Chittagong

Shri Nathji came to Chittagong to attend the marriage of His devotee Gannilal Kasera. It was also in Chittagong that Shri Nathji first met Bhatt Sahib and miraculously converted him.

Chittagong is a commerce and industry hub, and a port city, in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 5.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.

A trading post since the 9th century, Chittagong has a multicultural heritage of Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist traditions. A few parts of Chittagong were developed in the early 20th century under the British to accommodate a railway hub. The city also became a focal point for revolutionary activities against the British, notably the armed uprising led by Surya Sen in 1930. It was also an important military base and supply point for Allied forces during the Burma Campaign in World War II. After the partition of India in 1947, Chittagong became part of East Pakistan and later Bangladesh.

Chittagong has been a seaport since ancient times. Arabs traded with the port from the 9th century AD. The Chittagong region was under the Vesali kingdom of Arakan (which is the coastal area of Burma)  in the 6th to 7th century. Sultan Fakruddin Mubarak Shah of Sonargaon conquered Chittagong in 1340. Sultan Giasuddin Mubarak Shah constructed a highway from Chittagong to Chandpur and ordered the construction of many lavish mosques and tombs. After the defeat of Mahmud Shah in the hands of Sher Shah in 1538, the Arakanese Kingdom of Mrauk U regained Chittagong. From this time onward, until its conquest by the Mughals, this region was under the control of the Portuguese and Arakanese for 128 years.

The Mughal commandar Shayestha Khan and his son Buzurg Umed Khan expelled the Arakanese from the area in 1666 and established Mughal rule there. After the Arakanese expulsion, Islamabad, as the area came to be known, made great strides in economic progress.

The city was occupied by Burmese troops shortly in First Anglo-Burmese War in 1824 and the British increasingly grew active in the region and it fell under the British Empire.

It’s name is derived from the first group of brahmins to have settled in this region (after it was incorporated into Bengal from the Arakanese) who were 'chatt-upadhyays'. Hence this region came to be known as chatto-gan (gan is the prakrit/Bengali term for village).

Today, Chittagong is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with a GDP of $25 Billion. A major commercial and industrial centre, the city also has a globally competitive special economic zone. With the Port of Chittagong being expanded and developed] the Dhaka–Chittagong Highway being upgraded into 4 laned divided highway, and Shah Amanat International Airport being upgraded, regional neighbours of Bangladesh have eyed Chittagong as a future regional transit hub. The port city is seen as crucial to the economic development of landlocked southern Asia including Northeast India, Bhutan, Nepal and parts of Southern China and Burma.