- Bogra District
Infobox of BD districts
native_name = Bogra
skyline = BD Mahasthangarh1.jpg
skyline_size =
skyline_caption = Ramparts of Mahasthangarh citadel in Bogra
locator_position = right
latd = 24.78
longd = 89.35
division_name = Rajshahi Division
population_as_of = 1991
population_total = 2,988,567
population_density = 1,023.52
literacy_rate = 28.4%
area_total = 2,919.9
website = banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/B_0569.htm
website_caption = Banglapedia ArticleBogra ( _bn. বগুড়া "Bogura") is a northern district of
Bangladesh , in theRajshahi Division . It is called the gateway to the northBengal . It is an industrial city where many small and mid sized industries are housed. Bogra District was a part of the ancientPundravardhana territory andBogra was the capital ofPundravardhana Fact|date=June 2008. Bogra is famous for its historical values withPundravardhana as former capital, which is now known asMahasthangarh .Fact|date=June 2008Bogra Cantonment is located in Bogra District.History
Ancient History
The Bogra District occupies an important place in the legendary and the earlier historical annals of
Bengal . In the ancient period, it was a part of the territory of thePundras orPaundras , which was known by the name ofPundravardhana . Pundravardhana was one of the kingdoms of Eastern India and was separated by the stream of Karatoya from the more easterly kingdom ofPrag-Jyotisha orKamrup a. The name,Pundravardhana , occurs frequently in theMahabharata ,Ramayana and the variousPuranas . According to the Mahabharata and thePurana s,Vasudeva , a powerful prince of the Pundra family, is said to have ruled overPundravardhana as far back as 1280 B.C. The claims of the district to antiquity, however, rests chiefly on association which centre round the old fortified town, now known asMahasthangarh .Bangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, pp. 27] .This district was under the following rules:
The Mauryas (4th Century to 3rd Century B.C.)
This district was under the rule of the
Mauryas in the 4th Century B.C. This is evident from the existence of someAsokan Pillars in many parts of Pundravardhana and from the discovery of an oldBrahmi Inscription atMahasthangarh in this district.Bhadra Babu, a high priest of theJaina church and a son of aBrahmin ofKotivarsha inPundravardhana , was the Jain-Guru ofChandra Gupta Maurya . As Asoka was a firm believer inBuddhism , he put to death many nakedSectarians (presumbly theJain s in Pundravardhana, because they did so despite the Buddhist worship.The Guptas (3rd Century A.D. to the 5th Century A.D.)
The Gupta authority over this district is revealed from the discovery of a number of inscriptions of that period from Pundravardhana. Pundravardhana was a
Bhukti under the rule of Guptas till the end of the 5th century A.D.asanka (the first quarter of the 7th Century A.D.)
By the beginning of the 6th Century A.D. this region might have passed under the rule of the
Gaudas ofBengal . But the history of a century of this district lies in obscurity. However, at the beginning of the 7th century A.D.Sasanka came upon the throne ofGauda and he definitely exercised his authority overPundravardhana (including this district).Bangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, pp. 27-28] .Harshavardhana (the second quarter of the 7 the Century A.B.)
This region must have passed after death of Sasanka under the rule of
Harshavardhana (606-647 A.D.).This evident from the account of a Chinese Pilgrim namedHiuen Tsang orYuan Chwang , who visited Pundravardhana probably in 640 A.D.The Palas (C. 750-1150 A.D.)
By the middle of the 8th century A.D. (C. 750 A.D.) one
Gopal assumed control of the affairs overNorthern Bengal , established a royal dynasty known as thePala Dynasty . After Gopal was elected king, he took his seat inPundravardhana . He ruled over the region up to C. 780 A.D. and was succeeded by his sonDharmapala (C. 781-821 A.D.). The Pala Kings had peaceful possession of this district up to the end of their rule over Bengal which ended in the 12th century A.D.
Dharmapala was the son and the successor of Gopala, extended his power beyond Pundravardhana. Like his father he was a Buddhist and founded the famousBuddhist Vihara at Somapuri inVarendra , the ruins of which have been discovered in theNaogaon District.The Senas (C. 1150-1204 A.D.)
