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53-604: Bhasan Char lies to the immediate southwest of Sandwip . It is a low-lying island formed from silt deposits, and is only accessible by boat and helicopter. As the island’s coastline is constantly shifting due to its newness and its position in the Ganges Delta , the refugee camp is protected by a system of levees. It is vulnerable to the area’s frequent tropical cyclones . The island was formed by Himalayan silt in 2006. It spans 40 square kilometres (15 sq mi; 4,000 ha). The Government of Bangladesh planned to construct

106-724: A jagir of 10-12 villages on the banks of the Dhaleshwari River in Patharghata-Mithapukur near Dhaka. These villages were destroyed due to fluvial erosion two hundred years later. The family then relocated to the village of Ganda in Savar. The Arakanese also fell out with the Portuguese, which led to the Portuguese assisting the Mughals. By 26 January 1666, the Mughal conquest of Sandwip

159-641: A smallpox vaccination effort. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, Sandwip was included in Sector 1 . On 10 May, many civilians were murdered including Jahedur Rahman, a lawyer in Sandwip town, who was killed on Kargil Bridge. On the same day, Jasim Uddin, a student at the Chittagong College , was arrested in Sandwip and taken to Chittagong to be imprisoned. He was later released but continued as

212-559: A Bengali freedom fighter, leading to his execution on 10 December. A Bangladesh Navy fleet headquarters at the Sandwip Channel with ship berthing facilities is being constructed as part of the Forces Goal 2030 . Sandwip Island was formed by silt deposits from the estuary of the Meghna river, enriching the land with sediments and becoming highly fertile, to the point that agriculture

265-586: A life of piracy consisting of robbing the Arakan port and keeping the stolen goods with their native allies in Bakla , or as some sources say, Bhatkal . In March 1609, Fateh Khan dispatched a fleet to suppress these pirates who had been located in nearby South Shahbazpur . In retaliation, Tibao led 400 Portuguese mercenaries with a plan to colonise Sandwip. Tibao negotiated a deal with the King of Bakla or Bhatkal, receiving support in

318-479: A place inhabited, and, to my judgment, the fertilest island in all the world; the which is divided into two parts by a channel which passeth between it. With great trouble we brought our ship into the same channel, which parteth the island at flowing water. Frederick described the island as a densely-populated, well-cultivated island inhabited by Moors . In 1923, Sri Rajkumar Chakrabarty mentioned in History of Sandwip

371-680: A total of 1,440 buildings, including 120 cyclone shelters, to relocate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the mainland camps of Cox's Bazar . The Government of Bangladesh first suggested resettling Rohingya refugees on the island in June 2015. The proposal was characterized by the United Nations Refugee Agency as "logistically challenging". On January 26, 2017, the Bangladeshi government ordered their resettlement nonetheless. Human Rights Watch called it "a human rights and humanitarian disaster in

424-579: Is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and 5–15 kilometres (3.1–9.3 mi) wide. The island is bounded by Companiganj on the north; the Bay of Bengal on the south; Sitakunda , Mirsharai , and Sandwip Channel on the east; and the Noakhali Sadar , Hatiya and Meghna estuaries; on the west. Some sources claim Sandwip island is around 3000 years old, and was a part of the Samatata realm. The sources state that Sandwip

477-513: Is an inhabited island in the Bay of Bengal . It is also a union parishad of Sandwip Upazila under Chattogram District in Chattogram Division , Bangladesh . This river island is located north of Sandwip , and is surrounded by the Sandwip Channel in all directions and the Bay of Bengal southwards. To the island's south is Santoshpur Union, to its east is Mirsharai Upazila , to its north

530-559: Is the Musapur Union and finally to its west is Char Elahi and Char Clerk . Around 1970/1971, an island emerged just northwest of Sandwip near the Meghna Estuary . A few days after its emergence, Sandwip's residents began to explore the new island and found that there was a type of grass colloquially known as Uri in abundance across the island. Due to this, the island became known as Urir Char ( Bengali : উড়ির চর ) which means

583-584: Is the main occupation of most of the island's population. The many crops grown include rice , jute , potato , betel leaf and betel nut , chilli , sugarcane , radish , tomato , eggplants , cauliflower , okra , cabbage , mustard , corn , ginger , various legumes and green beans , sweet potato , carrot , coriander , mint , and more. There is also fruit, including citrus , watermelon , mango , jackfruit , banana , cherimoya , sapote , coconuts , papaya , guava , kul (breadfruit) and date palms . The geographical location of Sandwip has made

