Balaganj Upazila

Balaganj
বালাগঞ্জ
Division Sylhet Division
District Sylhet District
Government
 • MP (Sylhet-2) Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury (Awami League)
Area
 • Total 389.51 km2 (150.39 sq mi)
Population
 • Total 230,865
 • Density 593/km2 (1,540/sq mi)
Time zone BST (UTC+6)
Postal code 3120-3129

Balaganj (Bengali: বালাগঞ্জ) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.[1]

History

Balaganj the home of Osmany, (General) Mohammad Ataul Ghani (1918-1984) commander-in-chief of the Liberation Forces and of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. It is the third largest Upazila of Sylhet zila in respect to population, Balaganj thana was established in 1882 and was turned into an upazila on 10 January 1983. It consists of 14 union parishads, 241 mouzas and 467 villages. It is said that in the past at the bank of Kushiara river a trading centre means ganj was developed, which specially became popular to wealthy ladies for high quality of Bangles locally known as Bala. Then, Kushiara river had a major commercial river port, connecting Dhaka & Karimganj (now, in India). The Upazila might have gotten its name, Balaganj, from a combination of the two words Bala and ganj.

Historical events During the war of liberation in 1971, two major encounters with the Pak army occurred at Sherpur and Sadipur in which the Pak army was defeated.

Marks of War of Liberation Mass graves at Aadittapur, Burunga and Vatpara Solimpur.

Geography

Balaganj is located at 24°40′00″N 91°50′00″E / 24.6667°N 91.8333°E / 24.6667; 91.8333 . It has 36919 house hold units and, in total, The Upazila occupies an area of 389.51 km2. The Upazila is bordered on the north by Sylhet Sadar and Bishwanath Upazilas, on the east by Fenchuganj Upazila, on the South by Maulvibazar Sadar Upazila and Rajnagar Upazila of Maulvibazar zila, and on the west by Jagannathpur Upazila of Sunamganj zila and Nabiganj Upazila of Habiganj zila.

Demographics

As of the 1991 Bangladesh census, Balaganj has a population of 230,865. Males constitute 50.67% of the population, and females 49.33%. Muslim 90.04%, Hindu 9.89%, Buddhist, Christian and others 0.07%. This Upazila's eighteen and over population is 115,624. Balaganj has an average literacy rate of 57.4% (7+ years), with the national average being 32.4%.[2] Educational institutions: college 11, secondary school 57, primary school 278, madrasa 44. Goher Pur Jamea Islamia Hussainia Title Madrassa, Balaganj Degree College, Taj Pur Degree College and Balaganj D.N. High School,D.N. High School was estd. in the year 1946. Dewan Abdur Rahim High School and Aziz Pur High School are notable.

Main hats, bazars and fairs Balaganj, Goala Bazar, Tajpur Bazar, Doyamir Bazar, Pirer Bazar, Goher pur Bazar/Murar Bazar, Madrassa Bazar,Bangla Bazar, Khaler Mukh Hats and Shior Khal Mela are notable.

Main occupations Agriculture 26.04%, service 24.51%, commerce 18.22%, agricultural labourer 11.31%, wage labourer 7.25%, fishing 4.29%, transport 1.97%, others 6.41%

Immigration

A large proportion of Immigrants from Balaganj, more than any other thana's in Sylhet have migrated to the United Kingdom; United States of America; Singapore; France; Spain; Canada; Australia; the people of Balaganj are very family orientated, and as a result their overseas communities are very closely knit, they live alongside fellow Balaganjis' and have even formed entire communities within cities in the United Kingdom that contain people only from Balaganj. Many have moved to the county of Sussex, are in Birmingham UK, most notably in the Aston, Small Heath and Sparkbrook districts. Whilst in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is notable for its Bangladeshi immigrants, has a large proportion of Balganji migrants in the Bow and Bethnal Green districts. There are also large concentrations in Cardiff, Wales, and Michigan, Detroit, Los Angeles, Paterson, NJ, Newark, NJ and New York City in the USA.

Administrative

Balaganj has 14 Unions/Wards, 240 Mauzas/Mahallas, and 467 villages.

The unions are:

  1. Balaganj
  2. Boaljur Bazar
  3. Burunga
  4. Dayamir
  5. Dewan Bazar
  6. Goula Bazar
  7. Omarpur
  8. Osmanpur
  9. Paschim Gauripur
  10. Paschim Pailanpur
  11. Purba Gauripur
  12. Purba Pailanpur
  13. Sadipur
  14. Tajpur

See also

Balagonj Union: It is situated very near to upozila central. There are few villages and Bazars inside this Union.

References

  1. ↑ Mahiuddin Shiru (2012), "Balaganj Upazila", in Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal, Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.), Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
  2. ↑ "Population Census Wing, BBS.". Archived from the original on 2005-03-27. Retrieved November 10, 2006.
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