Comilla

This article is about the city. For the district, see Comilla District.
Comilla
কুমিল্লা
City
Clockwise from top: Comilla Skyline, Mainamati Chondimura temple, Shalban vihara and City Hall Library

Seal
Comilla
Coordinates: 23°27′N 91°12′E / 23.450°N 91.200°E / 23.450; 91.200Coordinates: 23°27′N 91°12′E / 23.450°N 91.200°E / 23.450; 91.200
Country Bangladesh
Division Comilla Division
District Comilla District
Municipality established 1890
City corporation 10 July 2011
Government
 • Type Mayor–Council
 • Body Comilla City Corporation
 • City Mayor Monirul Haque Sakku
Area
 • Total 51 km2 (20 sq mi)
Elevation 72 m (236 ft)
Population (2012)
 • Total 346,238
Demonym(s) Comillian
Time zone BST (UTC+6)
Postal code 3500–3583
Calling code 081
Website

Districts Website

City Corporation

Comilla (Bengali: কুমিল্লা) is a city in eastern Bangladesh, located along the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District, part of the Chittagong Division. Comilla is the second-largest city of eastern Bangladesh after Chittagong and is one of the three oldest cities in Bangladesh.

History

Ancient era

Shalaban Bihar is evidence of the age of Comilla.

The Comilla region was once under ancient Samatata and was joined with Tripura State.

A middle view of Comilla Coatbari.

This district came under the reign of the kings of the Harikela in the ninth century AD. Lalmai Mainamati was ruled by Deva dynasty (eighth century AD), and (during 10th and mid-11th century AD). In 1732, it became the centre of the Bengal-backed domain of Jagat Manikya.[1]

The Peasants Movement against the king of Tripura in 1764, which originally formed under the leadership of Shamsher Gazi is a notable historical event in Comilla.[2] It came under the rule of East India Company in 1765. This district was established as Tripura district in 1790. It was renamed Comilla in 1960. Chandpur and Brahmanbaria subdivisions of this district were transformed into districts in 1984.

British era

Comilla Victoria College was named by Queen Victoria.

Communal tension spread over Comilla when a Muslim was shot in the town during the partition of Bengal in 1905. On 21 November 1921, Kazi Nazrul Islam composed patriotic songs and tried to awaken the town people by protesting the Prince of Wales's visit to India.[3] During this time, Avay Ashram, as a revolutionary institution, played a significant role. Poet Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi visited Comilla at that time. In 1931, approximately 4000 peasants in Mohini village in Chauddagram Upazila revolted against a land revenue tax. The British Gurkha soldiers fired indiscriminately on the crowd, killing four people.[4] In a major peasant gathering, the police fired at Hasnabad of Laksam Upazila in 1932. Two people were killed and many were wounded. Queen Victoria visited Comilla several times. Comilla Victoria Government College was named for her memories in the city.

World War II

World War II cemetery in Mainamati.

Comilla Cantonment is one of the most important military bases and is the oldest in East Bengal. It was widely used by the British Indian Army during World War II. It was the headquarters of the British 14th Army.There is a war cemetery, Maynamati War Cemetery,[5] in Comilla that was established after the World War II to remember the Allied soldiers who died during World War I and II, mostly from Commonwealth states and the United States. There are a number of Japanese soldiers were buried there as well, from the second world war.

After Partition of Bengal

People of Comilla served as language fighter in 1952. Students of Comilla Victoria College protested against Pakistan Government. Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta was one of important leaders of the language movement who was from comilla. Shib Narayan Das was one of designer of the first flag of Bangladesh. He was part of BLF. Comilla was part of sector 2 during the Liberation war of Bangladesh. Jehangir Khan Tareen was a Pakistani politician of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He was also born in Comilla.

Geography

Gomti river, Comilla

Comilla covers a total area of 51 square kilometres. It is bounded by Burchiganj and Tripura on the north, Laksham and Chauddagram on the south, and Barura on the west. The major rivers that pass through Comilla include Gumti and Little Feni. The Tropic of Cancer crosses Comilla town on the south side just over the Thomson Bridge.

Climate

Comilla is a warm city. Majority of the year its hot. Nowadays its common that temperature rises above 40-degree Celsius.

