Comilla: History
=== Ancient era ===
The Comilla region was once under the reign of Gangaridai and Samatata in ancient period.
This district came under the reign of the kings of the Harikela in the ninth century AD. Lalmai Mainamati was ruled by the Deva dynasty (eighth century AD) and Chandra dynasty (during the 10th and mid-11th century AD). In 1732, it became the centre of the Bengal-backed domain of Jagat Manikya.
The Peasants' Movement against the king of Tripura in 1764, which originally formed under the leadership of Shamsher Gazi is a notable historical event in Comilla. It came under the rule of East India Company in 1765. This district was established as the Tripura district in 1790. It was renamed Comilla in 1960.
Communal tension spread over Comilla when a Muslim was shot in the town during the partition of Bengal in 1905. On 21 November 1921, Kazi Nazrul Islam composed patriotic songs and tried to awaken the townspeople by protesting the Prince of Wales's visit to India. During this time, Avay Ashram, as a revolutionary institution, played a significant role. Poet Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi visited Comilla at that time. In 1931, approximately 4000 peasants in Mohini village in Chauddagram Upazila revolted against a land revenue tax. The British Gurkha soldiers fired indiscriminately on the crowd, killing four people. In a major peasant gathering, the police fired at Hasnabad of Laksam Upazila in 1932. Two people were killed and many were wounded. Comilla Victoria Government College in the city was named in memory of Queen Victoria. The main meaning of the context is that the people of Comilla have always maintained good relations and harmonized with others.
Comilla Cantonment is an important military base and the oldest in East Bengal. It was widely used by the British Indian Army during World War II. It was the headquarter of the British 14th Army. There is a war cemetery, Maynamati War Cemetery, in Comilla that was established after World War II to remember the Allied soldiers who died during World War I and II, mostly from Commonwealth states and the United States. There are a number of Japanese soldiers buried there as well, from the Second World War.
During the war for the liberation of Bangladesh, when Pakistan Army created the 39th ad hoc Division in mid-November, from the 14th Division units deployed in those areas, to hold on to the Comilla and Noakhali districts, and the 14th Division was tasked to defend the Sylhet and Brahmanbaria areas only. Pakistan Army's 93,000 troops unconditionally surrendered to the Joint Coalition forces on 16 December 1971. This day and event is commemorated as the Bijoy Dibos (Bengali: বিজয় দিবস) in Bangladesh.