Faridpur District - History

History

In 1582 in the reign of Emperor Akbar, the province of Bengal was formed into 33 sarkars or financial sub-divisions, and Faridpur area appears to have been included within the sarkar of Muhammad Abud. During the Emperor Shah Jahan, these divisions were carried onto such an extent as to cause in a falling of the imperial revenue. In 1721 a new partition of the country was made the province of Bengal being formed into 13 large divisions (chaklas) instead of sarkars. In 1765 the financial administration of Faridpur, together with the rest of Bangal was captured by the English, and in 1790 the criminal administration of the country at the correctors were invested with magisterial powers. In 1793 the collectors were relieved of their magisterial duties and separate officers were appointed united Judicial and Magisterial power together. The greater portion of Faridpur was then comprised within Dacca Jalalpur. In 1811 Faridpur was separated from Dacca collectorate.

The district was initially known as Fatehabad. In 1860 the district was named as Faridpur after 12th Century Sufi saint Shah Sheikh Fariduddin. Faridpur town was declared a municipality in 1862 and a District Prison was set up in 1865. In 1840 the Faridpur Zila School was established and is one of the oldest schools in modern day Bangladesh.

The original district stretched out across central Bengal, comprising what is, today, the Greater Faridpur region. A politically important district during the British Raj, Faridpur became a sub-division of Dhaka Division after the creation of Pakistan. In 1984, with the Decentralization Program of the Bangladesh government, Faridpur district was broken into five separate districts: Rajbari, Gopalgonj, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Faridpur.

Faridpur is notable for its rich zamindari history. Most of the zamindar families were Hindus. They included the Basu Roys of Gopalgonj, the Senguptas (dewanji) of dhamaron, the Basu Roy Chowdhurys of Ulpur (Shahapur), the Sikdars of Kanaipur, The Bhawal Rajas of Pangsha, the Lords of Choddo and Baish Roshi estates of Bhanga. During the reign of the Nawabs of Bengal, several Muslim zamindaris were established. They included the Chanpur Estate and the Boalmari Estate in present day Faridpur, Golam Ali Chowdhury of Idilpur pargana and the Padamdi Nawab Estate in present day Rajbari. The most powerful Muslim landlords were Nawab Abdul Latif and Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash.

The history of all the zamindars couldn't been found except of the SIkdars of Kanaipur and Chowdhury Family of Haroa Chowdhury State Belgachi.

The Chowdhury family of Belgachi Haroa State

zaminder Khan BahadurYusuf Hossain Chowdhury and zaminder Khan Bahadur Alimuzzaman Chowdhury.

The Syeds of Modhukhali

Modhukhali Upozilla under Faridpur District

Barrister Syed Kamrul Islam Mohommod Salehuddin (S.K.I.M. Salehuddin, commonly Known as Barrister Salehuddin, 1937–1983):

Barrister Salehuddin Born in Gopalgonj in 1937. His Father was Syed Mohommod Abdul Halim and Mother Saleha Khatun. He was a Member of the Honorable society of the Inner temple (London) and he was Called to the bar from the same society in 1968. He was a Queens Counsellor (QC) in England. He was a member of the British Civil Service in England. elected Pakistan National Assembly Member (MNA) from Boalmari Upozilla under Faridpur District in 1970 from Awami League. In 25 March 1971 he Uphold the Flag of Bangladesh in front of Boalmari Rest House (Dakbanglaw) in a public Meeting. After Independence Barrister Syed Kamrul Islam Mohommod Salehuddin acted as a Constituent Assembly Member (1972) and signed the First Constitution (1972) of Bangladesh. Barrister Syed Kamrul Islam Mohommod Salehuddin elected as an Independent Parliament Member (MP)at the First National Election in 1973 from the Boalmari-Alfadanga-Baliakandi area under Faridpur District. He was a Parliamentarian-Constitution Expert and a great politician of the country. He was a follower of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rahman and Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani. Barrister Salehuddin formed Bangladesh Justice Party in 1981. Former President H.M. Earshad divided the Boalmari Upozilla and created a new Upozilla named "Modhukhali". The original home village of Barrister Salehuddin named Bonomalidia now situated at Modhukhali upozella. Barrister Salehuddin died in 24 May 1983, in Dhaka. He was buried in Banani Graveyeard, Dhaka.

