Chittagong

Chittagong is a coastal port city along the Karnaphuli River in southeastern Bangladesh. Bengali speakers also call it Chattogram, following a spelling revision approved to reflect the local pronunciation. Arab traders called the river estuary Samunda during ancient maritime voyages across the Indian Ocean.

Sultan Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah conquered the trading settlement in 1338, bringing the coastal territory into the Sultanate of Bengal. Portuguese seafarers reached the harbor in the 16th century, calling the maritime haven Porto Grande de Bengala. The Mughal Empire captured the territory in 1666, renaming the settlement Islamabad under provincial governor Shaista Khan. British rule began in the 18th century after the Nawab of Bengal ceded the district to the British East India Company. Provincial administrative offices and judicial courts gathered near the riverbanks as river traffic expanded inland.

The Port of Chittagong handles maritime cargo containers, imported grains, and manufactured fabrics along the deep waters of the Karnaphuli estuary. BSRM, founded in the city in the 1950s, produces steel rebar and structural wire rods for regional transport bridges and power stations. M. M. Ispahani Limited packages branded black tea leaves and manufactures woven jute sacks in riverside processing mills. Western Marine Shipyard builds coastal patrol craft, diesel tugboats, and bulk cargo vessels along the tidal launching slips.

The Anderkilla Shahi Jami Masjid crowns a rocky ridge with whitewashed domes and carved stone archways constructed during the 17th century. Foy's Lake is an artificial reservoir created in the 1920s to supply fresh water to railway steam engines in the hills. The Ethnological Museum of Chittagong preserves traditional textiles, musical instruments, and agricultural implements from indigenous groups of the southeastern hill tracts. The Shrine of Bayazid Bostami includes an ancient tomb complex beside a freshwater pond inhabited by rare black softshell turtles.