Madaripur District

Madaripur is a district located on the central part of Bangladesh under the jurisdiction of Dhaka division. The district lies in between 23°00′ and 23°30′ north latitudes and in between 89°56′ and 90°21′ east longitudes.  Madaripur is bounded by Faridpur and Munshiganj districts on the north, Barisal and Gopalgonj districts on the south, Shariatpur district on the east and Faridpur district on the west. Madaripur was established as a sub-division in 1854 under Bakerganj district but later included to Faridpur district in 1873. It was finally turned into a separate district in 1984. It has an area of 1,144.96 sq. km. (442.07 sq. mi). The district consists of 4 Upazilas, 4 Municipalities and 59 Union Parishads. According to the 2011 Bangladesh Census, Madaripur has a population of 1,212,198. Males constitute 50.29% of the population and females 49.71%. Density of the population is 1100 inhabitants/sq. km.

In times, the eastern part of Madaripur was known as Idilpur and the western part as Kotalipara. It was a developed town in the Chandradwip kingdom. Idilpur and Kotalipara were famous for trade and commerce in the 4^th century. At that time, the administrative name of this region was Navyamandal. The region covering present Faridpur and Madaripur was known as Fatehabad together during 14^th century. When sub-divisions and police stations were formed in 1854, the name ‘Madaripur’ gained administrative recognition. The district was named after Sufi Sayed Badiuddin Ahmed Zinda Shah Madar. He was one of the Sufis (Saint) who came to Bangladesh from Middle-East in the 15^th century to propagate Islam in Bengal.

The Human Development Index (HDI) of Madaripur is 0.649 which is 3^rd among all districts of Bangladesh. It indicates moderate life expectancy, literacy Rate and per capita income of the inhabitants. The district has a literacy rate of 48% for the population 7 years and above. It is situated on the bank of the river Padma. There are ten major rivers in Madaripur district. Padma, Arial Kha, Upper Kumar, Lower Kumar, Visarkanda-Bagda, Torquee, Palrodi and Palang are notable among them. The average high temperature of Madaripur is 35.8°C and the average low temperature is 12.6°C. Annual rainfall averages 2105 millimetres. Numerous daily and weekly newspapers are published from the district. Daily Subarnagram, Daily Bislashon and Weekly Suprovat are notable among them.

Gazir Gan, Kirtan, Dhuagan etc. are notable folk songs prevailing in Madaripur. Matua songs are also very much popular in the district. These songs are arranged by Matua community of Rajoir upazila during the Durga Puja festival. Palanquin, horse carriage, bullock and buffalo carts were the traditional transports in the rural areas of the district, which are now either extinct or nearly extinct. Now-a-days, all the upazilas are connected with the district headquarters with metalled roads. Bus, minibus, three wheelers ply over the district.

The economy of the district is mostly dependent on agriculture. Major sources of income comprises of agriculture with 61.33%, non-agricultural labourer 2.59%, industry 0.84%, commerce 15.46%, transport and communication 2.27%, service 7.25%, construction 1.71%, religious service 0.20%, rent and remittance 0.87% and others 7.48%. Out of the total about 244 thousand holdings of the district, 57.68% holding are farms that produce varieties of crops, namely local and HYV paddy, wheat, vegetables, spices, cash crops, pulses and others. Various fruits like mango, banana, jackfruit, guava, coconut and betel nut etc. are also grown in a huge amount. Specifically, coconut, betel nut and palm trees grow in abundance in the district. Date Molasses of Madaripur is very famous countrywide. Fish of different varieties are caught from rivers, tributary channels and even from paddy fields during the rainy season. Besides crops, livestock and poultry are the subsidiary source of household income of the district.

Bio-diversity of Madaripur is being lost due to the imbalance of environment gradually. Different species of animals, birds, plants and fish are being lost. The number of valuable trees in Madaripur is very low. There is no state forest here. Extinct wild animals of the district include khekshial, baghdasa, khatash, beji, guisap, raktachosa, bat etc. Besides, about 20 species of fish including Chital, Boal, Pabda and Magur are on the verge of extinction.

During the British rule, Madaripur was like a place of pilgrimage for many movements. Haji Shariat Ullah, the leader of famous Farayeji Movement, was born at Bahadurpur in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur. From 1820 to 1850, he agitated against religious superstitions, oppression of indigo planters and zamindars. After the death of Shariat Ullah, his worthy son Dudu Mia took over the leadership of Farayeji Movement. The revolutionists of Madaripur played a historical role in the freedom struggle of the sub-continent during the British rule. Chittapriya Roy Chowdhury, an accomplished man of the district, died in the battle of Baleshwar in 1915 in a frontal battle with the British forces.  Nirendra Nath Dasgupta and Manoranchan Sengupta were captured in the battle of Baleshwar. They were hanged in Baleshwar jail. Ambikacharan Majumdar, famous fireman of this district, was the president of All India Congress. He was also the architect of modern Faridpur.

The people of Madaripur played a strong role in all the movements including the language movement of 1952, the election of the United Front in 1954 and the mass uprising of 1971 and above all in the Liberation War. Many direct encounters were held between the freedom fighters and the Pakistan army in Madaripur during war. About 53 freedom fighters of Madaripur Sadar Upazila were killed by Pakistani army. Their forces killed about 50 persons at village Sendia of Rajoir upazila after inhuman torture. They conducted mass rape and plundering throughout the nine months of war. They also set many houses of the district on fire. Madaripur was finally liberated on 10 December. There are 3 mass graves at Kalagachhia, Bahadurpur and Mithapur of the district as marks of Liberation War.

The district is predominately Muslims with a population of 1001316. There are 143093 Hindus, 1729 Buddhists, 39 Christians and 172 people practicing other religions.

Upazilas(4):

• Madaripur Sadar
• Kalkini
• Rajoir
• Shibchar

Main Rivers

Padma, Arial Kha, Upper Kumar, Lower Kumar, Visarkanda-Bagda, Torquee, Palrodi, Palang

Main Newspapers

Daily Subarnagram, Daily Bislashon, Weekly Suprovat

Notable Places:

• Dargah of Shah Madar (RA)
• The Shrine of Sufi Amir Shah (RA)
• Algi Kazibari Mosque
• Raja Ram Mandir
• Jhaoudi Giri
• Auliapur Neelkuthi
• Mithapur Zamindar Bari
• Pranab Math
• Mather Bazaar Math
• Khalia Shanti Kendra
• Parboter Bagan
• Madaripur Shakuni Lake
• Senapati Dighi
• Charmuguria Eco-Park
• Narayan Mandir
• Kulpadi Zamindar Bari and Weather office

Highlighted Personalities:

• Shah Madar (RA)
• Alaol
• Haji Shariat Ullah
• Mohsin Uddin Dudu Mia
• Ambikacharan Mazumdar
• Pulin Behari Das
• Chittapriya Roy Chowdhury
• Nirendra Nath Dasgupta
• Manoranchan Sengupta
• Panchanan Chakraborty
• Swami Pranavananda
• Gostha Pal
• Zohra Begum Kazi
• Phani Bhushan Majumder
• Fazlur Rahman Khan
• Padma Devi
• Sunil Gangopadhyay
• Ava Alam
• Basudeb Dasgupta
• Syed Abul Hossain
• Shajahan Khan
• AFM Bahauddin Nasim
• Mohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed
• M. Khairul Haque
• Mohammad Asaduzzaman
• Nargis Akhter
• Syeda Rubaiyat Hossain
• Mahmud Hossain
• Shahbuddin Ahmed

Written & Edited by Sadia Siddika Zitu.