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636-607: The river island of Uri . During this time, Asadul Haq Chowdhury (Prakash Saheb Miah) was the Chairman of Sandwip Upazila 's Kalapania Union Parishad. Through his initiative, some landless people of Sandwip (whose homes had been lost due to diluvium ) were relocated to Urirchar between 1980 and 1981. In 1985, Urir Char was among a number of islands in the Bay of Bengal that were devastated by Tropical Storm One . The Bangladesh Army flew relief materials in by helicopter. Urirchar also faced many other natural disasters after this such as

689-473: The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone , 2007 Cyclone Sidr and 2009 Cyclone Aila . The 1985 and 1991 disasters were most harmful to Urirchar. Tahmina Haq Chowdhury, the wife of Asadul Haq Chowdhury, was made Urirchar's first Union Chairman in 1988. The island has been visited by Hussain Muhammad Ershad , Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina . The Miah Bazar madrasa was founded in 2007 by Mawlana Abdur Rahman. In 2010,

742-571: The Jesuits fled to Sandwip following the imprisonment and execution of their head priest, Fernandes, in Chittagong (which was under Arakanese rule). Carvalho fled to Jessore for safety, but the city's ruler, Pratapaditya —an ally of the Arakanese—had him executed and sent his severed head back to Arakan. Other sources say that Carvalho was not killed by Pratapaditya, but rather wounded in battle against

795-563: The Mughals , and that he fled to Hugli . Ultimately he was succeeded by Manuel de Mattos, but the Portuguese were defeated in Sandwip during Mattos' office and the island was taken by Fateh Khan. Khan then developed a garrison of Muslim soldiers and a fleet of 40 sailboats on the island. Sebastian Gonzales Tibao/Tibeau, a salt-dealer who had come to Bengal in 1605, had escaped Arakanese punishment in Dianga with some other Portuguese captives and began

848-481: The Portuguese annexation , and they divided the island between themselves and a Portuguese pirate named Gonçalves. Philippe de Brito also established a fort on the island. It is said that, each year, about 300 salt-loaded ships sailed from Sandwip for Liverpool . In addition to its salt industry, Sandwip also became known for its ship-building at the time. Eventually, the Portuguese held the island in-conjunction with

901-556: The "absolute sovereign" of Sandwip, as he was even obeyed by the natives as an independent ruler. In the course of a short time, his territory extended to the up until the Lemro River . He had a house built for himself and heavily increased trade in the island, boosting its economy. Many merchants visited the island, and by their commerce contributed to his revenue. Tibao developed a military of 80 cannon ships, 200 horses, 2000 native soldiers and 1000 Portuguese soldiers. Tibao later colonised

954-526: The 14th century, a Sufi from Afghanistan called Sultan Balkhi visited the island and lived there for a few years. In the 16th century, the island became an important source of salt for Bengal . In the 1560s, a traveller from Venice called Caesar Frederick was the first European to write about Sandwip. Returning homeward from Pegu , he was caught in a typhoon whilst sailing from Chittagong to Cochin . After being tossed about for some days, his ship sighted an island and landed. He wrote: We found it

1007-525: The Arakanese and Muslim rulers. Even today, some of the architecture on the island reflects the island's history as a 17th-century pirate-stronghold. Philip III , the King of Portugal, ennobled Carvalho for his efforts. The loyalty of the Portuguese, however, was suspected by the Arakanese. The Arakanese King of Mrauk U, Min Razagyi would execute many of the Portuguese settlers in his kingdom. In November 1602,

1060-660: The Arrakanese fleet, which withdrew, and Abul Hasan, not pursuing it, retired to Noakhali. Nawab Shaista Khan, on hearing of this, sent another fleet consisting of 1,500 gunners and 400 cavalry, commanded by Ibn-i-Husain, Superintendent of the Nawarah (Fleet), Jamal Khan, Serandaz Khan, Qaramal Khan, and Muhammad Beg to reinforce Abul Hassan; to co-operate with the latter and occupy Sandwip; and to extirpate Dilawar. Ibn-i-Husain with this reinforcement moved up to Noakhali, in front of Sandwip, and halted there with Muhammad Beg in order to blockade

1113-557: The Government of Bangladesh announced a plan to build a dam in Urir Char to reclaim land. Urir Char is divided into three mouzas . There are several haat bazaars in the island, such as the New Bazar, Janata Bazar, Wahidpur Bazar, Subil Bazar, Burirpar Bazar, Bangla Bazar, Miah Bazar, Rajib Bazar and Colony Bazar. The Kewra -forest on the seaside is a popular tourist attraction located in

