Tangail District

Tangail, a district situated in the central region of Bangladesh, is the second largest district of Dhaka division by population and largest by area. It was a part of greater Mymensingh district before. The district is bounded by Sirajganj district on the west, Jamalpur district on the north, Mymensingh and Gazipur districts on the east, Dhaka and Manikganj districts on the south. The district is consist of about 3414.28 km2, of which about 497.27 km2 is forested. Tangail stands between 89° 44′ and 90° 18′ east longitudes and between 24° 01′ and 24° 47′ north latitudes. Total Population of the district is 3290696 divided by 1669794 male and 1620902 female. The number of people of Muslim community are 3042937, alongside 234088 Hindu, 12820 Bhuddist, 110 Christian and 741 others. Indigenous communities named Garo, Kol, Bangshi are also a part of this district. The main water bodies that flows in between the Tangail district are Jamuna, Jehnai, Dhaleshwari, Bangshi, Turag, Louhajang, Pouli, Langulia, Jugni, Elongjani and Fotikjani.

Tangail Sub-division was formed in 1870 which later was turned into a district in 1969. The district is divided into 12 upazilas of which Dhanbari is the smallest upazila with 127.95 sq km of the total area and Ghatail is the largest upazila with 450.71 sq km of the total area. Ghatail holds about 13.35% area of the total district. The district holds 11 municipalities, 108 wards of these municipalities, 2516 villages and 109 Union Parishads. The main city of the district is Tangail city. Majority of the people in Tangail are Muslim which is 93% of the total population along with 6.5% Hindu and 0.4% Christian. The climate of Tangail is  considered to be tropical climate. Rainfall in this region mostly occur in summer. Winter remains without rainfall. The average temperature of this area is 25.5 °C. Average rate of rainfall is about 1872 mm annually. The average literacy rate of the district is 47.8%. Parcentages of male and female Literacy are 50% and 43.8%.

Tangail was under the jurisdiction of Greater Mymensingh till 1969. It became a part of Dhaka division to keep low the Mymensingh District as the district’s economic growth was more than the capital (Dhaka). Before this partition Mymensingh district was consist of 7 upazilas. In 1870, Tangail was one of the six sub-districts that were separated from greater Mymensingh. All of these 6 sub-districts were turned into district later. In this way, Tangail became a district of Bangladesh on December 1, 1969.

In 1971, during the war of Liberation ‘Kaderia Bahini’ was established by Bangabir Kader Siddiqui in Tangail. Kaderia Bahini was a group of about 17000 freedom fighters. They conducted many successful operations in the district against the Pakistani army. The all party resistance council known as “Sarba Dalio Sangram Parishad” raised the flag of Bangladesh on 28 March 1971 at the yard of the Bhuapur College Shahid Minar. 33 freedom fighters were killed on a battle at Goran Satiachara of Mirzapur Upazila on 3 April 1971. In the month of April Kaderia Bahini attacked at the Gopalpur Police Station. They seized all its arms and ammunitions and set the Police Station building on fire. On 19 April, the freedom fighters fought a battle against the Pakistani army at Kalihati upazila and killed about 350 Pak soldiers including a Major. In this battle we lost 11 freedom fighters. In the same month, freedom fighters killed 5 Pakistani soilders in another battle in Madhupur upazila. A Pakistani ship filled with lots of arms aand ammunitions were captured by the freedom fighters on 11 August at Sirajkandi of Bhuapur upazila. After seizing all of the arms and ammunitions the freedom fighters set the ship on fire. Pakistani army killed 4 freedom fighters during an encounter on 6 October at Ballah of Sakhipur upazila. They also murdered 32 innocent villagers on 17 November at village Chhabisha of Bhuapur upazila and burnt about 350 houses. 370 Pakistani soilders were killed, more than 100 were injured aand about 600 were captured by the Indian Allied Forces on 10 December. Three days before the victory, on 13 December, The Pakistani army attacked and killed 7 persons of the same family at Sarengpur. A group of freedom fighters under Habibur Rahman who later titled with ‘Bir Bikram’ seized a Pakistani military cargo with arms and ammunitions. In this encounter followed by this attack killed about 30 members of the Pakistan army.

Tangail is a district with about 3.8 million people. Different professions of people can be seen in the district. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of the Tangail district. About 49.53% of people are involved with agricultural activities. Its main agricultural products are paddy, potato, jute, sugarcane, sesame, linseed, wheat, mustard seed and pulse. About 3,386.53 km² cultivable lands are available in Tangail. The main fruit products are mangos, jackfruit, bananas, litchis, and pineapples. Other sectors, such as fisheries (446), dairies (189), industries, weaving and poultry farms (538) are developing in the Tangail district. Tangail is the home of the weavers of the world-famous “Tangail Saree”.

