|
Munshiganj District: Map 1
(DHAKA division) with an area of 954.96 sq km, is bounded by DHAKA and NARAYANGANJ districts on the north, MADARIPUR and SHARIATPUR districts on the south, COMILLA and CHANDPUR districts on the east, Dhaka and FARIDPUR districts on the west. Main rivers are the PADMA, MEGHNA, DHALESHWARI, ICHAMATI and SHITALAKSHYA. The southern and eastern parts of the district often fall victim to erosion caused by the mighty Padma and the Meghna respectively. Main depression is Arial Beel covering an area of 4330 hectare. Annual temperature- maximum 36°C and minimum 12.7°C; total rainfall 2376 mm.
Munshiganj (Town) consists of 9 wards and 42 mahallas.The area of the town is 14.17 sq km. The population of the town is 52071; male 51.62% and female 48.38%; density of population is 3674 per sq km. Literacy rate among the town people is 49.3%. The town has two dakbungalows.
Administration Munshiganj district, formerly a subdivision under Dhaka district, was established in 1984. It consists of 6 upazilas, 67 union parishads, 662 mouzas, 906 villages, 18 wards, 73 mahallas and 2 municipalities. The upazilas are GAZARIA, TONGIBARI, SERAJDIKHAN, LOHAJANG, SREENAGAR and
MUNSHIGANJ SADAR: Map _2 [Munshiganj Sadar Upazila with an area of 160.79 sq km, is bounded by NARAYANGANJ SADAR, BANDAR (Narayanganj) and SONARGAON upazilas on the north, BHEDARGANJ upazila on the south, GAZARIA and MATLAB upazilas on the east, TONGIBARI and NARIA upazilas on the west. Main rivers are MEGHNA, PADMA and ICHAMATI.
Administration Munshiganj Sadar thana was turned into an upazila in 1984. It consists of 9 union parishads, 2 municipalities (Sadar and Mirkadim[Rikabi Bazar Mosque situated in Tangar village under the Rikabi Bazar union of Munshiganj district, about 4.8 km. to the west of the district town, and about 2 km. to the west of the famous Baba Adam's Mosque, is a thoroughly renovated building. A masonry verandah has been added in the east. A Bangla inscription fixed over the central doorway of the verandah records that it was restored in 1384 BS.
This is a single-domed square mosque and built entirely of brick, measuring 6.95m a side internally. The walls are about 2.13m thick. There were four corner-towers in the four exterior angles of the building, but these were removed at the time of renovation work. The mosque has five arched-doorways, three in the east and one each on the north and south sides. The north and south doors are now used as windows. All the arches are of the two-centred pointed variety. The central archway in the east is bigger than the flanking ones. Corresponding to the three eastern archways there are three renovated semi-circular mihrabs inside the qibla wall that are set within rectagular frames. Like the central doorway, the central mihrab is bigger than its flanking counterparts. The north and south walls have two alcoves on either side of the archway. The square prayer hall of the mosque is covered with a large brick shouldered dome, which rests on the four blocked arches over the central mihrab and the three axial doorways springing from the brick pilasters, two inside each wall, in combination with Bengali pendentives and half-domed squinches on the upper angles.
An octagonal drum can be seen externally in the lower part of the dome. The parapets and the inner side of the dome is decorated with rows of blind merlons, and each rectangular frame of the three mihrabs is crowned by a frieze of blind merlons. These are not original ornamentations. The outer walls of the mosque were once ornamented with terracotta plaques, but now these are all missing. The mosque is at present covered with cement plaster.
An Arabic inscription, originally fixed over the central archway of eastern wall, can now be found fixed to an enclosure wall of a nearby newly built mosque, locally known as Pashchimpada masjid. According to the inscription, the Rikabi Bazar Mosque was built by one Malik Abdullah Miah, son of Amin Khan Fakir Miah, in 1569 AD during the reign of Sultan sulaiman karrani.