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1166-407: The alliance and seized the entire naval fleet by "murdering its captains at a council" in 1611. The Mughals defeated Arakan, with Razagyi fleeing to Chittagong with only a few men. Wishing to take advantage of this development and avenge the 1609 Dianga captives, Tibao destroyed the forts of Arakan but was defeated by Razagyi at the capital and returned to Sandwip. Tibao was described to have become

1219-405: The difficulty of repatriating Rohingya back to Myanmar due to the civil war , and preventing foreign armed groups from using Bangladesh as a guerrilla sanctuary. As of 30 September 2024, 35,629 people, including 8,477 families, live in the island. Sandwip Sandwip ( Bengali : সন্দ্বীপ , romanized :  Sôndbīp , pronounced [ʃondip] ) is an island located along

1272-527: The form of ships and 200 horses for the takeover in exchange for half of the island's future revenue. However, Tibao withheld the agreed payment and later warred with the King of Bakla. A great battle took place in Sandwip, and it was only resolved after a Spanish ship of 50 men arrived at the island to help the Portuguese take over the Sandwip Fort. Fateh Khan, 3000 Muslim pirates and all of the island's male Muslim inhabitants were killed, allowing Tibao to become

1325-586: The governance of Sandwip from Godinho with the help of another group of Portuguese pirates. The Mughals and the Arakanese failed to annex the island from Kedar Rai. By 1602, a Portuguese settler from Montargil , in Kedar Rai's service, Domingos Carvalho, managed to earn the governorship of Sandwip after assisting Rai in battles against the Arakan and the Mughals. Emmanuel de Mattos came from Chittagong to aid Carvalho in

1378-492: The growing power of the Muslims. In the 1620s, cleric Samuel Purchas described the inhabitants of Sandwip as majority Mohammedans and mentioned the presence of a 300-year old mosque in the island. Abdul Hakim was a prominent medieval Bengali poet from Sandwip who was active in this period. Delwar Khan , also known as Raja Dilal, was the final pirate ruler of Sandwip. A former Mughal officer, he and his private army governed

1431-464: The hands of the Mughals and the loss of Sandwip's independent status. The Mughal administration took some public welfare measures to bring the situation in their favour. One of them was to reducing the rate of rent imposed by Dilawar, in their first year. Another notable move was that Sandwip was given a lease arrangement to subdue the island's elite. When the lessees collected the rent and submitted it to Muhammad Qasim, he would arrange for it to be sent to

1484-600: The island as its inhabitants frequently made complaints. They eventually appointed a commissioner but he too would complain of the difficulties in managing the island with constant petitions from the Taluqdars . Abu Torab led Bengal's first anti-British peasant rebellion against Captain Nollekins in 1767. As a result of the tumultuous administration, the island was given direct attention to the District Collector in 1785. In 1822,

1537-400: The island for the first time from 17 to 20 March 2021. By this time 13,000 Rohingya lived on the island. The UN Refugee Agency has signed a memorandum in helping the refugees here. The Rohingya may work and contribute to the economy, but may not move off the island. In principle, the island was seen as a temporary solution until the refugees could return home. Some of the first group to move to

1590-521: The island independently for about 50 years. In November 1665, Shaista Khan , the Mughal governor of Bengal, appointed General Abul Hasan to lead the conquest of Sandwip with the support of the Dutch military . Dilwar was 80 years old by that time. Abul Hassan attacked Sandwip and fought with Dilawar, who after being hit by an arrow fled to the jungles. Meanwhile, the Arrakanese fleet came up to Sandip to render assistance to Dilawar. Abul Hassan prepared to assault

1643-814: The island joined the District of Noakhali . In 1912, many Muslim men from Sandwip travelled to the Balkan Peninsula to fight alongside the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars . Keshab Ghosh, a President of the Indian National Congress , led the Violation of Law movement in Sandwip in 1930. It is said that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 's 1966 Six Point movement began in Sandwip. During the 1970 Pakistani general election campaign , Mohammad Shah Bangali of Sandwip

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1696-401: The island more vulnerable to tropical cyclones and storm surges for over 200 years, since nearly 10% of the world's cyclones develop in the Bay of Bengal. In the years 1825, 1876, 1970, 1985, 1991, and 1997, Sandwip was affected by devastating cyclones and tornadoes . On 29 April 1991 , a Category 5 cyclone hit the island, causing a death toll of about 40,000 and the destruction of 80% of

1749-569: The island spoke of being coerced. Others spoke of deciding to relocate from the overcrowded camps of Cox's Bazar due to the frequent violence there. The Bangladesh government hoped to assuage UN concerns and that the refugees would get international assistance. As of May 2022, the Government of Bangladesh has relocated approximately 28,000 Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina , declared that 35,000 Rohingya were transferred to Bhasan Char to "keep Rohingya youth away from criminal activities." She also emphasized

