Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, () is a district located in southeastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. It lies about southeast of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to the south, Tripura state of India to the east and Munshiganj and Chandpur districts to the west.

History

thumb|World War II cemetery in [[Mainamati.|left]]

The name Comilla is derived from the Bengali word Komolangko (), the previous ancient name of the region, which means 'lotus pond'. The present Comilla is a district under the Chittagong Division. It was once under the reign of Gangaridai and Samatata in ancient period. As far as is known from the ancient archeology found in the region, Gupta emperors ruled Comilla since the fifth century AD. It was under the control of Gauda Kingdom in 6th century AD after the fall of Gupta rule in Bengal. According to historians, the Buddhist Deva dynasty ruled the region from the seventh to the middle of the eighth century. In the ninth century, Comilla came under the control of the kings of Harikela and Chandra dynasty during the tenth and mid-eleventh century AD. These rulers built the Shalban Vihara in the Mainamati hills, which was a major centre of Buddhist learning. The region became a part of Hindu Sena and Deva dynasty in the 12th and 13th centuries, and was one of the last strongholds of these dynasties after the invasion of the Delhi Sultanate.

Due to its position on the edge of the Bengal Delta, the Comilla region was often contested between the Delhi Sultanate and later Bengal Sultanate and the kings of Tripura whose heartland was in the hills to the east. The arrival of numerous Muslim pirs in the district caused the local Hindu and Buddhist population to largely adopt an Islamic identity In the 15th century the Tripura king Dharma Manikya I built the Dharmasagar tank in Comilla town. After the Mughal conquest of Bengal, the Mughals attacked the Tripura kingdom and conquered most of the present Comilla district, restricting the Tripura kings to the hills. The region became known as Chakla Roshanabad and was part of the Sarkar of Sonargaon of the Bengal Subah, although the Tripura kings still had Zamindari rights over much of the land. In the 18th century, the Comilla region saw the uprising of Shamsher Gazi from the current Feni district, who briefly ruled over the kingdom of Tripura and nearby lands until his execution in 1760 by the Nawabs of Bengal. According to the Third Regulation in 1793, a civil judge was appointed for the Tripura district and in that year he was given magisterial powers. In 1837, the posts of magistrates and collectors were separated. In 1859, these two posts were merged again. In 1971, 900 Bengali Muslim officers and men of the East Pakistan Army were massacred in Comilla Cantonment. After a long guerilla struggle, Bangladeshi forces took Comilla from Pakistan on December 8, 1971, and Comilla became part of Bangladesh.

Upazilas

thumb|Comilla District upazila geocode map

Comilla district consists of the following Upazilas:

  • Barura Upazila
  • Brahmanpara Upazila
  • Burichong Upazila
  • Comilla Sadar Upazila
  • Comilla Sadar Dakshin Upazila
  • Chandina Upazila
  • Chauddagram Upazila
  • Daudkandi Upazila
  • Debidwar Upazila
  • Homna Upazila
  • Laksam Upazila
  • Lalmai Upazila
  • Monohorgonj Upazila
  • Meghna Upazila
  • Muradnagar Upazila
  • Nangalkot Upazila
  • Titas Upazila

Demographics

According to the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, Comilla District had 1,407,368 households and a population of 6,212,216 with an average 4.33 people per household. Among the population, 1,356,351 (21.83%) inhabitants were under 10 years of age. The population density was 1,974 people per km<sup>2</sup>. Comilla District had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 76.68%, compared to the national average of 74.80%, and a sex ratio of 1142 females per 1000 males. Approximately, 20.43% of the population lived in urban areas. The ethnic population was 2,044.