Architectural features of this mosque include massive walls, a large dome, two-centred pointed archways and a dome supported by blocked arches springing from brick pilanters in combination with pendentive and half-domed squinches. These are very feature similar to the Goaldi Mosque in sonargaon and baba saleh's mosque in Bandar, both in narayanganj district. [Muhammed Nasir Uddin]
]), 94 mouzas and 219 villages.
Historical events During the Mughal rule the present Munshiganj town including the outlying areas was known as Idrakpur which was named after the then Mughal faujdar Idrak. A village on the outskirts of Munshiganj town is still known as Idrakpur. During the British rule Idrakpur was renamed as Munshiganj after the name of Munshi Enayet Ali, the local zamindar and the inhabitant of the village Kazi Kasba in Rampal.
In 1971 when the Pak army began mass-killing and massacre in Dhaka city on the night of 25 March the students and youths of Munshiganj raided the treasury and captured arms and ammunitions to resist the Pak army. They successfully guarded the river-side area to check the onrush of the Pak army towards Munshiganj. The people of Narayanganj in alliance with the youths of Munshiganj resisted an attack of the Pak army on 31 March. The Pak army first penetrated into Munshiganj on 9 May and killed some youths at Kewar on 14 May. The house of Radhika Mohan Ghosh at village Nayagaon on the bank of the Dhaleshwari had been the secret shelter and outpost of the freedom fighters. Attack on the ferries of the Pak army on the river used to be launched from the roof of this pucca building.
Marks of War of Liberation Mass killing site and memorial monument 1 (old student hostel premises of Munshiganj High School).
Population 294823; male 53%, female 47%; Muslim 93.82%, Hindu 5.78%, Buddhist 0.04%, Christian 0.05%, others 0.31%.
Religious institutions Mosque 166, temple 22, mazar 2, dargah 1, akhra 1. Noted institutions: Kacharighat Jami Mosque, Thana Jami Mosque, Launch-ghat Jami Mosque, Jaikalimata Mandir, Jagaddhatri Mandir, tomb of Kadira Pagla, tomb of Chhala-pagli, dargah of Elahi Mastan, Lakshmi Narayan Jeu Akhra.
Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 35.5%; male 40.9%, female 30%. Educational institutions: college 4, high school 22, junior high school 4, primary teacher's training institute 1, technical training centre 1, madrasa 9, government primary school 100, non-government primary school 9; noted old institutions: Government Haraganga College, Munshiganj High School.
Newspapers and periodicals Weekly Munshiganj, Weekly Munshiganj Sangbad; defunct periodicals: Kaler Vela, Sangsaptak, Sarab.
Cultural organisations Club 6, literary and cultural organisation 4, public library 2, musical academy 2, art school 1, theatre party 3, drama stage 1, cinema hall 6, auditorium 1, stadium 1.
Main occupations Agriculture 25.64%, agricultural labourer 21.12%, fishing 1.32%, industry 1.1%, construction 1.52%, commerce 19.31%, service 9.34%, transport 3.1%, wage labourer 4.97% and others 12.58%.
Land use Cultivable land 12140 hectares; single crop 6.5%, double crop 75.75%, and triple crop land 17.75%. Cultivable land under irrigation 36.2%.
Land control Among the peasants, 27.8% are landless, 21.25% are marginal peasant, 32.95% small peasant, 13.5% intermediate, 4.5% rich; cultivable land per head 0.041 hectare.
Value of land The market value of first grade arable land is Tk 70000 per 0.01 hectare.
Main crops Paddy, potato, wheat, jute, mustard, vegetables, chilli.
Extinct or nearly extinct crops Indigo, kaun, linseed, arahar (pulse).
Main fruits Banana, mango, papaya, jackfruit, litchi.
Communication facilities Roads: pucca 27.27 km and mud road 100 km.
Traditional transport Palanquin (extinct), bullock cart and horse carriage (nearly extinct), boat.
Manufactories Large industry 2, medium industry 12, ice mill and cold storage 20.
