Chittagong✈
Chittagong ,
officially known as Chattogram (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম), is a major coastal city and financial centre in southeastern Bangladesh. The city has a population of more than 2.5 million[1] while the metropolitan area had a population of 4,009,423 in 2011, making it the second-largest city in the country. It is the capital of an eponymous District and Division. The city is located on the banks of the Karnaphuli River between the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Bay of Bengal. Modern Chittagong is Bangladesh's second most significant urban center after Dhaka.
Chittagong plays a vital role in the Bangladeshi economy. The Port of Chittagong is the principal maritime gateway to the country. The port is the busiest international seaport on the Bay of Bengal and the third busiest in South Asia. The Chittagong Stock Exchange is one of the country's two stock markets. Several Chittagong-based companies are among the largest industrial conglomerates and enterprises in Bangladesh. The port city is the largest base of the Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard; while the Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Air Force also maintains bases and contributes to the city's economy. Chittagong is the headquarters of the Eastern Zone of the Bangladesh Railway, having historically been the headquarters of British India's Assam Bengal Railway and East Pakistan's Pakistan Eastern Railway. A controversial ship breaking industry on the outskirts of the city, which supplies local steel but causes pollution, has come under international scrutiny.
Chittagong is an ancient seaport due to its natural harbor. It was noted as one of the largest Eastern ports by the Roman geographer Ptolemy in the 1st century. The harbor has been a gateway through southeastern Bengal in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Arab sailors and traders, who once explored the Bay of Bengal, set up a mercantile station in the harbor during the 9th century.During the 14th century, the port became a "mint town" of the Sultanate of Bengal, with the status of an administrative center.
During the 16th century, Portuguese historian João de Barros described Chittagong as "the most famous and wealthy city of the Kingdom of Bengal". Portuguese Chittagong was the first European colonial settlement in Bengal. A naval battle in 1666 between the Mughal Empire and Arakan resulted in the expulsion of Portuguese pirates. British colonization began in 1760 when the Nawab of Bengal ceded Chittagong to the East India Company. During World War II, Chittagong was a base for Allied Forces engaged in the Burma Campaign. The port city began to expand and industrialize during the 1940s, particularly after the Partition of British India. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Chittagong was site of the country's declaration of independence.
Chittagong has a high degree of religious and ethnic diversity among Bangladeshi cities, despite having an overwhelming Bengali Muslim majority. Minorities include Bengali Hindus, Bengali Christians, Bengali Buddhists, the Chakmas, the Marmas, the Bohmong, the Rohingyas and Rakhines.
Etymology
The etymology of Chittagong is uncertain.One explanation credits the first Arab traders for shatt Arabic: شط غنغ) where shatt means "delta" and ghangh stood for the Ganges. The Arakanese Chronicle that a king named : Tsu-la-taing Tsandaya after conquering Bengal set up a stone pillar as a trophy, memorial at the place since called Tst-ta-gaung as the limit of conquest. This Arakanese king ascended the throne in Arakan year 311 corresponding to 952 A.D. He conquered this place two years later. This stone pillar with the inscription Tset-ta-gaung meaning 'to make war is improper' cannot be a myth.[12] Another legend dates the name to the spread of Islam, when a Muslim lit a chati (lamp) at the top of a hill in the city and called out (adhan) for people to come to prayer.[13] However, the local name of the city (in Bengali or Chittagonian) Chatga (Bengali: চাটগা), which is a corruption of Chatgao (Bengali: চাটগাঁও) or Chatigao (Bengali: চাটিগাঁও), and officially Chottogram (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম) bears the meaning of "village or town of Chatta (possibly a caste or tribe)." Therefore, Bengali name Chattagrama, the Chinese Tsa-ti-kiang, Cheh-ti.gan and the European Chittagong are but the deformed versions of the Arakanese name Tset-ta-gaung.
The port city has been known by various names in history, including Chatigaon, Chatigam, Chattagrama, Islamabad, Chattala, Chaityabhumi and Porto Grande De Bengala. In April 2018, the Bangladesh government decided that the English spelling would change from Chittagong to Chattogram to make the name sound similar to the Bangla spelling.
Name
In 2018, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided to change the city's name to a version of its Bengali spelling without public consultation, drawing protests and concern. After that, the name changed to Chattogram based on its Bengali pronunciation.
