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History of the District

Stone age fossils and tools unearthed in the Sitakunda region indicate that Chattogram has been inhabited was inhabited by the Austro-Asiatic communities during Neolethic ages. However, they were expelled by the Mongols soon. Perhaps the first reference in the written history is the Periplas written by the Greek Geographer Pliny. There is a description of a place called Kris. According to historic Nalinikanta Bhattasali, it is the present Sandwip. The historian Lassen identified Pentapolis with the modern Chittagong. It was not certain whether Chattogram had connection with the Maurya Empire, but a footprint of a statue was found in Brahmi script of the Maurya age at Shiluya, east Noakhali. In a book of Tibet's Buddhist historian Lama Taranath, the rule of Chandra dynasty was described, whose capital was Chattogram. It is also mentioned in the inscription of Sithang temple in Arakan. In the book of Taranath, there was a king named Gopinatha Chandra in the tenth century. At that time Arabs came to Chattogram. According to description of Arab geographers there was a port named ‘Samundar’. Historians are almost sure it is the port of Chattogram. At that time Dharmapala was king of Pala dynasty. After the Pala dynasty, there are several smaller states in this region.

In 953, Su-la-Taung-Sandya, a Chandra dynasty king of Arakan, sent an expedition to Chattogram. But for an unknown reason, he made a pillar without moving forward. It is written on 'Chet-t-Gang' which means 'should not fight'. From there the name ‘Choittogoung’ comes. It is written in an Arakanese puthi 'Rajawang'. From there Chatigram, Chatgaon, Chattogram, Chittagong etc. have been spelled out. After the Chandra dynasty, some historians mentioned the name of Lal dynasty and some other kings. But according to historian Shihabuddin Talish, the history was unclear until the conquest of Chattogram in 1338 by Sultan Fakruddin Mubarak Shah. As a result of this victory, Chittagong was included in the independent Sonargaon kingdom. The famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta came to Chittagong in 1346. He wrote, “We have entered in Bangladesh through Sodkawang (Chittagong). It is a large city situated on the banks of the ocean, near the Ganges River - where Hindus pilgrimage and the Jamuna river rises together and flows from there to the sea. There were numerous ships on the banks of the Ganges, with which they fought with the people of Lakhnauti. I left Sodawang and set off for Kamrup mountains.” In 1352-53, Bengal's first independent sultan, Ilias Shah, captured the throne of Bengal by killing Ekhtiar Uddin Gazi Shah, the son of Fakruddin Mubarak Shah. Then Chattogram also came under his rule. During his time Chattogram was established as the main port of Bengal. After this, Hindu Raja Ganesha and his descendants ruled Chattogram. Afterwards, the Habshi clan was established in Bengal. But in 1492 Sultan Hussein Shah became the sultan of Bengal. But he had to fight with King Dhanya Manikya of Tripura till 1513-1517 to occupy Chattogram. However, after the death of King Dhanya Manikya, Hussein Shah's reign spread to northern Arakan. During his time, Shreekar used to translate an episode of Nandimahabharat, in the patronage of Chuti Kha, son of Nayeb Parbagal Khan of North Chittagong.

The arrival of the Portuguese and gaining the authority of the port:

From 1517, the Portuguese started coming to Chattogram. The piracy issue was strong among them than trade. The sultans strongly tried to suppress them. Hussein Shah heard that Afghan ruler Sher Shah will attack Bengal. So he sought the help of the Portuguese. In 1537, the Portuguese built a trading facility in Chattogram in exchange for military assistance. At the same time, they were given the right to receive customs duty in the port area. But Portuguese failed to save Chattogram.  In 1538, Sher Shah captured Chittagong. However, during the Afghan rule, there was always a fight with Tripura and Arakanese till 1580.

