Sylhet also known as Jalalabad and "City
of Hazrat Shah Jalal";
is a majorurban center in north-east Bangladesh . It
is one of the richest cities of Bangladesh . It is the principal
city and administrative capital of Sylhet
Division. The city is located on the banks of Surma River in
the Surma Valley and has a population of
2,500,000 people, making it the third largest city in Bangladesh . The
city is home to themausoleums and mosques of Shah Jalal and Shah Farhan,
revered Sufis of Bengal and
the Indian subcontinent. Every year, Sylhet
receives hundreds and thousands of pilgrims to the Dargahs of
Shah Jalal and Shah Farhan. Sylhet is important to the global Hindu believers
also because the ancestral homes of Krishna incarnation Chaitanya's father and
mother in Golapganj and Habiganj.
Sylhet is also where body parts of Sati (another form
of Goddess Durga) fell on Earth. Hindu devotees from
across the world visit these important landmarks in Sylhet.
Sylhet is also famed for its natural setting, amidst
rainforests, waterfalls, hills and river valleys. Located in the heart of Bangladesh ’s tea country, Sylhet is a
hub of the tea industry. Many Sylhetis (local people of Sylhet) have emigrated
abroad over the years, and the city receives some of the highest annual remittance inflows
in Bangladesh ,
particularly from the British Bangladeshi community. These remittances
have fuelled a real estate and construction boom. Sylhet is also a center of
the Bangladeshi oil and gas sector, with the country’s largest natural gas
reserves located in Sylhet Division. Historically, Sylhet was part of various
kingdoms and sultanates in Bengal and Assam. Under British
rule, it was a strategically important hill station in the north-east India .
History Of Sylhet Division
Ancient Period
Sylhet was an expanded commercial center from the ancient
period, which explains its original namesake. During this time, Sylhet was
inhabited by Indo-Aryan Brahmins,
though ethnically the population would also have traces of Assamese, Arabs, Persians and Turks. It has
also been suggested that the capital cities of the ancient kingdoms of
Harikela, Gaur, Srihatta and port city of Kamarupa were
situated in modern Sylhet.
In the ancient and early medieval period,
Sylhet was ruled primarily by local chieftains as
viceroy of the kings of Pragjyotishpur. There
is evidence to suggest that the Maharaja Sri Chandra, of northern Bengal, conquered Bengal in the 10th century, although this is a much
disputed topic amongst Bangladeshi historians andarchaeologists.
This was a period of relative prosperity and there is little evidence to
suggest this was marred by wars or feuds. Sylhet was certainly known by the
rest of India ,
and is even referred to in the ancient Hindu sacred Tantric text, the Shakti
Sangama Tantra, as 'Silhatta'.[citation needed] The last chieftain
to reign in Sylhet was Govinda of Gaur. Sylhet
was previously a Brahmin kingdom, controlled by the rajas. Brahmin kingdoms
of ancient Sylhet declined and tribal people of mongoloid origin established
their chiefdoms in most parts of Sylhet. One of such chieftains was Gobindo of
Gaur, commonly known as Gor Gobindo, who was defeated in 1303 by Hazrat Shah
Jala Yamani and his 360 Sufi disciples.
Classic Period
The 14th century marked the beginning of Islamic
influence in Sylhet, with the arrivals of Sufi disciples to
the region. In
1301, Sylhet was conquered by Shamsu'd-Din Firuz, a Bengali enterprising
governor. Sikander Shah rallied his army against Raja Gaur Gobind, because the
Raja ordered a man to be killed for sacrificing a cow for his son. But Sikander
Shah was defeated by the Raja. A
messianic Muslim saint, Shah Jalal,
arrived in Sylhet in 1303 from Mecca via Delhiand Dhaka with the instructions for aiding Sikhander Khan
Ghazi in defeating Govinda of Gaur. Ghazi was the direct nephew of
Sultan Firoz Shah of Delhi. Under the spiritual leadership of Shah Jalal and
his 360 companions, many people converted to Islam and began
spreading the religion to other parts of the country. Shah Jalal died in Sylhet
in or around the year 1350. His shrine is located in the north of the city,
inside the perimeter of the mosque complex known as Dargah-e-Shah Jalal. Even
today Shah Jalal remains revered and visitors arrive from all over Bangladesh and
beyond to pay homage. Saints such as Shah Jalal Shah Farhan and Shah
Kamal Quhafa were responsible for the conversion of most of the
populace from the native religion of Hinduism or Buddhism to Islam. Shortly
thereafter, Sylhet became a center of Islam in Bengal. In the official documents and
historical papers, Sylhet was often referred to as Jalalabad during the era of
the Muslim rule.
