Rajapur
রাজাপুর
Upazila
Location of Rajapur
Coordinates: 22°34′N 90°8.5′E / 22.567°N 90.1417°E / 22.567; 90.1417
Country Bangladesh
DivisionBarisal Division
DistrictJhalakati District
HeadquartersRajapur Union
Thana1920
Upazila1983
Government
 • Upazila ChairmanMuhammad Maniruzzaman
 • MP (Jhalokati-1)Bazlul Haque Haroon
Area
 • Total164.59 km2 (63.55 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total148,494
 • Density900/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+6 (BST)
Websiterajapur.jhalakathi.gov.bd

Rajapur (Bengali: রাজাপুর) is an upazila (sub-district) of southern Bangladesh's Jhalokati District, part of the Barisal Division.[1]

Geography

Rajapur is located at 22°40′00″N 90°08′30″E / 22.6667°N 90.1417°E / 22.6667; 90.1417. It has 28,131 households and a total area of 164.59 km2.

History

The historic Khan Bari triple mosque in Angaria village was situated in the home of Asmat Ali Khan.[2][3]

The current Rajapur Upazila is home to many archeological sites such as forts and mosques. The Indrapasha Qila was thought to have been constructed during the reign of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the late seventeenth century. It was a fort built to suppress the Maghs and Portuguese pirates around the Bay of Bengal. In 1664, Shaista Khan was appointed as the Mughal governor of Bengal to defeat the pirates. Khan constructed many forts with his accomplice, Muhammad Azam, including the Indrapasha Qila. The Qila no longer stands, existing only as a soil mound. In the same period, Keshwar Singh, who is thought to have been a Mughal general, constructed the triple mosques of Angaria Khan Bari. A triple mosque was also constructed in the Niz Galua Mia Bari which also remains as one of the archeological tourist attractions of Rajapur.[3]

During the Muslim rule, southern Chandradwip (including Rajapur) was governed by two sardars, one of whom was Reza Khan. The area was named Rezapur, which later became corrupted to Rajapur. In 1716, Mahmud Jan Akhand (Mamuji) established the Galua Paka Mosque in Durgapur village.[4] Rajapur was also home to a zamindar family in Saturia descended from Khan Jahan Ali's disciple Shaykh Ahmad Sajenda. Sajenda's descendant Sheikh Shahabuddin (1626-1745) assisted the widow of Pran Narayan, the zamindar of Rayerkathi, in restoring their zamindari privileges by visiting the court of the Nawabs of Bengal in Murshidabad. Pran Narayan's heir Mahendra Narayan successively became the next zamindar of Rayerkathi, and as a reward, his mother gifted Sheikh Shahabuddin with a taluk in Saturia. Sheikh Shahabuddin founded the historic Shuktagarh Mosque, and is buried in a mazar (mausoleum) in close proximity to it.[5] The Khanom Manzil in Barisal city was established by Mehrunnisa Khanom, who was the female zamindar of Sultanabad Pargana in present-day Rajapur along with Syed Abdullah Chowdhury. A police outpost was founded in Rajapur by the British Raj in 1920, which was established as a thana (police station) in 1937.[6]

The Galua Paka Mosque is an archeological heritage site in Rajapur.
Ancient Triple Jame Mosque in Rajapur.

In 1940, the Rajapur Fazil Madrasa was established. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, a brawl took place between the Bengali freedom fighters against the Pakistan Army on 21 October at the Rajapur thana (police station compound). In the aftermath, 8 Pakistan Army soldiers and 3 freedom fighters were killed. The freedom fighters raided the thana on 27 November, gaining control and thus liberating Rajapur. Dilwar Husayn of Gopalpur village was appointed as a sub-sector commander for Dinajpur under Sector 6 and later awarded Bir Protik. Alamtaj Begum Sabi was a notable female freedom fighter of Rajapur.[7] The status of Rajapur Thana was upgraded to upazila (sub-district) in 1983 as part of the President of Bangladesh Hussain Muhammad Ershad's decentralisation programme.[1]

