Magura

About Magura

Magura sits near the middle of south-west Bangladesh, on the Dhaka–Khulna highway between Faridpur and Jhenaidah. Rajbari lies to the north, Faridpur across the Madhumati to the east, Narail to the south, Jashore to the south-west and Jhenaidah to the west. The Nabaganga flows through Magura town, the Gorai–Madhumati forms the eastern edge of the district, and the Kumar and Fatki rivers water the farmland between.

With only four upazilas — Magura Sadar, Mohammadpur, Shalikha and Sreepur — Magura is one of the smaller districts in the country and is almost entirely rural. Its low-lying fields are among the best jute land in the south-west, and in late summer retting ponds and drying racks of golden fibre line the village roads.

Magura is also known for its milk sweets, its river festivals and its people: the poet Farrukh Ahmad was born at Majhail in Sreepur, and the cricketer Shakib Al Hasan grew up in Magura town.

History

The best-known chapter of Magura’s past belongs to Raja Sitaram Ray, a landholder who rose to power under the Mughal governors of Bengal at the end of the seventeenth century. He made Mohammadpur his capital, built a fort, palaces and temples and dug large tanks, and then defied the Nawab of Murshidabad until he was captured and put to death in the early eighteenth century. The ruins of his capital still stand by the Madhumati.

Under British rule Magura became a subdivision of Jashore, and its high school dates from 1854. In 1971 the area fell in Sector 8 of the Liberation War, with around sixteen recorded encounters between freedom fighters and the Pakistan army. Magura was upgraded to a district on 1 March 1984.

Economy and livelihoods

Farming supports about two-thirds of households. Jute is the signature cash crop, alongside rice, wheat, mustard, onion, garlic, pulses, sugarcane and vegetables. Jute fibre and jute sticks are traded in volume, with sticks loaded onto cargo boats at Elangkhali Ghat on the Madhumati. Dairy is important, supplying the sweet makers of Magura town and Khamarpara. Small rice mills, brickfields, transport along the highway and money sent home by migrant workers make up much of the rest of the local economy.

Food, culture and festivals

Magura’s sweets are its pride: pera sandesh, a soft, lightly dried milk sweet introduced in the town around the middle of the last century, and Khamarpara doi, a sweet yogurt first made by a family of milkmen in Khamarpara in Sreepur. Both are ordered for weddings and celebrations across the region.

Rural fairs bring boat races on the rivers in the monsoon, traditional horse racing in some villages, and Chaitra Sankranti festivities at the end of the Bangla year, when Hindu communities hold colourful Chaitra puja processions.

Places to visit in Magura

1. Raja Sitaram Ray’s palace, Mohammadpur

   About 25 km south-east of Magura town by the Madhumati, the remains of Sitaram’s capital include the restored kachari (court) building, temples, a dol mancha and several large tanks.

2. Siddheswari Math, Atharokhada

   A Hindu temple complex on the bank of the Nabaganga about 3 km from Magura town, an important site of worship and a pleasant riverside walk.

3. Madan Mohan temple, Shatrujitpur

   An old Hindu temple in Shatrujitpur, Magura Sadar upazila, listed among the district’s heritage sites and still visited by worshippers.

4. Farrukh Ahmad’s birthplace, Majhail

   The village in Sreepur upazila where the poet of “Sat Sagarer Majhi” was born in 1918, with a memorial to him.

What Magura is famous for

• Magura pera sandesh
• Khamarpara doi
• Jute crafts

How to get to Magura

Magura lies directly on the main road from Dhaka to Khulna. Buses from Gabtoli and Sayedabad cross the Padma Bridge and reach Magura in roughly three and a half to four hours. There is no railway station in the district; the nearest airport is Jashore, about an hour and a half away by road.

Markets and haats

Elangkhali Ghat, Mohammadpur

A river landing on the Madhumati where traders buy jute and jute sticks from farmers in Magura and neighbouring districts and load them onto cargo trawlers.

Arpara Bazar, Shalikha

A busy union market in Shalikha upazila, dealing in rice, vegetables, fish and farm supplies.

Magura town sweet shops

The established sweet shops of the district town are the place to buy fresh pera sandesh and doi, made the same day from local milk.

Magura at a glance

Shops from Magura on Midmart

No shop from Magura is selling on Midmart yet.

Questions about Magura

More districts in Khulna Division

• Bagerhat Khan Jahan’s mosque city on the edge of the Sundarbans
• Chuadanga Border farmland of date molasses, betel leaf and the Darshana sugar mill
• Jashore The flower capital, home of date molasses and the Benapole gateway
• Jhenaidah Sultanate mosques, Naldanga temples and the giant banyan of Kaliganj
• Khulna River city of shrimp and the gateway to the Sundarbans
• Kushtia Land of Lalon and Tagore, tiler khaja and Kumarkhali handlooms
• Meherpur Mujibnagar, where Bangladesh’s first government took its oath
• Narail S M Sultan’s Chitra river country, home of boat races and cricketers
• Satkhira Early mangoes, soft-shell crabs and the western Sundarbans