Zakiganj () is an

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 ...

Sylhet District Sylhet District (), located in north-east Bangladesh, is one of the four districts in Sylhet Division, which contains Sylhet, the regional capital. History Sylhet District was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Benga ...

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division () is a northeastern Divisions of Bangladesh, division of Bangladesh, renowned for its lush tea gardens, rolling hills and vibrant cultural heritage. Covering an area of approximately 12,298 square kilometres, it is bordered by t ...

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 ...

History

There are a few theories behind the name of Zakiganj. The first is that is derived from Shah Zaki, a pir who established a

khanqah A Sufi lodge is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or ''tariqa'' and is a place for spiritual practice and religious education. They include structures also known as ''khānaqāh'', ''zāwiya'', ''ribāṭ'' ...

on the banks of the

Kushiyara River The Kushiyara () is a transboundary river in Bangladesh and Assam, India. It forms on the India-Bangladesh border as a branch of the Barak River, when the Barak separates into the Kushiyara and Surma. The waters that eventually form the Kushiyar ...

. A ''ganj'', Perso-Bengali suffix meaning 'marketplace' or 'neighbourhood', was then set up around the khanqah. In memory of Shah Zaki, nearby places are named Pirerkhal and the village Pirerchok. Another theory is that it is named after a man named Ghulam Zaki Majumdar, whose brother Karim Majumdar is who

Karimganj district Karimganj district, officially Sribhumi district, is one of the 35 List of districts of Assam, districts of the Indian state of Assam. The district's administrative headquarters and largest town is Karimganj. Located in southern Assam, it shares ...

is said to have been named after. Zakiganj was established as a

thana Thana means " station" or "place" in South Asian countries. The word ''thana'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''sthana'' or "sthanak", meaning "place" or "stand", which was anglicized as ''thana'' by the British. * Thanas of Bangladesh, forme ...

in 1947 and was previously a part of the greater

. Along with Karimganj, Zakiganj was to be a part of the

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, * * was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its Indian independence movement, independence, India had be ...

but this was prevented by a delegation led by

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 ...

. In the aftermath of the Bangladesh War of Separation of 1971, mass graves were found in Atgram Bazar and Kaliganj Bazar. Zakiganj became an

on 1 August 1983. A 17th century stone inscription was found in the Ghayebi Dighi Masjid in Barothakuri and it is now in display at the

Bangladesh National Museum The Bangladesh National Museum (), is the national museum of Bangladesh. The museum is well organized and displays have been housed chronologically in several departments like department of ethnography and decorative art, department of history an ...

Geography

Zakiganj is located at . It has 40,548 households and total area . It is situated on the north bank of

, opposite

Karimganj Karimganj, officially Sribhumi, is a town in the Karimganj district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Assam. It is the administrative headquarters of the district. Karimganj town is located at . The area of Karimganj Tow ...

town of

Assam, India Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Demographics

According to the

2011 Census of Bangladesh 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 r ...

, Zakiganj Upazila had 40,548 households and a population of 237,137. 65,802 (27.75%) were under 10 years of age. Zakiganj had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 49.39%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 1,021 females per 1,000 males. 20,806 (8.77%) lived in urban areas. As of the

1991 Bangladesh census In 1991, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, conducted a national census in Bangladesh. They recorded data from all of the districts and upazilas and main cities in Bangladesh including statistical data on population size, households, sex and a ...

, Zakiganj has a population of 174,038. Males constitute 50.55% of the population, and females 49.45%. This Upazila's eighteen up population is 85,935. Zakiganj has an average literacy rate of 30.8% (7+ years), and the national average of 32.4% literate. 81.47% of people of Zakiganj was Muslim, Hindu 18.47%, Buddhist, Christian and others 0.05%.

Points of interest

* Derivation of two river (

and

Surma River The Surma () is a major river in Bangladesh, part of the Surma-Meghna River System. It starts when the Barak River from northeast India divides at the Bangladesh border into the Surma and the Kushiyara rivers. It ends in Kishoreganj District, ...

) from

Barak River The Barak River or Barbakro or Agu flows through the states of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam in India. It flows into Bangladesh where it bifurcates into the Surma river and the Kushiyara river which converge again to become the Meghna river before ...

of India * Customs wharfage * Hills of Atgram

Administration

Zakiganj Upazila is divided into Zakiganj Municipality and nine

union parishad Union council (), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit in Bangladesh, with zila parishads (district councils) being the largest rural authori ...

s: Barahal, Barathakuri, Birorsri, Kajalshar, Khaskanakpur, Kolachora, Manikpur, Sultanpur, and Zakiganj. The union parishads are subdivided into 108 mauzas and 278 villages. Zakiganj Municipality is subdivided into 9 wards and 25

mahalla 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. ...

Upazila Chairmen

Notable people

Abdul Kahir Chowdhury Abdul Kahir Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi politician. He was elected a member of parliament for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Sylhet-5 ( Kanaighat- Zakiganj) constituency in the February 1996 Bangladeshi general election. He is president of th ...

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

politician *

Abdul Latif Chowdhury Fultali Abdul Latif Chowdhury Fultali (; 25 May 1913 – 16 January 2008), reverentially known as Saheb Qiblah, was a late-twentieth century Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, ''mufassir'', ''qāriʾ'', poet and orator. As a prolific author, he completed sever ...

, Sufi scholar * Akhlaq Choudhury, British High Court judge *

Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder (born 29 March 1935) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician, former chairman of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and Pubali Bank Limited, businessman, and a member of parliament. He served as the chairman of the Board o ...

, chairman of Pubali Bank Board of Directors and

Bangladesh Red Crescent Society The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS; is a humanitarian organization and auxiliary to the Government of Bangladesh. Formerly consisting of the eastern branches of the Pakistan Red Cross Society, the organization was established in 1973 ...

Mahmudur Rahman Majumdar Mahmudur Rahman Majumdar (25 December 1922-19 December 2011) was a Bangladesh Army brigadier who was the most senior ethnic Bengali officer in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Early life and education Mazumdar was born into ...

, brigadier * Mohammad Abdul Haque, bureaucrat *

Obaidul Haque Obaidul Haque (; 1934–2008) was a politician, teacher and a member of parliament for Sylhet-5. Early life and education Obaid was born on 2 January 1934 into a Bengali Muslim in the village of Wazirpur in Kholachhora Union, Zakiganj, Sylhet ...

, Islamic teacher and politician * Salman Shah, mainstream film actor *

Ubaidul Haq Ubaidul Haq (; 2 May 1928 – 6 October 2007), also spelt Obaidul Haq (), was a Bangladeshi teacher, muhaddith, mufassir and writer. He was the former khatib of the national mosque of Bangladesh. Early life and education Obaidul Haq was born ...

, former

khatib In Islam, a khatib or khateeb ( ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers. The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader (''imam''), but the two roles can ...

Baitul Mukarram Baitul Mukarram (), officially Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, is the national mosque of Bangladesh. It is located at the center of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The mosque was completed in 1968.Thariani and Co: Architects and Engineers. B ...

References

{{Upazilas of Sylhet Division Upazilas of Sylhet District