Tila

Tila small, low hills; eroded hillocks, appearing in the northeast and south of greater Sylhet and also around Sylhet town. There may be as many as four groups of tilas in Sylhet - Chhatak group, Sylhet group, Dhaka-Dakshin (South) group and Beanibazar group. Important characteristics of these tilas are shown in the following table.

Table Major tilas in Sylhet region.

Group	Location	Important tilas	Alignment	Areal extent
Chhatak	Northern Sylhet districts	Taramun Tila (44m)	Northwest to southeast	65 sq km
Sylhet	Sylhet proper	Orthoki  Tila (29m), Abangi Tila (77m), Barunti Tila (79m), Cherragong Tila (91m)	Northeast to southwest	70 sq km
Dhaka-Dakshin	Near Golabganj, Ita range	Kailash Tila (64m)	North to south	78 sq km
Beanibazar	Beanibazar, Patharia range	Beanibazar Tila (30m)	North to south	52 sq km

There are also some scattered tilas in Sylhet, such as, Kuleral Tila (226m), Dupi Tila (100m), Khasia Tila (108m), and Chatal Tila (>130m). The tilas are composed of Pleistocene clays and sands over a coarse ferruginous sand stones, mottled sandy clays and shales of Dupi Tila Formation. Tilas were once under dense forest cover and now very little of that cover is left. Most of the tilas have come under tea cultivation. [Mohd Shamsul Alam]