Rangpur, Bangladesh

Rangpur (Bengali: রংপুর) is one of the major cities in Bangladesh. Rangpur is considered as the centre of northwestern Bangladesh. Recently established public university of Bangladesh named as "Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur" is situated in the southern part of the city. Earlier Rangpur was the headquarter of Greater Rangpur district. Later the Greater Rangpur district was broken down into Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha districts. As a hub of trade, business and non-governmental organisational activities its influence over the districts under Greater-Dinajpur is also considerable. In 2010, Rangpur was announced as a Division of Bangladesh and it is the 7th and last division. There are eight districts under Rangpur division. Those are; Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagor.

Places of interest

• Rangpur Divisional Head Quarter Building and Museum- The Divisional Headquarter Office Building at Tajhat, the southern end of Rangpur city. This was the earlier high court building established in 1984 called the Tajhat, a former "rajbari" or zamindar's palace. After the end of the British Raj, the building was abandoned and decayed rapidly, although it was used for a few years as a courthouse during the 1980s. In the year 2004, it was largely restored and turned into a museum which hosts an impressive collection of Blackstone Hindu carvings, calligraphic art from the mughal period, other objets d'art and coins from the area on display. Due to lack of funding, the museum is sometimes closed. The entry fee for non-Bangladeshi tourists is 200 taka.

• Carmichael College is located in the southern part of the city and just a few minutes' drive from Rangpur city centre. It is one of the most important educational institutes in northern part of Bangladesh. It is famous for its lush green campus.

• Established in 1969, "Rangpur Cadet College" is an important educational institute in this city which is situated 5 kilometer far from city at Modern (the then Residential Model School) cross-section.

• Rangpur Zila School is the most famous school in this region of Bangladesh, established more than a century ago. It gained a high reputation. It is located in the Cross-section of 'RDRS, Dhap and Kerani Para' of the city.

• RDRS (Rangpur and Dinajpur Rural Service) Bangladesh [1], an NGO in northwest Bangladesh, has a large office and guesthouse/convention center in the CITY of Rangpur.

• Shyampur: It is a very well known place in Rangpur district under the Badargonj police station. It is very popular for Shyampur Sugar Mills Limited. Here is a chemical industry as well as few cold storage.

Pirgachha: Pirgachha is one of the up zillas in Rangpur that carries some interesting aspects. The name is derived from some unknown "pir"(religious guru), buried under a tree("gach"). In other words, there was this tomb of a "pir" under a big tree in Pirgachha. Pirgachha has a Rajbari, home of the Jomider (barons, if you will, or landlord, appointed by the King at that times). This one historic residence is now almost ruined. Also, there is a minitarure prayer place such as a mosque (for Muslim) and a mondir(for Hindu) built together. It shows a friendly Hindu-Muslim community at those ages. This one is also being ruined everyday.

Lifestyle

For shopping, there are two large shopping complexes. One is the older "Municipal Super Market", a three-storied building with a variety of small shops selling everything from soap, shoes and clothes to motorcycles, TVs and fans. There is a more modern building called the Jahaj Company Shopping Complex which has Rangpur's only escalator. At the top of this building is a department store, selling a wide assortment of children's toys, Indian kurtas, shalwar kameezes and saris, and other collectibles.

Karupanya is another store on Station Road which sells Rangpur's famous Satranji handloom carpets, which have earned acclaim for their extraordinary aesthetic appeal. The carpets were made in the village of Nishbetganj and were greatly popular in the Mughal era. In fact, it is believed that emperor Akbar used these carpets to adorn his palace in Delhi.

Karupanya was established the cottage industry of Satranji at Nishbetganj village. Starting with just five weavers, he has increased to more than 300 weavers today and is now exporting to foreign countries on a small scale. One can purchase a Satranji carpet at the Karupannya showroom in Rangpur or in Banani, Dhaka.

People from Rangpur

• William Beveridge, British economist who wrote the Beveridge Report that influenced United Kingdom to implement welfare state policies after World War II.
• Nasir Hossain, prominent Bangladeshi all-round cricketer.
• Sa‘d Bin Ard
• Md. Mustafiz Manwar
• Mahbubun Nahar

External links

• Rangpur Municipality, Official website for Rangpur Municipality
• Rangpur oriented website
• Rangpur in Banglapedia, Banglapedia Article on Rangpur District
• Rangpur Web: Social Network, News & Info
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Rangpur". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.