Sylhet continues to have the largest concentration of the
Hindu believers with a number of important shrines. It is the ancestral home of
16th century Krishna Chaitanya in what is now Golapganj
upazilla of the district. According to Hindu beliefs, Chaitanya walked the
Earth as another incarnation of Krishna and
will reappear at the end of time; this belief is consistent with the
monotheistic beliefs of Christianity and Muslims that Christ and Imam Mehdi
will appear at the end of time. Chaitanya's earthly father hailed from
Golapganj and mother from Habiganj, both of the Sylhet Division. Besides,
Sylhet has two of the seven places in Bangladesh where Sati's body
parts are believed to have fallen on Earth from a total of fifty-one. Sati is
another form of Goddess Durga. The locations of these fallen body parts are
Jainpur village, near Gotatikar in south Surma and Kalajore Baurbhag village in
Jaintia upazilla. The associated mandirs attract thousands of visitors from
across Bangladesh and
abroad. Some of these mandirs, upgraded with public and private partnerships,
also have limited accommodations for out of area visitors.
Colonial Period
British rule in the Indian subcontinent began in the 18th
century. During the period the British East India Company employed
Indian lascars which included Sylhetis. In the
late 18th century, the British East India Company became interested in Sylhet
and saw it as an area of strategic importance in the war against Burma . Sylhet
was gradually absorbed into British control and administration and was governed
as a part of Bengal . In 1778, the East
India Company appointed Robert
Lindsay of Sylhet, who started trading and governing the region,
making fortune. He was disregarded by the local Sylhetis and other Muslims In
1781, a
devastating flood struck the region which wiped out crops and killing a third
of the population. The locals blamed the British for not preventing the
greatness of the event, which led to an uprising, led by Syed Hadi and Syed
Mahdi (known as the Pirzada). Lindsay's army was defiant and defeated the
Piraza in battle in Sylhet The numbers of lascars grew
during the wars, some ending up on the docks of London and Liverpool temporary,
other however established themselves in the communities and married English
women. In the next few years during the World War
II, many fought in the war and some were serving in ships in poor
conditions, which led to many escaping and settling in London , opening Indian curry cafes and
restaurants.
After the British administrative reorganisation of India , Sylhet was eventually incorporated
into Assam. Eastern Bengal and Assam was a single
province after the1905 Partition of Bengal (from 1905
to 1911). In 1947, following a referendum, almost all of erstwhile district of
Sylhet became a part of the new Pakistani province ofEast Bengal,
barring the Karimganj sub-division which was
incorporated into the Indian state of Assam. ] The
referendum was held on 6 July 1947, 239,619 people voted to join Pakistan and 184,041 voted to remain part
of India . The
referendum was acknowledged by Article 3 of the India Independence Act of 18
July 1947. In
1971, Sylhet became part of the newly formed independent country of Bangladesh .
Geography and climate
Sylhet is located at 24.8917°N
91.8833°E, in the north eastern region of Bangladesh within the Sylhet
Division, within the Sylhet District and Sylhet Sadar Upazila. The climate of
Sylhet is humid subtropical with a predominantly hot
and humid summer and a relatively cool winter. The city is within the monsoon
climatic zone, with annual average highest temperatures of 23 °C (Aug–Oct) and
average lowest temperature of 7 °C
(Jan). Nearly 80% of the annual average rainfall of 3,334 mm occurs
between May and September.
The city is located within the region where there are hills
and basins which constitute one of the most distinctive regions in Bangladesh .
The physiography of Sylhet consists mainly of hill
soils, encompassing a few large depressions known locally as "beels" which can
be mainly classified as oxbow lakes, caused by tectonic subsidence primarily
during the earthquake of 1762. It is flanked by the Indian states of the Meghalaya in
the north, Assam in
the east, Tripura in
the south and the Bangladesh districts of Netrokona, Kishoregonj and Brahmanbaria in
the west. The area covered by Sylhet Division is 12,569 km², which is
about 8% of the total land area of Bangladesh .
