Nawabganj District

Chapai Nawabganj চাঁপাই নবাবগঞ্জ
District
Chapai Nawabganj Landmarks (Clockwise from top): Gono kabar (mass grave), Sona Mosque (side view), Liberation War Statue, Tohakhana Mosque, Captain Jahangir bridge, mangoes, Sona Mosque
Nickname(s): Nobabganj
Location of Chapai Nawabganj in Bangladesh
Coordinates: 24°44′N 88°12′E / 24.73°N 88.20°E / 24.73; 88.20Coordinates: 24°44′N 88°12′E / 24.73°N 88.20°E / 24.73; 88.20
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Rajshahi Division
Established	1984 CE
Area
• Total	1,702.55 km2 (657.36 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,647,521
• Density	970/km2 (2,500/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Chapai
Time zone	BST (UTC+6)
Postal code	6300

Chapai Nawabganj (in Bengali: চাঁপাই নবাবগঞ্জ) is located on the north-western part of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division. Originally, it was a sub-division of Malda district. In 1947, it was severed from Malda and was given to East Pakistan as a sub-division of Rajshahi district. It became a separate district of Bangladesh in 1984. The north and west part of Chapai Nawabganj is bounded by Malda and Nadia districts of India, east is by Naogaon District and south-east is by Rajshahi District.

The name "Chapai Nawabganj" is not very old. Before 2001, it was known as only Nawabganj or Nobabganj. In the pre-British or British-raj era, this place was a vacation spot for the nawabs of Murshidabad and Daudpur Mouja was the particular place of their vacation. The nawabs, "Nobab"'s, used to come here for hunting. That's why this place was known as "Nobabganj" as Ganj means place. It is believed that the Nawab of Bengal (Bangla-Bihar and Udissa) Sarfaraz Khan (1739–1740 AD) once came here for hunting and built a tent to this place. From then, this place is known as Nobabganj. But most of the researchers believe that during the reign of Alivardi Khan (1740–56 AD), this place was given the name Nobabganj.

At the start and middle of 18th century, people afraid of British rule, migrated from Kolkata to here to a great extent and made this a very busy populated place. There was a post office at that time which was located in the village named "Chapai". This migration led to the enlargement of the village 'Chapai'. The place was known widely as Chapai Nawabganj.

There is no strong historical proof about the name of this place but people usually believe in two different sources of the name of this place.

Chapai Nawabganj was one of the sub-divisions of the former Rajshahi zilla. Chapai Nawabganj was part of ancient gaur capital. It is said that this area had strategic and commercial importance due to its location at the junction of the rivers Mahananda and the Ganges. Because of its importance, Alivardi Khan founded Nowabganj town which in course of time known as Nawabganj. Until 1947, Nawabganj was a thana under Malda district, India.