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Comilla (Town) stands on the bank of the Gumti river. It consists of 18 wards and 46 mahallas. It has an area of 11.47 sq km and a population of 168378; male 52.56%, female 47.44%. Literacy rate among the town people is 60.3%. In the suburb there exists the Commonwealth War Cemetery Memorials, Muktajuddha Museum at Mainamati Cantonment and bangladesh academy for rural development, Mainamati Museum, Comilla Cadet College at Courtbari. Comilla Town is blessed with the memories of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Nazrul Islam married twice in life, one at Daulatpur of Muradnagar upazila of the district and the other at Comilla Town. Those places have been marked with memorial plates. Poet Rabindranath Tagore visited Comilla twice. Ustad Muhammad Hussain, Fazle Nizami and Kulendu Das have enriched the cultural heritage of the town. Ustad Ayet Ali Khan established a musical institute here.
Comilla is one of the most ancient city which is famous for its natural beauty. Its called the town of bank and tank as so many banks and large sized ponds availbale here. This town is also famous for the education. Some top education centres are here welknown all over the country for their good results in a row. Another important thing is sweet here. Rasmalai is very popular to all the country people.
History of Comilla
Comilla is a city near the India border. It has a population of 3 million. The city was ruled by Mughal emperors in the 17th century as well as the British East India Company in the 19th century. The city is famous for different types of sweets and Batik printed cloth. The people of Comilla are multi ethnic. The people are a mixture of Afghan and British to a small extent. Green and hazel eyes can easily be found in Comilla than anywhere else in Bangladesh.
Administration & Development
Comilla, as a district is generally administrated by a Deputy Commissioner (DC), who is a government official of the district. However the civil society is quite strong in voice and activity here. The DC office is situated at Fauzdari area of (East side of Dharmasagar ) the town. The District of Comilla has been divided into 16 Thanas, they are Comilla Adarsa Sadar, Comilla Sadar South, Hoamna, Laksham, Muradnagar, Devidwar, Daudkandi, Burichang, Barura, Chandina, Titas, Meghna, Chowddogram, Langolkot, Brahmanpara and Monohorgonj. The main town of Comilla is under the Sadar Tana. Comilla Cantonment is one of most important military bases (oldest in east bengal). This has been widely used by the British Indian Army during the World War II. There is a War Cemetery in Comilla which was established after the World War Il to remember the allied soldiers who died during world war II and I ,mostly from commonwealth states and Usa .But there is a well number of Japanese soldiers were burried there. Comilla also has an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) at the east end of the town, established on once airport of Comilla. At present only the runway has existed where other establishments have been converted to instruments of the EPZ. It is one of the first growing EPZs in Bangladesh. Comilla is well known as a city for education; institutions are Comilla University, Comilla Medical College, Comilla Victoria College, Comilla Cadet College (Ex-Comilla Residential Model College). BARD at Kotbari is well known for research on Rural Development which is a brain child of the eminent educationist Dr Akhter Hamid Khan (Ex-Principal of Comilla Victoria College, Ex-Sub-Divisional Officer). His formula for Rural Development has four sub-divisions – Cooperatives, Irrigation, Rural Works and Plan Books. Based on this theme a reputed government organisation “LGED” was formed which is headed by an Executive Engineer in districts and holds the three of themes of Dr Akhter Hamid Khan. Natural gas is the main mineral of this district. Bakhrabad Gas Company sets.
Demographics and culture
It is a highly muslim dominated area and one can find many economically backward people.But it is home district of many educated Bangladeshi who are success in their career in country or abroad. Most of them are farmers who depend on their fields. Number of Hindus are much smaller than the Muslims though, Comilla has more Hindus than many other districts of Bangladesh. One of major Hindu festival the Durga Puja, is very gorgeously celebrated in Comilla, which is more or less enjoyed by its total population. Every muslim festival is celebrated in big way. Especially Eid and Ramzan. Most of the Muslims are Sunni and few are Shia. There is electricity in most of the area at present in Comilla. .
Transport
Comilla has good communication network. It is known as the hub of road communication of eastern part of Bangladesh . One of the oldest highways of the Indian Sub-continent, ‘The Grand Trunk Road’ has approached through the city. At present, the most important Dhaka-Chittagong highway bypass the city from the cantonment to Poduar Bazar. Comilla is located at 97 kilometers from the capital city, Dhaka. This can be travelled by road or railway. The trains has to travel 197 kilometers and takes over 3 hours to Comilla, however buses take about 2 hours only. Hundreds of trucks & lorries travel to or from Comilla with goods. Prominent bus services to Comilla are Tisha, Asia Line, Prime, Prince etc. Road networks are administered by RHD, LGED and Municipalitis. RHD and LGED have regional headquarters in Comilla. RHD is responsible for National Highways, Regional Highways and District Roads; LGED is responsible for Upazila Roads and Union Roads; where as Municipalities are responsible for municipal roads.