Climate in Comilla
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Average Temperature (°C) 18° 21.5° 26° 21° 29.5° 29° 28° 28.5° 27.5° 22.5° 21° 20°
Average

Precipitation (mm)

 0 27 30 72 117 183 147 120 153 45 9 15
Source: World Weather Online|[Web]

Arts and culture

The famous Indian music maestro and the music composer late Sachin Deb Burman was born here and spent many years of his life in Comilla.

Points of interest

Kobi Nazrul Institute.

Comilla has a number of tourist attractions. Various archaeological relics discovered in the district, especially from the 7th–8th century, are now preserved in the Mainamati Museum, Mainamati being a famous Buddhist archaeological site.[6] There is a World War II war cemetery in Comilla, which is protected and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

There are some other places in Comilla tourists usually visit. Shalbon Bihar is historical place in the subcontinent. There also Dharma Sagor, which will give you full relaxation. Comilla Zoo is available for get entertained by animals. Lalmai Pahar is the natural attraction in comilla.

Sports

Sports are pretty popular in Comilla. Cricket is the most popular in all corner of Comilla city. Comilla Victorians is a professional cricket team based on Comilla city plays for Bangladesh Premier League. Comilla Victorians is the second most successful club in the Bangladesh Premier League history and one of the two teams that won the tournament as a debutant.[7] Comilla Victorians also hold the record of highest winning rate of Bangladesh Premier League.[8] The team is owned by Nafisa Kamal's Comilla Legends Limited. Wasim Akram was the team's mentor. Khaled Mashud is the manager of Comilla Victorians. Mohammad Salahuddin is the coach and Mashrafe Mortaza was the Icon Player of the team. Sports are pretty popular in Comilla. Cricket is the most popular in all corner of Comilla city. Other popular sports are football, hockey, volleyball etc. Comilla's F.C. Comilla football team also popular in the country.

Sports Teams from Comilla:

Sport League Club
Cricket BPL Comilla Victorians
Soccer SK Cup Adarshya F.C.
Soccer SL F.C. Comilla

Governance and politics

Politics

Comilla is one of the major cities for politics in country. Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Awami League is popular throughout the city. Comilla runs for City Corporation elections also.

City Corporation[9] Comilla City Corporation is a self-governed municipal administration in Bangladesh that administers and oversees development and maintenance works in the city. The corporation covers an area of over 33 square kilometre in the Comilla district where over five million people live as permanent residents. The body was known as Comilla Municipality previously, until it obtained the City Corporation status by a ministry of local government declaration on 10 July 2011.[10]

The Comilla City Corporation is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city.

Street view of Chawk [10] Bazar Road, Comilla

Military

Comilla Cantonment is a cantonment located nearby the city. The personnel of Bangladesh Army with local civilian inhabit here.The 33rd Infantry Division HQ is also located here. Bangladesh Military Academy was initially established at Comilla Cantonment on 11 January 1974 and later relocated at Bhatiary in 1976. Comilla Cantonment provides Comilla Cadet College, Comilla Ispahani Public School and College, Comilla Cantonment College, Comilla Cantonment High School.

Administration

Comilla is controlled by the Comilla City Corporation. It has total 27 wards.[10]

Metro neighbourhoods

Those are neighbourhoods of Comilla city.[11]

Transportation

Sunset at Dhaka-Comilla Highway.

Highway

Comilla is a hub of road communication of eastern part of Bangladesh. One of the oldest highways of the Indian Sub-continent, 'The Grand Trunk Road' passes through the city. The most important Dhaka–Chittagong Highway bypasses the city from the cantonment to Poduar Bazar.[12] Comilla is located 97 kilometres from the capital city, Dhaka, which can be reached by road or railway. Electric trike in recent years began to overwhelm Comilla streets, mostly because of its convenience in short distance commutation throughout the main town.

Railway

Comilla is a nearby city of Laksham Junction and Akhaura Railway Junction (largest in the country). Rail conncetion is available to Dhaka, Chittagong, Brahmanbaria and Sylhet.

Air

Comilla's only airport is currently closed since the city is nearby other major cities. Comilla Airport was announced to open again in 2012. Its runway is 26 ft long.

Education

Comilla Board of Education front gate.

Comilla is proud of its education level. This city is having one of highest amount of literacy rates. The Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education is located in Comilla. The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Comilla is an autonomous organisation, that is responsible for holding public examinations (JSC, S.S.C and H.S.C) in Comilla and near by 5 districts of Comilla Division. The board is established in 1962, under the East Pakistan Intermediate and Secondary Education (Amendment) Ordinance, 1962.

