Faridpur (district)

Faridpur District (ফরিদপুর জেলা) is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to its northeast. The district was named after Farīd-ud-Dīn Masʿūd, a 13th-century Sufi saint. A separate district was created by severing Dhaka district in 1786 and was called Dacca Jelalpur. A municipality was established in 1869. Historically, the town was known as Fatehabad. It was also called Haveli Mahal Fatehabad. The town of Fatehabad was located by a stream known as the Dead Padma, which was from the main channel of the Padma River. Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah established a mint in Fatehabad during his reign in the early 15th century. Fatehabad continued to be a mint town of the Bengal Sultanate until 1538. In Ain-i-Akbari, it was named as Haweli Mahal Fatehabad during the reign of Emperor Akbar in the Mughal Empire. The Portuguese cartographer João de Barros mentioned it as Fatiabas. The Dutch map of Van den Brouck described it as Fathur. Its first mention in Bengali literature was by Daulat Uzir Bahram Khan in his adaption of Layla and Majnun. The medieval poet Alaol was born in Faridpur. Fathabad was a strategically important base in south and southwestern Bengal. It was a well-developed urban centre. The town was home to important Mughal government officials, including generals, civil servants and jagirdars. During the reign of Emperor Jahangir in the 17th century, local zamindars Satrajit and Mukund resisted the Mughal government. By the 19th century, the town was renamed as Faridpur in honour of the Sufi saint Shah Fariduddin Masud, a follower of the Chishti order of Ajmer. Haji Shariatullah and Dudu Miyan led the conservative Faraizi movement in Faridpur during the early 19th century. The Faridpur District was established by the British in 1786. The Faridpur Subdivision was a part of Dacca Division in the Bengal Presidency established by the East India Company. The municipality of Faridpur was established in 1869.