Cottage industries Various cottage industries and workshops 392.
Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 17, fairs 8, most noted of which are Munshir Hat, Chitalia Hat, Mirkadim, Makahati, Munshiganj Bazar, Katakhali Bazar, Kamalaghat Bazar, Rikabi Bazar, Barani Mela (Kamalaghat), Rampal Maghi-purnima Mela, Dasami Mela (Kamalaghat), Munshiganj Rathjatra Mela, Rampal Rathjatra Mela, Manasa Mela (Munshiganj).
Main exports Potato, patal, vegetables, jute.
NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are ASA, BRAC, PROSHIKA, Juba Sangha, Mahila Angana.
Health centres Hospital 1, mother and childcare centre 1, upazila health complex 1, private clinic 4. (Ratantanu Ghosh)]
Archaeological heritage Idrakpur Fort (1660) in Munshiganj town, Panditer vita (birth place of ATISH DIPANKAR SRIJNAN: (980-1053) Buddhist scholar, religious preceptor and philosopher, was born in Vajrayogini village, VIKRAMAPURA in 980 AD, son of Kalyanasree and Prabhavati Devi. His childhood name was Chandragarbha. He was initially a tantrik and was initiated into BUDDHISM only later in life. Dipankar studied at home with his mother before going to the local Vajrasana Vihara. He studied Buddhism and the Buddhist scriptures under Jetari, a Buddhist scholar. Subsequently, renouncing earthly ties, he left his family to acquire knowledge through religion. He journeyed to northern India and became a disciple of Rahul Gupta. After acquiring knowledge of Buddhist mysticism, he was given the title Guhyajnanavajra. He was named Dipankar Srijnan after initiation into Buddhism by Acharya Shilarakshita, the chancellor and eminent counsellor of Odantapuri Vihara of Magadha. When he was thirty-one years old, he was raised to the highest rank of Bhikkhus by Acharya Dharmarakshita.
In 1011 AD, Dipankar, along with more than 100 disciples, went to Suvarnadwipa in what is now Malaysia, and became a disciple of Acharya Chandrakirti, under whom he studied the various branches of Buddhism for twelve years. He then returned to Magadha where he met great Buddhist scholars who all acknowledged his superior knowledge and scholarship.
Gradually, Dipankar became renowned as a scholar. The Pala king, Mahipala, appointed him Chancellor of Vikramashila Mahavihara in Bhagalpur, Bihar. In addition to his duties here, Dipankar was Professor and Chancellor for 15 years of Odantapuri and Somapura Viharas. It is believed that during his stay at SOMAPURA MAHAVIHARA he translated Madhyamakaratnapradipa. War broke out at this time between Nayapala, son of Mahipala, and Laksmikarna, king of Kalachuri. Dipankar's mediation helped to terminate hostilities and establish peace.
Shortly thereafter, the Buddhist king of Tibet, Lah Lama Yiyosi Hod (Lah Lama-ye-shes), invited Dipankar to Tibet to spread the message of Buddhism. Despite the promise of great honours, Dipankar declined. After the demise of King Lah Lama, his nephew, Chang Chub (Chyan-Chub) Jnanaprabha, became the king of Tibet. He renewed the earlier invitation. This time Dipankar accepted the offer and, accompanied by a few distinguished scholars, commenced his journey to Tibet in 1040 AD. He was warmly received along the way. In Nepal, King Anantakirti welcomed Dipankar, who founded Khana Vihara and initiated the Nepalese prince, Padmaprabha, into Buddhism.
King Chang Chub arranged a royal reception to welcome Dipankar to Tibet. An artist's depiction of this reception may still be seen on the walls of a Buddhist monastery there. A musical instrument, Ragaduna, was invented in honour of Dipankar.
Making Tho-Ling Vihara his headquarters, Dipankar travelled all over Tibet, preaching Buddhism. His endeavours helped remove tantric elements from Buddhism. Thus, Dipankar reformed Buddhism according to the MAHAYANA system and established the Buddhist Ka-dam (Ge-lug) sect.
