Rajshahi Division (
Bengali: রাজশাহী বিভাগ) is one of the eight first-level administrative
divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of 18,174.4 square kilometres (7,017.2 sq mi)[5] and a population at the 2022 Census of 20,353,119.[6] Rajshahi Division consists of 8 districts, 70
Upazilas (the next lower administrative tier) and 1,092
Unions (the lowest administrative tier).
The region has historically been dominated by various feudal
Rajas,
Maharajas and
Zamindars.[7] Formerly comprising 16 districts, a new division (
Rangpur Division) was formed with the 8 northern districts of the old Rajshahi Division from early 2010.[5]
Etymology and names
The Rajshahi Division is named after
Rajshahi District. Dominated by various feudal
Rajas,
Maharajas and
Zamindars of mixed origins throughout history,[7] the name is a
compound of the words Raj and Shahi, both of which can be translated into reign or kingdom. Archaic spellings in the English language also included Rajeshae.
History
Rajshahi Division was created in 1829 by the British Government. It was the largest division in
Bengal Province. During
partition of Bengal in 1947, the division was partitioned in two halves. The eastern half remained as Rajshahi division, while its western half became
Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, India. In January 2010 the
Rangpur Division split out from Rajshahi division.
Demographics
At the time of the 2011 census, Rajshahi division had a population of 18,484,858.
Muslims are 17,248,861 which is 93.31% of the population, while
Hindus are 1,081,584 which is 5.85% of the population. Other religions (almost entirely Christianity and indigenous faiths) are only 0.24% of the population and are mainly found among the ethnic minorities.[8]
The University of Rajshahi (established 1953) is the second largest university of Bangladesh with around 50 disciplines and 6 institutes.
Rajshahi Collegiate School (established in 1828) is one of the oldest school in the country and Indian sub-continent which became again the best school in Bangladesh in 2018.