Nilphamari District


Nilphamari is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division. It is about 400 kilometres to the northwest of the capital Dhaka. It has an area of. Nilphamari is bounded by Rangpur and Lalmonirhat in east, Rangpur and Dinajpur in south, Dinajpur and Panchagarh in west, Cooch Behar of India in north. There are many rivers in Nilphamari such as the Tista, Buritista, Isamoti, Jamuneshwari, Dhum, Kumlai, Charalkata, Sorbomongola, Salki, Chikli, Deonai and many more.

Etymology

About 200 years ago, the British established farms for cultivating indigo. The soil of this area was very fertile for indigo cultivation. As a result, a lot of nil kuthi and nil khamar were built here compared to the other districts. It is widely believed that the term "nil khamari" was derived from "nil khamar" by the local farmers. And then the word "Nilphamari" was derived from "Nil khamari".

History

Nilphamari was previously under the Rajshahi division. The Nilphamari subdivision was established in 1875.
It was a subdivision of the Rangpur District. It was turned into a district in 1984. The district consists of 3 municipalities, 33 wards, 65 mahallas, 62 union parishads, 390 mouzas and 370 villages.

Historical speciality

The historical Tebhaga movement spread over Domar and Dimla of this district in the 1940s. Indigo used to be cultivated extensively in this district. Syedpur is best known for its railway workshop. In 1870, the Assam-Bengal railway set up its largest workshop in Syedpur and many Biharis or Urdu-speakers came to work there. During the British rule the telephone exchange for the whole Assam-Bengal District was also situated in Syedpur, and it was the third-largest city of Bangladesh after Dhaka and Chittagong. Syedpur had the first airport in North Bengal. There was also a cantonment during the British period.

Administration

Upazila PopulationMaleFemale
Nilphamari Sadar 435,165219,080216,082
Saidpur Upazila 265,461134,737131,724
Jaldhaka 341,672171,466169,206
Kishoreganj 261,069130,931130,138
Domar 249,429125,338124,091
Dimla 283,438142,412141,026
Total1,834,231922,964911,267

Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Economy

Nilphamari has an agriculture-based economy. Nilphamari produces rice, wheat, potato, tobacco, and many seasonal crops. The major occupation of the people is farming. Among the working population 45.28% are farmers, 27.81% are farm labourers, 3.42% are daily workers, 8.65% are businessmen, 6.07% are government and non-government employers, 8.77% have other occupations.

Places of interest

The literacy rate of Nilphamari is 49.69% according to the 2011 consensus. There are 940 primary schools, 295 high schools, 95 colleges, 1 medical college, 2 government and 17 non-government technical institutes, 1 P.T.I., 115 dakhil madrasas, 24 alim madrasas, 14 fajil madrasas and one kamil madrasa in Nilphamari.

Nilsagar

Nilsagar a famous historical dighi that stands at Dhobadanga mauza of Gorgram union about 14 km southwest of Nilphamari district headquarters. During the reign of Raja Birat there were many cow farms at Gorgram. Raja Birat dug a large dighi named as Birat Dighi or Birna Dighi or Binna Dighi for the cows. After the independence of Bangladesh, the dighi was renamed as Nilsagar. A Hindu mandir stands on the east bank and an abode of a Muslim darvesh on the west bank of the dighi. The area of the dighi is 21.449 ha and depth ranges from 7m to 12m. The entire dighi is surrounded by brick walls. The main decorated ghat of the dighi was made by Raja Birat. Every year the banks of the dighi are used as a village fair site especially during the occasion of Baruni Snan festival in the full moon of the month of Baisakh. Usually, in the fair the Harikirtan singers play music with many kinds of kirtan songs. Every year many tourists and various kinds of migratory birds come here. It is well known as a recreation zone and a picnic spot.

Transportation

Nilphamari has a direct connection to Dhaka by bus and train. Trains available in Nilphamari are Nilsagor express, Borendro express, Titumir express, Rupsa express and Simanto express. Major bus agencies are Greenline, Nabil travels, Shyamoli travels, Hanif travels, S.A. travels, Bablu travels, Agomoni travels, and BRTC. There is also an airport in Nilphamari.

Demographics

The population of Nilphamari district is 1,907,497. The male population is 959,857 and the female population is 947,640. The density of population is 1215 per km2. 82.84% of the total population are Muslims, 17.18% are Hindus, 0.07% are Christians, 0.02% are Buddhists and 0.1% are others.

Famous people