Tibetans revere Dipankar, granting him a rank second only to Gautam Buddha and refer to him as Jobo Chhenpo (a great god). The lamas of Tibet, who hold political and religious power, feel proud to be introduced as disciples and heirs of Dipankar. The influence of Dipankar is still felt in the religion and culture of Tibet.
Dipankar wrote, translated and edited more than two hundred books, which helped spread Buddhism in Tibet. He discovered several SANSKRIT manuscripts in Tibet and copied them himself. He translated many books from Sanskrit to Bhot (Tibetan). He also wrote several books on Buddhist scriptures, medical science and technical science in Bhot. Dipankar wrote several books in Sanskrit, but only their Tibetan translations are extant now. Dipankar earned considerable fame with Tyanjur, in which 79 of his books have been preserved in Tibetan translation. Among his books are Vodhipathapradipa, Charyasanggrahapradipa, Satyadvayavatara, Vodhisattvamanyavali, Madhyamakaratnapradipa, Mahayanapathasadhanasanggraha, Shiksasamuchchaya Abhisamya, Prajnaparamitapindarthapradipa, Ekavirasadhana, Vimalaratnalekha etc. Vimalaratnalekha is a Sanskrit letter to Nayapala, king of Magadha. Charyasamgrahapradipa contains some KIRTAN verses composed by Dipankar.
After staying for thirteen years in Tibet, Dipankar died in 1053 AD in a village called Lethan, near Lhasa, at the age of 73. The site of his last rites at Lethan has turned into a shrine. His ashes were brought to Dhaka on 28 June 1978 and placed in Dharmarajika Bauddha Vihara. His birthplace, Vajrayogini, is still known as nastik panditer bhita (homestead of an atheist scholar). [Kanailal Ray]) at Bajrayogini, Baba Adam's Mosque, Dighi of Raja Haris chandra, home stead of Raja Ballal Sen, home stead of Raja Sreenath at Rampal, Rampal Dighi, Kodal Dhoar Dighi, Shyamsiddhi Math at Sreenagar, Hasara Dargah, Sholaghar Math, Bhagyakul Rajbari, residence of Jagadis Chandra Basu at Radhikhal, Jora Math at Sonarang, Kalibari at Tongibari, Taltala Pancha-shikhara Mahadeva Temple, Talukdarbari Mosque at Kusumpur, Tajpur Mosque, Patharghata Mosque, Kazishal Mosque, Palghata Bridge, Panch Pir Dargah, marble statue of Ashutosh Ganguly inside the library room of Haraganga College.
Historical events The area comprising the districts of Munshiganj stretching on the west of the Meghna and Dhaleshwari had been included in the kingdom of VIKRAMAPURA in the ancient period.
(Vikramapura the political and cultural centre of ancient Bengal survives only in the name of an area in the Munshiganj district of Bangladesh. The remains of the city of Vikramapura, the capital of the ancient kingdoms of southeastern Bengal, are lost and its location can only be guessed on the basis of available data.
The name of Vikramapura survived in the name of a pargana in the Mughal period. It appears in Todarmal's settlement in the 16th century yielding revenue of Rs 83,376. By 1728 the revenue had increased to Rs 1,03,001, and to decrease again in 1763 to Rs 24,568, partly due to creation of two new parganas, Rajnagar and Baikunthapur, out of it and partly due to the destructive activity of the Padma. Today the name does not exist even officially; but the inhabitants of a vast tract of land in the Munshiganj district still feel pride in saying that they belong to Vikramapura, which, of course, emanates from the past glory of the area.
In the ancient period Vikramapura was undoubtedly the most important political centre in the VANGA janapada. Indeed, it was the capital city of the Chandra, Varman, Sena, rulers, from the beginning of the 10th century AD to the beginning of the 13th century AD. Vikramapura appears for the first time in the copperplates of Shrichandra as sa khalu shrivikramapura samavasita shrimajjayaskandhavarat (from the royal camp of victory or capital situated at Vikramapura) and it held that position through the rule of the subsequent Varman and Sena dynasties.
