Jhalokati

About Jhalokati

Jhalokati is one of the smallest districts in Bangladesh, about 707 square kilometres sitting just west of Barishal. Four upazilas, Jhalokati Sadar, Nalchity, Rajapur and Kathalia, hold around 661,000 people, and with literacy above 83 percent in the 2022 census it is one of the best-educated districts in the country. The district's own slogan sums up its identity: the land of tasty guava and shitalpati.

Water runs through all of it. The Sugandha, Bishkhali, Dhanshiri and Gabkhan rivers and a maze of canals divide the land, and the Gabkhan channel is a key link on the inland waterway between Dhaka and Khulna. Jhalokati town grew up as a river port, and in the 19th and early 20th centuries its wholesale trade in rice, salt, timber and betel nut was so busy that people nicknamed it a second Kolkata.

Inland from the rivers, the west of Jhalokati Sadar shades into the guava belt that crosses into Barishal's Banaripara and Pirojpur's Swarupkati. Here orchards line narrow canals, and boats rather than roads carry the harvest to market.

History

The area was part of the Chandradwip kingdom and later of Bakerganj district under the British. In the 1650s the Mughal governor Shah Shuja built a fort at Sujabad, in present-day Nalchity, to guard against Magh and Portuguese pirates raiding the estuaries; its remains still stand. In the colonial period the port town of Jhalokati flourished on river trade, and the zamindars of Kirtipasha left a large estate whose ruins can still be visited. Jhalokati became a subdivision in 1972 and a district in 1984.

Two notable figures were born here: A. K. Fazlul Huq, Sher-e-Bangla, at his maternal home in Saturia, Rajapur, and the poet and feminist Kamini Roy at Basanda, one of the first women graduates in British India. Jhalokati also suffered heavily in 1971, and several mass-killing sites are marked with memorials.

Economy and livelihoods

Agriculture and trade dominate. Guava is the signature crop, grown on thousands of acres of canal-side orchards along with amra, lemons, betel nut and coconut, while paddy fills the rest of the farmland. Shitalpati weaving from murta reed supports families in villages such as Hailakathi in Rajapur, and Jhalokati town still trades wholesale goods along the rivers. Boat building, small mills and remittances add to household incomes.

Food, culture and festivals

The floating guava market is Jhalokati's best-known sight, but the district's crafts matter just as much. Shitalpati, a fine, cool sleeping mat split and woven from murta cane, is made by patikar families who pass the skill down through generations, sometimes with patterns worked in dyed strips.

Food follows the rivers: fish curries, guava and amra in season, and chira and muri with gur. The local speech is Barishali, and the district takes pride in its poets, from Kamini Roy to Jibanananda Das, whose beloved Dhansiri river flows past Jhalokati.

Places to visit in Jhalokati

1. Bhimruli floating guava market

   At Bhimruli in Kirtipasha union, about 15 km from Jhalokati town, hundreds of small boats loaded with guava meet where three canals join. It runs from roughly July to September; arrive in the morning and hire a boat to drift through the market and nearby orchards.

2. Sujabad fort

   The remains of a Mughal fort in Nalchity upazila, linked to Shah Shuja in the mid-17th century. Little survives above ground, but it is a reminder of the pirate wars that shaped the delta.

3. Kirtipasha zamindar bari

   The crumbling mansion and temples of the old Kirtipasha zamindars, close to the guava canals, worth combining with a visit to Bhimruli.

4. Gabkhan bridge and channel

   A long road bridge over the Gabkhan channel near Jhalokati town, from which you can watch cargo vessels and launches on one of the country's busiest inland waterways.

What Jhalokati is famous for

• Jhalokati guava
• Shitalpati (cane mat)
• Amra (hog plum)
• Lemon

How to get to Jhalokati

Jhalokati is about 25 km west of Barishal. From Dhaka, buses cross the Padma Bridge and reach Jhalokati in roughly 5 hours, or you can take a bus or the overnight launch to Barishal and continue by road in under an hour. Some launches from Sadarghat also call at Jhalokati itself. The nearest airport is Barishal. To reach Bhimruli, take an auto-rickshaw or local boat from Jhalokati town.

Markets and haats

Bhimruli guava market

More than a tourist sight, it is a working wholesale market where farmers sell guava by the boatload to traders who ship it to Dhaka and other cities.

Jhalokati Boro Bazar

The old riverside wholesale market of the town, dealing in rice, spices, household goods and produce from the surrounding villages.

Rajapur shitalpati makers

Weaving villages around Rajapur, such as Hailakathi, where buyers can order mats directly from patikar families and their cooperative.

Jhalokati at a glance

Shops from Jhalokati on Midmart

No shop from Jhalokati is selling on Midmart yet.

Questions about Jhalokati

More districts in Barishal Division

• Barishal Rivers, rice and launches: the old heart of Bangladesh's south
• Barguna Where the Bishkhali and Baleshwar meet the Bay: hilsa, mangroves and Rakhine looms
• Bhola Bangladesh's biggest island, home of hilsa and buffalo-milk curd
• Patuakhali Daughter of the sea: Kuakata's sunrise and sunset, watermelon and the Payra port
• Pirojpur Floating guava markets, timber, nurseries and gardens that float on water