1802-638: The island's houses. The velocity of the cyclone was 225 km/h (140 mph). As a result of the 1991 cyclone, the Bangladesh Remote Union Council began to take more enhanced measures to protect residents of the island through wider distribution of storm warning signals, as well as relief and rehabilitation programs led by NGOs such as the Association for Social Advancement to reduce the impact of future natural disasters. Sandwip Journal Urir Char Urir Char ( Bengali : উড়িরচর )

1855-499: The island. Khojah Kaworke, Khojah Michael and Agha Barshick owned several salt farms in Sandwip, and the existence of salt factories were noted by Italian traveller Niccolao Manucci . By the time the island came under British rule, it had a mixed population of Bengalis , both Muslim and Hindu, many of whom had arrived from Dhaka, as well as Buddhist Arakanese. The working population consisted of farmers, fishermen, pirates, and robbers. The British initially struggled in administrating

1908-566: The islands of South Shahbazpur and Patelbanga from the Raja of Batecala (Bacola) . In 1616, Tibao denounced himself as an independent sovereign, offering to become a dependent ruler under the Portuguese Empire and annually provide Portuguese Goa with large amounts of rice. The condition behind the deal was for the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa to assist Tibao in a battle against Arakan, which

1961-722: The making". In August 2019 the government announced an expansion of the Ashrayan Project (Ashrayan-3) to build 100,000 homes. The houses are built four feet above the ground, in order to protect the refugees from high tidal waves. The public works had amounted to 309.5 million takas by December 2019, a 34% increase from the initial allocation. The additional projects include raising the flood-protection embankment from 9 feet (2.7 m) to 19 feet (5.8 m), and construction of cluster villages, mosques, shelter stations, hospitals, water channelling infrastructure, roads, infrastructure for farming and numerous other land development works under

2014-475: The other zamindars and dominated the island under a single authority. Ghoshal, the founder of Khidrpur's Ghoshal dynasty and the clerk of Harry Verelst , the first British governor of Chittagong, suggested that Verelst colonise Sandwip in 1763 and replace the Mughal wadadar Ozakur Mal with him. One of Verelst's employees Vishnucharan Basu took the role as the first Wadadar in British Sandwip. Ram Kishore Badujej

2067-444: The passage of the Arrakanese fleet. Abul Hassan, with others, then attacked Sandwip, wounded and captured Sharif, son of Dilawar, and also captured, after severe fighting, Dilawar and his followers, and sent them prisoners to Jahangirnagar (Dacca). Dilawar had many sons and two daughters; Musabibi and Maryam Bibi. Among his sons, only the name of Sharif Khan is known. As a means of compensation, Shaista Khan granted Dilawar's younger sons

2120-561: The prevalence of 400 to 500 year olplants on the island. The island of Sandwip was administered under the Sarkar of Fatehabad under the Mughal empire . A the start of the 17th century, the island was under the rule of Antonio de Sousa Godinho, a Portuguese pirate , though it had previously been ruled by Kedar Rai , a Bengali Hindu chieftain who controlled large parts of eastern Bengal. According to Pierre Du Jarric , Kedar Rai managed to reclaim

2173-418: The project. The Bangladesh Navy built much of the infrastructure. In January 2020, the project was moving forward despite opposition from Rohingya leaders and human rights groups. Bangladesh's minister for refugee affairs stated the island is "ready for habitation", though he gave no timetable for the relocation. The government had not permitted foreign journalists or Rohingya leaders to travel to Bhasan Char at

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2226-602: The revenue of the vast Sandwip alone. He subcontracted various parts of the island to two relatives, Bakhtiyar Muhammad and Muhammad Hanif, as well as Madhusudan Chaudhuri of Bakla-Chandradwip, an employee of the Qanungo office. These lessees later became the Zamindars of Sandwip. Khan left more than half of the island to himself and then distributed five-eighths of the remainder to Bakhtiyar Muhammad and Muhammad Hanif and three eighths to Madhusudan Chowdhury. A portion of Sandwip, Sholo Anna

2279-482: The ruler of Sandwip. Razagyi was furious with Tibao's colonisation of Sandwip, but he faced an even more urgent threat, that the Mughal governor of Bengal was planning an attack on nearby Bhulua , so he agreed to an alliance with Tibao and even married his daughter off to him. Razagyi despatched 700 elephants, 200 ships with 4000 men, and 90,000 soldiers to join Tibao's military, but be under his command. Tibao later broke

