Barisal.

Barisal (Bengali: বরিশাল) is a district in south-central Bangladesh, formerly called Bakerganj district, established in 1797.^[1] Its headquarters are in the city of Barisal, which is also the headquarters of Barisal Division.^[2]

Contents

• 1 Geography and climate
• 2 History of Barisal
• 3 Naming History
• 4 Demographics
• 5 Economy
• 6 Transport
• 7 Education
• 8 Subdivisions
• 9 Culture and places of interest
• 10 Media
• 11 Notable personalities
• 12 References
• 13 External links

Geography and climate

Latitude: 22.75, Longitude: 90.36, Altitude: 4.

The max. annual average temperature is 35.1°C, minimum 12.1°C; annual rainfall is 1955 mm.

BISAS is trying to find out more history of this area.^[3]

History of Barisal

Barisal District is a district in southern Bangladesh and is also the headquarter of Barisal Division.^[2] Formerly the district was called Bakerganj which was established as a district in 1797. It was a municipality from1876 to 2002 and upgraded to city corporation in 2002. Barisal was declared a division on 1 January, 1993. Barisal district consists of one city corporation, five municipalities, 66 wards, 111 mahallas, 10 upazilas, 86 union parishads, 1147 mouzas and 1175 villages. 10 upazilas are AGAILJHARA, BABUGANJ,MULADI, BAKERGANJ, BANARIPARA, GOURNADI, HIZLA, BARISAL SADAR, MEHENDIGANJ, WAZIRPUR.

Naming History

In Ancient name Barisal was a kingdom Chandradwip. The capital of this kingdom was at Bakla. The founder of the kingdom was Danuj Madhav or Danuj Mardhan Dev. Then in British period it became a district and named as Bakerganj. After all now it is Barisal district.

Demographics

Barisal District had a population of 2,291,000 at the 2011 Census (provisional).

Economy

Barisal's economic is mostly based on farming and fishing.

Transport

Barisal is served by the Barisal Airport which is located just outside of the city. It has frequent flight services to Dhaka via Biman Bangladesh Airlines and GMG Airlines.

Durgasagar

Durgasagar with an area of about 2,500 hectare, is the largest pond or dighi of southern Bangladesh. It is located at Madhabpasa village of babuganj upazila, about 11 km away from barisal town. Locally it is known as Madhabpasha Dighi. According to a desire of Rani Durgavati, mother of Raja Joynarayan, the dighi was dug in 1780 (1187 BS). Initially there were four pucca ghats each having 15m width. Due to the lack of proper maintenance jungles gradually surrounded the dighi. However in 1975, government renovated it to some extent. There are coconut trees around the dighi which together with the dighi are bounded by brick-walls. There are two gates each on the eastern and western sides of Durgasagar. In the middle of the dighi, there is an island with bushes. migratory birds usually come here during winter. The surrounding areas of the dighi has now been turned into a picnic spot. Presently, Barisal Development Board is looking after it.

Education

Notable educational institutions in Barisal include Sher-e-Bangla Medical College, University of Barisal, Barisal cadet college,Govt. B M College, Govt. Barisal College, Govt. Hatem Ali College, Govt. Woman's College, Best Link Future Development Foundation (Barisal Campus), Barisal polytechnic college, Govt. Fazlul Huq College.

Subdivisions

Barisal District is divided into the following Upazilas (formerly called Thanas):

1. Muladi Upazila
2. Babuganj Upazila
3. Agailjhara Upazila
4. Barisal Sadar Upazila
5. Bakerganj Upazila
6. Banaripara Upazila
7. Gaurnadi Upazila
8. Hizla Upazila
9. Mehendiganj Upazila
10. Wazirpur Upazila

Culture and places of interest

Just 12 km out of Barisal City is the place called Durga Sagar which is a large pond. Serving as a place for holiday trips for the city's residents, it also attracts visitors from other places. This is one of the main place of residence for the migrant birds that comes in winter.

Near Durga Sagar are the ancient ruins of the palace of a local landlord of the British colonial era (called zamindar in Bengali). Anyone can have a view of the palaces of this time by the sight of it. It is only a 15 minutes ride on a non-pollutant three-wheeler called Van from Durga Sagar.^{[citation needed]}

The Bangabandhu Uddan (former Bell's Park) is a place inside Barisal City, right on the banks of River [Kirtonkhola].

South of Barisal city there is a beach town called Kuakata. There are several hotels and motels in Kuakata. Colourful tribal people, Marma, live there.

South-east of Barisal city, over river Kirtonkhola, Shahid Abdur Rab Serniabat Bridge (Dapdapia bridge) was inaugurated recently.^[4]

Media

Print media:

• Prothom Alo (National)
• The Daily Kaler kantho (National)
• Daily Samakal (National)
• Dainik News (National)

Telecommunications:

• Teletalk, Airtel, BTCL, Bangla Link, Citycell, Grameen Phone, Robi etc.

Notable personalities

• A. K. Fazlul Huq politician, Chief Minister of undivided Bengal & Governor of erstwhile East Pakistan
• Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, journalist, who wrote Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano to mark the Bengali Language Movement.
• Abdur Rahman Biswas, politician, President of Bangladesh
• Mahanambrata Brahmachari, Hindu saint
• Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah, founder editor of The Daily Ittefaq
• Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet
• Kusumkumari Das, poetess and mother of Jibanananda Das
• Aswini Kumar Dutta, founder of BM College
• Brojomohun Dutta
• Shamsuddin Abul Kalam, Bangladeshi novelist
• Sufia Kamal, poet of Bangladesh
• Altaf Mahmud, music director & lyrician, who composed Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano
• Aroj Ali Matubbar, philosopher
• Kamini Roy, poet of Bangladesh

References

1. KAM Saiful Islam (2012). "Barisal District". In Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
2. About Barisal Local Government Engineering Department, Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
3. "Bangiya Itihas o Sanskriti Anusandhan Samiti". Bisasbangla.blogspot.in. 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
4. Unb, Barisal (2011-02-23). "PM pledges steps to check food prices". Thedailystar.net. Retrieved 2013-02-15.