Jessore

Also known as Jashore since 2019, Jessore is a major city in the Jashore/Jessore District located in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. The city is considered the administrative center of the district and the third-largest city in the Khulna Division. Jessore consists of 9 wards and 73 malls.

The city is situated on the Bhairab River, a distributary stream of the Ganges delta. The surrounding region occupies the central portion of the Gangetic delta between the Hugli and Meghna estuaries.

Jessore consists of an alluvial plain intersected by watercourses which to the south spread out to the large marshes of the Sundarbans.

The chief crops of the region are rice, sugarcane, and dates. The main occupations are agriculture 39.84%, agricultural laborer 24.13%, wage

labourer 2.68%, commerce 11.99%, service 8.66%, industry 1.41%, transport 3.11% and others 8.18%.

According to tradition, the name is a “corruption” of “yashohara” which means glory depriving. Because traditions also say it’s the town that robbed Vikramaditya’s 17th century capital of Gaur, of its preeminence.

The Jessore District has a population of 2,764,547 according to the 2011 Census. 85.5% of the population are Muslims, 14.21% are Hindus, and the remaining 0.29% other.

The Jessore district belonged to the ancient Janapada kingdom of Banga Janapada. In the 15th century, Jessore was part of the kingdom of Pratapaditya. Jessore was then handed to the East India Company with the rest of Bengal in 1765. The British administration was finally established in Jessore district in 1781 when the governor-general ordered the opening of a court at Murali near Jessore.

In 1947, Jessore was divided between India and (then) East Pakistan. Except for the Bangaon and Gaighata thanas, the district became part of East Pakistan.

 

The Bengali soldiers stationed at Jessore cantonment mutinied against the Pakistan Army on 29 March 1971. They were led by Captain Hafiz Uddin and Lieutenant Anwar in an uprising where 300 soldiers were killed. The rebels killed 50 Pakistani soldiers with machine-gun fire at Chanchara.

On 6 December 1971, Jessore became the first district of Bengal to be liberated from Pakistani forces. And Jessore is the first digital district in Bangladesh. Some points of interest include Sagardari, Bharat Raza’s Dewl, Mirzanagar Hammamkhana, and Dhalijhara Buddha Bihar.

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