Tangail

Tangail টাঙ্গাইল
City of Culture
From top to bottom: 1. The City Skyline from "Suparibagan"; 2. The Open Stage of Tangail Poura Uddan; 3. Tangail District Court Building; 4. The city gate called "Shamsul Huq Toron"; 5. DC Lake at District Headquarters
Tangail Location of Tangail in Bangladesh
Coordinates: 24°15′52″N 89°55′05″E / 24.264423°N 89.918140°E / 24.264423; 89.918140Coordinates: 24°15′52″N 89°55′05″E / 24.264423°N 89.918140°E / 24.264423; 89.918140
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Dhaka Division
District	Tangail District
Upazila	Tangail Sadar Upazila-Part, Delduar Upazila-Part
Incorporated	1887
Government
• Type	Pourashava
• First Mayor	Shashi Shekhar Dutt
• Present Mayor	Md.Jamilur Rahman Miron (Bangladesh Awami League)
Area
• Total	35.22 km2 (13.60 sq mi)
Elevation	14 m (46 ft)
Population (2015)
• Total	186,726
Time zone	BST (UTC+6)
Postal codes	1900, 1901, 1902
Area code(s)	0921
Website	Tangail District

Tangail (Bengali: টাঙ্গাইল, [ʈaŋgail]) is a city of Tangail District in the central region of Bangladesh 98 km north-west of Dhaka, the capital. It is one of the important cities of Central Bangladesh and main urban area of Tangail District. The city is on the bank of Louhajang River.

During early 19th century, horse carts were the main transportation medium for carrying goods and passengers in the present city area. A long line of horse carts used to stand at that time. There is a common belief that the name Tangail has been originated from the word tanga meaning horse carts.

Tangail was a popular local business centre since early 19th century. But the name came on focus when the headquarter of a subdivision of the Greater Mymensingh District was shifted in 1860 from Atia to there due to its fertility and high elevation near Louhajong River. At the same time, The subdivision was named as Tangail.

The Municipal Corporation or pourashava was established on 1 July 1887. During its establishment the town was composed of five wards.

Afterwards, the pourashava was reshaped into four wards:

Iin 1988 it was subdivided into six wards:

After decisions for a few years, in 1999 the town was subdivided into 18 wards and gained its present shape.

The first election of the town was held in November 1887. In that election eight ward commissioners from four wards were elected by direct vote of the citizens of the town. On the other hand, the then Subdivision Commissioner of Tangail, Shashi Shekhar Dutt, was appointed as the first administrator of Tangail municipality. There was no pakka street in this town then. No lamp post could be seen in the roads. In the 1890s the town was lacking safe water supply, too. The regional zamindars and subdivision board came forward and helped financially to dig ponds, lakes and canals. Those sources served the local people with a safe water supply.

In early 1900s, the pourashava authority lit the roads for the first time by kerosene lambs. The pourashava gradually became populated in the first half of the 20th century. At that time, many tube wells were set up in the town. The main way of transportation was horse cars in the town. People used cattle for transportation, too.