Rajshahi Division

Etymology and names

The Rajshahi Division is named after Rajshahi District. Dominated by various feudal Rajas, Maharajas and zamindars of mixed origins throughout history, the name is a compound of the words Raj and Shahi, both of which can be translated into reign or kingdom. Archaic spellings in the English language also included Rajeshae.

History

Rajshahi Division was created in 1829 by the local British Government. It was the largest division in Bengal Province. During partition of Bengal in 1947, the division was divided in two halves. The eastern half remained as Rajshahi Division, while the western half became Jalpaiguri Division in West Bengal, India. In January 2010, Rangpur Division split from Rajshahi division.

Demographics

At the time of the 2022 Bangladeshi census, Rajshahi division had a population of 20,351,864. Muslims are 19,071,092 which is 93.71% of the population, while Hindus are 1,159,152 which is 5.70% of the population. Other religions (almost entirely Christianity and indigenous faiths) are 0.59% of the population and are mainly found among the ethnic minorities.

Districts

• Natore
• Rajshahi
• Sirajganj
• Pabna
• Bogura
• Chapainawabganj
• Naogaon
• Joypurhat

Education

Notable schools in Rajshahi invoice:

Universities

• University of Rajshahi
• Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET)
• Rajshahi Medical University
• Varendra University
• Rajshahi Science & Technology University
• North Bengal International University
• Rabindra University, Bangladesh
• Pabna University of Science and Technology
• Naogaon University
• Bangladesh Army University of Engineering & Technology
• Bogura Science and Technology University, Bogura

Medical Colleges

• Rajshahi Medical College
• Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College, Bogra
• Pabna Medical College
• Shaheed M. Monsur Ali Medical College, Sirajganj
• Islami Bank Medical College

Colleges

• Rajshahi College
• Rajshahi Cadet College
• Rajshahi Government City College
• New Government Degree College, Rajshahi
• Pabna Cadet College
• Joypurhat Girls Cadet College, Joypurhat
• Govt. Azizul Haque College, Bogra
• Govt. Edward College, Pabna

Schools

• Bogra Zilla School
• Govt. Laboratory High School, Rajshahi
• Pabna Zilla School
• Rajshahi Collegiate School

Notable residents

• Montazur Rahman Akbar, film-maker
• Group Captain (Rtd.) Saiful Azam, fighter pilot, Member of Parliament (MP) for Pabna-3
• Manzoor Alam Beg, photographer
• Apu Biswas
• Mohammad Ali Bogra
• General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, OBE, former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army
• Pramatha Chaudhuri, writer
• Samson H. Chowdhury, business mangate
• Zahid Hasan, stage actor
• Amjad Hossain, (Member of National Assembly of Pakistan), organiser of Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971.
• A. B. Mirza Azizul Islam, advisor of military-backed 2007-2008 caretaker government
• Taijul Islam, player for the Bangladesh national cricket team
• Abdul Jalil, politician
• James
• Air Vice Marshal (Rtd.) A. K. Khandker, first Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Air Force (1971–1975), Former Minister, Ministry Planning of Bangladesh
• Mahiya Mahi
• Amiya Bhushan Majumdar, Indian novelist
• Partha Pratim Majumder
• Bande Ali Mia, poet
• Bidya Sinha Saha Mim
• Mohammed Fazle Rabbee, cardiologist, intellectual
• Mushfiqur Rahim
• Arifur Rahman
• Tarique Rahman
• Ziaur Rahman
• Sqn Ldr Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui, Pakistani war hero of Indo-Pak War of 1965

References

References

1. "Rajshahi Division".
2. (November 2023). "National Report". [[Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics]].
3. "The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh".
4. "Bangladesh".
5. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database".
6. . ["Population Census 2011: National Volume-1: Analytical Report"](http://203.112.218.65:8008/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/PopCenZilz2011/NRV-1Report2011.pdf).
7. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aqidO6AIiUoC&dq=dighapatia+zamindar&pg=PA6 Encyclopedia of Bangladesh pp 6]
8. {{cite Banglapedia. Sajahan Miah
9. link. [[The Daily Ittefaq]]. (6 April 2017)
10. (6 September 2016). "Oversee mosque construction to check recurrence of N'ganj-like incident: PM". [[United News of Bangladesh]].
11. {{Cite Banglapedia