Manikganj District in Administration

Manikganj District in Administration

The name Manikganj comes most probably from the name of Sufi Manik Sha. The city stands on the bank of the river Kaliganga. In 1845 AD it was at first declared as a sub-division. It was at first, under Faridpur Zila then it was included under Dhaka Zila in 1956 for the administrative purposes. In 1984 Manikganj was declared as a full district. Manikganj district is bifurcated from the district Tangail in northern side, from the district Dhaka in eastern side and from the district Pabna & Faridpur by the river Jamuna & Padma in western and southern side respectively. It consists of seven upazila, two pourasavas (municipality) and 65 Union. The name of first educational institute in Manikgonj district is minor school (Now named Model high school) established in 1867. The name of other renowned educational institutes are Manikganj Govt. high school (Established in 1884), Debendra college (established 1942), Khan Bahadur Awlad Hossain College, Technical training institute etc.

After 1765 during the period of British Manikganj was being ruled by Nowab-E-Nazim’s. At that time there were many Zeminders in Manikgonj district. At present, many monuments of the Zemindery are also found in many places of this district. Historical Baliati Zeminder palace (In Saturia Upazila) is one of them. Other Zeminder palaces(Damaged) are found at Terosree (In Ghior Upazila) and Teota (In Shibalaya Upazila).In Manikgonj a court is first established in 1869. Manikganj Municipality was established in 1972.

Manikganj district has a strong history and heritage in Bangali culture. Main profession of the people of Manikganj is agriculture, although in recent years some industries (Dhaka tobbco industries,Akiz Particale Board Ltd., Munno Textile, Basundhara Steel Factory, Manikgonj Garment Factory etc.) have been set up. The main crops are rice, jute, wheat, mastered, tobacco, chilly, carrot etc. There is scarcity in food production in the district compared to the demand. It is low-lying area and adjacent to two big rivers Padma & Jamuna. There are also some prominent river such as Dalashary, Kantaboti, Isamoti,Gazikhali etc. It is very flash flood prone area; as a result inhabitants of this district face this challenge every year.

The intercommunication system of the district is not so developed due to so many rivers flowing as compared to other district nearby to Dhaka city. On the contrary, during rainy season most of the places under go floodwater resulting disruption/ discontinuation of communication.


The famous personalities of Manikganj are Bhasa shaheed Rafiq, freedom fighter captain A. Halim chowdhury, Heeralal shen, Khan Ataur Rahman, Singer Momtaz etc.

Manikganj is noted for its Hazari gur. Jhitka (in Harirampur upazila) is the center for date-sugar industry in the district. Hazari gur being deservedly famous for its purity and flavor. Sweetmeat at Trerossree under Ghior Upazila is a very much popular. Manikgonj is one of the potential district in Bangladesh in al