Meherpur

About Meherpur

Meherpur lies on the far western edge of Bangladesh, wrapped on two sides by the Indian state of West Bengal. Kushtia is to the north-east and Chuadanga to the east and south. The Mathabhanga, Bhairab, Ichamati and Kazla rivers wander across a dry, flat plain that is noticeably hotter in summer and colder in winter than the delta to the south.

With just three upazilas — Meherpur Sadar, Gangni and Mujibnagar — and around seven lakh people, it is one of the least populous districts in the country. Most people farm, and the fields of Gangni in particular are known for winter vegetables sent to markets across Bangladesh.

For the nation, though, Meherpur means one place: the mango grove at Baidyanathtala, renamed Mujibnagar, where the provisional government of Bangladesh was formally sworn in during the Liberation War.

History

The area was long part of Nadia district, and the town became a subdivisional headquarters under British rule. Local tradition offers two stories for the name — one linking it to Mihir, husband of the legendary sage-poet Khana, and another to a Muslim saint, Meher Ali — and neither is settled. In the nineteenth century British planters grew indigo here, and the kuthis at Amjhupi and Bhatpara survive from that era. A well-known local legend claims Robert Clive met conspirators at Amjhupi before the Battle of Plassey, but there is no firm evidence for it.

After 1947 Meherpur became part of Kushtia district. On 17 April 1971, at the mango grove of Baidyanathtala, the leaders of the independence struggle read out the Proclamation of Independence and swore in the first government of Bangladesh, and the place was renamed Mujibnagar. Pakistani troops later killed villagers at Amjhupi and elsewhere. Meherpur became a separate district in 1984, and Mujibnagar was made its own upazila in 2000.

Economy and livelihoods

Agriculture provides close to seven in ten livelihoods. Farmers grow rice, wheat, jute, maize, tobacco, pulses and a large volume of vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage and tomatoes, much of it sent by truck to Dhaka and other cities. Mangoes, especially the Himsagar variety, come from orchards around Mujibnagar, and Black Bengal goats are raised in many households. Industry is limited to small mills, workshops and food processing, so trade, transport and work in other cities are important sources of income.

Food, culture and festivals

Meherpur is known for two sweets made by the same family for well over a century: Sabitri, a dense, chomchom-like sweet first made in 1861 in the Bara Bazar area, and the round, syrupy Ras Kadam. Visitors to the district usually take a box home.

Mujibnagar Day on 17 April is marked with a national ceremony at the memorial. The region shares the Baul and folk-song tradition of Kushtia, and the old Catholic missions at Ballavpur and Bhabarpara give Christmas a special place in local life.

Places to visit in Meherpur

1. Mujibnagar Memorial and Muktijuddho Smriti Complex

   The monument at the oath-taking site, completed in 1987, stands beside the original mango grove. The neighbouring complex has a large relief map of the war’s sectors and life-size sculptures recreating the events of 1971.

2. Amjhupi Nilkuthi

   A colonial indigo planter’s house about six kilometres east of Meherpur town on the bank of the Kazla, set among old trees and lawns. It is a quiet place for a picnic and a glimpse of the indigo era.

3. Bhatpara Nilkuthi

   The ruins of another British-era indigo factory in Gangni upazila, about 17 km from Meherpur town, said to date from the late eighteenth century.

4. Ballavpur Mission

   A Catholic mission and church at Ballavpur near Mujibnagar, one of the oldest Christian settlements in the region, with a historic church building.

What Meherpur is famous for

• Meherpur Sabitri sweet
• Meherpur Ras Kadam
• Himsagar mango

How to get to Meherpur

Direct buses from Dhaka’s Gabtoli terminal reach Meherpur in about six to seven hours. Meherpur has no railway; the nearest stations are at Chuadanga and Darshana, roughly an hour away by road, on the line used by intercity trains between Dhaka and Khulna. Jashore airport is about two and a half hours by road. Mujibnagar is around 15 km from Meherpur town by bus or auto-rickshaw.

Markets and haats

Meherpur Bara Bazar

The old market of Meherpur town, home of the sweet shops that make Sabitri and Ras Kadam, along with grain, spice and cloth traders.

Gangni Bazar

The main market of Gangni upazila, where farmers and traders deal in vegetables, wheat, jute and livestock from the surrounding villages.

Meherpur at a glance

Shops from Meherpur on Midmart

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Questions about Meherpur

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
• Magura Raja Sitaram’s country of jute fields, pera sandesh and Khamarpara doi
• Narail S M Sultan’s Chitra river country, home of boat races and cricketers
• Satkhira Early mangoes, soft-shell crabs and the western Sundarbans