Even during the rule of the Senas, who held sway over practically the whole of Bengal, Vikramapura continued to be their capital, and LAKSMANASENA came to this place after his defeat at Nadia at the hands of the Muslim invader BAKHTIYAR KHALJI, where his two sons, Vishvarupasena and Keshavasena ruled for a short period. Though the copperplates of Vishvarupasena and Keshavasena do not mention Vikramapura as the capital, but the land granted by them lay in Vikramapura bhage, indicating their hold over the area. Vikramapura's eminence continued till the early 1280s, when Danujamadhava Dasharathadeva or DANUJ RAI of Ziauddin Barani transferred his capital to nearby Suvarnagrama (SONARGAON). From then onwards, throughout the Sultanate period, it remained in oblivion, only to make a comeback as the name of a pargana in the Mughal revenue roll. The heroic resistance to Mughal aggression put up by CHAND RAI and KEDAR RAI, the zamindars of Vikramapur (two of the illustrious BARA-BHUIYANS of Bengal) added short-lived glory to Vikramapura.
Today Vikramapura is an extensive region of the Munshiganj district, and at some point of time it extended over some parts of Faridpur across the Padma. However, it must be said that it is difficult to ascertain the exact boundary of the territorial unit of that name. On the basis of the geophysical characteristics of the area an attempt can be made without any claim for exactitude. In the Thakbast Surveys map (1845-1877) there is no mention of the Kirtinasha (the Padma just before meeting the Meghna). Vikramapura comprised the area with the Padma on the west, the Dhaleswari on the north and east, and the confluence of the Arial river and the Meghna on the south. A local poet Lala Ramgati in his Mayatimirachandrika mentions that Brahmin Pundits abound in the beautiful rajya named Vikramapura, which lies between the Brahmaputra mahatirtha on the east and the Padmavati on the west.
The small river Kaliganga (shown in James Rennel's map of 1781) flowed through the middle of the tract, and on its either bank grew the prosperous villages of Idrakpur (Munshiganj), Firingibazar, Abdullapur, Mirganj, Serajdi, Sekernagar, Hasara, Sholaghar, Baraikhali, Thaodiya, Baligaon, Rajabadi etc on the north and Mulfatganj, Karatikal, Japsa, Kandapada, Shyamsundar, Khilgaon, Sarenga, Chikandi, Ganganagar, Radhanagar, Rajnagar, Ghagariya, Larikul etc on the south. The Padma, however, played havoc in the area in the 17th century and by devouring the glorious deeds of Chand Ray and Kedar Ray earned the epithet of Kirtinasha, the destroyer of relics. The Kaliganga cut through the middle of the tract dividing it into two parts: Uttara Vikramapura and Daksina Vikramapura. About 200 years ago Vikramapura was about 30 to 40 miles from east to west and about 8 to 10 miles from north to south.
The site of the city of Vikramapura has been identified with the Rampal area not far from the modern town of Munshiganj. It has been estimated on the basis of the archaeological exploration of the area that the ancient capital covered about 15 square miles, on which are situated some 17 or 18 villages. To the north is the Ichhamati river, and there still stand the remains of a very high parapet running east to west, parallel with the ancient course of the river. To the east is the ancient stream of the Brahmaputra. There are two wide moats, one on the west and one on the south, which in present times are known respectively as the Mirkadim canal and the Makuhati canal. The royal palace, known as the Vallalbadi, on high ground within the mud-fort citadel, with a 200 feet wide ditch around it, is now in ruins.