Geologically, the region is complex having diverse
sacrificial geomorphology; high topography of Plio-Miocene age
such as Khasi and Jaintia hills
and small hillocks along the border. At the centre there is a vast low laying
flood plain of recent origin with saucer shaped depressions, locally called Haors. Available
limestone deposits in different parts of the region suggest that the whole area
was under the ocean in the Oligo-Miocene. In the last 150 years three major
earthquakes hit the city, at a magnitude of at least 7.5 on the Richter
Scale, the last one took place in 1918, although many people are unaware
that Sylhet lies on the earthquake prone zone of Bangladesh .
Sylhet consists of 27 wards and 210 mahallas, it is a small
city with an area of 26.50 km². The rapid growth and expansion of
Sylhet occurred during the colonial
period. Sylhet Municipality was
established in 1878. A
devastating earthquake demolished almost the entire town on 12 June 1897
following which a modern and European model new town was built on the
wreckage. Many new roads were constructed in the late 1890s and Sylhet became
really connected to the other parts of the country with the establishment of
an extension line of Assam–Bengal Railway in 1912–15. From the very beginning of
the 20th century, the importance of Sylhet increased with the establishment of
the tea industry. In the 1950s and 1960s, rapid urbanisation took
place in the town, fostered by the expatriate Sylhetis and the process is
still ongoing.
Civic administration
On 10 April 2001, Sylhet was changed to a city corporation
from a municipal board, and currently the city is administrated by the Sylhet
City Corporation. At present, Sylhet is the district-headquarters as well as
the divisional headquarters of the districts of Sunamganj, Habiganj, Maulvi
Bazar and Sylhet District. The Sylhet City Corporation is
responsible for the services that are provided within the city which includes
traffic, roads, garbage collection, water supply, registrations and many
others. The corporation consists of the Mayor and 22 other Commissioners, and
focuses on the development of the city.
Economy
Remittance has been the key element of the economic
growth of the city and also the region. The money is mainly sent by expatriates
of Sylhet living abroad, particularly the United Kingdom , where the majority
of the diaspora Bangladeshi community originate from Sylhet. These
foreign Bangladeshis are now looking to invest in the city. During the fiscal
year of 2005–06, the flow of remittances increased
by 25% to $4.8 billion, mostly from expatriates of Sylheti origin living
in the United Kingdom with
significant contributions from expatriates in the United States .
That amount was expected to increase to $5.5 billion in 2007, with the
government's attention toward supervising and monitoring banks. The
amount of idle money lying with the commercial banks in Sylhet as deposits is
about 4,000kuti taka,
which is not common in the rest of Bangladesh .
Although Sylhet is a small city in comparison to the
capital, it has been transformed drastically over the years. The construction industry in Sylhet is
currently booming, with many shopping centres and apartments being
built to luxurious standards.
It has been described as one of the wealthiest cities in the country . The
skyline of the city is mainly dominated by large buildings of western-style
shopping malls, which has been the largest investments made by the expatriates. There
are many new restaurants and stores, often themed on those found in London , which have been
established to cater to the visiting Sylheti expatriate population and the
growing Sylheti middle classes. These
include, Garden Tower in Uposhohor, the London Mansion ,
Sylhet Millennium, Blue Water (named afterBluewater Shopping Complex in the UK ), London
Fried Chicken (from Perfect Fried Chicken) and Tessco (misspelt from the
original Tesco). New
hotels have been established, the Rose View Hotel, Grand Sylhet, Excelsior Sylhet are
the five-star hotels in the city. Large multinational companies have also
started to invest in Sylhet, one of these being HSBC Bank, which
started its service in 2006 with 6,000 customers, and opened a Customer Service Center 2008 in
the Upashahar area. The
Sylhet area contains several important natural gas fields, which make an
important contribution to the energy balance of Bangladesh .
