Sylhet Town
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, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Sylhet Town
Head-quarters of the District of the same name in Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated in 24° 53' N. and 91° 52' E., on the right bank of the Surma river. The road from Shillong to Cachar runs through the town ; but Sylhet is somewhat inaccessible to the outside world, as during the dry season steamers cannot come up the river, and the nearest railway station is 30 miles away. This inaccessibility reacts unfavourably upon its trade. The town is steadily declining in importance, the population at the last four enumerations being: (1872) 16,846,(1881) 14,407,(1891) 14,027, and (1901) 13,893. Sylhet was the capital of a Hindu Raja, who was conquered at the end of the fourteenth century by the Muhammadans. They were materially assisted in this enterprise by the fakir Shah Jalal, whose mosque is situated a little to the north of the town. The place does not appear to have ever been of great importance, and is described by Mr. Lindsay, Collector in 1778, as an inconsiderable bazar, the houses of the inhabi- tants being fantastically built and scattered upon the rising ground and numerous hills, so buried in groves as to be scarcely discernible. This characteristic persists to the present day, and the general appear- ance of the place is distinctly rural. The average rainfall is heavy (157 inches), and the climate is fairly cool and healthy even in the rains. Most of the masonry buildings were destroyed by the great earthquake of 1897, when 55 people perished in the ruins. They have since been rebuilt, and few traces of this catastrophe are now to be seen. Sylhet is the head-quarters of the ordinary District staff, and of the Sessions Judge of the Surma Valley, and contains the largest jail in the Province, with accommodation for 658 persons. The con- victs are employed in oil-pressing, surkhi-pounding, weaving, carpentry, and bamboo- and cane-work. A branch of the Welsh Presbyterian Mission has for some time been located in the town, and there is a wealthy and important Hindu akhra or monastery.
Sylhet was constituted a municipality under (Bengal) Act V of 1876 in 1878, and (Bengal) Act III of 1884 was subsequently introduced in 1888. The municipal receipts and expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 23,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 33,000, inchiding tax on houses and lands (Rs. 9,000) and tolls (Rs. 7,400) ; and the expenditure was Rs. 22,000, chiefly incurred on conservancy (Rs. 6,800) and public works (Rs. 3,500). The local manufactures include leaf umbrellas, shell bracelets, sitalpati mats, basket-work furniture, mosquito curtains, and cotton cloth. All of these are, however, home industries, and the general trade of the place is declining. The principal educational institutions are two high schools and a second-grade college founded by Raja Girish Chandra Roy, a zamindar of the District, in 1892, which in 1903-4 had an average daily attendance of 35 students. There are four small printing presses in the town, at which two papers and two magazines are published.