History
Stone age fossils and tools unearthed in the region indicate that Chittagong has been inhabited since Neolithic times.[17] It is an ancient port city, with a recorded history dating back to the 4th century BC.[18] Its harbour was mentioned in Ptolemy's world map in the 2nd century as one of the most impressive ports in the East.[19] The region was part of the ancient Bengali Samatata and Harikela kingdoms. The Candra dynasty once dominated the area, and was followed by the Varman dynasty and Deva dynasty.
Chinese traveler Xuanzang described the area as "a sleeping beauty rising from mist and water" in the 7th century.
Arab Muslim traders frequented Chittagong from the 9th century. In 1154, Al-Idrisi wrote of a busy shipping route between Basra and Chittagong, connecting it with the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.[10]
Many Sufi missionaries settled in Chittagong and played an instrumental role in the spread of Islam.[21]
Sultan Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah of Sonargaon conquered Chittagong in 1340,[22] making it a part of Sultanate of Bengal. It was the principal maritime gateway to the kingdom, which was reputed as one of the wealthiest states in the Indian subcontinent. Medieval Chittagong was a hub for maritime trade with China, Sumatra, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Middle East and East Africa. It was notable for its medieval trades in pearls,[23] silk, muslin, rice, bullion, horses and gunpowder. The port was also a major shipbuilding hub.
Ibn Battuta visited the port city in 1345.[24] Niccolò de' Conti, from Venice, also visited around the same time as Battuta.[25] Chinese admiral Zheng He's treasure fleet anchored in Chittagong during imperial missions to the Sultanate of Bengal.[26][27]
Chittagong featured prominently in the military history of the Bengal Sultanate, including during the Reconquest of Arakan and the Bengal Sultanate–Kingdom of Mrauk U War of 1512–1516.
During the 13th and 16th centuries, Arabs and Persians heavily colonized the port city of Chittagong, initially arriving for trade and to preach the word of Islam. Most Arab settlers arrived from the trade route between Iraq and Chittagong, and were perhaps the prime reason for the spread of Islam to Bangladesh.[28] The first Persian settlers have also hinted to arrive for trade and religious purposes, with clues of Persianization tasks as well. Persians and other Iranic peoples have deeply affected the history of the Bengal Sultanate, with Persian being one of the main languages of the Muslim state, as well as also influencing the Chittagonian language and writing scripts.[29][30] It has been affirmed that much of the Muslim population in Chittagong are descendants of the Arab and Persian settlers. [31]
Two decades after Vasco Da Gama's landing in Calicut, the Bengal Sultanate gave permission for the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong to be established in 1528. It became the first European colonial enclave in Bengal. The Bengal Sultanate lost control of Chittagong in 1531 after Arakan declared independence and the established Kingdom of Mrauk U. This altered geopolitical landscape allowed the Portuguese unhindered control of Chittagong for over a century.[32][33]
Portuguese ships from Goa and Malacca began frequenting the port city in the 16th century. The cartaz system was introduced and required all ships in the area to purchase naval trading licenses from the Portuguese settlement.[34] Slave trade and piracy flourished. The nearby island of Sandwip was conquered in 1602. In 1615, the Portuguese Navy defeated a joint Dutch East India Company and Arakanese fleet near the coast of Chittagong.
In 1666, the Mughal government of Bengal led by viceroy Shaista Khan moved to retake Chittagong from Portuguese and Arakanese control. They launched the Mughal conquest of Chittagong. The Mughals attacked the Arakanese from the jungle with a 6,500-strong army, which was further supported by 288 Mughal naval ships blockading the Chittagong harbour.[21] After three days of battle, the Arakanese surrendered. The Mughals expelled the Portuguese from Chittagong. Mughal rule ushered a new era in the history of Chittagong territory to the southern bank of Kashyapnadi (Kaladan river). The port city was renamed as Islamabad. The Grand Trunk Road connected it with North India and Central Asia. Economic growth increased due to an efficient system of land grants for clearing hinterlands for cultivation. The Mughals also contributed to the architecture of the area, including the building of Fort Ander and many mosques. Chittagong was integrated into the prosperous greater Bengali economy, which also included Orissa and Bihar. Shipbuilding swelled under Mughal rule and the Sultan of Turkey had many Ottoman warships built in Chittagong during this period.[27][35]
In 1685, the British East India Company sent out an expedition under Admiral Nicholson with the instructions to seize and fortify Chittagong on behalf of the English; however, the expedition proved abortive. Two years later, the company's Court of Directors decided to make Chittagong the headquarters of their Bengal trade and sent out a fleet of ten or eleven ships to seize it under Captain Heath. However, after reaching Chittagong in early 1689, the fleet found the city too strongly held and abandoned their attempt at capturing it. The city remained under the possession of the Nawab of Bengal until 1793 when East India Company took complete control of the former Mughal province of Bengal.[36][37]
The First Anglo-Burmese War in 1823 threatened the British hold on Chittagong. There were a number of rebellions against British rule, notably during the Indian rebellion of 1857, when the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th companies of the 34th Bengal Infantry Regiment revolted and released all prisoners from the city's jail. In a backlash, the rebels were suppressed by the Sylhet Light Infantry.[10]
Railways were introduced in 1865, beginning with the Eastern Bengal Railway connecting Chittagong to Dacca and Calcutta. The Assam Bengal Railway connected the port city to its interior economic hinterland, which included the world's largest tea and jute producing regions, as well as one of the world's earliest petroleum industries. Chittagong was a major center of trade with British Burma. It hosted many prominent companies of the British Empire, including James Finlay, Duncan Brothers, Burmah Oil, the Indo-Burma Petroleum Company, Lloyd's, Mckenzie and Mckenzie, the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, Turner Morrison, James Warren, the Raleigh Brothers, Lever Brothers and the Shell Oil Company.
