Panchagarh District

Panchagarh was first known as Pachagarh. There are two main beliefs associated with the name of the district. The first is that Panchargarh was named after an area called Pancha Nagari in the kingdom of Pundu Nagar.[3] The second is that it was named for the five forts (or garh) in the region. The forts were Bhitargarh, Hosaingarh, Mirgarh, Rajangarh and Devengarh, hence the name Panchagarh, meaning 'five forts'.[4]

During the regime of the British Raj, Panchagarh was part of the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. In 1911, Jalpaiguri was fully established as a thana. At that time, the headquarters of Jalpaiguri thana was situated in Jagdal upazila of the current Panchagarh district. The thana was relocated at the bank of Karatoya River in its current position for environmental and transportation benefits. After the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Panchagarh was a thana under the Thakurgaon mahakuma. On 1 January 1980, it was established as a mahakuma consisting of five thanas named Tetulia, Panchagarh Sadar, Atwari, Boda and Debiganj. The first commissioner of Panchagarh was Sayed Abdur Rashid from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1982. Later, it was established as a district on 1 February 1984. The first deputy commissioner of Panchagarh was A. S. M. Abdul Halim from 1 February 1984 to 16 June 1985.[3][4]

Panchagarh is located in the extreme north of Bangladesh, and is bounded on three sides by the 288 km (179 mi) long Indian border, with the Darjeeling district on the north, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts on the northeast, Uttar Dinajpur on the west, Dinajpur and Thakurgaon districts on the south, and Nilphamari district on the east. It lies between 26º00' and 26º38' north latitudes and between 88º19' and 88º49' east longitudes.

Total area of the district is 1,404.62 km². The district consists of five upazilas, 43 unions, 420 mauzas, 825 villages, two paurashavas, 18 wards and 64 mahallas. Its soil is sandy, alluvial and bears close affinity with the soil of the old Himalayan basin. On the northern part of the district there exists an underground layer of pebbles. It is 150 feet (46 m) above sea level. Panchagarh has 16 rivers. Among them some main rivers are Karatoya (Karatoa), Atrai, Teesta, Nagor, Mahananda, Tangon, Dahuk, Pathraj, Bhulli, Talma, Chawai, Kurum, Tirnoi, and Chilka. The border of this district was designed by Sir Cyril John Radcliffe in 1947. The length of the border in Panchagarh between Bangladesh and India is 286.87 km (178.25 mi).[5]

According to the 2011 Bangladesh census, Panchagarh District had a population of 987,644, of which 496,725 were males and 490,919 females. Rural population was 892,495 (90.37%) while the urban population was 95,149 (9.63%). Panchagarh district had a literacy rate of 51.77% for the population 7 years and above: 55.21% for males and 48.32% for females.[6]

Muslims make up 82.09% of the population,Christians 2.01%,while Hindus are 15.55% of the population.[6]

Tea Garden in Panchagarh © Nazmul Hossain Nisad

The local industry consists of tea, sugar, rice mills, ice factories, garment factories, oil milling, and saw milling.

Banglabandha land port is located on about 10 acres (40,000 m²) of acquired land at the north-western tip of Bangladesh in Tetulia under Panchagarh district on the Bangladesh-India highway. The port is situated 60 km (37 mi) from Panchagarh Town. The place is of international character and used for Nepal transit traffic passing through a small corridor of India. It is about 22 metres (72 ft) away from the Bangladesh-Indian border.

Panchagarh is famous for its tea industry which plays a major role in the economics of this area. Presently, over 7,000 skilled and unskilled workers, mostly women, work in 246 tea gardens, including 18 big estates, 13 medium-size and 215 small-scale gardens set up on more than 1,815 acres (7.35 km²) of land in Tetulia and the surrounding areas. Of them nearly 2,300 workers, mostly women, work alone at the giant Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate (KKTE) at Tetulia which has earned a reputation in both national and international markets by producing, processing and marketing Kazi & Kazi organic tea, also sold as Teatulia Organic Teas, and earning foreign exchange.

Industry for manufacturing SPC electric poles, established a plant (Gemcon Ltd.) on 35 acres in Panchagarh District. Here, all the products in the plant are manufactured by using indigenous raw materials. The factory has created direct or indirect job opportunities for more than 1500 people and helping the nation to alleviate poverty.

Gem Jute Limited was established in Panchagarh in 2003, with a corporate vision of improving the livelihood of the local population by providing employment and advancement opportunities as well as stimulating the local economy through direct and indirect economic activities. Gem Jute promotes sustainable development and support the environment by providing high-quality, organic, biodegradable products to the world market. Over 5000 people work at Gem Jute Limited.

Under Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC), Panchagarh Sugar Mills Ltd. is the oldest industry in the district. Panchagarh Sugar Mills was set up by the government in 1965–69 at a cost of Tk.55.55 million. It is near the district headquarters of Panchagarh and is the northernmost sugar mill in Bangladesh. Machinery and equipment of the sugar mill were supplied by M/S. Stork Werkspoor of Holland. The sugar mill started its trial production in 1969–70. Since the independence of Bangladesh (until 2005), the sugar mill has produced 8,536 million tons of sugar per annum on average with an average sugar recovery rate of 8.10% from sugarcane.

Panchagarh has five upazilas:

• Administrator of Zila Porishod: Abu Bakar Siddique[8]
• Deputy Commissioner (DC): Muhammad Salah Uddin[9]

Bicycle, rickshaw, and motorcycle are the main modes of transport for local people. Regular buses connect the district to neighbouring districts and subdivisions. The road distance from Dhaka (capital city of Bangladesh) to Panchagarh is 475 kilometres (295 mi). Road transportation between Dhaka and Panchagarh is a private sector affair, operating predominantly in domestic routes. On 10 November 2018, direct train service from Dhaka to Panchagarh was inaugurated. The railway distance from Dhaka to Panchagarh is 639 kilometres (397 mi), which is the longest distance travelled by any train in the country. There is no direct air connection from Dhaka to Panchagarh.[11]

The district's literacy rate is 51.08%, among which male and female literacy rates are 55.02% and 48.03% respectively. There are 313 primary schools, 65 kindergartens, 79 NGO schools, four government secondary schools, 268 non-government secondary schools, two government colleges, 25 non-government colleges, 94 madrasas, and 13 technical and vocational institutions in the district.[12]

Notable schools and colleges of the districts are:

1. B.P (Bishnu Prasad) Government A High School
2. Panchagarh Government Girls' High School
3. M.R (Moqbular Rahman) Government College
4. Panchagarh Government Women's College

Notable places of the district are:

1. Bhitarganj
2. Maharajar Dighi
3. Badeshwari Mahapith Temple
4. Mirjapur Shahi Mosque
5. Golok Dham Temple
6. Banglabandha zero point and land port
7. Tetulia dak bungalow
8. Rocks Museum

• Muhammad Jamiruddin Sarkar, former speaker, Jatiyo Sangshad
• Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, former Minister of Law and Justice, Jatiyo Sangshad
• Sirajul Islam, Member of Parliament, Jatiyo Sangshad
• Mohammad Sultan, language movement activist in 1952
• Mohammad Farhad, Captain of Guerilla force in the 1971 independence war and member of the parliament of national parliament
• Abdur Rahman, film actor
• Shoriful Islam, Bangladeshi cricketer
• Md. Nurul Islam Sujon, Railway Minister of Bangladesh

• Districts of Bangladesh
• Rangpur Division
• Dinajpur Board, Bangladesh

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