History of Khagrachari District

Khagrachari is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is also a part of the Chittagong Division and Chittagong Hill tracts.

Mar 23, 2021
 



Picture: collected

Khagrachari is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is also a part of the Chittagong Division and Chittagong Hill tracts. Through its local name is Chengmi, it is also known as another name like Phalong or Htaung. Among the three hill districts, Khagrachari is one of them. That's why it is also called as Mong Circle. The other two districts are Rangamati and Bandarban which are known as Chakma Circle and Bohmong Circle. The area of this district is 2749.16 square kilometers and the population is about 613917. It is bounded by Rangamati District at east, Chittagong District and the Indian State of Tripura at west, Rangamati and Chittagong Districts at the south, and the Indian State of Tripura at the north. The district consists of 8 Upazilas, 34 union parishads, 123 Mouzas, 953 villages, one municipality, 9 wards, and 61 mahallas.

History

From history, it is known that from the 6th century to the area was ruled by Tripura and Arakan rulers. During this time, from 590 to 953, about 363 years, Tripura kings ruled this kingdom hereditary. On the other hand, from 953 to 1240, Arakan kings ruled this kingdom for about 297 years. Again, Tripura kings ruled the area about 102 years after the Arakan dynasty. From ten century to the fifteenth century Tripura kings ruled over this area about eight times, Arakan kings were nine times and Sultan of Gower was six times. At last, in 1342, the area was seized by Muslim ruler Sultan Fokhoruddin Shah.


When East India Company came to this region after defeating the last nawab of Bengal named Shirajuddoula, they took control over that. Once again, there happened a war between East India Company and Tripura kings regarding the rights over this region. The Tripura king got defeated in the war and as per condition, they lost their ruling power over this area. After that, British Government for his ruling and tax getting convenience divided Chittagong into three circles on 1st September 1881. Besides, in the same year, British Government also formed a police battalion with the local tribes. To say about the naming history of this region, the district was formed according to a river's name. There was a river at the bank of Khagra forest and the ancient locals started to live thereafter making it a living place. From then, the area was named Khagrachari. During the liberation war, in 1971, there took place a fight between Pakistani armies and freedom fighters at Mahamuni Para, and 17 people got killed. There was a king named Mong who fought against Pakistani armies from this region. He used his palace for the convenience of freedom fighters to keep the weapons and other works. He also gave shelter to innocent people there who used to leave Bangladesh to go to India during the war. When our liberation war was finished, he came to the palace with his family. He died in 1984.


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Writer: Sonjoy Kumer

References: khagrachari.gov.bd, bn.m.wikipedia.org


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