Rangpur Division ( bn, রংপুর বিভাগ) is one of the Divisions in Bangladesh. It was formed on 25 January 2010, as

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 ...

's 7th division. Before that, it was under

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 Rangpur division consists of eight districts. There are 58 Upazilas or subdistricts under these eight districts. Rangpur is the northernmost division of Bangladesh and has a population of 15,665,000 in the 2011 Census. The major cities of this new division are Rangpur,

Saidpur Saidpur may refer to: __NOTOC__ Bangladesh * Saidpur, Bangladesh, a city in Bangladesh ** Saidpur Airport * Saidpur Cantonment, a cantonment of the Bangladesh Army * Saidpur Upazila, an Upazila of Nilphamari District India * Saidpur (Assembly con ...

and

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bound ...

. Rangpur has well-known educational institutions, such as

Carmichael College Carmichael College is an educational institution in Rangpur, Bangladesh. It was established on 10 November 1916 and was named after Thomas David Baron Carmichael of Skirling. The college is situated in Lalbag, to the south from zero point of ...

Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) bn, হাজী মোহাম্মদ দানেশ বিজ্ঞান ও প্রযুক্তি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) is a government-financed ...

Rangpur Medical College Rangpur Medical College (RpMC) is a public medical college located in Rangpur, Bangladesh. The college is founded in 1972 and affiliated with Rajshahi Medical University. History To meet the growing needs of modern medicine the government esta ...

Rangpur Cadet College Rangpur Cadet College is a military college for boys in Rangpur, Bangladesh, having about 300 cadets, 50 in each grade from 7th to 12th. History A cadet college is an institution following the model of English public schools. In 1979, Rangpur C ...

, Begum Rokeya University and Bangladesh Army University of Science and Technology, Saidpur. Mansingh, commander 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 ...

, conquered part of Rangpur in 1575. Rangpur came completely under the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

in 1686. Mughalbasa and Mughalhat of Kurigram district still bear marks of the Mughal rule in the region. During the Mughal rule part of Rangpur was under the sarkar of Ghoraghat, and part under the sarkar of Pinjarah. Rangapur

Ghoraghat Ghoraghat ( bn, ঘোড়াঘাট) is an upazila of Dinajpur District in the Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh. History Ghoraghat was established in the time of Bakhtlar Khilji (see Blochmanu's Contr., J.A.S,1873, p. 215, Tabaqat-i-Na ...

has been mentioned in the

Riyaz-us-Salatin Riyaz-us-Salatin ( fa, ) is the first British-era historic book on the Muslim rule in Bengal that was published in Bengal in 1788. It was written by Ghulam Husain Salim Zaidpuri. Content The books starts with the arrival of Muhammad bin Bakhti ...

. During the early period of the company rule

Fakir-Sannyasi Rebellion The Sannyasi rebellion or monk rebellion 1770-77 ( bn, সন্ন্যাসী/ সাধু বিদ্রোহ, The monks' rebellion) was a revolt by the ''sannyasis'' and sadhus (Hindu ascetics, respectively) in Bengal, India in the lat ...

and peasant rebellion were held in Rangpur.

Administrative divisions

Rangpur Division was formed by taking 8 northern districts of

. Now it has 8 Districts, 58

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, 1

City 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 own ...

, 21

Pourasava Municipal Corporations or municipalities (also known as pourasabha) are the local governing bodies of the cities and towns in Bangladesh. There are 330 such municipal corporations in eight divisions of Bangladesh. A municipal corporation serving ...

s and 536 Union councils.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the total population of Rangpur Division is 15,787,758 and population density is 980/km². 51.18% of total population is male, and 48.82% is female. Bengali's are the majority community. Notable native ethnic groups are

Santal 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 ...

, Munda, Oraon, Rajbanshi including Kaibarta and Koch. Most of the people of Rangpur Division are

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Hindus 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 ...

are a large minority whereas a small number of adherents of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and other religions are also seen.

Communication

Front view of Tajhat Landlord's Palace in Rangpur, Bangladesh

Rangpur has good road, rail and air communications with the capital as well as other parts of the country. The N5 (National Highway 5) links the division with the capital. There are a total of 21 express trains which connect different districts of the division with the capital and other parts of the country. There are also three Domestic airports, among them

Saidpur Airport Syedpur Airport (Bengali: সৈয়দপুর বিমানবন্দর '' Saiẏadapur bimānabandar'') is a domestic airport located in Syedpur, Nilphamari, Bangladesh. Syedpur is a city of Nilphamari district in Rangpur divis ...

is the major one.

Legacy

Rangpur has lent its name to the fruit

Rangpur (fruit) Rangpur, ''Citrus'' × ''limonia'' or ''Citrus reticulata'' × ''medica'', sometimes called the rangpur lime, mandarin lime or lemandarin, is a hybrid between the mandarin orange and the citron. It is a citrus fruit with a very acidic taste and an ...

and

Tanqueray Tanqueray is an English brand of gin produced by Diageo plc. It originated in London. In 2016 it displaced Beefeater as the number one global seller. While it does not command a sizable market share in its native market, its largest market i ...

Rangpur Gin.

References

{{Authority control Divisions of Bangladesh Northern Bengal

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Communication

Legacy

See also

References