Faridpur District () is a district in south-central

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. It is a part of

Dhaka Division Dhaka Division () is an Divisions of Bangladesh, administrative division of Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains as a population magnet, and covers an area of 20, ...

. It is bounded by the

Padma River The Padma () is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the eastern and 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 situated on the banks ...

to the northeast. The district was named for its headquarters, the city of Faridpur, which itself was named for Farīd-ud-Dīn Masʿūd, a 13th-century Sufi saint. A separate district was created by severing Dhaka district in 1786 and was called Dacca Jelalpur. A municipality was established in 1869. Historically, the town was known as ''Fatehabad''. It was also called Haveli Mahal Fatehabad.

History

The town of Fatehabad was located by a stream known as the Dead Padma, which was from the main channel of the Padma River. Sultan

Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah (; born as Jadu/যদু) was a 15th-century Sultan of Bengal and an important figure in medieval Bengali history. Born a Hindu to his aristocratic father Raja Ganesha, the patriarch of the Ganesha dynasty, he assumed t ...

established a

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

in Fatehabad during his reign in the early 15th century. Fatehabad continued to be a mint town of the

Bengal Sultanate The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

until 1538. In

Ain-i-Akbari The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' (), or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document regarding the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl, in the Persian language. It forms ...

, it was named as ''Haweli Mahal Fatehabad'' during the reign of Emperor Akbar in the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. The Portuguese cartographer

João de Barros João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa. Early y ...

mentioned it as ''Fatiabas''. The Dutch map of Van den Brouck described it as ''Fathur''. Its first mention in

Bengali literature Bengali literature () denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali h ...

was by Daulat Uzir Bahram Khan in his adaption of Layla and Majnun. The medieval poet Alaol was born in Faridpur. Fathabad was a strategically important base in south and southwestern

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. It was a well-developed urban centre. The town was home to important Mughal government officials, including generals, civil servants and jagirdars. During the reign of Emperor Jahangir in the 17th century, local

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

s Satrajit and Mukund resisted the Mughal government. By the 19th century, the town was renamed as Faridpur in honour of the

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

saint Shah Fariduddin Masud, a follower of the

Chishti order The Chishti order () is a Sufi Tariqa, order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chishti Sharif District, Chisht, Afghanistan where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami. The order was brought to Herat and later spread across South Asia by Mu ...

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

Haji Shariatullah Haji Shariatullah (; 17811840) was a prominent religious leader and Islamic scholar from Bengal in the eastern the subcontinent, subcontinent, who is best known as the founder of the Faraizi movement. In 1884, the Shariatpur District was formed a ...

and Dudu Miyan led the conservative Faraizi movement in Faridpur during the early 19th century. The Faridpur District was established by the British in 1786. The Faridpur Subdivision was a part of Dacca Division in the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

established by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. The municipality of Faridpur was established in 1869. The subdivision covered modern day Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Gopalganj districts (collectively known as Greater Faridpur). It was included in

Eastern Bengal and Assam Eastern Bengal and Assam was a Presidencies and provinces of British India, province of British India between 1905 and 1912. Headquartered in the city of Dacca, it covered territories in what are now Bangladesh, Northeast India and North Bengal, ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

between 1905 and 1912. Faridpur was a rail terminus for the Bengal Provincial Railway and the

Eastern Bengal Railway The Eastern Bengal Railway (full name: "Eastern Bengal Railway Company"; shortened EBR) was one of the pioneering railway companies that operated from 1857 to 1942, in the Bengal and Assam provinces of British India (now part of Bangladesh Railw ...

, connecting

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

with the important Goalanda

ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

s, from where ships travelled to

Colonial Assam Colonial Assam (1826–1947) refers to the period in the history of Assam between the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo and the Independence of India when Assam was under British Empire, British colonial rule. The political institutions and socia ...

and

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

. Prominent

estates in Faridpur included the clan of Biswas Bari and Moyez Manzil. British Faridpur was the birthplace of several nationalist leaders of the subcontinent, including Ambica Charan Mazumdar, Humayun Kabir, Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan,

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

, Syed Qumrul Islam Saleh Uddin, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury and KM Obaidur Rahman. The Doyen & sole pioneer of Progressive culture, literature & theatre of Bangladesh and teacher of

at the Faculty of Law in Dhaka University,

Natyaguru Nurul Momen (25 November 1908 – 16 February 1990) was a Bangladeshi playwright, educator, director, broadcast personality, orator, humorist, dramatist, academician, satirist, belletrist, essayist, columnist, translator and poet.Bangla Natyasha ...

Nurul Momen was born in Buraich of Alfadanga, now in Faridpur. The acclaimed American engineer

Fazlur Rahman Khan Fazlur Rahman Khan (, ''Fazlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of Tube (structure) ...

was born in this region. Faridpur saw intense fighting during the Bangladesh War in 1971. It was one of original 18 subdivisions of Bangladesh at the time of independence. In 1984, the pro-

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

reforms of President

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi military officer, dictator and politician who served as President of Bangladesh, the president of Bangladesh from 1982 to 1990. He seized power as a result of a 1982 ...

divided the old subdivision into five districts. In 2015, the Government of Bangladesh announced plans to establish

Faridpur Division Faridpur Division (), is a proposed administrative division within Bangladesh for the southern parts of the existing Dhaka Division, comprising Faridpur, Gopalganj, Madaripur, Rajbari, and Shariatpur districts of Dhaka Division. The headq ...

Politics and local government

The district has 9

upazila An ''upazila'' ( pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative division in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a borough of Western countries. Rural upazilas ...

s, 6 municipalities, 36

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s, 100

mahallah is an Arabic word variously translated as district, Quarter (country subdivision), quarter, Ward (country subdivision), ward, or neighborhood in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. ...

s, 79 unions and 1,899

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

. The district has four

parliamentary constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

in the

Jatiyo Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Elected ...

. The Faridpur District Council is the highest tier of local government.

List of upazilas

The district's nine upazilas: * Alfadanga Upazila * Bhanga Upazila * Boalmari Upazila * Charbhadrasan Upazila * Faridpur Sadar Upazila * Madhukhali Upazila * Nagarkanda Upazila * Sadarpur Upazila * Saltha Upazila

Demographics

According to the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, Faridpur District had 525,877 households and a population of 2,162,879. The population density was 1,054 people per km². Faridpur District had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 72.13%, compared to the national average of 74.80%, and a sex ratio of 1059 females per 1000 males. 415,692 (19.22%) inhabitants were under 10 years of age. Approximately, 23.83% of the population lived in urban areas. The ethnic population was 6,452, mainly Malo and Banai. Muslims are the majority population with 91.50%, while Hindus are 8.44%. The Hindu population decreased from 1.95 lakh in 1981 to just over 1.8 lakh today. The majority of Hindus in the district now are Namasudras. There is a minority of around 1,000 Christians in the district, nearly all living in Faridpur.

Economy

Faridpur is an important centre of the

jute trade The jute trade is centered mainly around India, India's West Bengal and Assam, and Bangladesh. The major producing country of jute is India and biggest exporter is Bangladesh, due to their natural fertile soil. Production of jute by India and Ba ...

and hilsa fish trade. Its industrial sector features numerous jute mills,

sugar mill A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw sugar or plantation white sugar. Some sugar mills are situated next to a back-end refinery, that turns raw sugar into (refined) white sugar. The term is also used to refer ...

s and a 50 MW thermal

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

. In terms of transport, Faridpur is an important hub of the

Bangladesh Railway Bangladesh Railway () is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains all railways in the country, and is overseen by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Railway. The Bangladesh Railway is governed by the Mi ...

, with its tracks connected to the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. It is linked by road with

Kushtia Kushtia () is a city located on the banks of the Gorai River in Bangladesh. It serves as the headquarters of Kushtia District and is considered the cultural capital of Bangladesh. The city is known for its Tiler Khaja (sesame sweets), kulf ...

, Meherpur,

Khulna Khulna (, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. It is the divisional centre of 10 districts of the division. Khulna is also the seco ...

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

, and

Jessore Jessore (, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District in Khulna Division. It lies in southwestern Bangladesh. It is home to the first flight training school of the Bangladeshi Air Force, established in 1971. Jessore city consists of 9 wa ...

Culture and sport

Faridpur District has a rich heritage of

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, including

Baul The Baul () are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism and Vaishnavism from different parts of Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls constitute bot ...

, Marami, Bichar, Murshidi-Marfati, Fakirali, Gazirgan, Kabigan, Jarigan music. However many of these traditions are extinct. Major festivals include Eid, Nabanna, Pous Utshab, Rathjatra, Dol Purnima Utshab and

Durga Puja Durga Puja (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Durgotsava or Shaaradotsava, is an annual festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which pays homage to the Hinduism, Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victo ...

. Folk festivities are held on the occasion of Annaprashana,

Muharram Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...

, Bengali weddings, Jamai Shasthi, Bhadra Mangal Chandi. Folk games of the district include Dariabandha,

boat racing Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water body, water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and ...

, Ha-du-du and cock fighting. Major contemporary and historical publications include Jagaran, Ganaman (1370 BS), Chashi Barta, Idaning, Thikana, Bhorer Runner, Faridpur (1997), Kumar (2006); Weekly: Kalbhabna (2004), Pragotir Din (1995), Boalmari Sangbad, Al Helal, Bhanga Khabar; Fortnightly: Nazir Bangla Defunct: Faridpur Darpan (1861), Chitrakar (1283 BS), Kohinoor (1896), Sanjay (1900), Aryakayastha (1318 BS), Faridpur Hitoishi (1329 BS), Faridpur Angina (1329 BS), Barta (1926), Muazzen (1335 BS), The Servant of Humanity (1960), Siraj (1932), Langal (1932), Sheba (1350 BS), Khedmat (1373 BS), Jubashakti (1972), Weekly Bangladesh (1972), Satyajug (1975), Faridpur Barta (1979), Aakal (1979), Samachar (1980) and Bangla Sangbad (1982).

Education

There are several state owned colleges in the district. Several venerable British Raj-era educational institutions are located in the region, including the Faridpur Polytechnic Institute (1963), Rajendra College (1918), Government Saroda Sundori Mohila College (1966)

Faridpur Zilla School Faridupur Zilla School is a secondary school in Faridpur Upazila, Faridpur, In 1840, ''the then'' district magistrate Edgar Ef Luther, established a school named English Seminary School. In 1851, the East India Company, British Government took re ...

(1840), Talma Nazimuddin High School (1939), Faridpur Government Girls High School (1910), Madhukhali Pilot High School, George Academy (1911), M N Academy (1916), Bakiganj Islamia Madrasa (1922), Hitoishi High School (1889), Bhanga Pilot High School (1889), Karakdi Rambihari Multilateral High School (1901) and Krishnapur High School (1910), Faridpur Medical College (1985), Boalmari George Academy (1911), Faridpur Engineering College (2010), Faridpur High School (1889), Domrakadi Govt. Primary School (1919) and Domrakadi High School (1969).

Notes

References

External links

"Faridpur"
in ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' {{Authority control Districts of Bangladesh Districts of Bangladesh established before 1971