A large number of tanks, mostly dating from pre-Muslim period, can be seen around Rampal, but hardly any building of that period except the derelict ruins of temples; NK Bhattashali identified in 1929 the remains of as many as 30. Dhipur and Sonarang are the two important temple sites mentioned by him. RD Banerji also noticed structures in nearby Raghurampur. Vajrayogini, a nearby village, was the birthplace of famous Buddhist scholar ATISH DIPANKAR SRIJNAN. The whole area yielded highly valuable antiquities: sculptures of exquisite quality (both Hindu and Buddhist), objects of precious metals. A silver Visnu image from this area (Churain) is now preserved in the Indian Museum. An eleventh century divine nymph (surasundari) hewn out of a long wooden pillar and forming a part of a column (now preserved in the Bangladesh National Museum) is considered to be a unique find in the whole subcontinent. Two other wooden pillars with sculptural decorations were found from the famous Rampal Dighi (2200 ft x 840 ft). Though the present landscape around Rampal would not give any indication of the existence of a metropolis in the distant past, the find of the antiquities and the legends around speak of the past glory of the ancient city. The river system around might have also contributed to the extinction of the once prosperous city. However, the medieval ruins of a mosque and tomb of BABA ADAM SHAHID(a saint who lies buried in the courtyard of an old mosque at Abdullapur, a village in VIKRAMAPURA, not far from Rampal (Munshiganj district). An Arabic inscription attached to the mosque refers to its construction by one Malik Kafur, an officer of Sultan JALALUDDIN FATH SHAH (1481-1486). In the inscription there is no reference to Baba Adam Shahid, nor there is any authentic information about the saint in any other source.
However, according to local tradition, Baba Adam Shahid was living in Mecca as a faqir or a saintly person. At that time a certain Muslim of Kana-Chang, a village near Rampal, sought the intervention of Baba Adam against the oppression of the local ruler Ballal Sen. He sacrificed a cow to celebrate the birth of his son. For this the local Hindu king oppressed him. The unfortunate Muslim fled from the country and went to Mecca where he related the story of his misfortune to Baba Adam Shahid. Moved by the plight of a co-religionist, the saint came to help him with six to seven thousand followers. Consequently there ensued a conflict between his followers and the local people who brought the news to their king Ballal Sen. The king resolved to expel the Muslim intruders and came out with his army. The king himself took the field when the army failed to expel the Muslims. Ultimately the saint was killed but by a curious stroke of fate the king himself and his family lost their lives by throwing themselves into agnikunda or a pit of fire.
True or false this tradition is the only source for reconstructing the history of Baba Adam Shahid. Muslims had contact with Bengal through the Arab traders long before the Turkish conquest under BAKHTIYAR KHALJI in the early 13th century. But whether the Arab contact through trade and commerce could lead to Muslim settlements in an interior place like Rampal is doubtful. The inscription attached to FATH SHAH'S MOSQUE in front and in the same compound of the tomb of Baba Adam does not refer to the saint. The builder of the mosque was Malik Kafur and it is doubtful whether he also knew about the saint. It is, however, probable that the date of the saint was anterior to that of the mosque. When a Muslim settlement was established around the grave of the saint, a mosque was built there to serve the needs of the community.
The story of Baba Adam's fight with Ballal Sen is found in a book entitled Vallala-charita of Ananda Bhatta. In this book Ballal's enemy has been named as Bayadumba, obviously a corruption of Baba Adam. Baba Adam and his followers have been termed mlechchhas (a word frequently used by the Hindu writers of the period to denote the Muslims). Baba Adam is also said to have led an army of five thousand soldiers. The fate of the king and his family has been described as it is found in the tradition. But Ananda Bhatta's date is not definitely known; some modern scholars challenge the authenticity of the story, since it is in an appendix to the text. There seems, however, some truth in the assumption that there was one Ballal Sen, an influential zamindar, who rose to prominence in Vikrampur towards the close of the 14th century. He belonged to the Vaidya caste and he was a different person from Vallalasena (of the SENA DYNASTY of Bengal), who flourished in the 12th century. It was at the instance of this Ballal Sen of the Vaidya caste that Ananda Bhatta wrote his book Vallalacharita. The period of this second Ballal Sen saw the complete dismemberment of the Hindu power in Bengal.