Education
The Comilla Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education is located in Comilla. This is the central administration that conducts primary, secondary, and higher secondary education for several districts. Historically, Comilla Board administered the education system of the whole Chittagong Division, but recently, Chittagong and Sylhet Education boards were spun off.
Comilla is also the location for the Comilla Medical College, Comilla Cadet College and Comilla Zilla School, Our Lady of Fatima Girls High School, Shailarani Debi Girls High School, Nabab Fayzunnesa Girls High School, Comilla University, Comilla Victoria College, Teachers Training College, Comilla Polytechnic Institute ‘CPI’, School of Military Intelligence, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD).
Notable Personalities & Politicians:
Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta (1886-1971), ex-Minister of Law, Language movement activist and Shaheed of 1971
Nowab Musharaf Hussein (1871-1966), ex-Minister of Education
Kamini Kumar Dutta (1878-1958), ex-Minister
Shib Narayan Das, one of designers of the first national flag of Bangladesh and veteran freedom fighter
Col. Akbar Hussain (1942-2006), veteran freedom fighter, ex-Minister of Mineral Sources (1978), ex-Minister of Forest Preservation (1991), ex-Minister of Inland Water Transports (2001)
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad(1918-1996), ex-President of Bangladesh, ex-Minister and member of Exile Cabinet of Meherpur (Mujibnagar) Government in 1971
Capt. Sujat Ali (1926-2007), ex-Minister, founder of Sujat Ali College
Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, ex-Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources (1991) and ex-Minister of Health & Family Welfare (2001)
Prof. Shamsul Haque, ex-Minister of Education
etc.
Social Activists and Philanthropists:
Nawab Faizunnesa, pioneer in Woman’s Education, founder of Faizunnesa Girls� School
Maheshchandra Bhattacharya (1858-1944), munificent
Capt. Naren Dutta, physician and founder of Srikail College
etc.
Educationists and Scholars:
Mahasthabir Shilvadra (529-654), principal of Nalanda Bihar
Saidur Rahman (1909-1987), eminent teacher
Mohammad Ali Azam (1908-1978), novelist and author, one of the contributors of Encyclop�dia Britannica
Ajit Kumar Guho (1914-1969)
Ataur Rahman Khadim (1933-1971), researcher, killed after Operation Searchlight (25th March genocide) was launched inside Dhaka University in 25 March, 1971
Safura Khatun, teacher
Dr. Mobin Khan
etc.
Literature:
Buddhadeb Bosu (1908-1974), legendary Bangla poet, novelist, translator, editor and essayist
Anis Chowdhury (1929-1990), novelist and dramatist
Mohammad Kasem (1905-1957), editor and publisher
Abdul Kadir (1906-1984), researcher, poet and editor
A.K.M Ali Akbar Khan, teacher and poet
etc.
Music:
Sachin Dev Burman (1906-1975), recognized as S.D. Burman, singer, composer and music director
Jan-e-Alam Chowdhury (1884-1967), tabla player
Ustaad Mohamed Husain Khasru (1903-1959), classical musician and composer
Himangsu Kumar Dutta (1908-1944), musician and composer
Shukhendu Chakrabarty (1928-1989), lyricist, musician and composer. Shoila Devi (1916-1944), singer. Rahul Dev Burman, recognized as R.D. Burman, son of S.D. Burman, composer and pioneer in Bollywood music direction. Fazle Nizami (1933-1984), music teacher & Rabindra sangeet singer
Badal Roy, USA based tabla player etc.
Others:
Maj. Abdul Ghani, founder of East Bengal Regiment (formerly belonged to Pakistan Army, now is the largest unit of Bangladesh Army)
Mujibur Rahman, eminent criminal lawyer and unbeaten President of Comilla Bar Association
Kailashchandra Sinha (1851-1914), historian, archaeologist, author of Rajmala and many other history related publications
Air Vice-Marshall Mohammad Jamaluddin, ex-Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Air Force
Kazi M. Selim, teacher & lawyer
Sqn-Ldr. A.B.M Ahsanullah