List of liberation war martyrs from Rajapur[7]
Name Village Notes
Muhammad Yaqub Ali (1926-1971) Saturia Mia Bari Secretary for A. K. Fazlul Huq, killed in Dhaka on 15 December
Abul Kalam Babul Galua MCom student, tortured to death in Rajapur police station for possession of weaponry
Qazi Abul Husayn Saturia East Pakistan Rifles member, killed in Jessore
Muhammad Harun ar-Rashid Manoharpur Sipahi killed on 1 November in Banaripara
Ashrab Ali Hawladar Adakhola
Mufazzal Husayn Sangar
Abdur Rahman Ghazi Great Kaibarttakhali
Ismail Khan Tarabunia
Rahman Khan Tarabunia
Abdur Razzaq Sangar Murdered in Rajapur police station
Abdur Rashid Sardar Chankati
Nesaruddin Hawladar Sangar
Abdul Mannan Hawladar Naikathi
Firoz Kabir Saikrail Murdered under the Dargah Bari bridge on 13 November
Abul Husayn Taluqdar Manoharpur

Demographics

Religions in Rajapur upazila (2011)[8]
Religion Percent
Islam
 
 94.53%
Hinduism
 
 5.33%
Other or not stated
 
 0.14%

According to the 2011 Bangladesh census, Rajapur Upazila had 33,903 households and a population of 148,494. 34,870 (23.48%) were under 10 years of age. Rajapur has a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 63.9%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 1090 females per 1000 males. 16,133 (10.86%) lived in urban areas.[8][9]

According to the 1991 Bangladesh census, Rajapur had a population of 143,659. Males constituted 49.93% of the population, and females 50.07%. The population aged 18 or over was 72,392. Rajapur had an average literacy rate of 52.7% (7+ years), compared to the national average of 32.4%.[10]

Administration

Rajapur Upazila is divided into six union parishads: Baraia, Galua, Mathbari, Rajapur, Saturia, and Suktagarh. The union parishads are subdivided into 72 mauzas and 75 villages.[11]

Chairmen

List of chairmen
Name Notes
Taluqdar Shamim Jahangir
Muhammad Abdus Shukkur Mridha
Milan Mahmud Bacchu
Muhammad Maniruzzaman Present

Notable people

The Saturia Mia Bari was the birthplace of Prime Minister A. K. Fazlul Huq.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Siddiqui, Muhammad Golam Mustafa (2012). "Rajapur Upazila". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "ঝালকাঠির প্রত্নঐতিহ্য: রাজাপুরের খাঁনবাড়ি মসজিদ কম্প্লেক্স". Study Research (in Bengali).
  3. 1 2 3 Bulbul, Sayful Ahsan (2012). "খানবাড়ি মসজিদ, আংগারিয়া, ইন্দ্রপাশার কেল্লা". বৃহত্তর বরিশালের ঐতিহাসিক নিদর্শন [Historical signs of greater Barisal]. Dhaka: Gatidhara.
  4. ↑ "গালুয়া পাকা মসজিদের ইতিহাস". Dhaka Times (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  5. ↑ Rai, Khosalchandra (2000). "পরিশিষ্ট". বৃহত্তর বাকরগঞ্জের ইতিহাস [History of Greater Bakarganj] (in Bengali). Radical Kolkata. p. 363.
  6. ↑ "উপজেলার পটভূমি". Rajapur Upazila (in Bengali). Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 Ahmed, Siraj Uddin (2010). "রাজাপুর উপজেলার শহীদ মুক্তিযোদ্ধাগণ". বরিশাল বিভাগের ইতিহাস [History of Barisal Division] (in Bengali). Vol. 1. Dhaka: Bhaskar Prakashani.
  8. 1 2 "Community Report: Jhalokati" (PDF). Population & Housing Census 2011. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Bangladesh Population & Housing Census-2011, Zila Report: Jhalokati" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. p. 18.
  10. ↑ "Population Census Wing, BBS". Archived from the original on 2005-03-27. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
  11. ↑ "District Statistics 2011: Jhalokati" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
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