Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The district's administrative center is situated in the town of Maijdee, governed by Noakhali municipality, within Noakhali Sadar Upazila. Notably, Noakhali is the only district in Bangladesh whose capital city does not share the district's name.
Etymology and names
The name of Noakhali District comes from the town of Noakhali (নোয়াখালী), which was the former headquarters of the old district. It is a compound of two words; Noa (meaning new in Bengali) and Khali (a diminutive of Bengali word khal meaning canal). The history behind its naming is traced back to a canal that was dug in the 1660s in response to devastating floods which had affected the area's agricultural activities. The canal ran from the Dakatia through Ramganj, Sonaimuri and Chowmuhani, to divert water flow to the junction of the Meghna River and Feni River. After its excavation, locals began calling it "Noakhali" (a new small canal) and a town with this name emerged around it in Sudharam.
Prior to changing its name to Noakhali District in 1868, the district was formerly referred to as the District of Bhulua (). Former spellings by the British East India Company include "Bhullooah" and "Bulloah" though these were less consistent with the Bengali pronunciation and spelling. When the district was ruled by the Mughal Empire, it was known by its Persian variant which was Bhalwa (). According to local Hindu mythology, the etymology of Bhulua is related to an incident experienced by Adi Sura's ninth son, Bishwambhar Sur, who had passed through the region during his travels. Sur rested in the area and had a dream in which he saw that Varahi would make him the sovereign of this territory with the condition that Sur worships her. On a cloudy day in 1203 CE, Sur built an altar for Varahi and sacrificed a goat. When the clouds moved away, Sur realized that he had sacrificed the goat to the west, which was not acceptable in Hinduism. As a result, he screamed bhul hua (it was wrong), from which the name Bhulua was said to have come from.
History
Noakhali is situated on relatively young alluvial deposits, therefore its human history dates from a more recent time than other parts of Bengal. It was in ancient days under the rule of Samatata, Pundra and Harikela Kingdom of ancient Bengal. In the early mediaeval period, the region was under the reign of Khadga, Chandra, Sena and Deva dynasty. The Bhulua Kingdom was founded in the 13th century, and ruled over the region until the 16th century. After the invasion of Muslims in eastern Bengal, Bhulua became a vassal of the Bengal Sultanate, and was continually on the border between the Tripura and Arakan. During this time, many Muslim pirs arrived in the region and the Bhulua kings employed Muslims in many administrative posts. After the collapse of the Sultanate, Bhulua was aligned with the Baro-Bhuyan rulers. During their suppression of the Baro Bhuiyan insurgency, the Mughals under Sarhad Khan conquered Bhulua, bringing it under Mughal Empire. It became part of the Sarkar of Sonargaon. They successfully defended it against Magh raids, and ruled it until 1762 when the East India Company took control of Bengal.
The Noakhali District was established in 1868 as a renaming of the Bhulua district, which the British founded on 29 March 1822. It had witnessed Noakhali riots in October-November of 1946 where around 200 people were killed. It headquarters was in the town of Noakhali until the town vanished in the river-bed in 1951, as a result of the Meghna River erosion. A new headquarters for the Noakhali District was then established at Maijdee.
In 1964 under the Government of East Pakistan, the Sadar subdivision was divided into two sub-divisions; Noakhali Sadar and Lakshmipur though the Feni subdivision remained how it was. In 1984, the District of Noakhali was further divided into three districts for administrative convenience; Noakhali District, Lakshmipur and Feni.
Economy
The people of Noakhali play a vital role in Bangladesh's economy, especially in the remittance sector. Agriculture plays a vital role in the regional economy. 30% of the regional GDP comes from agriculture with 45% of the population employed in the sector . Employment in the fishing industry is also dominant in the poorer sectors of the population. Annually, 15%–20% of labor is involved in this sector (boating, fishing, drying, net and boat making and repairing, transporting fish from one location to other). Poorer communities are involved in crop production during the winter but in other periods they are involved in fishing, either working for themselves or selling their labour to the . Around 40% of the population works abroad playing a vital role in the national economy. The main sources of income dependent on non-agricultural labour 3.43%, industry 0.84%, commerce 14.74%, transport and communication 3.83%, service 16.11%, construction 1.49%, religious service 0.39%, rent and remittance 7.97% and others 10.58%.
Agriculture The economy of Noakhali is predominately agricultural. Of the total 544,943 holdings of the district 65.37% of the holdings are farms that produce varieties of crops, namely: local and hybrid rice, wheat, vegetables, spices, cash crops, pulses, betel leaves, boro and Aman paddy, peanut, varieties of pulses, chili, sugarcane, potato, and others. Various fruits like mango, banana, jack fruit, papaya, litchi, palm coconut, and betel nut are grown.
Fish of different varieties are found in the sea and rivers and paddy fields in the rainy season. Fishes like , koi, grass carp, silver carp, talapia, nilotica, and different species of local fishes have also been introduced for commercial pisciculture (fish farming) in ponds and water lands.
Timber and forest trees are grown in this district including , mahogany, and bamboo.