Formerly scholars thought that Baba Adam Shahid was one of those sufis who are believed to have come to Bengal before the Turkish conquest. Whether any sufi came to Bengal before the Turkish conquest is yet to be proved; it is also doubtful whether Baba Adam Shahid came to Bengal before the conquest of Bakhtiyar Khalji. Baba Adam's date may be fixed towards the end of the 14th century. [Abdul Karim]
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, LVII, Calcutta, 1889; Muhammad Enamul Haq, A History of Sufism in Bengal, Dhaka, 1975; A Karim, Social History of the Muslims in Bengal, Chittagong, 1985.) at Rampal now stand as the only visible historical monuments in the area.
Whether the name of the village Rampal has any connection with the famous Pala king of that name is difficult to ascertain. It is known from epigraphical records that the Varman king Bhojavarman or Samalavarman propitiated the friendship of the Pala king, Ramapala by offering him elephants and chariots. It may be that Ramapala visited Vikramapura and the area near the palace where he was ceremoniously received was developed and named after him. It is unlikely that Ramapala had Vikramapura area under his control. There is a local tradition that the area was named Rampal after a local merchant. Ramananda Pal, popularly called Ramapala, was the grocer to the royal family during Vallalasena's rule, and he amassed wealth, settled down in the neighbourhood of the royal palace and came to be recognised as a respectable person. When Vallalasena dug his dighi, it stretched up to Ramapala's house. A local proverb goes like this: Vallal katay dighi name Rampal (the tank was excavated by Vallal, but it got the name of Rampal). [AM Chowdhury]
Bibliography Dilip K Chakrabarti, Ancient Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1992; Yogendranath Gupta, Vikramapurer Itihasa (in Bangla), Kalkata, 1405 BS.
During the Sena rule Vikramapura in East Bengal had been the second capital of the Senas in addition to their capital at Nadia. After the fall of Nadia in the hands of BAKHTIYAR KHALJI (1204) the Sena King LAKSHMANASENA fled to Vikramapura and began to rule East Bengal. After the death of Lakshmanasena (1206) his descendants Visvarupasena and Kesavasena ruled in Vikramapura till at least 1223 AD. Some historians postulate that the sons of Lakshamanasena ruled in Vikramapura up to 1243-45 AD. Raja Dasarathadeva Danujmadhava (Danuj Rai), the Deva king of Chandradvipa, ousted the Senas from Vikramapura in the third quarter of the thirteenth century and ruled the south-eastern Bengal till the end of the thirteenth century.
During the Mughal rule the present Munshiganj town including the outlying areas was known as Idrakpur which was named after the then Mughal faujdar Idrak. A village on the outskirts of Munshiganj town is still known as Idrakpur. During the British rule Idrakpur was renamed as Munshiganj after the name of Munshi Enayet Ali, the local ZAMINDAR and the inhabitant of the village Kazi Kasba in Rampal.
During the WAR OF LIBERATION of 1971 the Pak army raided Munshiganj and Kewar on 9 and 14 May respectively and killed some youths there. They launched an attack on the innocent villagers at Gazaria upazila on 5 May and killed about four hundred villagers by gun-shot. The people of Narayanganj in alliance with youths of Munshiganj resisted an attack of the Pak army on Narayanganj on 31 March. Hundreds of youths were recruited as freedom fighters and were given military training at Dhalgaon area in the month of July and they took part in various operations against the Pak army. The freedom fighters raided Sreenagar police station on August 11, Lauhajang police station within a few days and the Tongibari police station at the end of September, procured huge arms and ammunitions and Lohajang police station was set on fire. The freedom fighters attacked the motor-launches of the Pak-army on 24 September at Galimpur and Goalimandra and killed more than one hundred Pak soldiers. On the night of Shab-e-Qadr the freedom fighters numbering only 115 launched a combined attack on the Pak army stationed at Munshiganj and captured the town.
