Narail Sadar Upazila

Narail Sadar Upazila (narail district) area 381.75 sq km, located in between 23°02' and 23°17' north latitudes and in between 89°23' and 89°37' east longitudes. It is bounded by lohagara and salikha upazilas on the north, kalia and abhaynagar upazilas on the south, Lohagara upazila on the east, bagherpara and jessore sadar upazilas on the west.

Population Total 272872; male 135007, female 137865; Muslim 198573, Hindu 73913, Buddhist 2, Christian 205 and others 179.

Water bodies Main rivers: nabaganga, chitra, bhairab; Gobra Canal is notable.

Administration Narail Thana was formed in 1861 and it was turned into an upazila in 1984.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	13	162	231	51318	221554	715	62.22 (2001)	62.1

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
27.72 (2001)	9	24	42299	1335 (2001)	81.7

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
10.35 (2001)	11	9019	956 (2001)	72.1

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Auria 11	8013	11724	12077	63.6
Kalora 47	6984	9783	9695	54.1
Chandibarpur 33	6245	8474	8911	69.0
Tularampur 94	8258	8103	8407	67.4
Banshgram 13	9788	8940	9405	61.8
Bichhali 27	8142	9633	9716	57.9
Bhadrabila 20	6061	8726	9209	55.9
Maij Para 54	6915	10814	11113	65.2
Mulia 61	2556	4453	4566	72.1
Sahabad 74	4683	6479	6908	71.7
Shaikhati 81	9156	10358	10088	68.6
Singasolpur 88	4698	7390	7659	47.3
Habakhali 40	5984	8792	9150	62.3

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Goal Bathan Mosque (1654).

Historical events In 1946 tebhaga movement begun in Narail under the leadership of Communist activist Nurjalal.

War of Liberation In an operation led by Professor Nur Mohammad Miah on 26 March 1971 the youths of Narail captured all arms and ammunitions of Narail Armory and took them to Lohagara. On 2 April the freedom fighters raided the Rupganj Military Camp and killed 60 Pak soldiers at the Narail Ferry Ghat while the enemies were fleeing from the Camp. On 3 April the Pak army launched an attack on Narail Town. A number of establishments were damaged and the town was virtually vacated due to air attack on it by the Pak army on 6 April. On 13 April the Pak army established their camp at Narail. In early May the Pak army in collaboration with the local razakars captured Sheikh Abdus Salam, a teacher of Kalia Pilot High School from Ramsiddhi and killed him on 13 May in the Jessore Cantonment. On 17 July the Pak army in collaboration with the local razakars captured 8 innocent persons from village Tularampur, took them to Water Development Board Camp and killed all of them. On 7 December the Pak army and razakars killed college student Mizanur Rahman. On 9 December the freedom fighters launched an attack on the Pak military camp in which freedom fighter Motiar Rahman was killed. On 10 December the freedom fighters attacked the Pak army from all sides and liberated Narail. On 14 December Major muhammad abul manzoor, Commander of Sector 8 of the war of liberation formally hoisted the flag of Independent Bangladesh at the Dakbangalow of Narail. A mass grave had been discovered at the premises of the Water Development Board of Narail Sadar upazila.

For details: see নড়াইল সদর উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৫।

Religious institutions Mosque 275, temple 75, church 1, tomb 2, sacred place 2. Noted religious institutions: Goal Bathan Mosque, Rupganj Jami Mosque.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 65.5%; male 68.4%, female 62.7%. Educational institutions: college 10, homeopathic medical college 1, agricultural and technical college 1, technical school and college 1, secondary school 58, primary school 163, satellite school 10, community school 6, blind school 1, madrasa 76. Noted educational institutions: Narail Government Victoria College (1886), Narail Boys' High School (1854), Narail Victoria Collegiate School (1857), Narail VC School (1857), Narail Government High School (1903), Maliat Secondary School (1906), Habakhali Hamidunnechha Secondary School (1916), Singasolpur KP Secondary School (1921), Singia-Hatbalpur Secondary School (1921), Parbati Bidyapith (1923), Banshgram Bishnupur Secondary School (1932), Maij Para Secondary School (1932), Narail Secondary Girls' School (1953), Sahabad Majidia Aliya Madrasa (1950).

Newspapers and periodicals Daily: Ocean; weekly: Prantik, Narail Barta; fortnightly: Kiran, Bhorer Alo (defunct); periodical: Bhaskar, Gramer Bani, Jagriti, Raktarin, Hathchhani, Bijoy, Sahittakali, Fera, Shekorer Sandhane.

Cultural organisations Library 5, cinema hall 1, theatre group 1, jatra party 3, literary society 1, women organisation 2.

Main sources of income Agriculture 64.97%, non-agricultural labourer 2.53%, industry 1.78%, commerce 12.09%, transport and communication 3.55%, service 8.74%, construction 1.02%, religious service 0.14%, rent and remittance 0.73% and others 4.45%.'

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 71.60%, landless 28.40%; agricultural landowner: urban 61.41% and rural 73.74%.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, jute, pulse, oil, betel leaf, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Indigo, china, kaun, mesta (jute).

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, banana, papaya, blackberry, star apple, date, guava, coconut.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 2350 (shrimp 1345, others fishes 1005), dairy 107, poultry 75, hatchery 1, nursery 16.

Communication facilities Pucca road 142 km, semi-pucca road 245 km, mud road 592 km; waterway 40 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, bullock cart, horse carriage.

Noted manufactories Textile mill, saw mill, rice mill, flour mill, ice factory, printing press, welding factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, potteries, food' industry, weaving, cane work, bamboo and wood work, tailoring.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 17, fairs 10, most noted of which are Rupganj Bazar, Gobra Bazar, Singia Bazar, Tularampur Bazar, Mirzapur Bazar, Maij Para Bazar, Nakmi Bazar, Chalitatala Bazar, Sultan Mela, Nishinathtala Mela, Rupganj Mela and Hijal Danga Mela.

Main exports Betel leaf, papaya, date molasses, coconut.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 48.7% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 95.6%, tap 2.2% and others 2.2%. The presence of arsenic has been detected in 21% shallow tube-well water of the upazila.

Sanitation 61.5% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 34.1% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 4.4% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Hospital 1, satellite clinic 3, union health and family welfare centre 9, maternity 14, clinic 32.

Natural disasters More than one hundred people were victims' of the cyclones of 1909, 1961 and 1988; besides these cyclones also caused heavy damages to settlements, livestock, plantation and other properties of the upazila. A large number of people were victims of the famines of 1770 (BS 1176), 1943, and 1950. The floods of 1988 and 1998 caused heavy damages to settlements, livestock and crops of upazila.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are CARE, brac, asa, proshika. [Enamul Kabir Tuku]

References Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics; Cultural survey report of Narail Sadar Upazila 2007.