The government has taken steps to create a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Sylhet. It is
the first SEZ to be created in Bangladesh , after research
conducted showed that the region is the best place, which will protect the
human and natural resources, including the infrastructure of foreign
investment, and to create strong economic development with domestic and
international markets. The
new zone only allows public-private partnership, without the interference of
government finance The SEZ was created due to the demands of the
British-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, which is an economic forum of British
Bangladeshis. The
plan comes as an initiative toward stimulating the ongoing investment that has
already taken place in Sylhet as well as providing a basis towards long-term
investment to turn Sylhet into a major economic hub. Investments
by British Bangladeshis led the way for two
additional privately owned airlines, Royal Bengal Airlines and United Airways, to launch services in
2007. The investment is regarded to serve the Sylheti population living in the UK .
However with the growth of new businesses being based in the
city, there are criticisms for the lack of sustainability of
the economy of the city. There are relatively few industries developed and is
also lacking the levels of agricultural production, which is very low in
comparison to other districts due to lack of interest in agriculture. Large
numbers of remittance and investment is being spent in the city, but the first
and second generation British Bangladeshis have not considered
whether these investments will create new jobs for
the people in order to create a sustainable developing economy. It has created
a prosperity type
of society, where school children believe that London will only provide success. Studies
have shown that 70% of the community rely on remittance sent from relatives
abroad, shopping malls are mainly created because it is recognised as being
safe, and these investments may have reached to the point of saturation.
Business and commerce of Sylhet
There are large shopping malls in the city,
cosmetics and confectionery is mainly available in Bondor Bazar, handicrafts
and textiles stores can be found in Zinda Bazar, these include the Al-Hamra Shopping City , Bluewater, Sylhet Millenium, Sylhet Plaza
Restaurants
Restaurants from different types of cuisines are available,
such as the Agra Restaurant, Chinese and Thai food is also sold in Hamadan
Restaurant or Royal Chef. The
cuisine in Sylhet is quite similar to that shared across the country which is
rice with chicken or meat curry, it does however have different staples of fish such as
the Pabda fish, and the citrus fruit known as shatkora is
used for flavour in curries, which is grown primarily in the Sylhet region.
Demographics
The population of Sylhet within the city corporation, was
approximately 427,265 as of 2007 and estimated 463,198 in 2008 (density
population is 17,479 per km²). Together
with the metropolitan area it has a population of 2,675,346 as of 2001,
constituting 2.06% of the national population. The
population growth rate of the city is 1.73%, which has reduced from 1.93% in
1991. As
of 2001, It had average literacy rate of 69.73%. The
highest literacy rate was 84.24% in Ward 22 and the lowest was
48.15% in Ward 10 (2001). The total
number of households in the city was 55,514.
Lingua Franca
There are four major languages spoken in Sylhet and they are
(i) Standard Bengali, which is the administrative language and thus mainly
spoken in academia and offices; (ii) Marginalised Bengali, which is a cocktail
language of Eastern Bengali dialects spoken by migrant workers such as domestic
servants, rickshaw peddlers and other menial labourers from different parts of
Bangladesh living and working in Sylhet; (iii) English, which is held in high
esteem and is spoken by educated elite; and (iv) Sylheti, which is commonly
spoken by almost all the native peoples of Greater Sylhet (Surma Valley and
Barak Valley).
Language
The Sylheti
language is the main language spoken in the city as well as throughout
the division, and is erroneously considered as a dialect of Bengali, which
contains a separate written form that is not widely known, where in
this case Bengali is written, and sometimes spoken. It is
often accepted that Sylheti is a separate language on its own right and is more
close to Hindi than Bengali, however it has not been given an official
status by the government. There is much debate to
whether it should be recognized, for example there is greater differences of
Sylheti to Bengali, than Assamese to
Bengali, which is recognised as separate. Most Sylhetis are at least
bilingual to some degree, as they are taught Bengali at all levels of education
in Bangladesh .
Faith
The majority of Sylhetis are Muslims (85%),
other religious groups include Hindus (15%),
and very few numbers of other religions, mainly Buddhists and Christians(less than 0.1%). The
majority of the Muslims are mainly Sunni Hanafi; and
there are significant numbers of people who also follow Sufi ideals,
the most influential is the teachings of Maulana Abdul Latif who was from the
village of Fultoli, Zakigang. He was a descendant of Hazrat
Shah Kamal, one of the disciples of Shah Jalal. Research
in Bangladesh found
that 60% of Sylhetis pray daily as compared to 35% in the whole country.
