Sunday, November 4, 2012

A little about the District of Comilla

comilla cumilla district history



History and Background:

The area now constituting Comilla / Cumilla District comprises of two sub-divisions of the former Comilla zila which was known as Tippera zila till 1960. The name Comilla is the old name of the headquarter town of the district.

There are different opinions about the origin of the name Comilla. The general belief is that the word Comilla has been derived from the word Kamalinka. Archaeologysts believe that once upon a time the Draviddian Kolingas had established a kingdom in the area in the name of Kamalinka which was subsequently converted to Kamalanka with Brahmin influence.




Geographic Area and Location:

Comilla district is bounded on the north by Brahmanbaria district, on the east by India, on the south by Feni and Noakhali district and on the west by Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Chandpur districts.

The total area of the zila is 3146.30 square km. (1214.00 square miles) including 6.79 sq. km. of forest area. The district lies between 23°02' and 23°48' north latitudes and between 90°38' and 91°22' east longitudes. The annual average temperature- maximum 34.3°C, minimum 12.7°C and rainfall 2551 mm.


Main Rivers and other famous places:

Main rivers in Comilla district are MEGHNA, GUMTI and DAKATIA. Comilla (the Town) stands on the bank of the Gumti River.

In the suburb there exists the Commonwealth War Cemetery Memorials, Muktijuddha Museum at Mainamati Cantonment and BANGLADESH ACADEMY FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (BARD), Mainamati Museum, Comilla Cadet College at Courtbari.

Comilla Town is blessed with the memories of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Nazrul Islam married twice in life, one at Daulatpur of Muradnagar upazila of the Comilla zila and the other at Comilla Town. Those places have been marked with memorial plates.

Poet Rabindranath Tagore visited Comilla twice. Ustad Muhammad Hussain, Fazle Nizami and Kulendu Das have enriched the cultural heritage of the town. Ustad Ayet Ali Khan established a musical institute here.


Archaeological Heritage and Relics:
Marks of rich ancient civilization have been found in Lalmai Mainamati hills. In these hills there are plenty of archaeological sites including Shalvan Vihara, Kutila Mura, Charandra Mura, Rupban Mura, Itakhola Mura, Satera Ratna Mura, Ranir Banglar Pahar, Ananda Bazar Palaces, Palaces of Bhoj King, Chandi Mura, etc.

Various archaeological relics including images and metaled utensils discovered from these viharas, muras and palaces are now preserved in the Mainamati Museum. Other archaeological heritage and relics include Saptaratna Mandir (Jagannath Mandir), Shah Suja Mosque, Dharmasagar, Chandimata Mandir (on the top of Lalmai Hill of Barura), Chandala Shiva Mandir (Brahmanpara, eighteenth century), Saitshala Jami Mosque (Brahmanpara, 1719), Mazars of Panch Pir (five saints) at Shashidal (Brahmanpara, 1815), Harimangal Math (Brahmanpara, 1822), Ramnagar elongated Math (Brahmanpara, 1705), Saitshala Rammahan Mandir (Brahmanpara, 1805), Hasnabad Math and Hatiabhanga Fort (Daudkandi).




Main Crops and Fruits:
Paddy, jute, wheat, mustard seed, brinjal. Extinct or nearly extinct crops Linseed, sesame, sweet potato, china and kaun. Main fruits are Mango, jackfruit, banana, coconut, palm, guava and blackberry etc.


Mineral resources and Main Export Items:
Natural Gas Field (Bakharabad in Sreekail). Exported items from Comilla are Natural gas, Khaddar cloth, coconut, dry chilly, dry fish, egg, poultry and potteries.


* * * Recently (April, 2018) the Government has rename the name of Comilla district as Cumilla.


reference:


read other related topics:
A little about Homna Upazila
Census report-2011 for Comilla district
History and Sculptures of Mainamati-Lalmai Range | Part 1
Cast Images | History and Sculptures of Mainamati-Lalmai | Part 2
Little History of SouthEast Bengal | Conquest and Culture Changes
Famous Persons from Comilla Region
Khadi or Khaddar Cloth | Tradition of Comilla
Tradition of Comilla District | Khadi | Rasmalai | Pottery

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The naming of Comilla is debatable by historians. But among the current opinions fairly acceptable opinion found in the travel Writing of Chainik traveler “Wang Choang” when he traveled the Samtat state. In his description we found a name “Kiamolonkia” that turned into Comilla. A large portion of historians accept the opinion. The Comilla region was once under the ancient Samatat state and next included in Tripura State