Sherpur district ( bn, শেরপুর জেলা, ''Sherpur Jela'' also ''Sherpur Zila'') is a 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 ...

. It is a part of

Mymensingh Division Mymensingh Division ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ বিভাগ) is one of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population of 11,370,000 as of the 2011 census. It was created in 2015 from districts prev ...

. Sherpur district was a sub-division of

Jamalpur District Jamalpur ( bn, জামালপুর জেলা, ''Jamalpur Jela'' also ''Jamalpur Zila'') is a district in Bangladesh, part of the Mymensingh Division. It was established in 1978. Geography Jamalpur occupies 2031.98 km2. It is locat ...

before 1984. It was upgraded to a district on February 22, 1984. Sherpur City is located about north 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 ...

, capital of Bangladesh.

Etymology

The name "Sherpur" can't be found in ancient history. During the rules of

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 ...

, this area was called "Dash Kahonia Baju". The previous name of

Brahmaputra river The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

in this area was "Louhitto Sagar" which was situated in a vast area from the south border of Sherpur municipality to Jamalpur Ghat. The people of this area had to pay 10 kahon coins to the leaseholders as an annual tax for travelling in the river. "Dash" means ten and "Kahon" is a unit of measure for counting which means 128 pieces. From this event, this area was called as "Dash Kahonia". During the Nawabi period in Bangla, the last landlord of Gazi clan, Sher Ali Gazi occupied and reigned this area independently. From then, the name of this area was changed from "Dash Kahonia" to Sherpur according to the name of the ruler, Sher Ali Gazi.

History

Sherpur region was a part of the kingdom of the

Kamarupa Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam. Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 11 ...

in the ancient time and eventually became part of the Mughal Empire's Bengal Subah. Fakir-Sannyasi Revolts were held against the East India Company and the local zamindars from the time of

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

. Tipu Shah, leader of the Fakir Movement, declared sovereignty in the area and established his capital at Gajripa. Peasant conferences were held in 1906, 1914 and 1917 at Kamarer Char of Sherpur under the leadership of Khos Muhammad Chowdhury. The communists revolted against the systems of Nankar, Tonk, Bhawali, Mahajani, Ijaradari during 1838–48 in Sherpur. In 1897 a devastating earthquake changed the main flow of the Brahmaputra to go to the Jamuna and severely reduced the flow in the Old Brahmaputra. It also caused serious damage to many old buildings. During the non-cooperation movement in 1970 declared by

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...

, a war committee was formed in this district. Sherpur played an important role by training the freedom fighters led by the war committee.

Geography

Sherpur district is bounded on the north by India, on the east by Mymensingh district, on the south and west by Jamalpur district. The main rivers of Sherpur district are Bramhaputra, Kongsho and Vogai. Malijhi, Shomeshwari, Nitai, Maharoshi are some minor rivers of this district. Ceramic soil is the main natural resource of this district. The annual average temperature of this district varies from maximum 33.3 °C to minimum 12 °C.The annual rainfall is 2174 mm.

Administration

* Deputy Commissioner (DC): ''MD Mominur Rashid'' *Administrator of Zila Porishod: ''Md.Humayun Kabir Ruman'' * Mayor of Sherpur Municipality: ''Golam Kibriya Liton'' The district consists of 5 upazilas (sub-district), 52 unions, 458 mauzas, 695 villages, 4 municipalities, 36 wards and 99 mahallas. The upazilas are:

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 ...

, Sherpur District had a population of 1,358,325, of which 676,388 were males and 681,937 females. Rural population was 1,170,219 (86.15%) while the urban population was 188,106 (13.85%). Sherpur District had a literacy rate of 37.91% for the population 7 years and above: 40.17% for males and 35.70% for females. Muslims are the largest population with 96.70%, while Hindus are the largest minority with 2.57%. There is a small minority of Christians, mostly Garo. 16,231 are from ethnic minorities, mainly

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...

Education

The literacy rate of this district is 62.1% The number of educational institutions of this district are Government college 3, non-government college 16, government high school 3, non-government high school 146, junior high school 27, government primary school 358, non-government primary school l46, madrasah 292, agricultural training institute 1, nursing training institute 1, vocational training institute 1. = Health = Sherpur DIstrict Sadar Hospital 1

The numbers of health centers of this district are district sadar hospital 1, upazila health complex 5, health and family planning centre 52, diabetic centre 1, maternity and child welfare centre 1, tuberculosis satellite centre 1, leprosy satellite centre 1, mission hospital 1, Gana sastha centre 2, safe community programme 1, satellite clinic 17, TB clinic 1, non-government clinic 2.

Economy

The economy of Sherpur is mainly agricultural and trading based, although non-farm economic activities performing a substantial share in the development oriented program of the district. Majority of the population are traders and farmers. Out of total 335,460 holdings of the district, 60.12% holdings are farms that produce varieties of crops namely local and HYV rice, wheat, jute, mustard, potato, pulses, different kinds of vegetables, tobacco and others. They are also involved in trading and other business activities. Various fruits like banana, mango, black berry, coconut, betel nut, date, jackfruit, palm, jambura, bel, papaya, boroi, Monkey fruit, ataphal, salita etc. are grown. Fish of different varieties are abound in this district and as in other parts of the country. Varieties of fish are caught from rivers, tributary channels and creeks. The popular fresh water fishes comprise ruhi, catla, mrigel, kalbaus, chital, boal, airh, pangas, gazar, shoul, pabda, koi, shing, phali, bele, tengra etc. Besides, newly introduced exotic varieties of fishers are tilapia, nilotica, silver carp, grass carp etc. Besides crops, livestock and fishery are the main source of household income. Non-agricultural activities also play an important role in the economy of the district.

Media

SherpurTimes
Weekly SherpurSherpur News24
Weekly Dashkahania, Weekly Chalti Khabar, Sahityaloka, Barshati, Ra, etc.; extinct: Biddaunnati Sadhini (1865), Weekly Biggapani (1865), Weekly Charybarta (1881), Bangasuridh (1881), Samskriti Sanjibini, fortnightly Kishore (1957–58), Monthly Daxina (1967), Sherpur Pratidin, Shamol Bangla etc.

Cultural organizations

The number of cultural organizations of this district are club 93, public library 4, drama stage 3, theatre group 15, literary society 5, women's organisation 30, cinema hall 13, a Shilpakala academy and a shishu academy.

Points of interest

Archaeological Heritage and Relics include: Gojni Obokash Kendra, Madhutila Ecopark in Nalitabari, Ghagra Laskar Bari Mosque (1808), Baraduari Mosque at Garhjaripar, Garh Jaripar Fort (1486-91AD), Tomb of Darvish Jarip Shah, Tomb of Shah Kamal (1644 AD), Tomb of Sher Ali Gazi, Mughal Mosque at Kasba, Maisaheba Mosque, and Residences of Nay Ani, Arai Ani and Pouney Tin Ani

Zamindars A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

Member of the 11th parliament

Notes

References

{{Authority control Districts of Bangladesh Districts of Mymensingh Division