Rabindranath Tagore described Karimganj as Sribhumi: Assam CM

Guwahati, Nov 19 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday asserted that Rabindranath Tagore described the Karimganj district as Sribhumi and the state government decided in line with this to change the name of this district.

Taking to X, Sarma wrote: “Over 100 years ago, Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore had described modern-day Karimganj District in Assam as ‘Sribhumi’- the land of Maa Lakshmi. Today the #AssamCabinet has fulfilled this long-standing demand of our people.”

Earlier, Sarma told reporters: “The state cabinet has decided to change the name of Karimganj district to Shribumi. This was done keeping in mind the historical significance of the place. In our state, many places were named that do not go well with the cultural value of that location and we will gradually rename those places giving due importance to their historical trait.”

He also said that the ruling dispensation had earlier changed the names of a few places.

“In the recent past, locations like Kalapahar and Sarabhatti in Guwahati city were renamed. This practice will be continued in the upcoming days,” CM Sarma added.

Assam has 35 districts, including Karimganj—now Sribumi district. In addition to being the largest town in the district, Karimganj serves as the administrative headquarters of the district. It is situated in southern Assam and has borders with Bangladesh's Sylhet Division and Tripura. Together with Hailakandi and Cachar, it forms the Barak Valley.

Prior to India's partition, Karimganj was a part of the Sylhet District. In 1983, it was made a district.

In 1778, Karimganj was first created as a 40-paragana sector of the Sylhet district.

The district is 1,809 square kilometres in size. Cachar District borders it on the northeast, Hailakandi District borders it on the east and south, Mizoram borders it on the south, Tripura State borders it on the southwest, and Bangladesh borders it on the west and northwest.