Administration
Noakhali District consists of nine upazilas, eight municipalities, 72 wards, 153 mahallas, 91 unions, 882 mouzas and 967 villages. UpazilaPopulation (2022)Area (sq. k.m.)MunicipalityPopulation (2022)Noakhali Sadar642,471336.06Noakhali132,185Begumganj611,081238.37Chowmuhani100,048Chatkhil258,786133.89Chatkhil39,755Companiganj301,295380.95Basurhat38,479Hatiya537,3551507.35Hatiya57,449Kabirhat238,733185.25Kabirhat21,507Senbagh310,871159.36Senbagh22,958Sonaimuri368,828169.14Sonaimuri44,737Subarnachar355,902575.47 - -
The district's administrative headquarters are located in Noakhali Municipality encompassing Maijdee, which is the most populous municipality in the district, situated within Noakhali Sadar Upazila, the most populated upazila. Conversely, Kabirhat Upazila and its corresponding municipality have the lowest population. In terms of land area, Hatiya Upazila is the largest, while Chatkhil Upazila is the smallest.
Geography Noakhali District is bordered by Comilla District to the north, the Meghna estuary and the Bay of Bengal to the south, Feni and Chittagong districts to the east and Lakshmipur and Bhola districts to the west. The district has an area of . The district represents an extensive flat, coastal and delta land, located on the tidal floodplain of the Meghna River delta, characterised by flat land and low relief. The area is influenced by diurnal tidal cycles; the tidal fluctuations vary depending on seasons, and are most pronounced during the monsoon season. On three sides of Noakhali, an alluvial plain that is inundated annually and fertilised by silt deposits from the Meghna estuary. The swift currents that course down from the Himalayas carry rich fertile silt. When it reaches the Bay of Bengal the silt settles along the coast gradually forming new land called the "chars". The district of Noakhali has actually gained more than of land in the past fifty years. In addition to the Meghna, the district is home to other rivers such as the Feni River and Banmi as well as the Noakhali, Mahendra, Dakatia, Chandraganj canals.
Climate
Noakhali has a tropical climate and has significant rainfall in most months of the year, with a short dry season. In Noakhali, the average annual temperature is and the average annual rain fall is about . With an average temperature of , May is the warmest month. At on average, January is the coldest month of the year. The driest month is January with of precipitation. In July, the rainfall reaches its peak, with an average of .
Flora and fauna
Flora Noakhali is one of the coastal districts at the fringe of the Bay of Bengal with vast char land of recent origin in the south. Plantlife is confined generally to variations belonging to the lower Gangetic plane and of other districts in the southern region of the country. Except for the Government-sponsored afforestation program for the coastal belt, there is no organized forestry in the district.
However, all homesteads are usually covered by dense and lush green foliage of a wide variety of trees. Most of the trees grown in homestead forests are fruitbearing. Mangoes, although poor in quality, grow in abundance. Almond or badam (Arachis hypogea) are unusual. Other common trees are jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), blackberry (Syzygium cumini), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), jalpai (Elaeocarpus tectorius), bel (Aegle marmelos), chalta (Dillenia indica), boroi, guava (Psidiumguagava), etc. Banana (Banana musa sapientum) is seen almost everywhere but the fruit quality is rather poor.
Litchi (Litchi chinensis), kamranga (Averrho karmbola), ata, haritaki (Terminalia chebula), amloki (Phyllanthus emblica), gaab (Dioaspyros precatorius), etc. grow abundantly. The juice of the gaab fruit mixed with charcoal is used in colouring boats and stiffening fishing nets. Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is abundantly produced in Noakhali.
Indigenous timber trees include Koroi, sheel koroi (Albizia procera), garjan (Dipterocarpus turbinatus), jarul (Iegerstroemia speciosa), shimul (Bombax ceiba), etc. However, various exotic trees like teak, mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), sissu (Dalbergia sissoo), etc. have been produced as wayside trees as well as in farm forestry.
Mandar (Erythrina variegata), a thorny tree mostly used as fuel and fencing, is seen in almost every household forest. Kadom (Anthocephalus cadamba) are very common and are preferred for manufacturing matchsticks. The fruit of shimul or karpas is used for stuffing mattresses and pillows and has a silky appearance. Newly introduced trees include eucalyptus and pine.
Mango wood is not good as a timber, but owing to its abundance, it is much used. The wood of the tamarind and the kul is hard-grained and of good quality. The amaltas is used for house and rough furniture construction. Jarul is used for boat building and pillars of houses.
The luxuriant growth of palms is the most characteristic feature of the vegetation. Betel nut palm or supari (Areca catechu) plantations are more and more abundant towards the north and the west of the district and grow almost lie forests. Coconuts are grown abundantly throughout the district. Toddy palms or tal (Borassus flabellifer) and date palms or khejur are also very common. Date palm is a valuable tree. The juice is extracted and made into gurr, the leaves are made into mat. Tal wood is used for posts of houses and other building purposes. Its leaves are used for making handmade mats and large hand fans. Betel nut and coconut are a good sources of household income.
Shade trees include banyan or bot (Ficus benghalensis), pipal (Ficus religiosa) and nim (Azadirachta indica) and are seen commonly.