Shailkupa Upazila: History
In the Pleistocene era, in the middle of the formation of the land of Bangladesh, the land formed in this region by the sandy soil of the Ganga River of the Bengal delta and the settlement of people continued to grow. Although there is no significant information about the prehistoric period, the first human settlement was developed in this area in the second millennium BC. In ancient times, people of various ethnic groups started to live in search of a fertile land for livelihood and developed human habitation here. In the anthropological analysis, a Shankar Nation settled in this region in the mix of small sections of different ethnic groups. The Austric influence is much more pronounced in terms of language strains in this region. According to the writings of Greek and Latin historians, this region was known as Gangaridai, a powerful nation whose capital was Gangarzia. Pareshnath Majumdar presumed this Gangarajaya belongs to Jessore district, which is mentioned in the history book of Satish Chandra Mitra's Jessore-Khulna. It was under the Maurya Empire between 500 and 200 BC. Later it came under the Samatata Kingdom during the reign of Samudragupta (340-380). In the Gupta era, the Samatata state is divided into administrative units namely Bhukti, Bisoy, Mandal, Bithi and Gram. When Ballana Sena (1160-1179) ruled the Bengal region, Karkata Nag established a kingdom in Shailkupa opposing the Sena caste system. It came under the British rule in 1786, and Shailkupa thana was established in 1863. In 1889, the people of 48 villages revolted against the British in the historic Indigo Revolt. During Pakistan period (1947-1971), Shailkupa was an important administrative unit. Hundreds of freedom fighters participated in the Liberation War of Bangladesh and freed Shailkupa from Pakistani occupation forces on 13 November 1971.