Marks of War of Liberation Mass killing site 3, memorial monument 3, mass grave 1.
Population 1293536; male 50.09%, female 49.91%; Muslim 90.78%, Hindu 8.01%, Christian 1.2%, Buddhist 0.01%. Ethnic nationals include snake charmers, cobblers (Rishi) and scavengers of Munshir Hat.
Religious institutions Mosque 1478, temple 108, tomb 10, church 9.
Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 35.8%; male 40.3%, female 31.1%. Educational institutions: college 16, high school 82, junior high school 11, primary training institute 1, technical training centre 3, madrasa 87, government primary school 423, non-government primary school 78, kindergarten 5, mass-education centre 688.
Newspapers and periodicals Daily Munshiganjer Kaghaz, Weekly Munshiganj, Weekly Munshiganj Sangbad, Monthly Vikrampur; Defunct papers: Monthly Palli-Vijnan, Hindu Intelligencer, Mukti, Vikrampur Patrika (1920), Gramer Katha (weekly, 1962), Anusandhan, Chetana, Kaler Vela, Sangsaptak, Sarab, Kavitapatra, Vikrampur Mukhasri, Weekly Vikrampur Barta, Vikrampur.
Cultural organisations Club 267, public library 16, various organisations 378, women's association 47, theatre group 10, jatra party 2, drama stage 1, cinema hall 15, stadium 2, museum 1, musical academy 2, art school 1.
Main occupations Agriculture 27.43%, agricultural labourer 21.96%, fishing 2.25%, hawker 1.02%, construction 1.57%, commerce 19.46%, service 9.28%, transport 1.67%, wage labourer 2.87% and others 12.49%.
Land use Cultivable land 56594 hectares; single crop 23%, double crop 44%, triple crop land 33%. Arable land under irrigation 36%.
Land control Among the peasants, 13.2% are landless, 27.06% marginal, 35.26% small, 18.65% intermediate, 5.83% rich; cultivable land per head 0.047 hectare.
Value of land The market value of the first grade arable land is Tk 22800 per 0.01 hectare.
Main crops Potato, jute, rice, betel leaf, wheat, mustard, sesame, gram, lentil, pea, chilli, coriander, ground nut, maize, patal, karalla tomato, sweet pumpkin, vegetables.
Extinct and nearly extinct crops Indigo, kaun, linseed, arahar (pulse), kalai (pulse).
Main fruits Banana, mango, papaya, jackfruit, litchi, melon, watermelon, black berry, pomegranate, guava, wood apple, shaddock, plum, palm, coconut, elephant apple.
Fisheries, poultries and dairies Livestock and dairy 309, poultry 237, fishery 179, hatchery 6.
Communication facilities Roads: pucca 242.27 km, semi pucca 127 km, mud road 1339 km; launch ghat 29, ferry ghat 16, boat mahal 5.
Traditional transport Palanquin (extinct), horse carriage and bullock cart (nearly extinct), boat.
Manufactories Large industries 6, medium industries 20, ice mill and cold storage 60, rice mill (300+), saw mill 27.
Cottage industries Cottage industries of various categories 727.
Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 101, fair 34.
Main exports Potato, banana, paddy, pathal, jute, betel leaf, sweet pumpkin, vegetables, milk, milk food, sack, cotton yarn, copper utensil, bamboo and cane materials.
NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are ASA, BRAC, GRAMEEN BANK, CARITAS, World Vision, PROSHIKA, Samaj Parivartan Kendra, Country Mission, CARE, RSD, Vikrampur Ayn Sahajya Sangstha, Yuba Sangha, Mahila Angana.
Health centres Hospital 1, upazila health complex 5, family planning centre 48, satellite clinic 22, mother and child care centre 1, charitable dispensary 4, private clinic 4, pathological laboratory 3, artificial breeding centre 1, veterinary hospital 7. [Ratantanu Ghosh]
|
|