Utility
Sylhet has high rates of power shortage,
including water shortage. According to the Power Development Board, Sylhet is
only receiving 50MW, which is half than the demand of 100MW. The city
corporation is also supplying only 22,500 gallons of
water, far less than the demand of about 65,000. The
major sources of water to the city is the tube wells and the Surma River
Expatriate
Thousands of foreigners have origins in Sylhet. The largest
numbers of people from Sylhet living abroad is in the United Kingdom ,
with a population of about 300,000 (95% of the Bangladeshi population). Over
150,000 people are Bangladeshi-born, who have migrated to the UK . They
are highly concentrated in the east London boroughs,
having established themselves within the communities, notably in Brick Lane which
has been dubbed as Banglatown. Sylheti foreigners are known as
"Londoni" in Sylhet. Many have also immigrated to the United States —they are mainly spread out across
the country, but have a large concentration in New
York City and Hamtramck, Michigan . Tens of thousands of Sylhetis are
also working as guest workers in the Middle Eastern Gulf states.
Sylhet has a "Friendship Link" with the city
of St
Albans in the United
Kingdom . The link was established in 1988
when the District council supported a housing
project in Sylhet as part of the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless Sylhet
was chosen because it is the area of origin for the largest ethnic minority
group in St Albans . In July 1996,
the mayor of Sylhet, Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, signed the Twinning accord
between Sylhet and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (home
to around 40,000 Sylhetis at the time), with the mayor of Tower Hamlets late
Albert Jacobs in London . In
March 2009, the Mayor of Sylhet, Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) to form another Friendship Link between Sylhet and
the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale(home
to around 8,000 Sylhetis at present), with the Mayor of Rochdale Cllr Keith
Swift at the Sylhet City Corporation
Culture of Sylhet
Given its unique cultural and economic development,
and linguistic differences (Greater Sylhet region
was a part of Assam and
Surma Valley State for much of the British Raj in
comparison to the rest of Bangladesh), and given that Sylhet has, for most of
its recent history, been a region of a larger entity. As so many
Sylhetis are resident abroad, Sylhet has a major flow of foreign currency from
non-resident Bangladeshis. The major holidays celebrated in Sylhet include
traditional and religious celebrations, Muslim festivals
of Ramadan and
then after, Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. Cultural
or nationalistic celebrations include the Language Movement Day, this is where wreaths
are laid at the Shaheed Minar paying tribute to the martyrs, the Bangladeshi Independence Day, Victory Day celebrated with parades
by school and academies, and the Pohela
Baishakh—celebration of the Bengali New Year. Marriages are practised in a
traditional Bengali Muslim style, with the gaaye halud, mehendi art and holy
prayers.
Communications
All Bangladeshi television
channels are available as in throughout the country via cable or
satellite, such as Channel i, NTV, ETV in the Bengali
language including many other Indian channels. There are no national television
stations based in Sylhet or broadcasting programs in Sylheti, however
the British-owned Channel S has a team, correspondents and reporters
based in the city and the region mostly with Sylheti programs. The
main newspapers produced in the city includes Sylheter Dak, Daily
Uttorpurbo, Jalalabad, Manchitra, Probasha Protidin, Daily
Sylhet Sanglap, and Aajker Sylhet. The
first Grameenphone Centre opened in Sylhet on 20 May
2007, which was the first telecommunication centre in the city. The most
celebrated personalities in Sylhet include Shah Jalal,
who was one of the greatest saints in the region, credited for the conversion
of people in the Bengal region. His
tomb lies in the Shah Jalal Dargah Mazar Sharif in the north, which is still as
used as a place of pilgrimage, M.
