Rangpur, Bangladesh

Rangpur ( _bn. রংপুর) is one of the major cities in Bangladesh. Rangpur is considered as the centre of northwestern Bangladesh. Recently established public university of Bangladesh named as "The University of Rangpur" is situated in the southern part of the city. Earlier Rangpur was the headquarter of "Greater Rangpur" district. Later the Greater Rangpur district was broken down into Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha districts. As a hub of trade, business and non-governmental organisational activities its influence over the districts under Greater-Dinajpur is also considerable.

Places of Interest:

* Rangpur Museum- Just south of the city of Rangpur lies the Tajhat, a former "rajbari" or zamindar's palace. After the end of the British Raj, the building was abandoned and decayed rapidly, although it was used for a few years as a courthouse during the 1980s. In the year 2004, it was largely restored and turned into a museum which hosts an impressive collection of Blackstone Hindu carvings, calligraphic art from the mughal period, other objets d'art and coins from the area on display. Due to lack of funding, the museum is sometimes closed. The entry fee for non-Bangladeshi tourists is 200 taka.

* Carmichael College is located in the southern part of the city and just a few minutes' drive from Rangpur city centre. It is one of the most important educational institutes in northern part of Bangladesh. It is famous for its lush green campus.

* Established in 1969, "Rangpur Cadet College" is an important educational institute in this city which is situated 5 kilometer far from city at Modern (the then Residential Model School) cross-section.

* Rangpur Zila School is the most famous school in this region of Bangladesh, established more than a century ago. It gained a high reputation. It is located in the "Cross-section of 'RDRS, Dhap and Kerani Para"' of the city.

* RDRS (Rangpur and Dinajpur Rural Service) Bangladesh [http://www.rdrsbangla.net] , an NGO in northwest Bangladesh, has a large office and guesthouse/convention center in the town of Rangpur.

Lifestyle

For shopping, there are two large shopping complexes. One is the older "Municipal Super Market", a three-storied building with a variety of small shops selling everything from soap, shoes and clothes to motorcycles, TVs and fans. There is a more modern building called the Jahaj Company Shopping Complex which has Rangpur's only escalator. At the top of this building is a department store, selling a wide assortment of children's toys, Indian kurtas, shalwar kameezes and saris, and other collectibles.

Karupanya is another store on Station Road which sells Rangpur's famous Satranji handloom carpets, which have earned acclaim for their extraordinary aesthetic appeal. The carpets were made in the village of Nishbetganj and were greatly popular in the Mughal era. In fact, it is believed that emperor Akbar used these carpets to adorn his palace in Delhi.

Karupanya was founded by Shafiqul Alam Selim, who re-established the cottage industry of Satranji at Nishbetganj village. Starting with just five weavers, he has increased to more than 300 weavers today (March 2005) and is now exporting to foreign countries on a small scale. One can purchase a Satranji carpet at the Karupannya showroom in Rangpur or in Banani, Dhaka.

People from Rangpur

*William Beveridge, British economist who wrote the "Beveridge Report" that influenced United Kingdom to implement welfare state policies after World War II.

* Begum Rokeya, a famous writer and educationist who promoted education among Muslim women in the subcontinent.

* Hussain Mohammed Ershad, a controversial politician. He was president of Bangladesh during 1982-9o.