Syed Mohommod Abdul Halim (1912–1999) was a civil servant in the Bengal Civil Service (BCS), he was a vice president of undivided Bengal Student Association. He wrote the original Memorandum during the partition in 1947 to include the Greater Khulna District in Pakistan with assistance from Sher-E-Bangla, A.K. Fazlul Haq, Hossain Shahid Sarwardhy, Khan A.Sabur (Sabur Khan of Khulna), M.A. Majid Advocate. He was awarded TQA by the Pakistani Government. He rejected this TQA title during the War of Liberation in 1971. His elder son Barrister Syed Kamrul Islam Mohommod Salehuddin was a Politician of Bangladesh.

Professor Dr. Syed Safiullah Scientist and a professor of Chemistry, Jahangirnagar University, Saver, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was Secretary General of IIESDM. He completed his PhD at London university. He was awarded the third World academy of science Prize from Italy. He is a Fellow of Royal College of Chemistry (FRCC), UK. His Father Syed Mohommod Abdul halim and Mother Saleha Khatun.

Dr. Syed Zaved Mohommod Salehuddin (1972- ) Dr S.Z.M. Salehuddin was born in 04/02/1972. His father Politician Barrister Syed Kamrul Islam Mohommod Salehuddin was a prominent political leader of the country and his Mother is Dilafroze Begum. Dr. Syed Zaved Mohommod Salehuddin did his M.S.S.(Political science) from Dhaka University in 1993. He did his LL-B. from the same university under Central Law College. He received his M.Phil. Degree in 2000 and Phd in 2006 under Dhaka University. He started his career as an advocate in 1998. He is an active member of several National and International Organizations like, viz. Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association, Dhaka Bar Association, Asiatic Society, Bangladesh, Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB), Lions Club International, Barrister Salehuddin Trust, Barrister Salehuddin Smriti Sangshad. He was a former teacher of Public Administration Department, Jahangirnagar University, Saver, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Dr. Shafiuddin Ahmed (alias Tareque M Shafi), PhD ……..

Dr. Shafiuddin Ahmed was born in December 1945 at Char Murail under Boalmari Upazila in the district of Faridpur. He did his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering degree from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, in 1971 (held in 1972). He continued his study towards MS (Master of Science) in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) under Water Management Department (Incomplete). He received his higher training under the State University of Utah, USA, 1986. He earned his MCIS (Master of Computer Information System) from the University of Phoenix, USA. He also holds his PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy) in Computer Information System, USA (2004). He was granted recognition of The National Scholars Honor Society at Wellington Academy (2001). He was awarded the best alum of One Hundred Years celebration of the Boalmari George Academy, November 24–25, 2010. He served with Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council(BARC), Bangladesh as a Senior Scientific Officer and Acting Director (AATC) until February 1986. He served as a Senior Test Engineer with American Express, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He worked with Intel Corporation, Oregon,USA, as Senior Test Engineer. He acted as a Project Lead with Sygate Technology, California, USA. He received his Mujibbahini training in India and participated in the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. He is involved in social activities.

The Chowdhury Moyezuddin Family: This family is one of the few pre-British period ruling families with extensive presence till today.

The family originated from Turkey. The first person to come and settle in Bengal had been Arafat Ali in the early 1600s. They had come and settled in Durgapur where they had set up a garrison in circa 1630. Prior to his advent in what was Fatehabad at that time, the family had been settled in Jaunpur of Uttar Pradesh for about 3.5 centuries where they had been preachers of Islam and later had been important rank holders in the Mughal army. They were granted the Jagirdari of what is Northern Faridpur (Rajbari district and present Faridpur)and later when the British colonization took place, the territory that they controlled was divided into 23 segments and 22 of these were auctioned away to many Hindu merchants, mostly from West Bengal, giving rise to many of the Hindu zamindaris of Faridpur. One segment was retained by the family which became known as the Chanpur Estate, based in Shibrampur village of Ishan Goplapur union. They adopted the title of Bishwash at this stage from 1790s as that was given to them by the people of the locality where they set up a vast palace complex spread over 200 acres of land. Son of Chowdhury Jamaluddin was Chowdhury Moquimuddin Bishwash who expanded the estate in West Bengal. His eldest son Chowdhury Moyezuddin Bishwash born in 1840 rose to be the most famous of their lineage. He had a fallout with his family after his father (Chowdhury Moquimuddin Bishwash)'s demise in 1856, and subsequently he migrated to Rangpur district where he acquired his initial wealth through a series of small businesses. It is from there, through his own entrepreneurship that he accumulated vast cash capital with which he purchased lands across North Bengal, present West Bengal province of India, and eventually in Faridpur. He returned to Faridpur in 1871, and lived in Chanpur with his family after reconciling differences, but later in 1883 relocated to Faridpur town, being the first Muslim of significance to take up residence there. Chowdhury Moyezuddin Bishwash's estate finally at the time of his demise on 23rd December 1923, stretched across the greater Faridpur region for 4000 square kilometers with a population of 14,20,00 people according to 1911 census (across all districts where the estate had fragments). The estate also included lands across Bengal ( 24 parganas, hoogli, darjeeling) and some in Punjab and Ottoman Arabia ( mainly Makkah). In 1885 Moyezuddin built the Moyez Manzil Palace in Faridpur, adjacent to the Circuit House. It replaced Biwshash Bari as the seat of the Chanpur Estate. He developed modern sewerage and electricity systems for the town in the early 1900s. He also built many schools, madrasas and orphanages. He supported the creation of the All Indian Congress, the People's Association of Faridpur, and contributed heavily to the weakening of the Colonial administration.

