Comilla District

Comilla কুমিল্লা জেলা
District
Coordinates: 23.4583°N 91.1833°ECoordinates: 23.4583°N 91.1833°E
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Chittagong Division
Area
• Total	3,085.17 km2 (1,191.19 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	5,304,000
• Density	1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
Literacy rate
• Total	55%
Time zone	BST (UTC+6)
• Summer (DST)	BDST (UTC+7)
Website	Banglapedia Article

Comilla (Bengali: কুমিল্লা জেলা, Comilla Jela also Comilla Zila) is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometers south east of Dhaka. Established as a district of Bengal by the British in 1790, it included the Sub-divisions of Brahmanbaria and Chandpur which eventually became separate districts in 1984.
Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to the south, Tripura of India to the east, and Munshiganj and Chandpur districts to the west.

Contents

• 1 Geography and climate
• 2 Administrative headquarters
• 3 Administration
• 4 Subdistricts
• 5 Economy
  • 5.1 Education
• 6 Religion
• 7 Places of interest
• 8 Notable personalities
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Geography and climate

Presently a part of Comilla's Court Road, the photographed street has been once an extension of historic Grand Trunk Road, to communicate with the port facilities of Chittagong.

Maynamati war cemetry comilla

World War II cemetery in Mainamati.

Comilla has a total area of 3085.17 square kilometers. It is bounded by Burchiganj and Tripura on the north, Laksham and Chauddagram on the south, and Barura on the west. Major rivers passing through Comilla include Gumti and Little Feni.

Administrative headquarters

The headquarters of Comilla are located in the city of Comilla which has a total area of 11.47 square kilometers. It consists of 18 mouzas and 3 wards. Comilla thana was officially converted into an upazilla in 1983 which contains one municipality 18 wards, 19 union parishads, 452 mouzas and 458 villages.Once Commilla was a charming city with green trees and lagre and clen waterbodies. Now it is one of the most crowded and dirty cities of this region of Asia.

Administration

Administrator of Zila Porishod: M Omar Faruque [1]
Deputy Commissioner (DC): Md. Rezaul Ahsan [2]

Subdistricts

Comilla district consists of the following Upazilas:^[2]

1. Barura Upazila
2. Brahmanpara Upazila
3. Burichong Upazila
4. Chandina Upazila
5. Chauddagram Upazila
6. Daudkandi Upazila
7. Debidwar Upazila
8. Homna Upazila
9. Comilla Adarsa Sadar Upazila
10. Laksam Upazila
11. Monohorgonj Upazila
12. Meghna Upazila
13. Muradnagar Upazila
14. Nangalkot Upazila
15. Comilla Sadar South Upazila
16. Titas Upazila

Economy

Manufacturers of popular Comilla sweetmeats are mostly based on this Manoharpur area of the main town.

Mainly based on agriculture, the economy of Comilla has been flourished through trade and cottage industries, especially the 'Khadi' textile. For the economic development of the region the "Bangladesh Export Promotion Zone Authority" has established the "Comilla Export Processing Zone" spread over an area of 104.44 hectares (258.1 acres) in the Comilla old Airport Area.

Education

Comilla is known as the hub of education in Bangladesh.^{[citation needed]} With a high education rate comilla is always in domination in the education sector and the top rated educational institution like Comilla Modern High School, Comilla Cadet College, Comilla Polytechnic Institute, Comilla Zilla School, Railway Public High School, Foyzunnesa School, Missionary School, Comilla Victoria College and Comilla University also located in Comilla. The Comilla Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has headquarters in Comilla. This board is the central administration that conducts primary, secondary, and higher secondary education for several districts.

Religion

Religion in Comilla District
Religion			Percent
Islam			95.38%
Hinduism			2.62%
Christianity			1.56%
Buddhism			0.44%

The district of Comilla consists 4543 mosques, 379 temples, 98 churches, 34 Buddhist temples and six tombs.