The Senas originally came from the
Deccan and settled inWest Bengal .Vijayasena was the first great ruler of the dynasty. He defeated the last Pala kingMadanapala , and established his authority over this district. He was succeeded by his son, Vallalsena (1160-1178 A.D.} who was in definite possession of the district. He built his capital at Bhabanipur (a shakti-peeth) in this district. Lakshmanasena (1178-1204 A.D.), the son and successor of Vallal Sena, exercised authority over this district till he was driven out by Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad-bin-Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1204 A.D. Even after this date, a dynasty of Sena Rajas ruled for nearly a century over the north-eastern tract of this district as feudatory chiefs under the suzeranity of the Muslim rulers ofBengal . Their capital was at Kamalpur, a few miles to the north of Bhabanipur (a site of pilgrimage for the Hindu devotees) and little to the south of Sherpur. Achyuta Sena was the last Prince of the lineBangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, p. 28] ..British Era
The present District of Bogra, was first formed in 1821 during British rule. In the 1901 census, the population of the district (on a reduced area) was around 854,533, an increase of 11% in the decade, the census revealed there was no town with as many as 10,000 inhabitants [] .
Battle of Bogra
The area was enveloped in thick fighting in the
Battle of Bogra between the allied troops ofMitro Bahini andIndian Army (combined) which defeated thePakistan Army during theBangladesh Liberation War of1971 .Geography and climate
Formation of Land
Geobox River
name = Karatoya River
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image_size =
image_caption = Karatoya River nearMahasthangarh
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country = Bangladesh
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region = Rajshahi Division
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city = Bogra
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map_caption =The area consisting whole of Upazila Sariakandi, Gabtali,
Sonatala and major part Dhunat is called the eastern alluvial tract. Fertilised by the silt of flood waters, the eastern alluvion is one of the most fertile and prosperous areas in Bogra, Jite, aus, aman paddy, sugarcane and pulses are grown. Sometimes as many as three or more crops are grown on one field in a year without any apparent diminution of its productivity.Bangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, pp. 81] .The wester portion of the district is a marked contrast to the eastern one. In most parts it is well-wooded. Dense serub jungle is to be found is Upazilas of Sherpur and in parts of Sibganj, which has a comparatively large proportion of cultivable waste land. This part of the district is slightly higher than the eastern parts and is generally above flood level. The soil of this part is generally suited to the growth paddy.
Adamdighi is well-known for the fine qualities of rice. This rice is grown some extent in the Shibganj Upazila.The tract to the east of the Karatoya is a part of the valley of the
Brahmaputra and is generally low-lying and intersected by numerous khals (Canals ) and shallow swamps and marshes. It is subject to yearly inudation from the overflow of theBrahmaputra and, therefore, gets a rich deposit of silt. There is very little jungle and almost the entire area is under cultivation.Rivers
There are quite a few rivers in the Bogra District. The Karatoya is the central divider of water-channel of the district, the other rivers may be classified into the eastern and western systemsBangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, pp. 2-8] .Names of the some important rivers of this district are as follows:
#The Bangali
#The Karatoya
#The Jamuna
#The Nagar
#The TulshigangaUrban structure
Civic Administration
Bogra Pourashava (Bogra Municipal Corporation) is the civic administration of the city of Bogra.
