Sandwip
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Sandwip
Island off the coast of Noakhali District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 22 23' and 22 37' N. and 91 21! and 91 33' E., and probably formed by the deposit of silt from the Meghna. The area is 258 square miles, and the population in 1901 was 115,127, dwelling in 59 villages.
The island has an interesting history. Cesare de' Federici, the Venetian traveller, writing in 1565, described it as densely populated and well cultivated; he added that 200 ships were laden yearly with salt, and that such was the abundance of materials for ship-building that the Sultan of Constantinople -found it cheaper to have his vessels built here than at Alexandria.
In 1609 the island was captured from the Muhammadans by a number of Portuguese who had been expelled from the employ of the Raja of Arakan. Headed by one Gonzales, these pirates established themselves in force on the island and seized Shahbazpur and Patelbanga, with an army of 1,000 Portuguese, 2,000 sepoys, and 200 cavalry, and a navy of 80 armed vessels. In 1610 they allied themselves with the Raja of Arakan in an attempt to invade Bengal, but after some successes they were routed by the Mughal troops. In 1615 an attack upon Arakan was made by Gonzales with the help of Portuguese troops from Goa, but this failed ; and in the following year the Raja of Arakan invaded Sandwip, defeated Gonzales, and took possession of the island. For the next fifty years Sandwip was a nest of Portuguese and Arakanese pirates who devastatdd the neighbouring coasts of Bengal, but in 1664 the Nawab Shaista Khan determined to put an end to their depredations. By dint of promises and cajolery he induced the Portuguese to desert to his side, and used them in an attack upon Sandwip in 1665 which was entirely successful.
The island, however, long remained an Alsatia for all the bad characters of Eastern Bengal, and its administration was a constant cause of trouble in the early years of British rule. The last pirate of note was Dilal Raja. He is remembered for his attempts to produce a high physical type among the islanders by compelling members of different castes to intermarry. The result has been a confusion of castes upon the island, which has given it a sinister reputation on the mainland. Until 1822 Sandwfp formed part of Chittagong District, but in that year it was made over to the newly formed District of Noakhali. A Sub-Deputy-Magistrate-Collector and a Munsif are stationed there.
From its low-lying position Sandwip is peculiarly exposed to in- undation from storm-waves, and it suffered severely in loss of life and property by the cyclones of 1864 and 1876. The number of deaths caused by the latter was estimated at 40,000, or nearly half the population, and its effects were aggravated by a terrible epidemic of cholera which immediately followed. Since this disaster the popu- lation has rapidly increased, as it was returned at only 72,467 in i88r \ the density is now 446 persons per square mile.
