Sylhet (Bengali: সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of Sylhet Division. Located on the right bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate and lush highland terrain. The city has a population of more than half a million, and is one of the largest cities in Bangladesh after Khulna, Chittagong and Dhaka. [1] Sylhet is one of the most important spiritual and cultural centres in Bangladesh. Furthermore, it is one of the most economically important cities in the country after Dhaka and Chittagong. The city produces the highest amount of tea and gas in the country.
In 1303, the Sultan of Lakhnauti Shamsuddin Firoz Shah conquered Sylhet by defeating Gour Govinda.[4] Sylhet was a realm of the Bengal Sultanate. In the 16th-century, Sylhet was controlled by the Baro-Bhuyan zamindars and later became a sarkar (district) of the Mughal Empire.[5] Sylhet emerged as the Mughals' most significant imperial outpost in the east and its importance remained as such throughout the seventeenth century.[6] British rule began in the 18th century under the administration of the East India Company. With its ancient seafaring tradition, Sylhet became a key source of lascars in the British Empire. The Sylhet municipal board was established in 1867.[7] Originally part of the Bengal Presidency and later Eastern Bengal and Assam; the town was part of Colonial Assam between 1874 and 1947, when following a referendum and the partition of British India, it became part of East Bengal.[4] The Sylhet City Corporation was constituted in 2001. The Government of Bangladesh designated Sylhet a metropolitan area in 2009.[8]
The hinterland of the Sylhet valley is the largest oil and gas-producing region in Bangladesh. It is also the largest hub of tea production in Bangladesh. It is notable for its high-quality cane and agarwood.[9][10] The city is served by the Osmani International Airport which is named after General M A G Osmani, the Commander of the Bangladesh Liberation Forces. People from Sylhet form a significant portion of the Bangladeshi diaspora, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as other countries in the Middle East.
Best Business In Sylhet
More Information about Sylhet
Contents
1 Toponymy
2 History
3 Geography and climate
4 Administration
4.1 Military
4.2 Healthcare
5 Demographics
6 Economy
6.1 Utility
7 Culture
8 Sports
9 Transport
9.1 Air
9.2 Rail
9.2.1 Towards Dhaka
9.2.2 Towards Chittagong
9.2.3 Towards Akahura
10 Education
11 Notable people
12 Twin towns and sister cities
13 See also
14 References
15 External links
Toponymy
In Benga, Sylhet has been called as Srihôṭṭô (in Bangla : শ্রীহট্ট) or Srihatta since the ancient time in the Bengali and regional Siloti language. The name Sylhet is an anglicisation of Shilhot (শিলহট). Its origins seem to come from the Sanskrit according to the words of শিলা śilā (meaning stone) and হট্ট haṭṭa (meaning marketplace). These words match the landscape and topography of the hilly region. The shila stones were abundant across Sylhet and the King Gour Govinda is known to have used stones to guard his capital. The word had changed to Shilhot due to the elision of letter-final অ ô in the Bengali language.[11]
History
Main article: History of Sylhet
See also: Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Bangladesh genocide
In 1995, the Government of Bangladesh declared Sylhet as the sixth divisional headquarters of the country.[12] Sylhet has played a vital role in the Bangladeshi economy. Several of Bangladesh's finance ministers have been Members of Parliament from the city of Sylhet. Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran was a longtime mayor of Sylhet. Humayun Rashid Choudhury, a diplomat from Sylhet, served as President of the UN General Assembly and Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament.
In 2001, the municipality was upgraded to the Sylhet City Corporation. It was made a metropolitan city in 2009.[8]
Geography and climate
Sylhet is located at 24.8917°N 91.8833°E, in the northeastern region of Bangladesh within the Sylhet Division, the Sylhet District and Sylhet Sadar Upazila. Sylhet has a typical Bangladeshi tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am) bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Cwa) at higher elevations. The rainy season starts from April to October and it is so hot and humid with very heavy showers and thunderstorms almost every day, whilst the short dry season starts from November to February and it is very warm and fairly clear. Nearly 80% of the annual average rainfall of 4,200 millimetres (170 in) occurs between May and September.[13]
The city is located within the region where there are hills and basins which constitute one of the most distinctive regions in Bangladesh. The physiography of Sylhet consists mainly of hill soils, encompassing a few large depressions known locally as "beels" which can be mainly classified as oxbow lakes, caused by tectonic subsidence primarily during the earthquake of 1762.
Geologically, the region is complex having diverse sacrificial geomorphology; high topography of Plio-Miocene age. Available limestone deposits in different parts of the region suggest that the whole area was under the ocean in the Oligo-Miocene. In the last 150 years three major earthquakes hit the city, at a magnitude of at least 7.5 on the Richter Scale, the last one took place in 1918, although many people are unaware that Sylhet lies on an earthquake prone zone.[14]
A tea garden at Jaflong, Sylhet
A tea tree in a tea garden at Sylhet
Climate data for Sylhet, Bangladesh
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 25.2
(77.4) 27.1
(80.8) 30.4
(86.7) 30.8
(87.4) 30.8
(87.4) 30.9
(87.6) 30.9
(87.6) 31.6
(88.9) 31.2
(88.2) 30.9
(87.6) 29.2
(84.6) 26.3
(79.3) 29.6
(85.3)
Average low °C (°F) 12.9
(55.2) 14.2
(57.6) 18.1
(64.6) 20.8
(69.4) 22.6
(72.7) 24.4
(75.9) 24.9
(76.8) 25.0
(77.0) 24.3
(75.7) 22.5
(72.5) 18.4
(65.1) 14.0
(57.2) 20.2
(68.3)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 8
(0.3) 31
(1.2) 146
(5.7) 372
(14.6) 569
(22.4) 796
(31.3) 834
(32.8) 621
(24.4) 548
(21.6) 232
(9.1) 30
(1.2) 13
(0.5) 4,200
(165.1)
Source: WMO[15]
Best Business In Sylhet
No comments:
Post a Comment