Thana(Upazilas)
Bogra has 12
Subdistrict s (Upazila s):#Adamdighi
#Bogra Sadar
#Dhunat
#Dupchanchia
#Gabtali
#Kahaloo
#Nandigram
#Sariakandi
#Sahajanpur
#Sherpur
#Shibganj
#SonatalaAgriculture
Fruits
The fruit trees indigenous to Bogra district areas as followsBangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, pp. 16-16] :
# TheMango or Aim ("Mangifera indica ");
# TheGuava or Peyara ("Psidium ");
# TheJamun or Jam ("Syzygium cumini ");
# TheCustard-apple or Aata ("Annona reticulata ");
# TheTamarind or Tetul ("Tamarindus indica ");
# TheGrapefruit or Batabi nebu ("Citrus grandis ");
# TheLime or Nebu ("Citrus aurantifolia ");
# TheJackfruit or Kathal ("Artocarpus heterophyllus ");
# ThePapaya or Pepe ("Carica papaya ");
# Thepineapple or Anaras ("Ananas comosus ");
# TheBadam ("Terminalia catappa ");
# TheBanana or Kala ("Musa pradisiaca ");
# TheCocoanut or Narikel ("Cocos nucifera ");
# TheLichi or Lichu ("Litchi chinensis ");
# ThePomgranate or Dalim ("Punica granatum ");
# TheDate or Khejur ("Phoenix sylvestris ");
# TheFig or Dumur ("Ficus hispida ");
# TheHaritaki ("Terminalia chebula ");
# The Palm or Tal ("Borssus flabel lifer ");The
Jackfruit ,Mango andBanana are abundant; but theDate andCocoanut are both scarce.Local language (dialect of Bogra)
The mother tongue of this distrcit is
Bangla . In this district of Bogra "the dialect spoken is what is known as Northern dialect of Bengali of the Eastern Branch" says Dr.Grierson , "may be taken to be the form of the language, which is spoken in theDinajpur District, but the form of the dialect spoke in Bogra differs very little from that of Dinajpur". The northern dialect is spoken in the district ofRajshahi ,Dinajpur , Rangpur,Bogra andPabna . The whole of the tract has within historic times been subject toKoch tribes and members of this tribe still exist in each district. They were originally reported as speaking their original Koch language, but on an examination of the specimens of the language, Dr. Grierson found that they have given up their original speech, and now only speak more or less corrupt variety of Northern Bengali.Bangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, pp. 217-219] .Some peculiarities (examples) are given below ("Bangla>Dialect, English").Bangladesh District Gazetteers:Bogra. Government of Bangladesh. 1979, pp. 219-220] .:
* Initial "a" in the first person becomes "ha", e.g. "ami">"hami", "I" ; "amar">"hamar", "my"; "amra">"hamra", "we"; "amak">"hamak", "me"; etc.
* Aspirated sound becomes unaspirated e.g. "chokh">"chok", "eye"; "gachh">"gach", "tree"; "Jachchhi">"Jachi", "going"; etc.
* Initial "a" in some words becomes "r" e.g. "apni">"rapni". you; (in honourific use) "am">"ram", "mango"; sometimes initial "r" becomes "a" e.g. "rang">"ang", "colour"; "Rangpur">"Angpur", Name of a District as Rangpur; etc.
* In vocative case "go", have "ba" "reba" are used, e.g. "kya ra ba? jabuna?", "hello! Will you not go". In feminine gender "ro" is used in place of "ra" e.g. "Kyaro! Ki Kortitachu? Hallo! What are you doing?"'
* "U" is used as final vowel in verb e.g. "Jabi">"Jabu"? "Will you go?" "Khachchhish?"?"Khachchu?", "Are you eating?"; etc.Culture
Folk Literature
"Marefati", "dehatatwa", "dhua", "meyeli gan" and other types of folk songs and also "Prabad", "Prabachan, "folk-tales" etc. are in use among the people of the
Bogra District . One specimen Marefati Song is given below (written in English alphabate):
Tora dekh dekh re
Apna deher mamush
Kothay biraje.
Ore age Janmilam ami
Pachhe janmil bhai
Ore bhabte bhabte ma janmil
Bapto janme nai
Ulta gachher ulta pata
Ulta tahar mul
Ore patay patay chand dharechhe
Akale tar phul re.Industry
Bogra was once the industrial capital of Bangladesh. There were several heavy industries. Most of them were owned by the local elite family "BHANDARI". Another family known as "JAMIL" were also a name among the rich and famous. Bhandari's had several establishments. Among them, Bogra Cotton Spinning Mills, North Bengal Tannery, Habib Match Factory, Golam Kibria Soap Works, Bhandari Glass works, Bhandari Biri were the prime one's.
ee also
*
Bogra
*Bogra Cantonment
*Districts of Bangladesh
*Rajshahi Division External links
* [http://www.cyberbogra.com/ The leading web portal of Bogra]
* [http://www.bangla2000.com/Bangladesh/districts.shtm Districts of Bangladesh]
* [http://www.bangla2000.com/Bangladesh/Districts/bogra.shtm Bogra district]
* [http://www.bogra.info/ Bogra Info]References
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