Arakanese Rule:

From 1581 to 1666, Chattogram was completely ruled under the control of Arakan kings. However, the Portuguese pirates continued to disturb common people very much during this period. The king of Arakan suppressed the Portuguese in 1603 and 1607 with a strong hand. In 1607, the French traveler De Laval visited Chattogram. However, at that time the Portuguese pirates Gonzales occupied Sandwip. Portuguese Missionary Pastor Manrick appreciated Alamen, the ruler of Chattogram during his presence in Chattogram (1630-1634). In 1666, Chattogram was captured by the Mughals. Arakanese rule in Chattogram is very important. Chittagong took a lot of things from Arakanese. The use of moghi kani in land measurement can still be found in Chittagong. The use of moghi year was very common for long time. At that time the Muslim population increased in Arakan. There is a great improvement in Bangla literature by the patronage of Bangla poets like Alaol, Daulat Kazi, and Qureshi Magan Thakur in Arakan Rajsava. One of the most important poem of Alaol is Padmavati.

Mughal regime:

In 1666, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ordered Subedar Shaista Khan of Bengal to seize Chattogram. Under the leadership of Umed Khan, the son of Subedar, defeated the Arakanese at the Karnafuli estuary and occupied the Arakan fort. As usual, the Portuguese betrayed the Arakanese and took the side of the Mughals. Mughal commander Umed Khan was the first Faujdar of Chattogram. The Mughal rule began in Chattogram. During the entire Mughal regime, the Arakanese tried to bring Chattogram under their control. An Englishman named Thomas Prat joined the Arakanese and took an attempt to defeat the Mughals. But eventually they failed. The founder of the city of Kolkata, Job Charnock, launched the failed operation of the capture of Chittagong Port in 1686. Captain Heath also launched similar kind of operation in 1688 but did not succeed.

In 1670 and 1710 Arakanis failed on the border of Chattogram. But in the year 1725, about 30,000 Magh soldiers entered Chattogram and endangered the local people. But at the end, the Mughals were able to drive them out. During this time the English could not occupy Chittagong port because of the Mughals. The Mughals succeeded to maintain goodwill with the tribal people in the mountainous region, especially the Chakma community through treaty.

Battle of Palashi and the transfer of Chittagong to the English:

After the defeat of Nawab Sirajuddaula of Bengal during the Battle of Palashi, the English created pressure on Nawab Mir Jafar for the port of Chittagong. However, Mir Jafar did not agree to give the authority of Chittagong port in the hands of British East India Company. As a result, the Engish conspired to replace Mir Jafar with Mir Qasim as the Nawab of Bengal. After the removal of Mir Jafar in 1761, Mir Qasim was installed as the Nawab of Bengal. He transferred Burdwan, Medinipur and Chattogram to the British. Reza Khan, the last Faujdar of Chittagong, officially handed over the rule of Chattogram to Harry Verelst. The rule of the East India Company started. During the company's regime, taxation on the people of Chattogram continued to increase day by day. However, the British East India Company did not have to undergo a difficult time before 1857 except the revolt of Chakmas and the revolt of Zamindar Abu Torap of Sandwip. Sandwip's zamindar Abu Torap organized farmers and resisted the English. But resistance from Sabdwip broke when he was defeated and killed in the battle of Harispur in 1776. On the other hand, the Chakmas fought a 26 years long guerrilla warfare against the British East India Company from 1772 to 1798. It was the first recorded rebellion against the established British empire long before the Sipahi Mutiny of 1857. The British were unable to control the Chakmas at the forefront and imposed hard economic blockade aginst them. At last the Chakmas were defeated. The local citizens became angry when the English turned Anderkilla Jame Mosque into ammunition warehouse. The lakhiraj land given in the Nawabi period for the mosque was confiscated during the survey of 1838. Later, Khan Bahadur Hamidullah Khan went to Calcutta and rescued it from the governor.

During the Sipahi revolution of 1857, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th companies of the 34th Bengal Infantry Regiment were deployed in Chattogram. These three companies became rebel on the night of 18 November, 1857 and released all the prisoners from the prison. Havildar Rajab Ali and Sipahi Jamal Khan led the rebellion. The sipahis left Chittagong with three government elephants, ammunition and wealth. They reached Sylhet and Cachar district of Assam by moving forward along the border of hill state of Tripura. The Tripura Raj tried to resist them at the request of the British East India Company. Fighting and struggle continued in different places. Due to lack of resources, the rebels were very much in control. Sipahi revolution at Chattogram was over on January 9, 1858 in a fight with the English forces at Manipur, Sylhet.