Jessore District


Jessore District, officially known as Jashore District, is a district in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. It is bordered by India to the west, Khulna District and Satkhira District to the south, khulna and Narail to the east, and Jhenaidah District and Magura District to the north. The district produces a variety of crops year-round. Date sugar, called patali, is made from the sap of locally grown date trees. It is cooked, thickened and crystallised using a traditional method. Patali is mainly produced in Khajura, but many date trees are cultivated in the Keshabpur Upazila and Manirampur Upazila areas. Jessore is the capital of the district.
Jessore district was established in 1781. It consists of 8 municipalities, 8 upazilas, 92 unions, 1329 mouzas, 1477 villages and 120 mahallas. Upazilas are Abhaynagar Upazila, Bagherpara Upazila, Chaugachha Upazila, Jessore Sadar Upazila, Jhikargachha Upazila, Keshabpur Upazila, Manirampur Upazila, and Sharsha Upazila.

History

Jessore district once belonged to the ancient Janapada kingdom of Banga Janapada. In the 15th century, Jessore was a part of the kingdom of Pratapaditya.
The fiscal administration was then placed in English hands, having been transferred to the East India Company with that of the rest of Bengal in 1765.
British administration was finally established in Jessore district in 1781 when the governor-general ordered the opening of a court at Murali near Jessore. In 1947, Jessore was divided between India and Pakistan. Except for the Bangaon and Gaighata thanas, the district became part of East Pakistan.
The Bengali soldiers stationed at Jessore cantonment mutinied against the Pakistan Army on 29 March 1971. They were led by Captain Hafiz Uddin and Lieutenant Anwar in an uprising where 300 soldiers were killed. The rebels killed 50 Pakistani soldiers with machine gun fire at Chanchara.
On 6 December 1971, Jessore became the first district of Bengal to be liberated from Pakistani forces. And Jessore is the first digital district in Bangladesh.

Geography

Jessore District encompasses 2606.98 km². It is bounded by Jhenaidaha and Magura districts at the north, Satkhira and Khulna districts at the south, Narail and Khulna districts at the east, and North 24 Parganas
and Nadia districts of West Bengal of India at the west. Major rivers that flow through this region are the Bhairab, Teka, Hari, Sree, Aparbhadra, Harihar, Buribhadra, Chitra, Betna, Kopotakkho, and the Mukteshwari.

Climate

Annual average temperature range from. The annual rainfall is.

Demographics

Jessore District had a population of 2,764,547 at the 2011 Census. 85.5% of the population are Muslims, 14.21% are Hindus and the remaining 0.29% practise another religion.
The main occupations are agriculture 39.84%, agricultural labourer 24.13%, wage labourer 2.68%, commerce 11.99%, service 8.66%, industry 1.41%, transport 3.11% and others 8.18%.
Jessore District's administrative framework was established in 1781. It consists of the following eight Upazilas
:
UpazilaArea in
km2		2011 Census
population		UpazilaArea in
km2		2011 Census
population
Abhaynagar Upazila247.21262,434Keshabpur Upazila258.44253,291
Bagherpara Upazila308.29216,897Jessore Sadar Upazila435.22742,898
Chaugachha Upazila269.31231,370Manirampur Upazila444.20417,421
Jhikargachha Upazila307.96298,908Sharsha Upazila336.28341,328

The upazilas are further divided into 9 municipalities, 36 wards, 92 unions, 1329 mouzas, 1434 villages and 120 mahallas.

Economy

Benapol Land Port

The main factor of the economics of Jessore is Benapol Land Port which is situated in Sharsa upajela. Much of the import and export trading between Bangladesh and India is done through this port. On the other side of the border is Petrapole. The port is important for making govt. import taxes.

Arts and culture

Points of interest

Solo Khada Jamidar Bari, House and birthplace of Ratna Gorva awarded by British Govt. and her son former Health minister of India Dr. Nil Ratan Dhor and his brother Jebon Ratan Dhor

Transport

Jessore has communication links with nearby districts. It has highways for transportation to West and East Bengal.
Jessore is a junction on the broad gauge-based network of the Eastern Railway. The network has links extended into Indian territory. Service linking the capital Dhaka and the Indian city Kolkata was to start April 2008. Jessore is about midway along the route.
The Jessore Airport, near the city, is an airfield for the Bangladesh Air Force. Alongside military service, its runway caters to seven commercial flights daily which includes US Bangla, Novo and Biman Bangladesh Airlines, for domestic flights.

Education

Universities

Local newspapers and magazines

;List of daily newspapers
;List of weekly magazines
;List of Fortnightly
;List of monthly magazines
;List of literary magazines