Sandwip Island
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| Sandwip Island of bangladesh |
Sandwip is an island along the south eastern coast of Bangladesh in the Chittagong District. It is also spelled "Sandvip". Both spellings are commonly used although the transliteration of the name would in fact be Shondip. It is part of the sub-district called Sandwip Upazila.
It is situated at the estuary of the Meghna River on the Bay of Bengal and separated from the Chittagong coast by the Sandwip channel. It has a population of nearly 350,000. There are as many as fifteen different wards, 62 mahallas and 34 villages on Sandwip Island. The entire island is 50 kilometers long and 5-15 kilometers wide. It is located at the north-eastern side of The Bay of Bengal, nearby the main port city of Chittagong. It is bounded by Companiganj on the north, Bay of bengal on the south, Sitakunda and Mirsharai, and Sandwip Channel on the east, Noakhali Sadar, Hatiya and Meghna estuary on the west. About three hundred ships of salt per year were loaded for export from the Sandwip port.[clarification needed] It also had a ship building industry. Then the Turkish president Solaiman Demirel when came to Chittagong in 1994 imported a gun ship from Sandwip port.
Sandwip Island in Bangladesh has a great historical legacy. The island itself is about 3000 years old[3] and it has been ruled by many different people over the centuries, including Delwar Khan. It was a Portuguese and Arakanese pirate stronghold during the 17th century and even today some of the architecture on the island reflects this part of the island’s history. However, the governor of Bengal saw fit to put an end to this in 1665 as part of attempts to stop his people from being misled by the wild fancies of these nonreligious and thieving individuals. Under British rule its location proved to be a bit of an administrative problem. Today it is well and truly a part of Bangladesh. It is supposed that Sandwip was connected with Chittagong original land and disconnected by natural disasters.[2]
Tansi reported on Lower Gangas (150) in which he included Sandwip. Sandwip is mentioned at The Baros Map (1560). Cesar Fredarich visited in Sandwip in 1565 and noted it as old island. Parcuch described 300 years old mosque in this area (1620). Sanchan the Abevel mentioned Sandwip in his drawing map and he also mentioned Vulua, Bengla, Chattagram and Dhaka with it. Sri Rajkumar Chakrabarty mentioned in his History of Sandwip about 400 or 500 years old plants (1923). It is also found in The Anvel Curt’s drawing map (1752).