# Dinajpur (Bangladesh)

Dinajpur district (Bengali: দিনাজপুর জেলা) is a district in the Rangpur Division of northern Bangladesh on the bank of the Ghaghat river. Dinajpur is the largest district of the sixteen northern districts of Bangladesh.

## Understand

The city centre has a number of government and private banks, insurance companies, residential hotels, Chinese and Indian restaurants, fast food, sweet shops, gift shop and many more. It is one of the most important economic zones in Bangladesh, because of its global positioning. Begum Rokeya University is situated in the southern part of the city. In 2017, there were 800,000 people living in the city, and 10 million living in the metro area.
In the great Rangpur region, little economic development took place until the 1990s, mainly because of the yearly flooding the region used to see before the building of the Teesta Barrage. Coal is found near this district. There is a large military cantonment in the town, along with a Ghagot park (under military surveillance), in addition to a Carmichael College in town.

### History

Dinajpur was once a part of the ancient state of Pundravardhana. Devkot (now in India) which rotated as the capital of Lakhnauti was located 18 kilometres (11 mi) south of Dinajpur town. It is also called "City of Maharajas".
An ancient engraved stone, believed to be from the Gupta era, was recovered from the bank of a pond near Sura Masjid in the Ghoraghat Upazila in Dinajpur in 8 October.

### Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Dinajpur has a tropical wet and dry climate. The district has a distinct monsoonal season, with an annual average temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) and monthly means varying between 18 °C (64 °F) in January and 29 °C (84 °F) in August.

## Get in

The closest airport is in Saidpur, 39.4 km (24.5 mi) west of Dinajpur city.
A drive from Dhaka via the Dinajpur Highway takes around 7.5 hours in average traffic.

## See

* 25.72505789.2803671 Dinajpur Rajbari, DInajpur. The palace was a symbol for the greater Dinajpur district from 1806 to 1951. The building is divided into 3 mahals, these are the Aina Mahal which houses a court house decorated with glass and marble, a library and a treasure house (Toshakhana), in addition to the Rajbari consists of the Mahal Rani, in which part of the old structure was demolished in the 1930s to build a building that is used as a shelter for families run by the Department of Social Services. The Aina Mahal also contained a musical demonstration assembly, known as Jalsa Ghar. The palace was abandoned after the abolition of the zamindari system in 1951. Maharaja Girijanath of Dinajpur left the palace after the partition of the country and moved with his family to India. The palace is one of the oldest in Bangladesh. The origins of Rajbari are not very clear, but according to local historians the palace was established by Raja Dinaj, but there is documentation that King Sri Matta Dutta founded the palace. During the reigns of Pran Nath & Ram Nath the Aina Mahal was built. It is also believed that the founder of Rajbari was the King Raja Ganesh in the early 15th century. Part of the Rajbari structures were established by different Zamindars and Rajas. The Rajbari occupies 16.41 acres of land, and much of the structure is in ruins. Since the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950, the ownership of the Rajbari was transferred to the government. In the East Pakistan period during the Ayub Khan regime, Rajbari objects such as furniture, silver weapons and bronze utensils were sold. (updated Jan 2024)

## Eat

* 25.7569489.23941 Caspia the Home, Cantonment Rd (in front of Circuit House), ☏ +880 1842-227742. A Bangladeshi twist on Chinese and Thai food. (updated Dec 2018)

## Go next

* Dinajpur is about 2 hours away