A. G. Osmani was the commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Forces
during the Bangladesh Liberation War, and Abdus
Samad Azad, was the first politician from Sylhet to be a member of the cabinet
in the government. Sylhet has also influenced much of the music in Bangladesh, notable legends
include Hason Raja, Durbin Shah, Arkum Shah, Shitalan Shah, Syed Shahnoor, Radha Romon and Shah
Abdul Karim who have produced Bangladeshi folk music
Ethnicity
Sylheti attachment to their regional identity also continues
in the efforts of many Sylhetis to keep marital relationships within the same
regional cultural background. Sylheti
people are considered as a distinct ethnic
group in Bangladesh ; this
is mainly because of language differences between the standardBengali and
Sylheti, and they are fiercely protective of their language. There are also
many cultural and customary differences between Bengalis and Sylhetis. Many
Sylhetis only marry within the Sylheti-speaking community, and not people from
other regions of Bangladesh. They are also more
family-orientated and follow a community type of culture, and are more
conservative Muslims. These
stereotypes have led to some rivalry between non-Sylhetis and Sylhetis, due to
differences of cultural customs.
Sports
Football and cricket are the most popular Sport in Sylhet. Bangladesh Premier League franchise Sylhet
Royals are based in Sylhet
Stadium (M.A.G. Osmani Stadium), which was built in 1965 and has a
capacity of 15,000 spectators. It is mainly used sporting events. A new Sylhet
Divisional Stadium is especially built to host matches of ICC T20 World Cup in
2014. It is situated near lush green tea gardens on the city fringe. In
the National Cricket League it
has not won any titles however did win in the One-Day Cricket League in 2001–02 season. Notable players
from Sylhet who have played for the national team include Rajin Saleh,[91] Enamul
Haque Jr, Tapash Baisya, and Alok Kapali. Chess
player Rani
Hamid was awarded the FIDE Women's International Master (WIM)
title in 1985.
Transport
The main transport systems used in the city are Cycle rickshaws, auto
rickshaws (mainly known as baby-taxis or CNGs), buses, mini-buses and
cars. There are about 80,000 rickshaws running each day. Bus service prices
have increased as of 2008, up to 30% higher, prices ranges from Tk4 to 15.95. The Sylhet Railway Station is
the main railway station providing trains on national routes operated by the
state-run Bangladesh Railway.
The city of Sylhet is
served by Osmani International Airport, located
at the north of the city. It is Bangladesh 's
third busiest airport and became an international airport due to the demand of
expatriate Bangladeshis and their descendants from the United Kingdom and the United States .
The main frequent airlines of the airport are, Biman Bangladesh Airlines,United Airways
(BD) Ltd. and domestic flights with GMG
Airlines. The airport received its first international arrival on 3
November 2002, with Biman arriving from Kuwait via Abu Dhabi en
route to Dhaka. Work
started in 2006 to upgrade the airport to international standards, including a
new terminal building, a jetway, a taxiway, and expansion of the runway to
accommodate wide-bodied aircraft. It
was confirmed that in May 2007, Biman will be operating Hajjflights directly
from the airport later in 2007
Education
There are two public universities in Sylhet, Shahjalal University of
Science and Technology and Sylhet Agricultural University. Shahjalal University of
Science and Technology is considered one of the best universities in Bangladesh .[99]There are some
prominent colleges in Sylhet such as MAG Osmani Medical College, Sylhet, Sylhet Engineering College,[100][101] Sylhet Cadet College, Murari Chand College, and Sylhet Polytechnic Institute. Sylhet
city is served by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Sylhet. The
notable educational institutions are Jalalabad Cantonment
Public School & College, Sylhet Cadet College, Madan Mohan College, Women's College Sylhet,Government College
Sylhet, Blue
Bird High School & College Sylhet, Sylhet Government Pilot
School and College,Scholarshome, Ananda Niketon, Amberkhana
Girls School and College, The Aided High
School and College, Shahjalal
Jameya School and College, Sylhet Law College' IMPT Medical
Technology College' etc.
There are also four private universities in Sylhet,
namely Metropolitan University, Sylhet, Leading University, Sylhet International University and North East University
Bangladesh. In Sylhet, there are also four private medical colleges, which
are Jalalabad Ragib-Rabeya
Medical College and Hospital, North East
Medical College Hospital, Sylhet Women's Medical College and Durre
Samad Red Crescent Medical College.
Many Muslim families also send their children to madrassahs to
learn Arabic; such madrassahs includes the Jamia Tawakkulia Renga Madrasah, Sylhet Aliya Madrasah, Shahjalal Jameya
Aliya Madrasah etc.
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