Dhaka Division (Bengali: ঢাকা বিভাগ, romanized: Ḍhaka Bibhag) is an administrative division of Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains a population magnet, and covers an area of 21,000 km2 with a population in excess of 44 million, it is one of the fastest growing populous administrative divisions of the world, growing at a rate of 1.94% since prior count, compared with the national average of 1.22%.
Dhaka Division borders every other division in the country except Rangpur Division. It is bounded by Mymensingh Division to the north, Barisal Division to the south, Chittagong Division to the east and south-east, Sylhet Division to the north-east, and Rajshahi Division to the west and Khulna Divisions to the south-west.
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Etymology
The origins of the name Dhaka are uncertain. It may derive from the dhak tree, which was once common in the area, or from Dhakeshwari, the 'patron goddess' of the region. Another popular theory states that Dhaka refers to a membranophone instrument, dhak which was played by order of Subahdar Islam Khan I during the inauguration of the Bengal capital in 1610.
Some references also say it was derived from a Prakrit dialect called Dhaka Bhasa; or Dhakka, used in the Rajtarangini for a watch station; or it is the same as Davaka, mentioned in the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta as an eastern frontier kingdom. According to Rajatarangini written by a Kashmiri Brahman, Kalhana, the region was originally known as Dhakka. The word Dhakka means watchtower. Bikrampur and Sonargaon—the earlier strongholds of Bengal rulers were situated nearby. So Dhaka was most likely used as the watchtower for the fortification purpose.
History
The history of urban settlements in the area of modern-day Dhaka dates to the first millennium. The Greater Dhaka region was under the kingdom of Vanga and Gangaridai in ancient period. The region was part of the ancient division of Bikrampur, which was ruled by the Sena dynasty. The ancient city of Bikrampur in Dhaka was also one of the capitals of Palas, Chandras, Varmans and Devas. The ancient city of Dholsamudra in present-day Gazipur served as one of the capitals of the Buddhist Pala Empire. In the sixth century, forts were built in Toke and Ekdala which continued to be used as late as the Mughal Period. Chinashkhania was the capital of the Chandalas and Shishu Pal had his capital in modern-day Sreepur, which the ruins of can still be seen today. Another fort was built in Dardaria in 1200. Under Islamic rule, the centre moved to the historic district of Sonargaon, the regional administrative hub of the Delhi and the Bengal Sultanates.
At the end of the Karrani Dynasty (1564–1575), the nobles of Bengal became fiercely independent. Sulaiman Khan Karrani carved out an independent principality in the Bhati region comprising a part of greater Dhaka district and parts of Mymensingh district. During that period Taj Khan Karrani and another Afghan chieftain helped Isa Khan to obtain an estate in Sonargaon and Mymensingh in 1564. By winning the grace of the Afghan chieftain, Isa Khan gradually increased his strength and status and by 1571, the Mughal Court designated him as the ruler of Bhati. Mughal histories, mainly the Akbarnama, the Ain-i-Akbari and the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi refers to the low-lying regions of Bengal as Bhati. This region includes the Bhagirathi to the Meghna River is Bhati, while others include Hijli, Jessore, Chandradwip and Barisal Division in Bhati. Keeping in view the theatre of warfare between the Baro-Bhuiyans and the Mughals, the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi mentions the limits of the area bounded by the Ichamati River in the west, the Ganges in the south, the Tripura to the east; Alapsingh pargana (in present Mymensingh District) and Baniachang (in greater Sylhet) in the north. The Baro-Bhuiyans rose to power in this region and put up resistance to the Mughals, until Islam Khan Chisti made them submit in the reign of Jahangir. Throughout his reign Isa Khan put resistance against Mughal invasion. It was only after his death, when the region went totally under Mughals. Isa Khan was buried in the village of Bakhtarpur.
Dhaka became the capital of the Mughal province of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1610 with a jurisdiction covering modern-day Bangladesh and eastern India, including the modern-day Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. This province was known as Bengal Subah. The city was founded during the reign of Emperor Jahangir. Emperor Shah Jahan visited Dhaka in 1624 and stayed in the city for a week, four years before he became emperor in 1628. Dhaka became one of the richest and greatest cities in the world during the early period of Bengal Subah (1610–1717). The prosperity of Dhaka reached its peak during the administration of governor Shaista Khan (1644-1677 and 1680–1688). Rice was then sold at eight maunds per rupee. Thomas Bowrey, an English merchant sailor who visited the city between 1669 and 1670, wrote that the city was 40 miles in circuit. He estimated the city to be more populated than London with 900,000 people.
Administrative divisions
Dhaka Division consisted before 2015 of four city corporations, 13 districts, 123 upazilas and 1,248 union parishads. However, four of the most northerly of the 17 districts were removed in 2015 to create the new Mymensingh Division, and another five districts (those situated to the south of the Ganges/Padma River) are in the process of being removed to create a new Faridpur Division.
Note: * revised area and its population after excluding the districts transferred to the new Mymensingh Division.
Demographics
Muslims are the predominant religious group with 93.40%, while Hindus are main minority with 6.26% population. Christians and others are 0.28% and 0.06% respectively. Out of 44,213,278 population, 41,295,740 are Muslims, 2,766,723 are Hindus, 124,349 are Christians, 20,341 are Buddhist, with some other faiths having a small population.