COMILLA DISTRICT

Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to the south, Tripura of India to the east, and Munshiganj and Chandpur districts to the west.It has its own cricket Team .

Established as the Tippera or Tipperah district of Bengal by the British in 1790, it included the Sub-divisions of Brahmanbaria and Chandpur which eventually became separate districts in 1984.The district was renamed Comilla in 1960. Comilla district is located in the south eastern part of Bangladesh.

Comilla has a total area of 3085.17 square kilometres. It is bounded by Burchiganj and Tripura on the north, Laksham and Chauddagram on the south, and Barura on the west. Major rivers passing through Comilla include the Gumti and the Little Feni.

The administrative headquarters of Comilla are located in the city of Comilla which has a total area of 11.47 square kilometres. It consists of 18 mouzas and 3 wards. Comilla thana was officially converted into an upazila in 1983 which contains one municipality 18 wards, 19 union parishads, 452 mouzas and 458 villages.

Comilla district consists of the following Upazilas:

• Barura Upazila
• Brahmanpara Upazila
• Burichong Upazila
• Comilla Sadar Upazila
• Comilla Sadar Dakshin Upazila
• Chandina Upazila
• Chauddagram Upazila
• Daudkandi Upazila
• Debidwar Upazila
• Homna Upazila
• Laksam Upazila
• Lalmai Upazila
• Monohorgonj Upazila
• Meghna Upazila
• Muradnagar Upazila
• Nangalkot Upazila
• Titas Upazila

Mainly based on agriculture, the economy of Comilla has been flourished through trade and cottage industries, especially the 'Khadi' textile. For the economic development of the region the "Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority" has established the "Comilla Export Processing Zone" spread over an area of 104.44 hectares (258.1 acres) in the Comilla Airport area in 2000. The export zone employs 20 thousand people as of 2013.

Important landmarks include Kotbari, a cantonment, or military installation and Kandirpar, considered the heart of the Comilla district. Ancient Buddhist monastery ruins are the major attraction of Mainamati, near Kotbari. There is an ancient Hindu Temple named Comilla Jagannath Temple located on East Bibirbazar Road.

There is a Second World War cemetery, Mainamati War Cemetery, located about 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) away from Comilla Cantonment, which was a frontier military base in the fight against the Japanese who had occupied Burma. British Army soldiers killed during the fight with the Japanese Army at the Burma (Myanmar) frontier were buried here. Pashchimgaon Nawab Bari, the place of only lady Jaminder Nawab Faizunnesa, a poet, educationist and a philanthropist.

Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh, passed a significant time of his life in this town. Both his wives, Promila Devi and Nargis, hailed from this district.

Comilla Victoria College and Comilla Zilla School are two old and renowned college and school in the country. Comilla Zilla School was established in the year of 1837. Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) is situated in Kotbari. The area also saw the development of Comilla Model.

Situated by the bank of the river Ghumti, Comilla is also famous for some tanks such as 'Dharmasagar', 'Ranir Dighi', 'Nanuar Dighi', 'Ujir Dighi' etc.

Educational Institutions:

• Comilla Polytechnic Institute, Comilla
• Ispahani Public School & College, Comilla
• Comilla Victoria University College
• Comilla University
• Comilla Government College
• Comilla Government Women's College
• Comilla Cadet Collage
• Bangladesh Survey Institute
• List of Educational Institutions in Comilla

The following personalities were either born or stayed in this district for a significant span of their lifetime:

• Mohammed Golam rabbani Sarker, a freedom fighter, Charbaker, Debidwar, Comilla,
• Nawab Faizunnesa Choudhurani (1834–1903): poet & philanthropist.
• Kazi Zafar Ahmed: EX: Prime Minister
• Shilvadra (529–654): a great Buddhist monk & pundit, professor & chancellor of Nalanda University. Born in Koilain, Chandina Upazila
• Dhirendranath Datta (1886–1971): Political leader, provincial minister of the than East Pakistan, Language Movement activist & lawyer.
• Buddhadeb Basu (1908–1974): Bengali poet, novelist, essayist, translator & editor.
• Sachin Dev Burman (1906–1975): Singer, composer & music director.
• Akhtar Hameed Khan (1914–1999): Social reformer and Development activist. He is from U.P -undivided India, but spent an important part of his life as Asst Magistrate (ICS) and thereafter as Principal Victoria College and creator of Co-operative programme and BARD at Comilla.
• Shib Narayan Das: The designer of first national flag of Bangladesh in 1971, a freedom fighter & political activist.
• Sabitri Chatterjee: Actress in Indian Bengali film, TV serial and theatre.
• Akbar Hossain BP: Ex-Minister of Bangladesh Government.
• Kazi Shamsul Hoquen eminent journalist, founder editor of weekly Akhon Samoy, New York.
• Abdul Gani: (1919 – November 11, 1957) was a Bengali military officer. He was the founder and the first in-charge of one of the Pioneer Companies of 1st East Bengal Regiment.
• Abul Manzoor, Sector Commander during Bangladesh War of Independence and decorated with the award Bir Uttom, was born in Comilla.
• Sudhin Das, Swaralipikar of Nazrul Sangeet, Awarded by Ekushe Padak
• Alaka Das, Legendary Artist of Classical Music, Principal of Sangeet Shikhharthee Sammilan (সঙ্গীত শিক্ষার্থী সম্মেলন) [15] Talpukur Par, Comilla
• Sagarmoy Ghosh : Bengali editor and author
• General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan : ex chief of Army Staff

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