The present chairperson of the board is Professor Indu Bhushan Bhowmik.[4][5]This is the central administration that conducts primary, secondary, and higher secondary education for several districts. Institutions for cultural heritage in Comilla include the Ramamālā Library.

Media

All TV channels are available in the city. There are many international channels also. Comilla also publish its own news papers. There are a number of locally published newspapers in Comilla including Daily Rupasi Bangla (1972), Weekly Amod (1955), Abibhadan (1994), Natunpatra, Samayatra (1967), Daily Comilla Batra, Daily Bangladesh Sangbad, Monthly Manan, Pathakbatra, Shiranam, Weekly Laksham Batra, Weelky Nirakkhar. Extinct: Tripura Patrika (1876), Tripura (1932), Weekly Hindu (1941), Tripura Guide (1934), Natun Alo, Pratinidhi, Tripura Hitoshi (1883), Rayatbandhu (1921), Niamat (1940), Sabuj Bangla, Tripura Gyan Prakashani (1860), Tripura Bandhav (1942), Kathak (1983), Rangdhanu, Najat, Abahaman, Daradi (1938), Yogisammalani (1912), Comilla Sahitya Parishad Patrika (1985), Mainamati (1965), Purbasha, Shikhak Sruida, Alo, Chirkut (1974), Robi (1924), Tarun (1938), Samskriti (1940), Jagriti (1951), Apan and Parichaya..

Notable residents

Comilla produced people who built the country. Shib Narayan Das was member of BLF. He was one of the designers of the first flag of Bangladesh. Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta was ex-Minister of Law, Language movement activist and Shaheed of 1971. Many people like him fought for the country. Lt-Col. Akbar Hussain veteran freedom fighter. He was Minister of Mineral Sources in 1978. He was also Minister of Forest Preservation in 1991. Later he was Minister of Inland Water. Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad was a President of Bangladesh; he also served as Minister and member of Exile Cabinet of Meherpur Government. Kazi Zafar Ahmed, was Prime Minister in 1988. He was also Minister of Education in 1986. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain was Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources in 1991 and Minister of Health & Family Welfare in 2001.

Mustafa Kamal served as president in International Cricket Council. Shaukat Mahmood was senior journalist and editor of Weekly Economic Times. He was elected president of National Press Club. Buddhadeb Bosu was a Bangla poet, novelist, translator, editor and essayist. Kazi Nazrul Islam was born in West Bengal, but resided at Comilla for long. He loved this place. Another poet wasAbdul Kadir. Was also a researcher and editor.

Sister cities

References

  1. ↑ Kilikhar, Bidhas Kanti (1995). Tripura of the 18th Century with Samsher Gazi Against Feudalism: A Historical Study. Agartula: Chhapa Kathi, Tripura State Tribal Cultural Research Institute and Museum. p. 55.
  2. ↑ Nawaz, Ali (2012). "Shamsher Gazi". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  3. ↑ Islam, Rafiqul (2012). "Islam, Kazi Nazrul". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  4. ↑ Siddiqi, Mamun (2003). "Comilla District". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (First ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. During this time Avay Ashram, as a revolutionary institution, played significant role. Poet Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi visited Comilla at that time. In 1931, the British Gurkha soldiers fired indiscriminately and killed four persons of village Mohini of Chauddagram upazila when about four thousand peasants of this village revolted against paying land revenue.
  5. ↑ Whitaker's Cumulative Book List. J. Whitaker. 1961. p. 146.
  6. ↑ Huntington, Susan L. (1984). The "Påala-Sena" Schools of Sculpture. Brill Archive. p. xxvi. ISBN 978-90-04-06856-8.
  7. ↑ "Cricket Records | Bangladesh Premier League | Records | Series results". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  8. ↑ "Cricket Records | Bangladesh Premier League | Records | Result summary". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  9. ↑ "Welcome to Comilla City Corporation". Comilla City Corporation. Comilla City Corporation. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 "History". Comilla City Corporation. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  11. ↑ মানচিত্রে সদর দক্ষিণ উপজেলা [Map of Sadar South Upazila]. Bangladesh National Information Portal (in Bangla). Government of Bangladesh. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Leung, Mikey; Meggitt, Belinda (2012). Bangladesh. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-84162-409-9.
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