Rangpur
District
Geography
Under the
Rangpur division (one of seven divisions) composed of eight districts of the
northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur is bordered on the north by Nilphamari District, on the south by Gaibandha District, on the east by Kurigram,
and on the west by Dinajpur district. Rangpur town is the divisional
headquarter. The soil composition is mainly alluvial soil
(80%) of theTeesta River basin, and the remaining is barind soil.
The temperature ranges from 32 degrees Celsius to 11 degrees Celsius, and the
annual rainfall averages 2931 mm.[3]
History
Rangpur was
conquered by the army of Raja Man Singh, a commander of the Mughal
emperor, Akbar,
in 1575, but it was only until 1686 that it was fully integrated into the Mughal
Empire. Place names such as Mughalbasa ('Mughal locality') and Mughalhat('Mughal
market') bear testimony to the Mughal association and past of Rangpur and its
hinterland. Later on, Rangpur passed under the control of "Sarker" of Ghoraghat.
During the period of the British East India Company, the Sannyasi Rebellion took place.
Language
Rangpur is a
multi-lingual district. People of Rangpur have two languages- Rangpuri and Bengali.
But Rangpuri is used by most inhabitants. Bengali is more popular in the towns
and among the educated people. But a small portion of Santal and
other similar people other languages also which are their own.
Demographics
Total
population of Rangpur is 2534365, male 50.91%, female 49.09%. Islam is the
predominant religion in Rangpur. Hinduism is
the second largest religion in Rangpur. Muslim 89.60%,Hindu 9.59%, . Christian
0.50% and others 0.31%; ethnic nationals: Santal and
Orao.[citation needed]
In an
anthropological view most people of Rangpur are having Rajbagshi blood in their
veins. This is true mainly for the villages which are the majority in Rangpur.
The district
of Rangpur have 4924 mosques, 480 churches, 43 temples and six tombs.
Administrative
sub-divisions
Zilla
Porishod Building.
The district
has 3 municipalities, namely, Rangpur Sadar, Badarganj, and
Haragach, and eight Upazilas, namely:
Rangpur town, covering an area of around
43 square kilometers, lies on the bank of the Ghaghat river, and was turned
into a municipality back in 1869. The population of the
Rangpur municipality as of 2006 is 251,699, with 52% male and 48% female, and
the literacy rate is 54.6%. Establishment of Rangpur City Corporation, as
Divisional City is now under way after the establishment of Rangpur Division in
January 2010. The area of Rangpur City Corporation is estimated to be around
100 square kilometer accommodating about 6 million population by next Census of
2011. Rangpur city would be the fifth largest city of Bangladesh after Dhaka
(125 million), Chittagong (30 million), Khulna (10 million) and Rajshahi (8
million) estimated population by the next 2011 census.
Education
Begum Rokeya University is the only
university in Rangpur district. The Rangpur Medical College, situated in
Rangpur is one of the major government medical colleges inBangladesh. Carmichael College, established in 1916 by some
leading zamindars, is a postgraduate college offering courses in 14 subjects in
the faculties of arts, social science, science and commerce.[4] The
most renowned educational institution in this region is Rangpur Cadet College.
Other renowned institutions include Cantonment Public School
& College,Rangpur(CPSCR), Rangpur Government College, Police Lines School and College and Rangpur Zilla School. Zilla School is
established in 1832, this higher secondary school is known for the quality of
education it offers.[5] Other
prominent educational institutions include Rangpur Government College, Begum Rokeya
College and Govt. Commercial Institute. Besides there is one polytechnic
institute, one vocational institute, around 282 high schools, 722 government
primary schools, 38 junior high schools, 193 NGO (Non Government Organization)
operated schools and almost 370 Madrasahs in
Rangpur. Rangpur Model College is now hnourse college.
Places of
interest
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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
with ancient inscriptions, art and coins from the area on display. RDRS
(Rangpur and Dinajpur Rural Service) Bangladesh,[6] an
NGO in northwest Bangladesh, has a large office and guesthouse/convention
center in the town of Rangpur.
A museum and
women's training center was established in Pairabondh, the birthplace of Begum
Rokeya. It is half an hour drive away from Rangpur city. Apart from the
Tajbari museum there is another museum at the heart of the town. The town is
known as Green town for its beautiful garden and green park throughout the
town.
Rangpur town
hall
There is a
big Zoo at the heart of the city. There is an ancient auditorium named 'Town
Hall' at the center of the city, where different cultural programs are held.
The economy of the people is weak since there is no major natural resource like
minerals and industry. In the rural areas, there are no source of income for
landless poor people. In the great Rangpur region, no economic development took
place until the 90s, mainly because of the yearly flooding the region used to
see before the making of "Teesta Barrage." The coal is found near
this district. There is a large military cantonment in the town. "Bhinno
Jogot" is a big theme park and a popular picnic spot which is situated 15
kilometres from Rangpur Town.
Near the
stadium, there is a very beautiful place called 'Chicli vata' surrounding bij
many lakes and rice fields.
JADU NIBASH
- Radhaballav. An ancient house belonging to the former Prime Minister of
Bangladesh (1979)
Media
Online Media
Development
Organisations
RDRS
Bangladesh — previously Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service — has its main
operational headquarters in Rangpur town at the RDRS Complex.[6] RDRS
was established in 1972 following the War of Liberation, after assisting
refugees in camps across the border in India. RDRS returned to help
rehabilitate the disadvantaged northwest region of Rangpur-Dinajpur, providing
relief, running health services, providing education, developing agriculture
and roads, and also starting conscientization applying the Frierian approach.
It is the field program of the Geneva-based Lutheran World Federation. RDRS
became a fully Bangladeshi NGO in 1997 with a national Board of Trustees and
Executive Director. RDRS is still a major development actor across the
northwest working with around 2 million landless and marginal farmers,
indigenous minorities, vulnerable communities such as the river islands and 360
Federations, i.e. community-based organizations. The RDRS Rangpur Guesthouse
based on the RDRS Complex is the leading hotel in town.[citation needed]
Notable
people
Sajeeb
Wazed Joy,Bangladeshi Young Global leader,ICT Consultant and Political
campaigner.
G M Quader,Bangladeshi
politician and the former Minister of Commerce and former Minister of Civil
Aviation
Dr.Rashid
Askari,Bengali-English writer, fictionist,columnist
and professor of English at Kushtia Islamic University-Bangladesh.
Ahmed
Hossain, Chairman Rangpur District Board and Minister for Agriculture,
Forest and Fisheries (Undivided Bengal)
Members of
tenth Jatiyo Sangsad (2014 - )
The members
of the national parliament are:[7]
Rangpur-1 :
Md. Moshiur Rahman Ranga [from Jatiya Party]
Rangpur-2 :
Abul Kalam Md. Ahasanul Hoque Chowdhury [from Awami League]
Rangpur-3 :
Alhaj Hussain Muhammad Ershad [from Jatiya Party]
Rangpur-4 :
Tipu Munshi [from Awami League]
Rangpur-5 :
H.N. Ashequr Rahman [from Awami League]
Rangpur-6 :
Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury [from Awami League]
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