The economy of the district mostly depend on Agriculture. About 49.53% people has taken agriculture as their occupation. Paddy, Jute, Potato, Sugarcane, Wheat, Sesame, Mustard Seed, Linseed and Pulse are the main agricultural products of the district. Total cultivable area of the land is about 3,386.53 km². Mangos, Pineapples, Jackfruit, bananas, Litchis and Bananas are the highly produced fruits of the district. Many sectors are still developing in the region, such as, Dairies, Fisheries, Industries, Weaving and Poultry farms.

Tangail is famous for Sarees produced by local weavers. This handloom saree is made of cotton and silk thread. The speciality of the saree is different kinds of design such as, Hand-worked buttic design, Contemporary art motif, all-over flowery design. People all over the world bought and used these sarees. Tangail Saris are very famous not only at home but also in abroad. On different occasions like Eid, Puja, Pahela Boishakh and wedding season between November and February a large number of sarees are sold. Pathrail in Delduar Upazila and Barabelta, Kabilapara (Porabari Union) in Sadar Upazila are mostly known for fine and expensive sarees. According to a survey (2013), about 60,000 looms are available in Tangail, of which pit looms are 8,305, power looms are 892 and Chittaranjan looms are 51,141. More than 325,000 people are directly and indirectly involved in this occupation. Tangail is becoming a district with many industries rapidly. Gorai Industrial Area is the home of these industries such as, Tangail Cotton Mill, Square Group, Olympic Battery, Nasir Glassware Industry, North Bengal Cycle Industry etc. Gorai is also known for having many garments and textiles. BSCIC is also becoming important recently for textile industries.

The district of Tangail got various and unique folk culture. Poush Sankranti, Nabanna, Baruni, Aushtami etc. are  some folk traditions celebrated by the people. Rakhali, Dhua, Sari, Jari, Baromashi, Bhawaiya, Palagan, Palli Geeti, Bhatiali, Bichar, Murshidi, Marfati, Bara Banar Gan (songs sung by women during husking of paddy by Dekhi), Songs for driving of ghosts, Marriage song, Kabigan, Ghetugan, Baul songs etc. are notable folk songs of the region. Kabadi, Lathi khela (stick game), boat race, Bhara Bhuda, Tunkibari, Changa race, Dhopbari, Bull fight, Gamchhabari etc. are most celebrated game of sports related to folk culture.

Upazilas:

The number of Upazilas in Tangail district is 12. Those 12 subdivided upazilas are-

• Tangail Sadar Upazila
• Sakhipur Upazila
• Basail Upazila
• Madhupur Upazila
• Ghatail Upazila
• Kalihati Upazila
• Nagarpur Upazila
• Mirzapur Upazila
• Gopalpur Upazila
• Delduar Upazila
• Bhuapur Upazila
• Dhanbari Upazila

Main Rivers:

Jamuna, Jehnai, Dhaleshwari, Bangshi, Turag, Louhajang, Pouli, Langulia, Jugni, Elongjani and Fotikjani.

Notable Places:

There are many places of interest in the district, that are historically important and famous among tourists.

• Atia Mosque (1608)
• Sagardighi
• Ichamati Dighi
• Nagarpur Dighi
• Khamarpara Mosque
• Dhanbari Mosque (1685)
• National Park at Madhupur
• Bangabandhu Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge (Bhuapur and Kalihati)
• Jamuna Resort (Kalihati)
• Zamindar Bari
• Hinganagar Rajbari’ (Delduar)

Highlighted Personalities:

Tangail is the hometown of many famous and intellectual personalities of the country who have great contribution to the country. Namely,

• Rafiq Azad (poet)
• Muhammad Abdul Bari (physicist)
• Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (political leader)
• Abdur Razzak (politician)
• Debapriya Bhattacharya (economist)
• Abu Sayeed Chowdhury (former president of Bangladesh)
• Syed Hasan Ali Chowdhury (politician)
• Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury, (politician)
• Abdul Halim Ghaznavi (politician)
• M Farid Habib (former chief of Bangladesh Navy)
• Shamsul Huq (politician)
• Abdur Rahman Khan (politician)
• Ibrahim Khan (litterateur)
• SM Aslam Talukder Manna (film actor)
• Abdul Mannan (politician)
• Krishna Rani (footballer)
• Ranadaprasad Saha (philanthropist)
• Qader “Tiger” Siddiqi (freedom fighter)

→See More… Districts of Bangladesh

Written & Edited by Shaima Akter Sethu.