Backergunge District

Coordinates: 22°30′N 90°20′E / 22.500°N 90.333°E / 22.500; 90.333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Backergunge
Bakarganj
বাকেরগঞ্জ
District of the Bengal Presidency
1760–1947
Flag of Backergunge District
Flag

Backergunge District in a 1909 Eastern Bengal map of The Imperial Gazetteer of India
CapitalBarisal
Area 
• 1901
11,763 km2 (4,542 sq mi)
Population 
• 1901
2,291,752
History 
• Establishment of the district
1760
• Partition of India
1947
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mughal Empire
East Pakistan
Barisal Division
Today part ofBangladesh
 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Backergunje". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Backergunge, Backergunje, Bakarganj, or Bakerganj was a former district of

Brahmaputra
rivers.

Backergunge District was established in 1760 under the Bengal Presidency.[1] In 1947 the district became part of East Pakistan. The area of the former Backergunge district is now covered by the Barisal Division of Bangladesh. The current administrative division also contains a Barisal District and a Bakerganj Upazila.

History

In 1582, under Rājā Todar Mal, the region was included in the sarkar of Bākla, but subsequent Mahammadan rulers placed it in the province of Dacca (Dakha).[2]: 172 

In the 17th century, Shāh Shujāh, the brother of Aurangzeb, had built a fort at Shujābād, five miles southwest of Barisāl. Early in the 18th century Aghā Bāqar came to possess lands in the region and established a marketplace in Buzurgumedpur pargana, which came to be known as Bakarganj, literally 'Baqar's market'.[2]: 167, 165 

British rule came in 1765. The district was administered by a magistrate from the town of Backergunge near the junction of the Krishnakāti and Khairābād rivers, until 1801 when the headquarters were relocated to Barisāl.[2]: 167 

The district was surveyed by Major Rennell in 1770, he described the southern half of it as wilderness devastated by raids of the

Maghs.[2]

Backergunge was in the Dacca tax collectorate until 1817, when an independent collector was appointed.[2]: 172 

The island of

Dakhin Shahbazpur was transferred from Noāhkāli district to Backergunge in 1859, and in 1874 most of Mādāripur was transferred to Faridpur.[2]
: 167 

By the beginning of the 20th century, the district contained 16 police areas (

: 173 

Geography

Map of Bakarganj, 1876

Backergunge District was bound in the north by Faridpur District and in the east by the Meghna and Shahbazpur rivers.

In 1801 the Barisal subdivision was formed within the district, divided in six

thanas: Barisal, Jhalakati, Nalchiti, Bakarganj, Mehndiganj and Gaurnadi.[3]

The general aspect of the district was that of a flat even country, dotted with clusters of

The level of the country was low with numerous streams, wetlands and shallow lakes around the margins of which, long grasses, reeds and other aquatic plants grow. Towards the north-west, the country was very marshy and nothing was to be seen for miles but swamps and rice fields, with a few huts scattered here and there raised on mounds of earth. In the south of the district, along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, were the forest tracts of the Sundarbans where tigers and leopards used to live.

The main rivers of the district were the

cyclonic
storm-waves.

The Arial Khan, a branch of the Ganges, entered the district from the north, flowing generally in a south-easterly direction until it entered the estuary of the Meghna. The main channel of the Arial Khan was about 1,500 metres (1,600 yd) in width in the dry season, and from 2,000 to 3,000 metres (2,200 to 3,300 yd) in the rains. It received a number of tributaries, sending off several offshoots, and used

navigable
throughout the year by local cargo boats that were often of considerable size.

The

Garai are different local names for the same river along various parts of its course and it represent another great offshoot of the Ganges. It entered Backergunge near the north-west corner of the district, forming its western boundary, and running south with great windings in its upper reaches, until it crossed the Sundarbans, finally flowing into the Bay of Bengal forming a large and deep estuary, capable of harbouring ships
of considerable size.

In the whole of its course through the district, the river used to be navigable by local boats of large tonnage, and by large seagoing ships as high up as

, etc.

All the rivers in the district were subject to

Barisal guns
, was often heard far out at sea, about the time the tidal wave was coming in.

Population

In 1901, the population was 2,291,752, showing an increase of 6% over the decade. About a 68% of the inhabitants in the region were

Maghs who originated in Arakan and first settled in Backergunge around the year 1800.[1]

A number of small trading villages existed throughout the district, and each locality has its periodical trading fairs. Local people were mostly small land-holders and cultivated sufficient rice and other products for the support of their families.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 6, p. 165.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Meyer, William Stevenson; Burn, Richard; Cotton, James Sutherland; Risley, Herbert Hope (1908). Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. 6. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 165–174.
  3. Imperial Gazetteer of India
    , Clarendon Press, Oxford.

22°30′N 90°20′E / 22.500°N 90.333°E / 22.500; 90.333