Padma Division
পদ্মা বিভাগ
Gangarid-Fatehabad
Faridpur Division in Bangladesh
Faridpur Division in Bangladesh
Coordinates: Pe:GNS-enwiki 23°36′N 89°50′E / 23.60°N 89.84°E / 23.60; 89.84
Country Bangladesh
CapitalFaridpur
Area
  Total6,913.44 km2 (2,669.29 sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+6 (BST)

Padma Division (Bengali: পদ্মা বিভাগ) is a proposed administrative division within Bangladesh for the southern parts of the existing Dhaka Division, comprising Faridpur, Gopalganj, Madaripur, Rajbari, and Shariatpur Districts of Dhaka Division.[1][2] The headquarters of the division is to be in Faridpur. This division will be named after its affiliated river Padma.[3]

History

The proposed Padma division was once under Gangaridai and Vanga Kingdom of ancient Bengal with its capital at Kotalipara in present day Gopalganj district of Bangladesh.[4] Later it was ruled by local Hindu rajas and Muslim sultans until the Mughal conquest of Bengal in the 16th century, after which many nobles and merchants from North India settled in the area. In 1582 in the reign of Emperor Akbar, the province of Bengal was formed into 33 sarkars or financial sub-divisions, and Faridpur area appears to have been included within the sarkar of Muhammad Abud and was known as Fatehabad.

In 1765 the British took over the financial administration of Faridpur, together with the rest of Bengal. The greater portion of Faridpur was then comprised within Dhaka District. In 1811 Faridpur was separated from Dacca collectorate. The district was initially known as Fatehabad.[5] Under British rule in 1860, the district was named as Faridpur after 12th-century Sufi saint, Shah Sheikh Fariduddin.[6][7] In 1984, with the decentralization program of the Bangladesh government, Faridpur district was reorganized into five separate districts: Rajbari, Gopalgonj, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Faridpur.

On 7 May 2017 Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain announced that the new Division will be renamed as Padma Division after Padma River, a major river in Bangladesh and main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally northeast of the proposed division.[8][9]

Administrative districts

The Division will be subdivided into five districts (zilas) and thence into 30 sub-districts (upazilas).

NameCapitalArea (km²)Population
1991 Census
Population
2001 Census
Population
2011 Census
Faridpur DistrictFaridpur2,052.681,505,6861,756,4701,912,969
Gopalganj DistrictGopalganj1,468.741,060,7911,165,2731,172,415
Madaripur DistrictMadaripur1,125.691,069,1761,146,3491,165,952
Rajbari DistrictRajbari1,092.28835,173951,9061,049,778
Shariatpur DistrictShariatpur1,174.05953,0211,082,3001,155,824
Total56,913.445,423,8476,102,2986,456,938

See also

References

  1. "3 new divisions to be formed". The Independent. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  2. "People want Faridpur division early". The News Today. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  3. দেশের নবম বিভাগ পদ্মা. The Daily Ittefaq.
  4. "Kotalipara, Banglapedia".
  5. "Faridpur" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. Kamal Siddiqui. "Local Government". In Sirajul Islam (ed.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  7. "Faridpur". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  8. "Faridpur will be made as 'Padma division' soon: Mosharraf". Daily Sun.
  9. বিভাগ হচ্ছে ফরিদপুর তিন মাসের মধ্যে সিটির নির্বাচন. Prothom Alo (in Bengali).
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