2332-667: The southeastern coast of Bangladesh in the Chittagong District . Along with the island of Urir Char , it is part of the Sandwip Upazila . Sandwip is located in the north-east of the Bay of Bengal , near the port city of Chittagong. It is close to the mouth of the Meghna River in the Bay of Bengal and is separated from the Chittagong coast by Sandwip Channel. It has a population of nearly 700,000. There are fifteen wards, 62 mahallas and 34 villages on Sandwip Island. The island

2385-634: The successors of Chand Khan, Junud Khan and Muqim Khan generally dominated rule over the island. In the next period, the prominent landowners of the island were Muhammad Raja (son of Junud Khan), Muhammad Husayn (son of Muqim Khan), Bakhar Muhammad and Zafar Muhammad (sons of Muhammad Muqim) and Ramchandra Chaudhuri (son of Janardan Chowdhury). Bakharpur was named after Bakhar Muhammad's zamindari . Muhammad Husayn died in 1743. The next zamindars of Sandwip were Chowdhury Abu Torab Khan , Muhammad Murad, Muhammad Ibrahim, Muhammad Wasim, Muhammad Akbar and Surya Narayan Chowdhury. From 1750 to 1763, Abu Torab overpowered

2438-490: The time. Between December 2020 and January 2021 the first two groups totalling around 4,000 Rohingya had already been sent to the island. On 29 January another 1,778 Rohingya refugees started their journey to the island, with a fourth group to be moved the next day. The process of moving Rohingya refugees will continue until 100,000 have arrived in the island, according to authorities. The Bangladesh government had spent $ 112 million by this time. A United Nations delegation visited

2491-447: The treasury. Under this system, the lessees enjoyed financial benefits and status. Dilal's son-in-law Chand Khan rose to prominence in the 1670s and the Mughal administration realised that collecting Sandwip's revenue would not be an easy task if Khan was not on their side. Sandwip's lease arrangement was given to Khan to facilitate revenue collection. After settling the lease, Khan realised that it would not be possible for him to collect

2544-465: Was appointed as Basu's deputy. Abu Torab could not accept Ghoshal's authority and fought against it, but was ultimately defeated. The volume of shipbuilding in Sandwip increased extensively during the Mughal period. In the 17th century, the shipyards of Sandwip were used to build warships for the Ottoman caliphs . In the late 18th century to early 19th century, Armenian merchants began to do business on

2597-567: Was jointly owned to meet various expenses. Part of the sub-contracted lessees later became known as Dihi Musapur, Dihi Bakharpur and Dihi Rampur. Khan's headquarters was located west of the Musapur Dighi (lake) and continues to be known as Sadari Bhita although the building is no longer standing. From around 1690 to the 1730s, the zamindars of Sandwip were Chand Khan's two sons, Junud Khan and Muqim Khan, Muhammad Hanif's son Muhammad Muqim, as well as Madhusudan Chaudhuri son Janardan Chaudhuri . Being

2650-548: Was now ruled by Razagyi's son, Min Khamaung . The Viceroy of Goa accepted the deal and dispatched a fleet led by Don Francisco. They joined Tibao's fifty ships, sailing towards Arakan. However, Khamaung and his Dutch allies defeated Tibao, who fled back to Sandwip. By 1617, Sandwip was seized by Mrauk U, reducing Tibao to his former miserable condition and killing many of its inhabitants. Many Portuguese pirates were also transported to Chittagong as sailors and gunners as Khamaung feared

2703-506: Was originally connected to Chittagong by land and was disconnected by natural disasters. The island was inhabited by people even before Noakhali . Sandwip is mentioned in scholarly sources such as Tansi's report Lower Gangas in 150, The Baros Map in 1560, Sanchan the Abevel's drawing map, and the Anvel Curt's drawing map in 1752. Arab merchants began trading in the area since very early on. In

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2756-511: Was successful and the chief captain of the European pirates was rewarded. Abdul Karim Khan was subsequently appointed as the Mughal faujdar (military governor) of Sandwip. He had 100 cavalry and 400 infantry under his control. In order to facilitate the collection of revenue, a man named Muhammad Qasim was appointed as the Ahaddar (secretary) of Sandwip. The locals were outraged by Dilawar's defeat at

2809-523: Was the folk singer mascot for the Awami League . The area was heavily affected during the 1970 Bhola cyclone and as a response, the Government of Pakistan sent three gunboats and a hospital ship carrying medical personnel and supplies. The Government of Singapore sent a military medical mission to the country, which was then deployed to Sandwip where they treated nearly 27,000 people and carried out

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