Sunamganj
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Sunamganj
Subdivision in the north-western corner of Sylhet District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 24^ 33' and 25^ 13' N. and 90° 56' and 91° 49' E., with an area of 1,493 square miles. The population in 1901 was 433,752, compared with 413,381 in 1891, an increase of nearly 5 per cent., which was a little higher than the rate for the whole District. The south-west monsoon sweeping up the Surma Valley is checked by the precipitous wall of the Khasi Hills and pours down in torrents of rain on the plain beneath. The greater portion of the subdivision is thus completely submerged in the rains, and is able to support only a comparatively sparse population, 291 persons per square mile, compared with 416 in the whole District. Sunamganj consists of a level plain, much of which lies too low for cultivation, being covered with a dense jungle of reeds and grasses. Excellent fodder is obtained in the swamps in the cold season, and they are resorted to by cattle graziers in considerable numbers. The drying of fish is also an industry of some importance, and large quantities of this malodorous product are exported to the Khasi Hills. The staple food-crops are dman, a long-stemmed variety of rice grown in marshy ground, and Iforo rice, which is reaped before the floods rise. The principal centres of trade are Sunamganj (population, 3,530), the head-quarters, and Chhatak, where there is a large traffic in lime, which is quarried in the Khasi Hills and burnt on the banks of the Surma river. Sunamganj, situated on the left bank of the Surma river, is a place of call for steamers. The subdivision is usually in charge of a native magistrate, and for administrative purposes is divided into the four thanas of Sunamganj, Chhatak, Dirai, and Dharmapasha. It contains one town, Sunamganj ; and 2,493 villages. The demand on account of land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 was Rs. 80,000.
