauge in stages. The Shakole-Santahar section was converted in 1910–1914, when
Hardinge Bridge
Hardinge Bridge is a steel railway truss bridge over the Padma River located at Ishwardi, Pabna and Bheramara, and Kushtia in Bangladesh. It is named after Lord Hardinge, who was the Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916. The bridge is long.
Co ...
was under construction. The Hardinge Bridge was opened in 1915 and the Santahar-Parbatipur section was converted in 1924.
[
In 1971, 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 ...
, 15000 Biharis
The Biharis () is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic groups, Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magadhis. They are also further divided into a vari ...
in the adjoining town of Santahar were massacred by members of 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 ...
.
See also
* Ahsanganj railway station
References
External links
Trains from Santahar
Railway stations in Bogra District
Railway junction stations in Bangladesh
Railway stations opened in 1878
{{Bangladesh-railstation-stub