The many faces of Mymensingh—Bangladesh

October 4, 2012

English: Intercity Train Tista Express (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

View of Mosque 2 (Photo credit: TushyD)

বাংলাদেশ কৃষি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের পাশে বয়ে যাওয়া ব্রহ্মপুত্রের শান্ত-সৌম্য সৌন্দর্য (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Boro Masjid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Radha Krishna in a temple Mymensingh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mymensingh TTC (ladies) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Durga Puja in Mymensingh, Bangladesh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Relief map of the Brahmaputra system (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alphie,Susan,Gepetto, today I am going to tell you about another city in Bangladesh.It will have little or no similarity with Sydney, Delhi,or Amritsar or even Agra,but it has its own attractions.This is why you will find it impressive.

The history of Mymensingh refers to the history of old greater Mymensingh district.These are kishoreganj,Netrakona,Tangail,Jamshedpur and Sherpur.These are districts in Dhaka division of Bangladesh.

In ancient times the area was mostly part of Vangha, a non Aryan territory covering the eastern part of the Gangetic delta.Some writers think it also covered territories east of the old course of BrahmaPutra.

The impact of Aryan-Brahmana culture was felt in Bengal long after it spread across Northern India./The non-Aryan people living in Bengal were very powerful,therefore the spread of Aryan-Brahman culture was strongly resisted.

In 1491 Feroze Shah  2nd ascended the throne of independent Bengal Sultanate,he sent his general Majlis Khan Humayun to attack Sherpur.He defeated the ruler there.This was the beginning of Pathan rule in the Mymensingh area.Hussein Shah the Pathan ruler extended the entire Mymensingh area in his Sultanate in 1498.It has been said,every time Hussein Shah conquered a territory,he built a mosque as a mark of his victory.Atiya Masjid was built by Hussein Shah. The present mosque at Atiya was built by Saiyyad Khan Panni on the banks of the river Louahajganj.It was constructed in 1608.

In 1550 Akbar sent Todar Mall to quell disturbances in Bihar,along with his success in Bihar,Todar Mall was successful in building a rapport for rent collection tn Bengal .He divided Bengal into 19 sirkars ,which was further sub-divided into 682 mahals.The Nasrat area was reconstituted Sirkar Bazuha.It was divided into 32 Mahals.One of them was named Momenshahi and Alapsingh joined together and was Mymensingh.

In July 1792, the postal system was established with the setting up of eight post offices between Dhaka and Mymensingh.In 1793 the use of copper coins were introduced They replaced the system of karis and dhamris.In 1800 the old coins were replaced by coins of East India Company.The Dhaka-Mymensingh telagraph line was established in 1883.The railway was opened in 1886.The district board was set up in 1887.

Beginning of Mymensingh Dhaka Road (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gepetto liked what he saw,Alphie and Susan did not tell me anything.I presume they liked it.

I remember a bit about the teachers training college, my class mate and I went there,we were accepted.I did not like the appearance of the building.To me it looked like a ghost house.I  went elsewhere to get my B.Ed degree.

It is time to say,Allah Hafiz to all of you, From :Alphie,Susan,Gepetto and Ranu.

Mymensingh Rajbari (Photo credit: Wikipedia)