Jessore Digital District
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| Jessore Digital District of Bangladesh |
Jessore is a district located in the Khulna Division of southwestern Bangladesh. It is bordered by India to the west.
The district produces a variety of crops year-round. Date-sugar, called patali, is made from the sap of locally grown date trees. It is cooked, thickened and crystallised using a traditional method. Patali is mainly produced in Khajura, but many date trees are cultivated in the Keshabpur Upazila and Manirampur Upazila areas.
Jessore district was established in 1781. It consists of 4 municipalities, 36 wards, 8 upazilas, 92 unions, 1329 mouzas, 1434 villages and 120 mahallas. Upazilas are: Abhaynagar Upazila, Bagherpara Upazila, Chaugachha Upazila, Jessore Sadar Upazila, Jhikargachha Upazila, Keshabpur Upazila, Manirampur Upazila, and Sharsha Upazila.
Jessore town consists of 9 wards and 73 mahalls. Jessore municipality was established in 1864. The area of the town is 25.72 km2. The town has a population of 201,796 at the 2011 Census. The Literacy rate among the town people is 56.57% in 1991. The town has one dakbungalow.
Jessore is a kingdom and Raja Pratapaditya is the king of the Jessore kingdom. Jessore district once belonged to the ancient Janapada kingdom of Samatat Janapada. At the time of 1947, Jessore was partially divided. Except for the Bangaon and Gaighata thanas, the entire district became part of East Bengal.
The Bengali soldiers stationed at Jessore cantonment mutinied against the Pakistan Army on 29 March 1971. They were led by Captain Hafiz Uddin and Lieutenant Anwar in an uprising where 300 soldiers were killed. The rebels killed 50 Pakistani soldiers with machine gun fire at Chanchara.
On 7 December 1971, Jessore became the first district of Bengal to be liberated from Pakistani forces.
At Abhaynagar Upazila, there is a small village called Dhoolgraam. It once had a magnificent complex of 17 Hindu temples, but only one remains today. Most of the temples were destroyed by the Bhairab River. A beautiful terracotta design can be seen all over the temple. It is considered a very holy place by Bengali Hindus.
In Vaatnogor at Abhaynagar Upazila, ruins of eleven temple complex, dedicated to Lord Shiva, remains. Though the central temple is partially destroyed, the site still shows the majesty of Bengal's glorious past.
Shaagordaari is the birthplace of the poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta. His large villa consists of a huge garden, a small museum and houses. The front gate of the house has a solid sculpture work. The Kopotak-kho River is at a stone throw distance. Near Jessore Sadar Upazila village Hamidpur has an ancient mosque, known as "Shani mosque." It is an example of the high architecture of Muslim Sultani period.