Tongi ( bn, টঙ্গী) is a major township in
Gazipur
Gazipur ( bn, গাজীপুর) is a city in central Bangladesh. It is located in the Gazipur District. It is a major industrial city north of Dhaka. It is a hub for the textile industry in Bangladesh. Its other name is Joydebpur.
Demogra ...
,
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 ...
, with a population of 350,000. It hosts the
Biswa Ijtema
The Bishwa Ijtema ( bn, বিশ্ব ইজতেমা , meaning Global Congregation) is an annual gathering of Muslims in Tongi, by the banks of the River Turag, in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is one of the List of largest peace ...
and features a
BSCIC industrial area, which produces
BDT 1500 crore of industrial products annually,
and marks the northern border 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 ...
since 1786.
Tongi Shahid Smrity high School compound is mass burial site of the
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
in
Liberation War of Bangladesh
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 armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali n ...
.
History
Mir Jumla II
Mir Jumla II (1591 – 30 March 1663) was a prominent subahdar of Bengal under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Early life
Mir Jumla was born as Mir Mohammad Sayyid Ardistani in Iran in 1591 to a poor oil merchant of Isfahan named Mirza Hazar ...
(1660–1663) built a fort to protect the northern entry of Dhaka during his reign as a
Mughal ''
subadar
Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army.
History
''Subedar'' or ''subadar'' was the ...
'' (1660–1663).
The subadar also built a bridge over the river
Turag
Turag River ( bn, তুরাগ নদী; ) is the upper tributary of the Buriganga, a major river in Bangladesh. The Turag originates from the Bangshi River, the latter an important ''tributary'' of the Dhaleshwari River, flows through Ga ...
.
Mir Jumla constructed a road, now a part of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, that connected Tongi with ''
Bag-e-Badshahi''. It served as an axis of urban growth in the 19th and 20th centuries as sites for establishment of new urban settlements - Gulshan (formed in 1961), Banani (in 1964), Baridhara (in 1972) and Uttara (in 1965) - were picked off the highlands along that axis road.
In 1786, Tongi-Jamalpur was designated as the northern boundary of Dhaka by the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, reaffirmed by John Taylor, the first English
Commercial Resident
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
of Dhaka in 1800.
Geography and administration
Tongi, a ''thana'' (police station) within the
Gazipur Sadar Upazila
Gazipur Sadar ( bn, গাজীপুর সদর) is an upazila (sub-district) of the Gazipur District in central Bangladesh, part of the Dhaka Division.
Gazipur Sadar is one of the five upazilas in the Gazipur district. It is bordered by the u ...
along with
Joydebpur
Gazipur ( bn, গাজীপুর) is a city in central Bangladesh. It is located in the Gazipur District. It is a major industrial city north of Dhaka. It is a hub for the textile industry in Bangladesh. Its other name is Joydebpur.
Demogra ...
since 1983,
is located immediately north of Dhaka. It lies within the jurisdiction
Gazipur District
Gazipur ( bn, গাজীপুর) is a district in central Bangladesh, part of the Dhaka Division. It has an area of 1741.53 km2. It is the home district of Tajuddin Ahmad, the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh and has been a prominent c ...
, which is a part of the
Dhaka Division
Dhaka Division ( bn, ঢাকা বিভাগ, ''Ḑhaka Bibhag'') is an administrative division within Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of the Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains a populati ...
.
Geologically, the Tongi area comprises the southern extension of the
Madhupur tract
Madhupur tract is a large upland area of 4,244 km2 in north central part of Bangladesh, stretching from east of Jamalpur in the north, to Fatullah and Narayanganj, in the south. The tract is mostly one large tract, unlike the Barind Tract. I ...
, a long narrow tract of tectonically elevated area of older sediments only a few metres above the surrounding rivers the Turag. Locally, the Tract is subdivided into the Bhawal Garh terrace which is a part of an inlier, an elevated area surrounded by lowlands by very young riverine sediments occupying the surrounding valleys. The older sediment sequence consists of sandstone of the
Dupi Tila Formation overlain by
Madhupur Clay, which in turn is overlain by alluvium. The elevation of the Tract varies from 2 to 14 m above mean sea level and it has shallow bedrock which forms a firm substrate for supporting large structures.
Demography
Many of the people who live in Tongi commute to Dhaka each day, mainly by bus. Many people are also employed at factories in
Export Processing Zone
A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to cust ...
s, areas given special tax and tariff exemptions by the government in order to stimulate industry.
River
Tongi has a bordering river called the
Turag River
Turag River ( bn, তুরাগ নদী; ) is the upper tributary of the Buriganga, a major river in Bangladesh. The Turag originates from the Bangshi River, the latter an important ''tributary'' of the Dhaleshwari River, flows through Ga ...
, it is very actively used by the local commuters and traders. The annual
Bishwa Ijtema
The Bishwa Ijtema ( bn, বিশ্ব ইজতেমা , meaning Global Congregation) is an annual gathering of Muslims in Tongi, by the banks of the River Turag, in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is one of the largest peaceful gat ...
is also held in Tongi beside the banks of Turag River.
Thana
There are two thanas in Tongi – Tongi East and Tongi West Thana.
Transport
The newly constructed Tongi Diversion Road forms another important artery of the road network leading to Dhaka.
The Narayanganj–Dhaka–Mymensingh State railway was opened in 1885–86.
Tongi has a
break of gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
junction station
in the same name where the new cross country line across the
Jamuna Bridge
Bangabandhu Bridge, also known as the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge ( bn, যমুনা বহুমুখী সেতু ''Jomuna Bohumukhi Setu'') is a bridge opened in Bangladesh in June 1998. It connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east b ...
from the western section joins the eastern section. Tongi is situated on the bank of the river Turag, transport boats and cargo boats are also available here.
Education
Educational institutions in this area include:
Shilmon Abdul Hakim Master High School
*
Noyagaon M A Majid Miah High School (NMAMMHS)
*
Shaheed Smrity High School
*
Tongi Government College
The National University of Bangladesh ( bn, জাতীয় বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, বাংলাদেশ ) is a public university of Bangladesh that was established by an Act of Parliament as an affiliating University ...
*
Mozida Government High School
*
Safiuddin Sarker Academy and College
Safiuddin Sarker Academy and College ( bn, সফিউদ্দিন সরকার একাডেমি এন্ড কলেজ), also known as SSAC, is an educational institution with two shifts, located at Tongi, Gazipur Sadar Upazila, ...
*
Siraj Uddin Sarker Vidya-niketon & College
*
Tongi Pilot School & Girls' College
*
Shahajuddin Sarker Model School & College
*
Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasah (Tongi Branch)
*
Ashraf Textiles High School
Medical colleges and hospitals
*
Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital
Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital ( bn, শহীদ আহসান উল্লাহ মাস্টার জেনারেল হাসপাতাল) is a government hospital situated in Gazipur District, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Loc ...
* Tairunnessa Memorial Medical College & Hospital - 375 bedded hospital
* International Medical College & Hospital - 500 bedded hospital
References
{{reflist
External links
Gazipur District Commissioner's Official WebsiteUNESCAP Publication on the Geographical Engineering possibilities of the Dhaka-Tongi areareport on enhancing economic zones including the Tongi BSCIC zoneby
International Finance Corporation
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of t ...
Suburbs of Dhaka
Neighbourhoods in Gazipur
Gazipur Sadar Upazila