During British rule, Sirajganj was a town in the Pabna District of Eastern Bengal and Assam. Its location on the right bank of the Jamuna River or main stream of the Brahmaputra was a six-hour journey by steamer from the railway terminal at Goalundo. It was the chief river mart for jute in northern Bengal, with several jute presses. The jute mills were closed after the 1897 Assam earthquake. The population according to the 1901 census of India was 23,114.