Places of interest

Important landmarks include Kotbari, a cantonment, or military installation and Kandirpar, considered the heart of the Comilla district. Ancient Buddhist Monastery ruins are the major attraction of Mainamati, near Kotbari.
There is also a Second World War cemetery located about 3.1 km away from Comilla Cantonment, which was a frontier military base in the fight against the Japanese who had occupied Burma. British Army soldiers killed during the fight with the Japanese Army at the Burma (Myanmar) frontier were buried here. Pashchimgaon Nawab Bari, the place of only lady Jaminder Nawab Faizunnesa, a poet, educationist and a great donor.
Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh, passed significant time of his life in this town. Both his wives, Promila Devi and Nargis, hailed from this district.
Comilla Victoria College and Comilla Zilla School are two ancient and famous college and school in the country. Comilla Zilla School was established in the year of 1837. Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) is situated in Kotbari and it is one of the most beautiful place in Comilla and every year lot of tourist come to see this place.
Situated by the bank of the river Ghumti, Comilla is also famous for some tanks such as 'Dharmasagar (Pond)', 'Ranir Dighi', 'Nanuar Dighi', 'Ujir Dighi' etc.

Notable personalities

• Dr. Zobaida Hannan: British educated doctor, philanthropist, founded two regional hospitals, women's advocate and recipient of highest national honor─The Equsky award.
• Mahasthabir Shilvadra (529-654): a great Buddhist monk & pundit, professor & chancellor of Nalanda Bihar. Born in Koilain, Chandina Upazila of Comilla.
• Nawab Faizunnesa Choudhurani (1834–1903): poet & philanthropist.
• Dhirendranath Datta (1886–1971): Political leader, provincial minister of the than East Pakistan, Language Movement Language Movement activist & lawyer.
• Barrister Shafiq Ahmed - Minister of Law
• Advocate Abdul Motin Khosru- Ex. Law Minister
• Buddhadeb Basu (1908–1974): Bengali poet, novelist, essayist, translator & editor.
• Kailashchandra singha (1851–1914): Historian & archaeologist (author of 'Rajmala' and many historic books on tippera, SylhetSylhet, Comilla).
• Nowab Musharaf Hussen (1871–1966): politician, education minister,member of Bengal legislative assembly.
• Maheshchandra vottracharjya (1858–1944): philanthropist, munificent & writer (founder of Iswar Patsala, ram mala hostel, library & 35 educational institutions and many other charitable organizations in Comilla & other parts of the then Bengal & India).
• Kaminikumar Dutta (1878–1958): Provincial minister of East Pakistan.
• Professor.Ghulam Subhan (1920–2006): Legendary educationalist and scholar, Former Head of the chemistry- Comilla Victoria College
• Sachin Dev Burman (1906–1975): Singer, composer & music director.
• Himanshu Dutta (1908-15 November 1944): Composer & singer. He was entitled as "Sur-Sagar" (in English: The Ocean of Music)
• Mohamed Ali Azam (1908–1974): Educationist, translator & author (a contributor to Encyclopædia Britannica).
• Major(Red)Abdul Gani (1919–1957): Founder of Bengal Regiment & member of BLA.
• Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (1919–1996): Ex-president of Bangladesh.
• Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan (1914–1999) : Social reformer and Development activist.
• Professor Shamsul Haque: Educationist & ex-foreign minister of Bangladesh.
• Shib Narayan Das: The designer of first national flag of Bangladesh in 1971, a freedom fighter & political activist.
• Abdur Rashid Engineer (1934–2006): Ex-Minister of Bangladesh Government.
• Sabitri Chatterjee: Actress in Indian Bengali film, TV serial and theatre.
• Lt. Col.(Ret) Akbar Hossain BP: Ex-Minister of Bangladesh Government.
• M.K. Anwar: Ex-minister of Bangladesh.
• Dr. Redwan Ahmed (1952- : Ex-state Minister, Philanthropist, Freedom Fighter, Educationist.
• Dr. Khondoker Mosharraf Hossain: Ex-minister of Bangladesh.
• Kazi Shamsul Hoquen eminent journalist, founder editor of weekly Akhon Samoy, New York
• Harolal Roy : An author and Educationist.
• Munshi Faruque Ahmed : Born 12 Dec, 1955 in Rajapara, Sadar Dakkhin (Former Kotowali) Thana, Founder of Biman Bandar Munshi Faruque Ahmed Collage, Munshi M. Ali Girls High School,Munshi M. Ali Primary School, Munshi Foundation.