History of Noakhali

The ancient name of Noakhali is Bhulua. In the 1660s, the agricultural activities of the north-eastern region of Bhulua were seriously affected by floodwater of the Dakatia River flowing from the Tripura hills. To salvage the situation, a canal was dug in 1660 that ran from the Dakatia through Ramganj, Sonaimudi and Chaumuhani to divert water flow to the junction of the rivers Meghna and Feni. After excavating this long canal, Bhulua was renamed "Noakhali" after "Noa" (new) and "khal" (canal) in 1668. The Noakhali district was created in 1821. It originally consisted of two sub-divisions, Noakhali Sadar and Feni. In 1984, Noakhali was split into three districts, Noakhali, Feni and Lakshmipur.

Since 1790, Noakhali district was seriously affected many times by natural disasters including high tidal bores, tornadoes, flooding, and cyclones. In 1970, a devastating tornado and tidal bore took the lives of about 3 lakh people of the district. During the War of Liberation many direct and guerilla encounters were held between the Pakistan army and the independence fighters. About 70 independence fighters were killed in a direct encounter with the Pakistan army on 15 June 1971, in front of the Sonapur Ahmadia School. Noakhali was liberated on 7 December 1971.


Place of Interest:

Position In The Map

Noakhali: Geographical coordinates are 22° 53' 43" North, 91° 8' 1" East and its original name (with diacritics) is Noākhāli.

original name: Noākhāli
geographical location: Noakhali Zl, Chittagong Div, Bangladesh, Asia
geographical coordinates: 22° 53' 43" North, 91° 8' 1" East.

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