Araihazar Upazila

Araihazar Upazila (narayanganj district) area 181.07 sq km, located in between 23°40' and 23°53' north latitudes and in between 90°35' and 90°45' east longitudes. It is bounded by narsingdi sadar upazila on the rth, homna upazila on the south, banchharampur upazila on the east and rupganj and sonargaon upazilas on the west.

Population Total 376550; male 188324, female 188226; Muslim 363733, Hindu 12796, Buddhist 1, Christian 13 and others 7.

Water bodies Main rivers: meghna and brahmaputra.

Administration Araihazar Thana was formed in 1921 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
-	12	184	322	14423	362127	2080	56.6	40.3

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
7.51	3	14423	1921	56.6

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Araihazar 23	1967	12898	12695	47.8
Uchitpur 94	2417	9990	10344	33.6
Kala Paharia 55	8557	13337	14348	23.0
Khagakanda 63	3176	11826	12974	36.3
Duptara 31	4132	19344	18151	51.5
Fatehpur 39	1752	10556	10278	36.4
Bishnandi 15	4411	18180	18241	28.8
Brahmandi 23	4033	24570	24429	52.3
Mahmudpur 71	2389	13766	13735	29.9
Satgram 87	4851	21124	20607	47.2
Sadasardi 79	2829	20416	19199	46.3
Haizadi 47	4232	12317	13225	38.6

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Two-storied building with 108 rooms (Sadasardi), mazars of Hazrat Garibullah Shah (R) and Jangali Shah (R) at Haizadi, coloured glass decorated Durga Mandir, house of Zamindar Birendra Roy Chowdhury, Dighipar Math (Araihazar), single-domed' Jami Mosque (Uchitpur).

War of Liberation During the War of Liberation in 1971 Araihazar was under Sector 2. On 4 August the freedom fighters destroyed the Dargaon Bridge in order to disrupt the communication with Dhaka. On 5 August they destroyed the Panchrukhi-Dhaka bridge. On 28 August they captured two razakars with arms. On 30 August the freedom fighters attacked Araihazar Thana and killed the collaborators of Pak army including a Police Sub Inspector; they also captured all arms and ammunitions of the Thana. On 11 September the freedom fighters attacked the Pak army camp at Kamrangirchar and killed 5 Pak soldiers and six razakars. On 16 October the Pak army attacked the camp of the freedom fighters at village Agli of Narshingdi Thana and killed one freedom fighter of this upazila. In November an encounter was held between the freedom fighters led by Makbul Hossain and the Pak army at Saoghat of Galakandhail. Many Pakistani soldiers were killed in another battle between the freedom fighters under the command of S. M Shafi and the Pak army on 7 November. In this battle freedom fighter Kazi Manzur Hossain was killed. Araihazar Thana was liberated on 14 November 1971.

For details: see আড়াইহাজার উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ১।

Religious institutions Mosque 356, temple 7.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 41.0%; male 42.1%, female 39.8%. Educational institutions: college 4, technical college 2, secondary school 24, primary school 104, madrasa 51. Noted educational institutions: Araihazar Pilot School (1897), Satgram Govt. High School (1910), Duptara C.C High School (1912), Central Coronation High School (1912), Sadasardi High School (1913), Gopaldi High School (1919).

Tourist spots Biman bandar (Araihazar), Noa Sadur Tomb (Shibpur), Hazrat Garibullah Shah (R) Tomb, Jangali Shah (R) Tomb (Haizadi).

Main sources of income Agriculture 28.48%, n-agricultural labourer 8.29%, commerce 20.19%, transport and communication 4.84%, industry 15.13%, service 5.96%, construction 1.40%, religious service 0.26%, rent and remittance 3.44% and others 12.01%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 50.89%, landless 49.11%; agricultural landowner: urban 54.11% and rural 50.76%.

Main crops Paddy, jute, wheat, potato, mustard seed, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Betel leaf.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, litchi, black berry, papaya.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries This upazila has a number of dairies and poultries.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 159 km, semi-pucca 25 km, mud road 190 km; waterway 25 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, dulki, bazra boat.

Manufactories Welding factory.

Cottage industries Weaving, Goldsmith, Blacksmith, wood work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 34; most ted of which are Gopaldi Bazar, Araihazar Bazar, Adarsha Bazar (former name Kalibari), Kamrangir Char Bazar, Jangalia Bazar and Radhanagar Bazar.

Main exports Broad cloths, sari.

Access to electricity All the unions of the upazila are under electricity net-work. However 86.5% dwellings have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 95.4%, tap 1.0% and others 3.6%. The presence of arsenic has been detected in tube-well water of the upazila but it is of tolerable limit.

Sanitation 45.9% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 68.8% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 7.3% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centers Hospital 1, satellite clinic 5, family planning clinic 7, health and family welfare center 4, union health centre 7, clinic 1.

NGO activities brac, asa, proshika, SIDA, Sofa. [Mokammel Hossain Bhuiyan]

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