Sunamganj

About Sunamganj

Sunamganj occupies the north-west of Sylhet division, its whole northern edge running along the foot of the Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya. Rivers that tumble out of those hills — the Jadukata, the Jalukhali and others — spread across a vast, saucer-shaped plain, and the Surma flows through the district town itself on its way west.

This is the heart of the haor basin. For roughly half the year, from the monsoon into autumn, much of the district is under water: villages stand on raised mounds like islands, roads disappear and boats become the main transport. In the dry season the water draws back to reveal enormous fields of boro rice and grazing land. The best known of the wetlands, Tanguar Haor, is a Ramsar site of international importance for fish and migratory birds.

The seasonal water shapes everything here, from the crops and the fish to the music. Sunamganj is famous across Bangladesh as the birthplace of some of the most beloved folk and mystic songwriters, and visitors now come by houseboat to see the haor, the hills and the songs that grew between them.

History

Local tradition traces the name to a Mughal-era soldier called Sunamuddi, who was granted land here for his service; the market (ganj) on that land became Sunamganj. Long before that, the haor area around Tahirpur was the seat of the ancient Laur kingdom, and the Vaishnava saint Advaita Acharya is said to have been born in that region. From the fourteenth century the area formed part of the Sylhet territory known as Iqlim-e-Muazzamabad. The British made Sunamganj a subdivision of Sylhet in 1877, and in 1984 it became a district.

The district is best remembered through its poets. Hason Raja (1854–1922), a zamindar turned mystic, wrote songs that are still sung across Bengal; Radharaman Dutta of Jagannathpur shaped the dhamail tradition; and Shah Abdul Karim (1916–2009) of Derai, often called the Baul Emperor, sang of the haor, faith and injustice. In the 1971 Liberation War the district fought under Sector 5 and was freed in early December.

Economy and livelihoods

Agriculture is the mainstay, and one boro rice crop, harvested in April–May before the flash floods, feeds most households for the year. The haors are among the country's richest inland fisheries, supplying fresh and dried fish, and duck farming thrives on the open water. Chhatak is an industrial centre, with the country's oldest cement factory and a modern cement plant fed by limestone from Meghalaya, as well as a paper mill. Stone, sand and coal from the hill rivers on the border have long supported local trade. Many families also depend on remittance from relatives in the United Kingdom and the Middle East.

Food, culture and festivals

Music is Sunamganj's defining heritage. Baul, Sufi and devotional songs, the women's circle dance dhamail at weddings and night-long song gatherings are still part of village life, and the songs of Hason Raja and Shah Abdul Karim are sung on boats, at fairs and on national television. Annual festivals in memory of these poets bring singers from across the country.

Haor life shows in the kitchen: fresh boal, rui and small native fish in the monsoon, duck curry in winter, and shutki made from the dry-season catch. Like the rest of Sylhet, people speak the Sylheti dialect and love shatkora and strong tea.

Places to visit in Sunamganj

1. Tanguar Haor

   A vast wetland in Tahirpur and Dharmapasha–Madhyanagar, declared a Ramsar site in 2000. In the monsoon visitors explore it by houseboat among swamp trees and floating villages with the Meghalaya hills behind; in winter it becomes a haven for migratory ducks.

2. Niladri Lake, Tekerghat

   A blue-green lake filling an old limestone quarry at Tekerghat, beside the Meghalaya border. Its clear water against the hills has made it one of the most photographed spots in Sylhet division.

3. Shimul Bagan

   A large plantation of silk-cotton (shimul) trees beside the Jadukata river near the border. In February and March the trees burst into red blossom, and visitors combine it with Barekatila hill and the Jadukata on the same day.

4. Hason Raja Museum

   Set in the family home of the mystic poet in Sunamganj town, the museum displays his belongings, manuscripts and memorabilia. It is the best place to understand the poet whose songs remain a part of everyday Bangla culture.

5. Pagla Jame Mosque

   A grand three-domed mosque with six minarets at Raypur near Pagla Bazar in Shantiganj, on the bank of the Mahasingh river beside the Sylhet–Sunamganj road. Built between the 1920s and 1941 by a local merchant, it is decorated with imported tiles and carved stone.

What Sunamganj is famous for

• Haor freshwater fish
• Haor shutki (dried fish)
• Haor duck eggs

How to get to Sunamganj

Sunamganj town is roughly 340 km by road from Dhaka. Direct buses leave Sayedabad and Mohakhali and take about seven to eight hours via Sylhet. Alternatively, take a train or a flight to Sylhet and continue by bus or car, about two hours on the Sylhet–Sunamganj road. There is no railway to Sunamganj town. For Tanguar Haor, Niladri Lake and Jadukata, travellers go on to Tahirpur by road or motorbike, and in the monsoon by boat or houseboat.

Markets and haats

Chhatak Bazar

An old river-port market on the Surma at the industrial town of Chhatak, historically a centre of the lime, stone and orange trade with the Khasi hills and still a busy wholesale hub.

Raniganj Bazar, Jagannathpur

A long-established market on the Kushiyara, where paddy, fish and household goods are traded by boat and road.

Sachna Bazar, Jamalganj

A haor market town where the dry-season catch, fresh and dried fish, and the boro harvest are bought and sold.

Sunamganj at a glance

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Questions about Sunamganj

More districts in Sylhet Division

• Habiganj Tea hills, gas fields and haor country on the road to Sylhet
• Moulvibazar Sreemangal's tea, Lawachara's rainforest and the country's biggest haor
• Sylhet City of saints on the Surma, gateway to Jaflong and Ratargul