Brahmanpara Upazila

Brahmanpara Upazila (comilla district) area 128.48 sq km, located in between 23°35' and 23°44' north latitudes and in between 91°03' and 91°11' east longitudes. It is bounded by kasba and muradnagar upazilas on the north, burichang upazila on the south, tripura state of India and Kasba upazila on the east, debidwar and Muradnagar upazilas on the west.

Population Total 204691; male 97434, female 107257; Muslim 199376, Hindu 5297, Buddhist 1, Christian 6 and others 11.

Water bodies Main rivers: gumti, Buri, Salda, Ghungur; Bara Khal (canal), Pallar beel, Makimpur Go-bak beel, Baroni beel at Jamtali and Shaitshalar dam are notable.

Administration Once Brahmanpara was a part of Kasba thana and it was included in Burichang thana in 1954. In 1968, Brahmanpara police out post was established and Brahmanpara thana was formed in 1876. It was turned into an upazila in 1983.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
-	8	53	65	6013	198678	1593	60.6	54.6

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
1.98	2	6013	3037	60.6

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Chandla 44	3537	10525	12079	55.9
Dulalpur 30	3175	10262	11711	54.2
Brahmanpara 18	3733	12080	13014	52.8
Madhabpur 56	6204	15210	16727	51.1
Malapara 62	2436	8360	9351	59.5
Shashidal 88	6063	19026	19945	51.8
Sahebabad 82	2575	10658	11649	54.6
Sidlai 50	4009	11313	12781	62.6

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Tombs of Panch Pir (1815) on the west side of Shashidal Railway Station, Chandla Shiva Mandir (eighteenth century), Math (1822) and place of pilgrimage at Harimangal, Tomb of Karim Shah.

War of Liberation This upazila was under Sector 2 during the war of liberation. The civilians of the upazila in collaboration with the members of the Bangali EPR (East Pakistan Rifle) had beaten four members of the Pak EPR to death on 27 March at Shashudal. 18 Pak soldiers were killed in an encounter with the freedom fighters at a place near the Chhakarmar Bridge of the upazila at the end of June 1971. 15 Pak soldiers including 1 Captain were killed in an encounter with the freedom fighters of 4th Bengal Regiment at Holaimuri on the bank of the river Ghungur on the border of Kasba and Brahmanpara upazilas. The Pak army later established a camp at the nearby Chandala and Shaitshala villages and killed more than one hundred persons and buried them in mass graves. The freedom fighters had encounters with the Pak army in many places of the upazila including Chandala, Bara Bhangania (Jirul), Tatera on the northen side of Shahebabad Bazar, Sidlai, Lalla, Malapara, Shashidal Deous, Mukimpur Kalamuria Bridge, Mirpur (Madhabpur) and South Tetabhumi. A mass grave on the bank of a pond at Harimangal near the Railway) and 2 mass killing sites (one at the premises of Bhuiya Bari at north Chandala and the other at premises of Probad Kumar Das at south Chandla) were discovered in the upazila.

For details: see ব্রাহ্মণপাড়া উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৭।

Religious institutions Mosque 155, temple 12, tomb 4, sacred place 5, math 5. Noted religious institutions: Ramnagar joint Math (1705), Shaitshala Jami Mosque (1719), Chandala Shiva Mandir (1800), Rammahan Mandir at Shaitshala (1805), Mazar of Panch Pirer at Shashidal (1815), Math and sacred place at Harimangal (1822), Baghai Shah Mosque and Tomb.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 54.7%; male 56.2%, female 53.5%. Educational institutions: college 9, secondary school 29, primary school 102, madrasa 19. Noted educational institutions: Sahebabad Degree College (1970), Shashidal Union High School (1890), Madhabpur Sheikhlal High School (1911), Madhabpur High School (1919), Chandla K. B High School (1920), Brahmanpara Bhagaban High School (1940), Brahmanpara Bhagaban Government High School (1945).

Newspapers and periodicals Fortnightly: Brahmanpara Burichang; monthly: Kriti Brahmanpara Burichang.

Cultural organisations Library 1, club 3, musical academy 1, cinema hall 1, playground 10.

Main sources of income Agriculture 63.18%, non-agricultural labourer 1.45%, industry 0.46%, commerce 13.93%, transport and communication 1.64%, service 11%, construction 0.83%, religious service 0.21%, rent and remittance 1.9% and others 5.4%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 78.75%, landless 21.25%; agricultural landowner: urban 74.54% and rural 78.83%.

Main crops Paddy, mustard, potato, betel leaf, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Peanut, kaun, sugarcane, arahar, linseed, carrot, shalgam, pulse.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, banana, papaya, kamranga, karamcha.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Dairy 34, poultry 28, hatchery 20, nursery 22.'

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 73 km, semi-pucca 11, mud road 270 km; waterway 0.35 km; railway 10 km; railway stations 2.

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

Noted manufactories Rice mill, saw mill, oil mill, flour mill, ice factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, blacksmith, potteries, jute work, handloom, tailoring, bamboo work, cane work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 5, fairs 7, most noted of which are Sahebabad, Dulalpur, Chandla, Madhabpur and Malapara Hat and Chandla Mela, Baishakhi Mela at Balder, Kalibari Mela at Sahebabad, Kalisiddha Mela at Saitshala, Purnadham Mela at Austagram, Dayamay Mahautshab at Makimpur.

Main exports Betel leaf, potato.

Access to electricity All the unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 73.7% dwellings have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 96.7%, tap 0.9% and others 2.4%. The presence of arsenic has been detected in the shallow tube well water of the upazila.

Sanitation 81.5% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 17.1% of dwelling houses use non-sanitary latrines; 1.4% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, satellite clinic 3, clinic 93.

NGO activities brac, asa, proshika. [Md Abdus Sattar]

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