His sons Chowdhury Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin Lal Mia, Chowdhury Yusuf Ali Mohon Mia and Chowdhury Enayet Hossain Tara Mia all rose to fame as great political personalities of Bengal and erstwhile Pakistan. They were all members of the Parliament and held ministries at various times across 1920s till the advent of 1970s thereby becoming one of the most powerful families of Bengal and Pakistan. They also won all the local municipality and other administrative positions, thereby holding the governance of Faridpur effectively within the family.

There are several grandsons of Chowdhury Moyezuddin Bishwas who also succeeded in becoming Members of Parliament and Ministers across the late 1970s all the way till present times.

The Sikdars of Kanaipur:

They rose to power mostly under the lady zamindar Bhabatarini Sikdar, a widow who was an efficient ruler of her time and was very famous in dealing with her business-mind and conducted trading on river throughout India and brought back enormous wealth to her estate. Her only son Satish Chandra Sikdar was also efficient in looking after the estate but was more famous for his arrogance and shrewdness that he used to rule his subjects. His two sons of different wives were Surendranath Sikdar and Nirodboron Sikdar were later the rulers of the divided estate though majority of the property going under Surendranath Sikdar being the elder son. He and his wife Radha Rani Sikdar, a daughter of a zamindar of Kalighat in Calcutta had six children, among them the eldest and the only daughter Arati Sikdar, Shukho Surjo Sikdar, Nihar Ranjan Sikdar, Timir Boron Sikdar, Dilip sikdar and Basudeb Sikdar. Surndranath sikdar had an early life, thus the estate came under Radha Rani Sikdar as his elder son became an aesthetic, her second son went to Calcutta to become an automobile engineer who later married to Pushpa Rani Sikdar and settled in Calcutta and took no interest in zamandari affairs but officially was the owner of the estate being the second married son and the other sons were both incapable and inefficient to run the estate and thus losing the vast property to the Government. Till the death of Radha Rani Sikdar the estate was looked and maintained properly by herself.

During the 1800s Haji Shariatullah, after returning from Mecca, began the famous Faraizi movement aimed at ending the persecution of Muslims by upper caste Hindu zamindars. The Indigo Resistance Movement which resisted Indigo plantations promoted by the British East India Company, also began in Faridpur. The movement was led by Pir Dudu Miah.

The Greater Faridpur region is also famous for producing some of the finest politicians of the Indian Subcontinent. They include Baba Ambika Charan Majumder, Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Mohonmiah Yusuf Ali Chowdhury, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Humayun Kabir and many more.

Faridpur hosted several key meetings of the Indian Independence movement. It was regularly visited by Subhash Chandra Bose, Chittaranjan Das, Rabindranath Tagore, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The annual conference of the Bengal Congress held on the grounds of the Moyez Manzil Palace in Faridpur in 1921 was attended by Mahatma Gandhi.

After the creation of Pakistan, Bengali nationalists frequently held large rallies in Faridpur. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq would regularly visit the district. Prior to the elections of 1954 which brought Bengali nationalists to power in Faridpur, the Jukta Front coalition held a massive rally on the grounds of the Biwshash Bari zamindar mansion in the village of Chanpur, just outside Faridpur. The rally was attended by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq.

Faridpur also saw many ruthless atrocities during the Bangladesh Liberation War. On April 26 the Pakistan army landed on Daulatdia river port (now in present day Rajbari) and began a massacre as soldiers went from village to village killing sleeping civilians during dawn.