The Chittagong armoury raid by Bengali revolutionaries in 1930 was a major event in British India's anti-colonial history.
During World War II, Chittagong became a frontline city in the Southeast Asian Theater. It was a critical air, naval and military base for Allied Forces during the Burma Campaign against Japan. The Imperial Japanese Air Force carried out air raids on Chittagong in April and May 1942, in the run up to the aborted Japanese invasion of Bengal.[38][39] British forces were forced to temporarily withdraw to Comilla and the city was evacuated. After the Battle of Imphal, the tide turned in favor of the Allied Forces. Units of the United States Army Air Forces Tenth Air Force were stationed in Chittagong Airfield between 1944 and 1945.[40] American squadrons included the 80th Fighter Group, which flew P-38 Lightning fighters over Burma; the 8th Reconnaissance Group; and the 4th Combat Cargo Group. Commonwealth forces included troops from Britain, India, Australia and New Zealand. The war had major negative impacts on the city, including the growth of refugees and the Great Famine of 1943.[10]
Many wealthy Chittagonians profited from wartime commerce. The Partition of British India in 1947 made Chittagong the chief port of East Pakistan. In the 1950s, Chittagong witnessed increased industrial development. Among pioneering industrial establishments included those of Chittagong Jute Mills, the Burmah Eastern Refinery, the Karnaphuli Paper Mills and Pakistan National Oil. However, East Pakistanis complained of a lack of investment in Chittagong in comparison to Karachi in West Pakistan, even though East Pakistan generated more exports and had a larger population. The Awami League demanded that the country's naval headquarters be shifted from Karachi to Chittagong.[41]
During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Chittagong witnessed heavy fighting between rebel Bengali military regiments and the Pakistan Army. It covered Sector 1 in the Mukti Bahini chain of command. The Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence was broadcast from Kalurghat Radio Station and transmitted internationally through foreign ships in Chittagong Port.[42] Ziaur Rahman and M A Hannan were responsible for announcing the independence declaration from Chittagong on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Pakistani military, and supporting Razakar militias, carried out widespread atrocities against civilians in the city. Mukti Bahini naval commandos drowned several Pakistani warships during Operation Jackpot in August 1971.[43] In December 1971, the Bangladesh Air Force and the Indian Air Force carried out heavy bombing of facilities occupied by the Pakistani military. A naval blockade was also enforced.[44]
After the war, the Soviet Navy was tasked with clearing mines in Chittagong Port and restoring its operational capability. 22 vessels of the Soviet Pacific Fleet sailed from Vladivostok to Chittagong in May 1972.[45] The process of clearing mines in the dense water harbour took nearly a year, and claimed the life of one Soviet marine.[46] Chittagong soon regained its status as a major port, with cargo tonnage surpassing pre-war levels in 1973. In free market reforms launched by President Ziaur Rahman in the late 1970s, the city became home to the first export processing zones in Bangladesh. Zia was assassinated during an attempted military coup in Chittagong in 1981. The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone inflicted heavy damage on the city. The Japanese government financed the construction of several heavy industries and an international airport in the 1980s and 90s. Bangladeshi private sector investments increased since 1991, especially with the formation of the Chittagong Stock Exchange in 1995. The port city has been the pivot of Bangladesh's emerging economy in recent years, with the country's rising GDP growth rate.
No comments: