Jangipur is a city and a municipality in
Murshidabad district
Murshidabad district is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the left bank of the river Ganges, the district is very fertile. Covering an area of and having a population 7.103 million (according to 2011 census), it ...
in the state of
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 ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It is the headquarters of the
Jangipur subdivision
Jangipur subdivision is an administrative subdivision of Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India. West Bengal's Chief minister, CM Mamata Banerjee announced that a new Farakka subdivision will be created from the Farakka (communit ...
. It is situated on the banks of the
Bhagirathi
The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu f ...
. Jangipur is an old town having reference from the historical period of Moghul emperor Jahangir when an army camp was established here.
Geography
Location
Jangipur is located at . It has an average elevation of 11 metres (36
feet
The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of ...
).
Jangipur Barrage
There is a 1 km long barrage across the Bhagirathi at Jangipur.
Area overview
Jangipur subdivision is crowded with 52
census towns and as such it had to be presented in two location maps. One of the maps can be seen alongside. The subdivision is located in the
Rarh region
''Rarh region'' () is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to vari ...
that is spread over from adjoining
Santhal Pargana division
Santhal Pargana division constitutes six district administration units known as the divisions of Jharkhand state in eastern India.
Origin of name
Santal Pargana derives its name from two words: " Santal", a major inhabited tribe in the region an ...
of
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
. The land is slightly higher in altitude than the surrounding plains and is gently undulating. The river
Ganges
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
, along with its distributaries, is prominent in both the maps. At the head of the subdivision is the 2,245 m long
Farakka Barrage, one of the largest projects of its kind in the country. Murshidabad district shares with Bangladesh a porous international border which is notoriously crime prone (partly shown in this map). The subdivision has two large power plants - the 2,100 MW
Farakka Super Thermal Power Station and the 1,600 MW
Sagardighi Thermal Power Station. According to a 2016 report, there are around 1,000,000 (1 million/ ten lakh) workers engaged in the
beedi
A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...
industry in Jangipur subdivision. 90% are home-based and 70% of the home-based workers are women. As of 2013, an estimated 2.4 million people reside along the banks of the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
alone in Murshidabad district.
Severe erosion occurs along the banks.
Note: The two maps present some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the maps are linked in the larger full screen maps.
History
The city is said to have been founded by the
Mughal
Mughal or Moghul may refer to:
Related to the Mughal Empire
* Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries
* Mughal dynasty
* Mughal emperors
* Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia
* Mughal architecture
* Mug ...
emperor
Jahangir
Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...
. During Moghul period, it was known as Jahangirpur and an army camp was established in this place. During the early years of British rule (then it was known as Jungypore, Jungypoor etc) it was an important centre of the Silk Trade and the site of
East India Company's commercial residencies. The Jungypore silk was very famous during that time period. It was also an important centre of indigo cultivation during the later years of Company rule. In the early twentieth century, it was best known as the toll station for registering all the traffic on the Bhagirathi. But now the trade and traffic has fallen and much of the town has been swept away by the river
Bhagirathi
The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu f ...
.
The subdivisional courts and offices formerly stood on the east bank of the Bhagirathi, and were moved to the west bank in consequence of the encroachments of the river. This quarter of the town is called
Raghunathganj
Raghunathganj is a town, not identified in 2011 census as a separate place, with a police station and post office, in the Raghunathganj I CD block in the Jangipur subdivision of Murshidabad in the state of West Bengal, India.
Geography
Loca ...
and is within municipal limits.
Here there is an old mosque with an inscription saying that it was built by Saiyad Kasim and containing a chronogram, which gives 1075 A. H., or 1664 A. D., as the date.
Sir Ashley Eden, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal from 1877 to 1882, was once stationed at Jangipur and transferred the subdivisional headquarters there from Aurangabad in 1856.
North of Jangipur is
Giria, where two important battles were fought. One between
Alivardi Khan
Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the fourth Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself.
During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequen ...
and
Sarfaraz Khan
Sarfarāz Khān ( 1700 – 29 April 1740), born ''Mīrza Asadullāh'', was a Nawab of Bengal. Sarfaraz Khan's maternal grandfather, Nawab Murshid Quli Khan of Bengal (Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) nominated him as the direct heir to him as there ...
on April 29, 1740, and the other between the English under Major Adams and the troop of
Mir Qasim
Mir Qasim () was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763. He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been supported earlier by the East India Company afte ...
in 1763.
In 1858,
W. J. Herschel, while serving as Magistrate at Jangipur, first began the use of
fingerprint
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...
s for identification at the beginning of a road building project when he made a supplier named Rajyadhar Konai sign the contract with the impression of his right hand.
Demographics
In the 2011 census, Jangipur
Urban Agglomeration
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
had a population of 122,875, out of which 62,734 were males and 60,141 were females. The 0–6 years population was 16,299. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 75.71 per cent.
India
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, Jangipur had a population of 74,464. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Jangipur has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 68%, and female literacy is 56%. In Jangipur, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Infrastructure
According to the ''District Census Handbook, Murshidabad'', 2011, Jangipur covered an area of 8.2 km
2. The protected water-supply involved overhead tank etc. It had 6,968 domestic electric connections. Among the medical facilities it had 1 hospital (with 250 beds), 3 charitable hospitals/ nursing homes, 100 medicine shops. Among the educational facilities, it had 57 primary schools, 6 middle schools, 5 secondary schools, 5 senior secondary schools, 1 general degree college. It had 46 non-formal education centres (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan). Among the social, recreational & cultural facilities it had 1 working women's hostel, 1 stadium, 1 cinema theatre, 1 auditorium/ community hall, 3 public libraries, 3 reading rooms. It produced
beedi
A beedi (also spelled bidi or biri) is a thin cigarette or cigar, mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu (''Diospyros melanoxylon'') or ''Piliostigma racemosum'' leaf tied with a string or adhesive at one end. It ...
, napkins. It had the branch offices of 7 nationalised banks, 1 private commercial bank, 1 cooperative bank.
Transport
Jangipur is well connected with
Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
and district headquarter
Baharampur
Berhampore (), also known as Baharampur (), is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. Berhampore is the administrative headquarters of the Murshidabad district. As of 2011 census, Berhampore is the seventh largest cit ...
via
NH 34. A railway station, (In Azimganj - Farakka line)
Jangipur Road railway station
Jangipur Road is a railway station of Malda railway division of Eastern Railway zone. The station falls on the Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop line. It is situated at Station Road, Raghunathganj of Murshidabad district in the Indian state of W ...
is situated in Raghunathganj. Many express and passengers trains pass regularly over the city. Raghunathganj is a twin town of Jangipur opposite of the
Bhagirathi River
The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu f ...
.
Education
Jangipur College was established in 1950 at Jangipur. Affiliated to the
University of Kalyani
The University of Kalyani, established in 1960, is a Government of West Bengal administered, University Grants Commission (India), UGC affiliated, National Assessment and Accreditation Council, NAAC accredited, collegiate public research unive ...
it offers honours courses in Bengali, English, Sanskrit, history, geography, philosophy, political science, economics, physics, chemistry, mathematics, botany, zoology and accountancy. From 2016 to 2017, it is offering post-graduate courses in Bengali, English, history and education in distance mode. There is a Management Development Institute of Murshidabad which is operational from 2014.This was inaugurated by then Indian President Shri Pranab Mukherjee.This institute is one of the premier educational institution of India.
Healthcare
Jangipur Subdivisional Hospital at Jangipur functions with 250 beds.
Jangipur Superspeciality Hospital is functional.
References
{{Municipalities of West Bengal
Cities and towns in Murshidabad district
Cities in West Bengal