Bahubal ( bn, বাহুবল) is an

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 ...

Habiganj District Habiganj ( bn, হবিগঞ্জ, Hobigonj), formerly known as Habibganj ( bn, হবিবগঞ্জ, Hobibgonj), is a district in north-eastern Bangladesh, located in the Sylhet Division. It was established as a district in 1984 as a succe ...

in the

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions of ...

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

Bahubal was a part of the Tungachhal and Rajpur kingdoms. The last Raja of Tungachhal, Achak Narayan, was defeated in 1303 during the Conquest of Taraf by

Syed Nasiruddin Syed Shah Nasiruddin ( bn, শাহ সৈয়দ নাসিরুদ্দীন, ar, شاه سيد ناصر الدين) was a Sufi saint and military leader associated with the spread of Islam in Bengal in the 14th century. As the commande ...

and his 12

lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the 2 ...

s. In the 17th century, after

Khwaja Usman Khawāja Uthmān Khān Lōhānī ( bn, খাজা উসমান খাঁন লোহানী), popularly known as Khwaja Usman, was a Pashtun chieftain and warrior based in northeastern Bengal. As one of the Baro-Bhuyans, he was a zamind ...

's departure from Bokainagar Fort, he reached Putijuri in Bahubal. Here, he built a fort at the foot of the Giripal and stationed his brothers, Malhi and Wali, and son, Mumriz in Putia Hill. The area was historically famous to be the home of fighters and people of physical strength. Famed for sports such as

malla-yuddha Malla-yuddha (Sanskrit: मल्लयुद्ध, ) is the traditional form of combat-wrestling originating in India. It is closely related to Southeast Asian wrestling styles such as naban and is one of the two ancestors of kushti. Indian wr ...

and

lathi khela Lathi khela ( bn, লাঠি খেলা) is a traditional Bengali martial art – a kind of stick fighting practised India and Bangladesh. A practitioner is known as a ''lathial''. Etymology The word ''lathi'' is the Bengali word meaning s ...

. One day, a wrestler (Mal) from Dakshinbhag,

Moulvibazar Moulvibazar ( bn, মৌলভীবাজার) is a town in north-eastern Bangladesh just south of Sylhet. It is the capital of Moulvibazar Sadar Upazila and Moulvibazar District, and is located on the banks of the Manu River, Tripura, Manu R ...

, came to this area to fight another wrestler by the name of Qudrat Mal in a game of malla-yuddha. Qudrat defeated the wrestler and made his famous statement, ''"Bahuka Bol Dekh, Beta"''. This phrase became famous in the local area and from Bahuka-Bol, the place eventually was shortened to Bahubal. This incident is remembered through a common folk rhyme. On 20 December 1793, Bahubal became a part of the Lashkarpur District. In 1921, Bahubal was made a

thana Thana means "police station" in South Asian countries, and can also mean the district controlled by a police station. * Thanas of Bangladesh, former subdistricts in the administrative geography of Bangladesh; later renamed ''upazila'' * in (Briti ...

headquarter. During the

1950 East Pakistan riots The 1950 East Pakistan riots ( bn, পঞ্চাশের পূর্ব পাকিস্তান দাঙ্গা) took place between Hindus and Muslims in East Pakistan, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of Hindus being killed in ...

, the village of Silani was attacked at 9 A.M. on 15 February. The mob raised provocative slogans and set fire to many homes. The inhabitants fled to the nearby jungles to save their lives while the others were killed. Bahubal thana was upgraded to an

in 1984.

Geography

Bahubal is located at . It has a total area of 250.66 km².

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 ...

, Bahubal Upazila had 37,334 households and a population of 197,997, 2.0% of whom lived in urban areas. 13.8% of the population was under the age of 5. The literacy rate (age 7 and over) was 39.8%, compared to the national average of 51.8%.

Administration

Bahubal Upazila is divided into seven

union parishad Union council ( bn, ইউনিয়ন পরিষদ, translit=iūniyan pariṣad, translit-std=IAST), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit ...

s: Bahubal, Bhadeshwar, Lamatashi, Mirpur, Putijuri, Satkapan, and Snanghat. The union parishads are subdivided into 146 mauzas and 325 villages.

Education

There are many schools and colleges.

Gallery

File:ফয়জাবাদ হিল বধ্যভূমি ও গণকবর ১৯৭১.jpg, ফয়জাবাদ হিল বধ্যভূমি ও গণকবর ১৯৭১ File:ঐতিহ্যবাহী মির্জাটুলা হাজার বছরের পুরনো ঐতিহ্যবাহী মসজিদ.jpg, Ancient Mirzatula Mosque in the village of Mirjatula, Mirpur Union.

References

Upazilas of Habiganj District {{Sylhet-geo-stub